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TOCOGRAPHY AND HISTORY. POLITICAL. SOCIAL, AND NATURAL.

FRENCH AFRICA

i;v

JOHN REYNELL MORELL

LONDON :
NATHANIEL COOKE. MIL FOR I) HOUSE STRAND.

MDCCCLI V

"-WIS"

PEEEACE.

Africa, the laud of mysterious memories and monstrous realities, the progeni-
tor of pyramids, baobab-trees, negroes and boas, lies now between two fires.
The rattle of Mime riiles is beginning to be heard at the Cape, and its echo
resounds from the Atlas. Kabyles and Kaffirs are measuring their strength
with France and England, and the issue cannot be doubtful. Having once
tasted the sweets of conquest, neither of the two great Western Powers will be
disposed to resign them in a hurry. Rather may we look to their grasping at
their neighbour's goods, till some fine day finds French sentinels fraternising
with the Cape corps on the Niger, and the Mountains of the Moon surveyed by
laclauds de Paris and honest cockneys.

As to the advantages derivable from European colonies in Africa, South or
North, they are yet a matter of expectation. Hitherto the moderns have
certainly suffered more and done less than the Romans in African cam-
paigns. Algeria, the granary of Rome, has been the grave of the French
soldier ; and yet a nursery for a goodly crop of iron men of the Changarnier
stamp, who have done brave service in the streets of Paris. The French
Regency may be looked upon as an issue to relieve the apoplectic symptoms
of the mother country, and a drain for her floating capital ; but as to any
positive returns derived by France for her outlay in that quarter, we confess
ourselves unable to discover them, except in the shape of cotton and the above
African chiefs, who have sharpened their wits and whetted their swords, as well
as their appetite for slaughter, in Algerian razzias. That the future will show
better things, is our firm belief. Algeria and Morocco, under an enlightened
sway, and pacified, might in all probability yield glorious crops, and afford a
noble field for commercial speculation. Nor is the day probably very distant
when Cape Madeira and other Cape liquids, as well as solids, Will find then-
way in great abundance into the English market. That we have not exag-

VI PREFACE.

gerated the corn and olive crops of Barbary, and the cotton and warrior crops
of Algeria, will appear from facts in the sequel of this work.

In this age of wonders, the greatest wonder is, that the multitude still follow
the broad road of doubt, that the word ' impossible' is not offensive to all ears
polite.

Thomas Grey was branded a madman and died a beggar because he was a
fast man, and his thoughts were too locomotive for his generation; and yet we
deny social progress and doubt Utopias. The Crystal Palace has extinguished
Aladdin's lamp, and the dreams of the Arabian Nights are eclipsed by the day-
light of science. The earth is girt with telegraphs ; and yet we cannot con-
ceive that the hour is at hand when humanity will be electrified by the spirit of
liberty. We live in a golden age, but we cannot place faith in a coming com-
monwealth ; serenaded by sirens, and rocked to sleep by the Muses, we yet
laugh at the idea of a future harmony. We cannot get up the steam of faith
in a dawning Millennium, and our clairvoyance is dazzled by the excessive
light of the coming day.

The regeneration of man is daguerreotyped in characters of light, but we
are blind to God's photographic art ; the age of reason and the reign of love
is rapped out by unearthly hands on our parlour tables, but we are deaf to
the summons of the seventh heaven.

To tunnel the Atlantic and electrify China were thought sober prose, and
shares in a gas-company at Jeddo would be at a premium to-morrow ; but to
irrigate the desert, set free the Poles, and make Europe Christian, is too much
for our faith.

With faith in our hearts, science in our heads, and ready hands, we can
exalt the valleys and make low the mountains. If France is true to herself,
with Algeria at her doors, she will better herself and bless the nations. The
wilderness will blossom as the rose, springs will gush forth in the desert, and
flower-beds will cover the marshes ; and we may anticipate the day, without
any stretch of fancy, when ostrich expresses will furrow the Sahara, and
teams of zebras or quaggas run daily from Algiers to the Cape via the Niger.
We starve amidst plenty; with our lips to the brim, we die of thirst: beggars
are we, though Midas's wand is in our hands.

A wise combination and economy, a perennial exodus, and, above all, con-
struction substituted for our destructive habits, would make the world roll in
riches and revel in luxuries.

Instead of sitting down by the stagnant waters of Conservatism and weep-

PREFACE. Vll

iiig, we should be up and doing, and putting our hands manfully to the wheel,
sorrow and sighing would flee away, we should wipe away all tears, the lion
and the lamb would lie down together, and a little child would lead them.

The French have much and can teach much of the wonders of science to
their Arab brothers. Yet lack they one thing, which I ween they might
learn better in the tabernacle of the wilderness than in the Madeleine — the
power of faith.

If they unite these two levers, they will not only remove mountains, but
raise the earth. True science ends where the Arab begins, in a child-like be-
lief in the infinite power of God and the inexhaustible resources of his creation.
Finality is destruction to science and death to religion.

We have in some measure outgrown the age of speculation ; we are be-
ginning to drop theories, and to be alive at length to the all-sufficiency of facts.
It will soon be too late to write down, talk down, and preach down discoveries ;
nor will the magistrate or the priest be able to fulminate excommunication
against new truths. Science, facts, and machinery are beginning to explode
the conservative prejudices of the fore world, and to free the mind from
the thraldom of custom and circumstances. And though the world is thus on
the move towards the broad daylight of truth, we need not fear that it will ex-
tinguish the poetry of the past or the mysteries of nature. God's facts are ever
full of poetry, and man's highest wisdom is at best such foolishness before
high heaven, that he need never fear the danger of exhausting the secrets
of the universe.

Imbued with the spirit of the times, the author has endeavoured impar-
tially to collect, compare, and condense as many useful facts as possible in this
volume. His object has been to make his countrymen familiar with an impor-
tant and interesting region and people hitherto little known to us. The pre-
sent critical position of the Ottoman empire adds additional interest to all terri-
tories verging on its frontier, and all tribes having an affinity with its popula-
tion ; and Algeria being the only French colony of note, and nearly equal to
France in size, and having been once the granary and glory of Piome, has ap-
peared to him well worthy of careful study on many grounds. Amongst the
Arab tents, moreover, the reader will find many traces and footmarks of holy
men and apostolic times. A classical soil and the cradle of Hannibal, the sunny
shores of Tunis and Hippo are also dyed with the blood of a noble army of
Christian martyrs ; and thus this historical land possesses all the attributes cal-
culated to secure the interest of the student and the traveller.

Vlll PREFACE.

In short, it has been the author's endeavour to make the book as practi-
cally useful as possible, whether it falls into the hands of the many or lies on
the desk of the few. He might easily have expanded his matter to an incon-
venient bulk ; but his limits and convenience restricted him to more moderate
dimensions, — a circumstance which will probably be far from exciting regret in
the reader.

In consulting the best and latest authorities on the subject, he has found
almost all his materials in French works. The principal English books that
have appeared on Algeria within the last twenty years are chiefly confined to
temporary and local observations.

Those who wish to obtain the amplest details respecting all branches con-
nected with the colony are referred to the volumes of the Exploration Scienti-
Jique, and the Tableau de la Situation for 1850, from which the author has
gathered his most important facts, having likewise, in most cases, conformed
to their spelling of Arabic names.

In giving the angle of the slopes of mountains and rivers, &c, the deci-
metres, centimetres, &c. have been merely reduced into inches and decimals
of inches. The reader will find it convenient to bear in mind that a metre
is rather more than a yard, or about 39 inches ; and the author has considerately
translated throughout the French measures into corresponding English mea-
sures, in order to prepare the tender British intellect for the grievous transition
to the decimal system.

Hampstead, 1st January, 1854.

CONTENTS.

PART L— TOPOGRAPHY.

CHAPTER I.

THE HISTORICAL EXODUS.

PAGE

Problematical countries — The march of discovery — African character-
istics and mysteries — Caffres and Kabyles — General survey of North-
Western Africa — Its topography generalised — Herodotus — The desert
— The successive tides and strata of humanity — France in Africa —
The fall of Carthage a warning for the ages 19

CHAPTER II.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

The Zones— Tell and Sahara— Orology— The Atlas chains— The Aouress—
Potamology— Primary Basins— The Shellif— Lake Melrir— El H'od'na
and the Ouad Mzab— Secondaiy basins— Natural hydraulics— The
lakes — Tertiary basins — General organic laws 29

CHAPTER III.

POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY.

Political divisions of North-West Africa— Political divisions of Algeria-
Latitudes and longitudes— Arab mensuration— Turkish divisions and
subdivisions — Scientific French division — Six districts — Distinction of
Tell and Sahara— Esoteric analysis — Exoteric delimitation— Surface —
Arab appellations — Zones and departments 43

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV.

ALGIERS.

Principal features of the province of Algiers— The Shellif — The Haratch,
the Massafran, and the Isser — The Mitidja — The Sahel — Sidi-Ferruch
— Cape Matifou — Algiers — The old Port — The new Port — Streets —
Houses — Bazaars — The Casbah — The Faubourgs .... 57

CHAPTER V.

STATISTICS OP ALGIERS.

Religious edifices — Baths — Fountains — Brains — New civil edifices — His-
torical statistics of Algiers — The poetry of Eastern life — Antagonism
of the social states of Europe and Africa — New military edifices and
defences 84

CHAPTER VI.

PRECINCTS OP ALGIERS.

Precincts of Algiers — The two Mustaphas — Jardin d'Essai — Buffarick —
Model farm — Maison Carree — The Cafe of Hammah — The Consulate
of Sweden — Ayoun Beni Menad — Pointe Pescade .... 97

CHAPTER VII.

INTERIOR OP THE PROVINCE.

Characteristics of Algerian scenery — Interior of the province — Blidah —
The Chiffa— Medeah— Milianah— The River of Silver— Teniet-el-Had
— Boghar— The Koubber Romeah— Scherschell— Tenes— The Darha—
Orleansville— Aumale— The Oases of the Beni-Mzab— The Bedouin
Tribes 116

CONTENTS. • XJ

CHAPTER VIII.

EXCURSIONS.

Excursions — The orange-groves of Blidah — Coleah, its delightful neigh-
bourhood and Moorish population — the Col de Mouzaia — M. Laraping's
expedition to the South — The Atlas — The Arabs — The Little Desert —
Sergeant Blandan — Mere Gaspard — Milianah — Expedition to the
Ouarsenis under Changarnier — The march — The bivouac — The block-
ade — Teniet-el-Had 132

CHAPTER IX.

PROVINCE OF ORAN". THE COAST.

Outline of the coast — Mostaganem — Arzeu — Oran — Nemours — Oran —
Mers-el-Kebir — The Gulf of Arzeu — Antiquities — St. Marie — Origin of
Mostaganem 149

CHAPTER X.

PROVINCE OF ORAN. INTERIOR.

Outline — Tlemsen — Mascara — Tagadempt — Mazounah — A tour through
the province — St. Denis — Mascara- — Sidi Bel Abbess — Tlemsen — Ne-
mours—The far South— Tiarct 163

CHAPTER XI.

PROVINCE OF CONSTANTINA. COAST.

The coast — Djidjelli — Collo— Philippeville — Bona — The port — The town
— The buildings — The population — Sanitary condition — Mount Edough
— Trip to La Calle— An Arab tribe — La Callc — Bastion de Prance . 194

Xil CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XII.

PROVINCE OP CONSTANTINA. INTERIOR.

PAGE

Interior of the province — Broad outline — Analysis — Baron Baude — Natu-
ral features of Numidia — St. Marie — Constantina — Madame Prus —
Borrer — Guelma — Gerard the Lion-king — Constantina — Betna —
Aoures — El-Gantra — Biskra — The Oases 222

CHAPTER XIII.

GREAT KABYLIA.

Authorities — Broad outline — The different Kabylias — Great Kabylia —
Etymology — History — Analysis of its topography — Bugia — Its road-
stead — Its tribes — Expedition of Marshal Bugeaud — The Zaouias of
Sidi-Ben-Ali-Cherif — Kuelaa — Dellys 250

PAET II.

STATISTICS AND HISTORY,
political, Social, an& Natural.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE KABTLE8.

Native population of Algeria — Characteristics of the Kabyles contrasted
with the Arabs — Superstitions — Industry — Manufactures — Manners —
Weddings — Women — Administration — Laws — Authorities — The Ma-
rabouts — The Zaouias — The Anaya — Illustrations of Scriptural and
Classical anticuiity 269

CONTENTS. Xlll

CHAPTER XV.

THE ARABS.

Agriculturists and Bedouins — Tents — Furniture — Women — Distinctions
of Arab life — Patriarchalism — Feudalism — Douars — Horses — Falconry
— Illustrations — Markets — Legends — Scriptural Customs — The Arabs
of Constantiua — Administration of the Tribes — Bedouin Officials —
Statistics — Bureaux Arabes 300

CHAPTER XVI.

MOORS, TURKS, KOULOUGLIS, JEWS, ETC.

Etymology — Moorish women — Toilette — Weddings — Divorces — Turks —
Their government — Their costume — Yousouf— The Koulouglis — Their
characteristics and laziness — The Jews — Their servility and persecu-
tion — The corporations 324

CHAPTER XVII.

THE NEGROES.

Utility of Slavery — Mahometan and Christian slavery — Degraded state of
the Niger basin — The Slave-trade in Africa — The Blacks in Morocco —
Unfortunate results of the attempt to stop the Slave-trade — The Djelep
— Native Arts and Sciences 339

CHAPTER XVIII.

EUROPEAN POPULATION AND GENERAL STATISTICS.

European settlers — The French colonists — General character of European
settlers — Latest tables — The component nations — Spaniards — Maltese
— Italians — Native population , 348

XIV CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIX.

COLONISATION.

General survey of colonisation — Government decrees on rural property —
Concessions in land — Decree of the President, 1851 — State of general
colonisation in the colony — Province of Algiers: Civil territory,
Military territory — Province of Oran : Civil territory, Military terri-
tory — Province of Constantina : Civil territory, Military territory —
New projects — Penitential colony at Lambessa — Agricultural colonies
— St. Denis and Robertville, &c 354

CHAPTER XX.

CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS GOVERNMENT.

The Ool-ama — Three classes of them — Sheikhs — Khatebs and Imams — The
Mufti— The Sautons, and other orders — The Dey's Ministers — The
Kaids — The Kadis — French civil administration — French tribunals —
Mussulman tribunals and schools ...*... 377

CHAPTER XXI.

TUB FRENCH ARMY.

Roman razzias — Strength — Native troops — Zouaves- — Spahis— French —
Chasseurs d'Afrique — Sanitary statistics, &c. — The African chiefs —
Changarnier- — Cavaignac— Canrobert 388

CHAPTER XXII.

THE HISTORY OF ALGERIA AND BARBAHY.

The reign of Mythos — The Semitic and Indo Germanic conflict— The
Phoenicians— The spirit of Carthage— The first Punic war — The mer-
cenaries' — The second Punic war — Hannibal — Canute — Scipio— Zania

CONTENTS. XV

PAGE

— The fall of Carthage — Jugurtha — Metellus— Marius — Juba — Chris-
tian Africa — Donatists — Circumcellious — Tertullian — Cyprian — St.
Augustine — The Vandals — Belisarius — The Arabs — Their dynasties —
The two Barbarossas — Charles V. — Piracy — Lord Exmouth — The
French invasion — Rovigo — Trezel — Abd-el-Kader — The cave of Khar-
tani— Capture of Abd-el-Kader — His liberation — Zaatcha — Laghouat . 404

APPENDIX.

SECTION I.
Antiquities of Algeria . 447

SECTION II.
Language 461

SECTION III.
Commerce and Agriculture 464

SECTION IV.
Natural History, Geology, &c 480

PART I.

TOPOGRAPHY.

FRENCH AFRICA,

CHAPTER I.
Che Hfetorual <£rofcuS.

" Trascorser poi le piagge ove i Numidi
Menar gift vita pastorale, erranti.
Trovar Bugia ed Algieri, iufami nidi
Di corsari ; ed Oran trovar piu avanti ;
E costeggiar di Tingitana i lidi,
Nutrice di leoni e d' elefanti ;
C or di Marocco e il regno, e quel di Fessa ;
E varcar la Granata, incontro ad essa."

II Gerusalemme del Tasso, 1. 51, c. 21.*

PROBLEMATICAL COUNTRIES THE MARCH OF DISCOVERY AFRICAN CHARACTER-
ISTICS AND MYSTERIES CAFFRES AND KABYLES GENERAL SURVEY OF NORTH-
WESTERN AFRICA ITS TOPOGRAPHY GENERALISED HERODOTUS THE

DESERT THE SUCCESSIVE TIDES AND STRATA OF HUMANITY FRANCE IN

AFRICA THE FALL OF CARTHAGE A WARNING FOR THE AGES.

"E read in the venerable pages that record the creation of the world and
of humanity, how God spake unto the latter, and said, " Be fruitful
and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it." Ever since the early
days when these memorable words were spoken by the Almighty, we find,

* "They view where once the rude Numidian swain
Pursued a wandering life from plain to plain.
Algiers and Bugia then they reach, the seat
Of impious corsairs ; next Oran they greet ;
And now by Mauritani's strand proceed,
Where elephants and hungry lions breed.
Morocco here and Fez their cities rear ;
To these opposed Granada's lands appear."

Hook's Tasso, 1. 149-155, b. 15, p. 302.

20 THE MARCH OF DISCOVERY.

from the twilight of tradition to the daylight of history, that as ages
have rolled onwards, the children of men have, as a steady current, in-
undated the length and breadth of the habitable globe. Asia, the cradle
and nursery of tbe human race, was probably first peopled ; and as adven-
ture, or curiosity, or war, or the want of space, urged the bolder spirits
to move on, the tide of human beings swept into the neighbouring hemi-
sphere, and ultimately reached the remotest coral islands of Polynesia.
Though this chronic exodus and perpetual emigration was undoubtedly
checked for a season by one or more diluvial catastrophes, yet whenever
the generations succeeding those that had been submerged or sufferers
had recovered from the injuries thus received, they invariably rushed
onwards once more in this progressive movement, till at length every
spot of land that could offer a home or sustenance to man had been
subdued and visited. Some of these early colonists appear to have
always, or generally, maintained a friendly or hostile intercourse with the
parent races and regions ; whilst other, more forward wanderers, have
deviated so widely from the beaten track of nations, as to have lost all
connexion with, or memory of, their early home.

Severed from the mother-country by pathless wastes or icy fields, they
gradually lost most traces of affinity with the parent stock, and the ebony
skin and uncouth utterance gave but few signs of relationship with pale
faces and the musical Sanskrit. A mystery came at length to shroud
these strange progenies in fabulous forms, till they and their country
became an enchanted sphere.

Though modern science and discovery have done much to clear up
the mystery, and restore the severed links of nationality, yet the salt
wastes of Mongolia, and the icy horrors of the pole, still bid defiance
to the heroism of blue-jackets and the scientific fanaticism of Asiatic
Societies.

But among all the problems and vetos for the exploring mania of
modern times, no portion of the globe has offered so fatal and fabulous a
field as Africa. So deadly is its very air to the Indo-European races,
except at its extremities, that the Caucasian man, treading its wastes
and jungled forests, is inevitably doomed. It is true that many Semitic
tribes seem to have assimilated better with the climate, but it is at the
expense of their intellectual life • and save in the Moorish monarchies
of Northern Africa, experience proves that the Arab conquerors of this
burning hemisphere have speedily been scorched almost to the grovelling
level of the Negro.

As regards European and scientific travellers, it may justly be pro-
nounced that its shores are their Tie plus ultra. Niger expeditions, the
sickly Congo, and the statistics of Sierra Leone, shew in clear figures the
uncongeniality of the African climate to European constitutions. Hence
all exploring expeditions into the heart of this terra incognita have been

AFRICAN CHARACTERISTICS AND MYSTERIES. 21

more or less failures. Holocausts of brave spirits have been the martyrs
to scientific fanaticism on its fatal plains. Nor is it climate alone that
offers serious impediments to the adventurous traveller. The comparative
deficiency of large rivers and extensive mountain-chains, which operates
directly on the climate in aggravating its heat and dryness, acts indirectly
as a serious obstacle to commercial and all other intercourse and transit.
But among the obstructions that have hitherto checked the course of Euro-
pean adventure and travel in Africa, we must especially place the excep-
tional and conservative character of its populations. If we turn to the
British possessions at the Cape, we form an acquaintance with the blood-
thirsty Zoola, the treacherous Caffre, and the Boschman, who, with the
inhabitants of the Andaman Islands and of Tierra del Fuego, appears to
represent the lowest degradation to which human nature can descend.
Higher up, on the east coast, we meet with the atrocious populations of
Arkeeko,""" who seem to blend in perfection all the vices of savage and civi-
lised life. Penetrating into the interior, we encounter the superstitious and
jealous Abyssinians, who in their bloody banquets and forays acquire and
strengthen that ferocity which naturally appals and deters the helpless tra-
veller. Their neighbours the Shangallas and the Gallas, with their poisoned
arrows and licentious customs, would shake the firmness of all wanderers
save such a spirit as Bruce. If we except Egypt, the whole of Northern
Africa forms no exception, but, on the contrary, powerfully corroborates
our view of the character of its population. The Kabyles of the Atlas
exceed most races in cruelty and charity ;f and the Bedouins of the Sahara
are notorious for hospitality, perfidy, and bigotry. The shipwrecked
crews who have tasted of Arab clemency on the coasts of the Desert,
and the fate of French prisoners in Algeria, can best attest the sympa-
thies and warrnth of the Arab heart for suffering humanity. The reader
will shortly be presented with some striking proofs of the accuracy of
these remarks.

The western part of Central Africa has long been eminently repulsive
in a moral point of view, from the bloodthirsty tyranny of its chiefs and
people, and the atrocious practice of kidnapping and selling neighbours
and countrymen into bondage. The ferocity of the king and people of
Dahomey and Ashantee contributed for many years to deter the approach
of the adventurous traveller even more powerfully than the deadly sun of
Guinea ; and though recent events have made some alterations in this
respect, exploring expeditions into Central Africa are still attended with
imminent personal risk, as well from the unfriendly elements as from the

* Major Head's Life of Bruce, p. 209.

+ For an explanation of this apparent enigma, the reader is referred to the chapter
on the Kabyles. It will be sufficient here to observe, that this singular peojile, though
ferocious and blood-thirsty in battle, have numerous institutions analogous to the monastic
systems and freemasonry of Europe, fostering learning and dispensing brotherly love
throughout the land.

22 • NORTH-WESTERN AFRICA.

inhospitable character of its people. Thus a barrier seems to have been
placed by the hands of the Almighty to break off all intercourse between
the poison of European civilisation and the conservative barbarism of
this mysterious hemisphere. Yet there is much to attract the interest
of the philosopher and fix the attention of the naturalist in this strange
land of prodigies. Nature appears there in a new, a larger, and a more
exuberant character, and deals largely in anomalies and monsters. From
the days of Herodotus downwards, Africa has been the chosen home of the
marvellous ; and though much that has been related and received concern-
ing its prodigies must be attributed to the credulity of an unscientific age,
enough remains to justify us in pronouncing it the parent of paradoxes.
Thus in the human race, anomalous in its psychical and physical develop-
ments, it presents us with the Negro shading into the Boschman and
the Hottentot. Passing to the inferior mammalia, we have the came-
lopard, the quagga, and the multitude of strange beasts that Gordon
Gumming has found teeming and roaming through the Avilds and wastes
of the Cape district. Again, among birds, we observe the anomalous
struthious species, which though extinct in New Zealand, yet multiplies
and flourishes in the plains of Africa. Nor is the vegetable kingdom
deficient in anomalies, presenting us with the gigantic baobab; and in
the geological aspect of the continent the eye is astonished at the end-
less oceans of sand, and startled by the almost unparalleled variety of
stratification found in Algeria.

Much more might be added to prove how deserving this vast continent
is of the study of scientific men. The ancient Abyssinian church, with its
theocratic hierarchy and oriental traditions; the anomalous character of
Abyssinian mountains, and appetites which modern discovery has con-
firmed, after a sceptical age had ridiculed the superior wisdom of the
gallant Bruce ;'"' the fabulous massacres and female body-guards of Ash-
antee and Dahomey, t and the strange practices of the Kabyles of Atlas, —
all worthily keep up the character of Africa as the land of marvels, and
point it out as a legitimate field for scientific research.

Happily or unhappily, its extremities are now in the hands of the two
most polished nations on the earth ; and the day cannot be far distant
when a more familiar intercourse will spring up between the Gaul and the
Kabyle, the Briton and the Caffre. Though the introduction has been
rude, and ushered in by a running accompaniment of powder and shot,

* The reader will find an account of the singular geological formation of Abyssinia,
and of the raw steaks constituting a chief ingredient in Abyssinian diet, in Major F. B.
Head's Lifo of Bruce ; whose revelations will be seen there verified by the testimony of
other subsequent wanderers : pp. 235, 244.

+ For a description of the sanguinary practices and negro amazons of Dahomey, see
Commander Fred. E. Forbc's Dahomey and the Dahomans, being tho Journals of two
Missions to the King of Dahomey and a residence at his capital, in tho years 1849-50 ;
vol. i. p. 23. London, 1851.

NORTH-WESTERN AFRICA. 23

there is reason to anticipate that Christianity, commerce, and science,
heralded by the bayonet, will carry the blessings of lawsuits, civilisation,
and doctors, into the heart of Africa, and make us acquainted with its
deepest recesses.

European valour and enterprise have already made rapid strides in
advance ; and the northern and southern extremities of this vast hemi-
sphere have been carefully and scientifically examined and explored.

This remark applies especially to North-western Africa, which, parti-
cularly when viewed in relation with its past history, is much more
worthy of study than the fertile but obscure plains and valleys of the
Caffre district.

Barbary, or North-western Africa, is undeniably the finest part of that
continent. More accessible to Europeans than any other region, it is also
more calculated, by its fertility and temperature, to become once again the
theatre of a great people. It combines all the qualities that are most
adapted to captivate the imagination of the antiquarian and the scholar,
to draw forth the energies of the merchant and the speculator, and to en-
gage the researches of the philosopher and the man of science. Once the
granary of the Roman empire, it seems intended by nature, under a more
happy administration, to replenish the less-favoured regions of the north
with the exuberance of its productiveness. Long oppressed by a barba-
rous and benighted people, it has been for centuries, like Italy its ancient
master, the prey and theatre of injustice and rapine, though lately a
brighter day appeared once more about to dawn upon its shores, under
the happier auspices of republican rule. These observations apply more
particularly to Algeria; yet all the Barbary states are so closely connected,
that the civilisation of one is certain to become infectious.

Historically speaking, the region now under survey is one of the most
interesting on the face of the globe. To give the reader a general idea of
this part of the continent, historically and topographically, before descend-
ing to details, we shall now lay before him its principal landmarks, and
the most striking events that have rendered its name illustrious among
the nations.

Barbary, properly speaking, constitutes the whole of North-western
Africa, and extends from the frontier of Barca and the Gulf of Sidra on
the east, to Cape Nun on the west. This vast territory, which includes
the regencies of Tripoli and Tunis, the French vice-royalty of Algeria, and
the empire of Morocco, corresponds to ancient Carthage, Numidia, the
two Mauritanias, and Gtetulia. It is our purpose in the present work
to give a minute description of the French possessions in Africa, and a
general outline of the other states that constitute Barbary, and are situated
in North-western Africa. On the present occasion we confine ourselves to
a cursory sketch, historical and geographical, of the whole district, chiefly
with the view of directing the reader's attention to its interest and im-

24 THE DESERT.

portance. The tract under consideration embraces little less than 2000
miles of coast ; but its breadth varies greatly, according to the proximity of
the sandy waste that occupies the heart of Africa. It is intersected by the
great Atlas chain, which, under different names and in different branches,
runs east and west through the whole region, generally parallel with the
coast, and reaching from the western ocean to the borders of Egypt. Its
rivers are mostly insignificant, the distance between the Atlas and the sea
not admitting of the formation of a large volume of water.

The father of history has correctly divided this territory into three dis-
tinct zones, naturally formed by the character of the soil, and correspond-
ing very exactly with the modern divisions. The first zone, bordez*ing on
the coast, and forming the Tell of the modern Arabs, he calls the in-
habited land ; the second zone he styles the wild-beast country, — this re-
gion represents the pastoral uplands now called Sahara, a name inaccu-
rately extended to the Desert ; and his third division consists in the sandy
Avaste which is the Desert proper of all ages. The second or pastoral
zone, the Sahara of the present day, corresponds in part to the ancient
Gajtulia, and is situated south of the Atlas, between the 30th and 34th to
35th degrees of N. latitude.

The Great Desert occupies the entire breadth of Africa, and stretches
through Arabia and Persia into Northern India. Its width varies, being
greatest between Morocco and Soudan, and narrowest between Tripoli
and Bornou, the route followed by Denham and Clapperton.

Having thus given the reader a faint outline of this interesting region,
we shall endeavour to present to him, in a series of brief sketches, the nu-
merous remarkable social and political revolutions that it has undergone.

The history and geography of North-western Africa present the image
of a vast archipelago, containing to the north steep and verdant islands,
and to the south flat and sandy islands separated by long intervals, and the
sea that severs them has risen and fallen in successive tides, encroaching
on them at high-watei - , and losing ground during the ebb. Occasionally
during the flood the waves have covered the tops of some of the lower
islands, whereas at low-water some of the space separating them has been
left dry, and the waters receding even below the lowest gorges, the islands
have lost their character, and the archipelago has become a continent.
Yet some of the sandy and rocky summits have never been reached by
this stormy sea. Such has been the picture presented by Northern Africa
in its historical and geological development through the phases of time
and the fields of space ; the physical characteristics of the soil accurately
corresponding to the social phenomena that they represent. The steep
islands are the mountainous ridges ; the flat islands are the oases ; the
secular tides are the invasions. All these islands representing groups of
the same nation, whilst the flood that sweeps round them is in its turn
Phoenician, Roman, Vandal, Greek, Arab, Turk, and French.

TIDES AND STRATA OF HUMANITY. 25

Successive tides of humanity have thus flooded the plains of North
Africa, each leaving deposits behind ; and the mountain-chains, as usual,
have been the refuge of the oldest and most conservative hordes. Thus
the present Kabyles, or Djebalis (Highlanders), of Algeria are to all in-
tents and purposes the same people as the primitive Numidians of the
time of Sallust and Polybius. The most important element among the
different nationalities represented in Noi'theru Africa is undoubtedly the
Semitic, which forms the staple of its population ; and it is probable that
the aboriginal Numidians of tradition, the Carthaginians, Arabs, Moors,
and perhaps the modern Kabyles, all belong to that remarkable family of
the human race.

The Mediterranean cruiser that sails along the coasts of Mauritania
and Numidia hails the classic kingdoms of Iarba, of Dido, of Juba, of
Jugurtha, of Siphax, and of Massinissa. The traveller while pacing its
sunny shore recalls the glories and the heresies of the North- African
church ; its Cyprian, its Augustine, its Hippo Regius, and its Cirta. Pass-
ing the supposed site of the ruins of Utica, his mind dwells on the heroic
death of Cato, the last republican, whose lofty spirit preferred a violent
death, rather than bend to the general oppression of the empire ; standing
on the ruins of Carthage, he reflects on the revolutions of empires, the
Scipios, Hannibal, and Kegulus. The image of the gentle, saintly king
of France floats before him, as he lies on his couch of ashes on that pes-
tilential shore.* Crossing to Goletta, the fort of Tunis, he sees the walls
and towers that bear witness to the Christian zeal and valour of a Spanish
emperor and a British admiral.t In one place he crosses a river in whose
turbid stream the veteran Massinissa found his last home ; farther on,
he reaches the spot where Genseric and his Vandal host, descending
from Spain on the devoted land, proceeded to convert the granary of
Ptome into a howling wilderness. Not far hence he views the plain where
the Greek army of the gallant Belisarius levelled the Vandal pride with
the dust. Or if he visits the crumbling battlements of Kairwan, Tlemsen,
or Fez, his mind reverts to the days of Arab glory, when the gallant band
of Islam flashed like a meteor over the valleys and plains of Mauritania,
and plunging on their fiery chargers into the Western Ocean, threatened
to reduce the stormy sea into subjection to the Crescent. A melancholy
grandeur hovers over this historical land, and the shades of mighty hosts
and nations long since gathered to their fathers seem still to linger and
haunt its spectral cities.

" Giace 1' alta Cartago ; appena i segni
Dell' alte sue riiiuo il lido serba.

St. Louis, a.d. 1270. f Charles V. in 1541, and Blake in 1655.

26 TIDES AND STRATA OP HUMANITY.

Muoiono le citta, muoiono i regiii ;
Copre i fasti e le pompe arena ed erba :
E 1' uom d' esser mortal par clie si sdegni :
nostra mente cupida e superba."

Tasso's Gerusalemme, 1. 15, c. 20.*

Taking a broad survey of the chronology of North -west Africa, we
have first the primitive immigration of the Berbers or ancient Libyans,
assuming that people, according to its oldest traditions, to have come
originally from the Semitic corner of Asia. These are followed by Phoe-
nician colonists, the founders of Carthage, who still belong to the Semitic,
and are eventually subdued by the Romans belonging to the Indo-Ger-
manic stock. The Vandal invasion brings in a new branch of the latter
variety, constituting a part of the great Gothic family that swept over
Europe at the fall of the Roman empire ; but after a short triumph, they
shared the fate of their predecessors, and were forced to submit to Justi-
nian and the Byzantine Romans, who once more regain the supremacy
on the African shore. From the fall of Carthage to this period, from
B.C. 146, to about the latter half of the seventh century of our era, dif-
ferent families of the Indo-European variety had held sway in North-
western Africa ; but about the beginning of the eighth century a flood
of the Semitic tide once again deluged the land under the name of
Saracens and under the crescent of Mahomet, which brought the cross
into subjection and extinction on those shores, after it had reigned there
about five hundred years. This Arab or Saracen family of the Semitic
variety held sway in Barbary from the eighth to the tenth century, when
a band of daring desperadoes, belonging to the Turkish branch of the
Mogul variety, reduced the Algerine portion to subjection, and ruled it
with a rod of iron, till the French conquest in 1830 restored the cross
and the supremacy of the Indo-Europeans. Morocco has invariably, Tri-
poli and Tunis have generally, continued under Arab or Semitic rule since
the concpiest in the eighth century, though the two latter regencies have
been nominally subject to the Sultan of Turkey for a long course of years.

This cursory view of the history of Barbary will shew that it has been
the theatre of numerous important and violent revolutions, and will serve
to fix the attention and engage the interest of the intelligent reader. The
minuter details of its history are reserved for a future chapter.

There is another consideration that increases the interest which sur-
rounds a study of this remarkable country ; I mean, the present position

* " Ill-fated Carthage ! scarce, amid the plains,
A trace of all her ruined pomp remains !
Proud cities vanish, states and realms decay,
The world's unstable glories fade away !
Yet mortals dare of certain fate complain.
impious folly of presuming man !"

Boole's Tasso, 1. 14-6, b. 15.

PALL OF GARTIIAGE A WARNING FOR THE AGES. 27

and future prospects of the French power in Africa. If we examine the
causes of the disputes and struggles between nations, it is probable that a
large proportion will be found to originate in misunderstandings and igno-
rance. A more accurate survey of, and a closer acquaintance with, the
position and power of our neighbours would generally or frequently an-
ticipate and prevent the deplorable results to which we have alluded, by
enabling us to arrive at a correct comparative estimate of our strength and
resources, and by teaching us what we have to expect.

The progress of the French power in Africa is an instructive example
of the aggressive and invasive spirit and propensities of our neighbours ;
and it is important to remember that the French government has within
call a powerful army of above 100,000 veterans, inured to hardships and
war, and officered by men who have grown grey in camps.

The observations of an eminent writer on the fall of Carthage are
moreover especially applicable to this country and to the present situation
of the continent. " The fall of Carthage," he remarks, "has been ascribed
to that neglect of her maritime forces which was manifested during the
last Punic war. When Scipio crossed from Sicily to Africa, there was not
a fleet to oppose him. But the principal cause of her decline and ultimate
overthrow was the fierce hostility of rival factions within her own walls.
* * * In the fate of Carthage was exemplified the usual result of a popu-
lar government and of civic contention ; the voice of clamour is silenced
only by the shouts of a triumphant foe, who puts an end to the rivalry of
parties by treading all distinctions under foot."'"'

A memorable instance of this truth was afforded in the coup d'etat of
December 1851. Let us hope that the ruins of Carthage and the present
slavery of France will have a warning voice for England, and teach us to
avoid the abuses that led to these catastrophes, f

From the preceding remarks the reader will perceive that the past and
present history and position of French Africa and its borders are an in-
structive study for the philosopher, the statesman, and the patriot; and
though our limits have necessarily prevented us from dwelling on the
mysterious valley of the Nile and the past glories of Cyrene, the anti-
quarian and the politician will be amply rewarded if they extend their
minute survey to the north-eastern part of this land of the sun. The
wonders of early Egyptian culture, the wealth, luxury, and learning of
the Pentapolis and Alexandria, and the Mameluke beyliks of Kahira,

* Dr. Russel's Barbary States, p. 83.

+ Some of the more inflammable spirits of lajeune France have been ready to antici-
pate as one of the results of the new France now occupied on the north coast of Africa,
that the classic Mediterranean will be shortly converted into a French lake. We confess
our inability to do justice to this conclusion while our batteries of Gibraltar frown on the
Straits, and unless our modern vikings are sadly degenerated from their sires.

28 PROSPECTIVE.

are calculated to command the reverence and dazzle the imagination of
the ages.

Having thus given a view of what he has to expect among the plains
and valleys of old Atlas, we shall transport our reader on board one of
the numerous steamships that plough the Avaters of the Mediterranean,
and after a rapid and easy passage deposit him on the quay of Algiers.

CHAPTER II.
$J)»SicaI <£eocrrnpftr>.

THE ZONES TELL AND SAHARA OROLOGY THE ATLAS CHAINS THE AOURES

POTAMOLOGY PRIMARY BASINS THE SHELLIF LAKE MELRIR EL

h'od'na AND THE OUAD MZAB — SECONDARY BASLNS NATURAL HYDRAULICS

THE LAKES — TERTIARY BASINS GENERAL ORGANIC LAWS.

Africa, from the north to its centre, is divided by nature into three dis-
tinct regions. The first, to which the name of Tell, or the corn-
country, has been applied, ascends by a gradual slope to the region of high
table-lands. The latter, forming the second region, extends, under the
name of Sahara, from the Tell to the Desert, which is nearly on a level
with the sea. The high table-lands of the Sahara afford pasture for nume-
rous flocks of sheep ; and at intervals you meet with oases containing for-
tified towns, forming depots for the corn and merchandise of the nomadic
tribes. To the eastward of the oases of the province of Oran, in Algeria,
begins the country of the Beni-Mzab,* which contains seven important
towns, forming emporiums for the whole commerce of the south, and
peopled, according to tradition, by the descendants of the Moabites. The
fact is, that almost all of them have blue eyes and fair hair, whilst their
language also differs from the Arabic. They are, moreover, schismatics,
because they do not belong to any of the four authorised Mussulman sects.
But the severity of their morals, their union, and their honesty, have given
them a high reputation ; and their active character has centered in their
own hands most of the barter trade between the Tell and the Desert.

To the south of these table-lands of the Sahara, parallel to the Tell
and to the sea, begins the third region of Africa, consisting of the Desert ;
but not such a desert as is pictured by a European imagination — sand, and
nothing but sand to the end of the chapter. The desert is in reality com-
posed of immense plains, analogous to the steppes of Bussia, the pusztas
of Hungary, and the llanos and pampas of South America, with this essen-
tial difference, that they have no wood or vegetation, and very little water,
which is confined to certain favoured spots few and far between, that be-
come the necessary halting-places of the traveller.^ It is true that tracts
of sand frequently occur, Avhich have been spread over its surface by the
action of the winds ; and the natives often apply to them very singular

* ( -r ! \j'° ij-J Beni-Mzdb% t Humboldt's Views of Xature, pp. 2-3.

30 THE ZONES.

appellations, such as veins or nets, according to the shape given to them
by the caprice of the winds. But the desert contains in like manner
oases, and whole countries clothed with vegetation and inhabited by a
numerous population, such as the Great Oasis of Touat. Beyond these
vast plains rises a chain of mountains, rivalling the Atlas in verdure and
vegetation, and forming the country of the Tonaregs, who are the buc-
caneers of the desert. Lastly, to the southward of these mountains, you
reach the land of Soudan, the Negroland, the chosen home of the mar-
vellous, and the seat of fabulous realities. A straight line drawn from
Algiers to Kachna, at the distance of more than 800 leagues (2200 miles)
from the coast, passes through the three regions that we have just de-
scribed ; and there is every reason to believe that the whole of Northern
Africa presents similar characteristics and divisions. The kingdom of
Haoussa, of which Kachna is the metropolis, was conquered about thirty
years ago by a white Mussulman race called the Foulaues ; and thus, by
a singular chance, whilst a Chiistian power was establishing its dominion
in Northern Africa, Islam was imposing her arms and her creed on the
centre of that continent.

Between the Tell and the Sahara are vast undulations of ground,
celebrated for their pasturages, and called the Sersous.* This district
is the residence of wandering tribes and vast flocks of sheep, which con-
stitute their sole wealth, as they abstain from all agricultural pursuits.

Nominal Algeria, f that is to say, the old regency, is divided by a line
running nearly east and west into two distinct zones, called by the natives
Tell and Sahara. The Tell, according to some authorities, takes its name
from the Latin tettus (cultivable land) ; it constitutes the zone bordering
on the Mediterranean, and is the land of harvests and agriculture. The
Sahara stretches to the south of the Tell, and forms the region of pastures
and fruit. Hence the inhabitants of the Tell are agriculturists, and those
of the Sahara are shepherds and gardeners. The Tell is formed of a series
of fertile basins yielding almost exclusively different kinds of corn, espe-
cially wheat and barley ; and its flattest parts compose one of the richest
countries in the world, but at the same time one of the most uniform.
The chains separating the basins are clothed with timber, but being
peopled by Berbers are inaccessible to the Arabs.

The Sahara was long a fabulous land, being called by some the Great
Desert, and by others the Country of Dates, — contradictory appellations
resulting from 1 he confusion and imperfection of geographical knowledge
previous to the French conquest. It was very generally supposed that
from the mountains of the Tell to Nigritia there stretched one continued

* See note, p. 110, of Marshal de Castellanc's Souvenirs de la Vie militaire en Afrique :
Paris, 1S52.

t Sec the Exploration scientifique de l'Algeno ; Study of the Roads followed by the
Arabs, by E. Carette, introduction.

OROLOGY. 31

plain of sand, a wilderness infested by savages. Such is not, however,
the true aspect of the Sahara, which consists of a vast archipelago of
oases, each offering an animated group of towns and villages. A large
belt of fruit-trees surrounds each of these villages, among which the palm
rules supreme from its height and value, though you have also pome-
granates, figs, apricots, peaches, and vines. This massive verdure, with
its profusion of fruit and shade, may give the reader some idea of the
strong love entertained by the people of the Sahara for their country,
which must not be regarded in the light of a desei't till you have advanced
a great distance beyond the southern limits of the regency.

The Sahara also stretches to the south of Tunis and Morocco, the nor-
thern zones of those countries being likewise styled Tell. The Algerian
Sahara is comprised between the Tunis Sahara to the east, the Algerian
Tell to the north, the Desert proper to the south, and the Morocco Sa-
hara to the west.

Considered orologically, Algeria consists principally of the assemblage
of several chains of mountains running parallel to the sea-shore, i. e. in an
east-north-easterly direction, and intersected in their eastern extremities
by other transverse chains running east-south-east. It results from this
conformation that Algeria is divided naturally into two parts : one western,
where the accidents of the ground are very simple, and almost all subject
to the same direction ; the other eastern, presenting frequent crossings or
breaks, and for that reason displaying the loftiest points. The north of
Africa presents, as I shall shew, three directions of mountain-chains : one
parallel to the Mediterranean, running in an east-north-east direction, and
constituting the dominant ridge ; a second chain running in a north-
north-east direction, and determining the general direction of the coasts
of Morocco on the Atlantic Ocean, and also that of the Tunis coast — the
third direction is east-south-east, and presents itself distinctly in the ridges
of the province of Constantina and the regency of Tripoli ; it determines
the direction of the sea-board in the latter country.

This compound chain has its highest point in Morocco, where the
mountain named Miltsin, near the capital, attains an elevation of 3470
metres (11,398 feet) above the sea. The ridge sinks rapidly in the vi-
cinity of Mlonia, and its lowest points are about the meridian of Mos-
taganem, Mascara, and Saida, i. e. about the second degree west longitude
from Paris, where its greatest elevation does not exceed about 700 metres
(2296 feet). Farther east the mountains rise again as far as the Chellia,
the culminating point of the Aouress ridge, situated 108 kilometres (67
miles) south of Constantina, and rising to the height of 2312 metres
(7583-36 feet).

The Aouress mountain is the highest summit in Algeria and in the
whole country that lies behind Morocco and Abyssinia. To the east of the
Aouress the mountains rapidly sink to the Halouk-el-Mkhiba, 110 kilo-

32 OROLOGY.

metres (68*4 miles) east ofTebessa; this mountain is 1445 metres (4739-60
feet) high, and its summit seems to command the whole regency. The
Barian, which is almost the only chain in Tripoli, does not appear to rise
to a greater elevation than 800 or 1000 metres (2624 or 3280 feet).*

Algeria, at the time of its sovereign Hussein Pasha, comprised a great
part of the northern shores of the continent of Africa. Its territory at
that period extended from the fourth degree west to the sixth east longitude
of the meridian of Paris,t and from the thirty-fourth to the thirty-seventh
degree of north latitude. The Atlas chain runs through this territory, form-
ing a segment of a circle, of which the extremities approach the sea, while
the centre departs from it and approaches the desert. This great chain of
mountains must be divided into three zones, which extend east and west
in nearly parallel lines; and which may be appropriately styled the Great
Atlas, the Middle Atlas, and the Little Atlas. Each of these zones pre-
sents almost similar sinuosities. Between the sea and the Great Atlas,
which approaches the desert, is the Middle Atlas, a secondary chain, cut
by another longitudinal chain, which from east to west approaches more
and more to the shore; this latter ridge is the Little Atlas. A number of
smaller chains lie between the principal ones and the sea, forming so many
ascending steps or degrees. The most northerly point of the Great Atlas
is about 15 leagues (37 miles) from Setif, not far from the source of the
Ksour and Bousellam. To the west of Tlemsen, in the province of Oran,
the Middle Atlas is linked to the Little Atlas, J which latter range runs
over a space of about 100 leagues (250 miles), and reaches the Shellif,
which breaks through it at six leagues (15 miles) distance from Medeah.
This chain, which forms an elbow to the east by another branch (or spurt),
appears to advance south to join the Great Atlas ; while on the other
hand, by the Bibans, it follows an easterly direction to form a northern
angle at Constantina. It reappears on the right bank of the Seybouse as
far as the frontier of Tunis.

At six leagues from the sea the Tafna cuts the Little Atlas, and the
latter commands successively the right bank of the Isser and the left of
the Sig, which it crosses as well as the Habrah. Then it draws near the
shore, which it follows almost in a parallel line for 60 leagues (150 miles)
till it abuts in the Col de Mouzaia. Soon after having passed this point,
under the name of Djordjora, it dominates the Adouse, and for a moment
disappears at Bugia; but a little distance farther on it is again seen draw-
ins near the Middle Atlas.

The Atlas thus presents groups of parallel mountains intersected by
and containing a series of basins furrowed by streams in different di-

* Exploration scientifiquc ; M. Carotto's Geographic ct Commerce de 1' Algeria meri-
dionals.

t From 1° 39' 45" W. to 8° 19' 15" E. of Greenwich.

± Many geographers regard the Middle Atlas merely as a branch of the Littlo Atlas.

OROLOGY. 33

rectlons. Those rising near the sea, having hut a short course and a very
rapid descent, are at certain seasons furious torrents, and at others dry
beds. Those, on the contrary, that come from farther inland have to pierce
a channel through the] transverse ranges. Such are the Ouad-Rummel
and the Shellif, which have to hreak the barrier of the Lesser Atlas.*

In looking on the map of Algeria, f it may be seen that this country,
which extends in length between the Great Atlas and the sea about 250
leagues (625 miles), with a mean breadth of 120 leagues or 300 miles,
is divided from one extremity to the other into two regions by the chain
of the Little Atlas, the superior region lying between the Great and Little
Atlas, and the inferior or maritime between the Little Atlas and the sea-
coast. If you seek for the communication that nature has effected be-
tween these two regions, you will find dark and hilly defiles, by which
at three or four points the waters of the first region find their way to
the sea. These issues, opened by the force of the waters, are also occu-
pied by it. Man can hardly venture among them ; and thus the two re-
gions which these issues were intended to unite are still left isolated.
The division does not stop there. From the intermediary chain of the
Little Atlas numerous branch ranges are thrown out to the north and to
the south towards the Great Atlas on one side, and towards the sea on the
other. These tAvo regions are thus divided into a multitude of valleys,
with no common communication between them ; so that the country, di-
vided into two long halves by the Little Atlas, and subdivided into nu-
merous fractions by these branch ranges, somewhat resembles a chess-
board depicted by the mountains, natural barriers being thus offered to
the communication of the population inhabiting it. You may search in
vain for a natural centre to the broken country ; nature has refused it.
Neither are secondary centres to be found ; all the maritime region is
composed of narrow valleys running to the sea, and these being ranged
parallel to each other, resemble the stalls of a stable. Each glen has its
river, or more correctly its torrent, flowing from the far end, and follow-
ing a direct line to the coast. The valleys of the superior regions are
more extensive by reason of the waters, which, kept back by the barrier
of the Little Atlas, have formed vast basins. But they do not commu-
nicate one with another ; each is a little world in itself ; and to com-
mand two contiguous basins, it is necessary to take up a position on the
chain dividing them. We have previously seen that from Algiers to 40
or 50 leagues (125 miles) inland is called the Tell, and presents a surface
of about 1G millions of hectares.^

* M. Berbrugger's Algerie historique, pittoresque, et monumentale, — Introduction, by
M. De la Haye, editeur : Paris, 1843.

f This excellent description of the physical characteristics of Algeria is derived from
an article by the late M. Jouffroy in the Revue des deux Mondes for June 1838.

X It will be convenient for the reader to remember that there are about two and a half
English acres to a French hectare. 16,000,000 hectares = 40,000,000 acres.

34 POTAMOLOGY.

The principal river of Algeria is called the Shellif, after which we shall
enumerate the others in what appears to us the natural order of priority.
These are the Seybouse, the Suinmam or river of Bugia, the Habra, the
Tafna, and the Rummel ; the three latter being nearly equal in velocity.

The Shellif has the same length of course as the Garonne and the
Seine, but its basin is not equal to one-half of theirs. It appears about
equal to the Marne. In the state of Tunis the Medjerda has only two-
thirds the length of the Shellif, and it is also probable that it rolls along
a smaller volume of water. In the empire of Morocco, on the contrary,
the Omm-er-Rbia and the Tensift, though somewhat less in length of
course than the Shellif, seem to contain a more considerable body of water.
The Ouad-Sbour, which passes near Fas, is also an important river. These
are the principal water-courses in the north of Africa, and the mountains
from which they rise are the highest.*

Before, however, we proceed any further in individualising the rivers
of Algeria, we shall lay before the reader the intimate connexion between
the highest lands and largest water-courses of Barbary ;t thus generalising
the relation between the orology and potamology of the district under
survey.

There are four great water-courses in Algeria, and in all Barbary,
forming the four great arteries of the country. To the east the valley
of Lake Melr'ir' exceeds the eastern frontier of Algeria, and crosses in all
its length almost the whole regency of Tunis. To the north the valley
of the Shellif reaches the northern frontier of the region, which is the
Mediterranean. To the west the Ouad-Seggar reaches and passes the
western frontier to enter the empire of Morocco. To the south, the Ouad-
Mzab reaches the borders of the desert, which is the southern limit of
Barbary.

The region whence all the streams flow is a platform commanding all
the low lands of Algeria. The sources of the four rivers lie near together;
thus the Melr'ir' lake and the Ouad-Seggar are supplied by the southern
and western slopes of the Djebel-Amour. This mountain, which com-
mands all the plateaux of the four rivers, must be one of the highest in
Algeria; and hence the peak of El-Ga'da, which separates three of the four
great basins, and is held by the natives to be the top of Djebel-Amour, is
one of the highest summits of French Africa.

The seven basins, of which the east and centre part of the Algerian
Sahara consists, may be divided into two distinct groups : 1. to the
north, the basins of the Upper Shellif, the Zar'ez, and the H'od'na;
2. to the south, the basins of the Ouad-Mzab, the Ouad-Rir, the Ouad-
Souf, and the Melr'ir'. Except the Shellif, all these basins are shut ; they

* Exploration scicntifiquo ;' Geologic par M. Eenou, Par. I, Geographic physique,
f See Exploration scicntifiquo do l'Algene ; Rccherchcs sur la G<5ographie et le Com-
merce do l'Algi5rio mcridionale, par E. Carettc, Capitaino de Ge"nie, p. 70.

POTAMOLOGY. 35

also correspond in a general relation of direction ; thus the bottoms of
the north basins and the bottoms of the south basins are situated in two
parallel lines, in a N.N.E. direction, and distant about 250 kilometres
(155-4 miles).

In this interval the lines of the ridges, like the lines of partial bottoms,
also obey the direction of the extreme lines. If this E.N.E. direction,
which especially determines the configuration of Western Algeria, pre-
vailed also in the east of the regency, the basin of El H'od'na and that
of the Melr'ir' would send their waters, like the Shellif, to the Medi-
terranean. But another chain running E.S.E. extends without inter-
ruption from the Djebel Dira, under the meridian of Hamza, to the meri-
dian of Tebessa for about 400 kilometres (248-54 miles), and bars them
effectually. The chief rings of this chain are the Djebel Dira, the Ouen-
nour'a, the Bou-T'aleb, the Mest'aoua, the Aouress, and lastly the moun-
tains of Amamra and of the Nememcha. This first chain forms the
basin of El H'od'na ; another parallel chain rises to the southward, which
bars the basin of Lake Melr'ir', and determines the direction of the in-
ferior branch of the Ouad-ed-Djedi. It is at the Djebel Metlili that this
second fold is knotted on to the E.N.E. chain, and it is at the foot of
their southern slopes that the Sahara ends. The rivers that descend from
the Djebel Aouress all cross this second chain, to lose themselves in the
Ouad-ed-Djedi. This circumstance, joined to the great quantity of snow
that feeds them, and to the great degree of cold prevailing in these
regions, is an evidence of the elevation of the Aouress group, which is
the highest mountain-ridge in the eastern part of Algeria. Thus the
dominant masses of the Sahara, and perhaps of all Algeria, are the Djebel
Aouress and the Djebel Amour ; they determine the direction of the
greatest valleys, the one to the east and the other to the west ; and the
Ouad-ed-Djedi forms the link that unites them, since it receives the
southern waters of both.

Having thus endeavoured to analyse the great organic laws of the
orologj' and potamology of Algeria, we shall proceed at once to indi-
vidualise the characteristics of the principal streams of the region under
survey.

The doctrine of basins may be styled the philosophy of topography,
giving at once the key to the physical geography of a country. We have
seen that Algeria contains four primary basins, and that it is subdivided
into a number of secondary and tertiary basins.

The primary basins are the channels of, 1st, the Shellif ; 2d, the Ouad-
ed-Djedi and Lake Melr'ir' ; 3d, the El H'od'na and Chott-es-Saida ; and
4th, the Ouad-Mzab and Lake Ngouca.

The secondary and tertiary basins contain a series of salt lakes or
rivers ; the latter, or tertiary, generally situated between the Little Atlas
and the sea. We shall first give a brief survey of the hydrography of the

36 OUAD-MZAB.

l)rimary basins, subsequently noticing the others; and we shall begin with
the basin of the Shellif, the only Algerian river that finds its way from
the Sahara to the sea, because it flows through the only open primary
basin.

The Shellif rises in the north slopes of the Djebel Amour, 300 kilo-
metres (180 "41 miles) in a straight line from its mouth, but including its
bends 600 kilometres (372-82 miles). Its two chief upper tributaries
are the Ouad-Sebgag and the Ouad-el-Beida. The former, issuing from
the rocks of El-Khiar, falls into the Ouad-el-Beida, which, after traversing
the plain of that name, crosses the plain of Seresso under the appellation
of Ouad-el-Touil, receiving a number of small tributaries before reaching
the Shellif.

The Ouad-ed-Djedi is the chief tributary of Lake Melrir, the first basin,
flows 300 kilometres (186-41 miles) between the cultivable lands on one
bank and the sand on the other, and is often nearly dry, but after rain
a mighty sheet of water. Its name is thought to be derived from the
Berber, Idjdi, sand; Irzer Idjdi, the river of sand, corrupted in Arabic
into Ouad Djedi, the river of the goat. When the arable land forms
both its banks near El-Ar'ouat', it changes its name to Ouad-Mzi, a Ber-
ber term. It rises in the Amour, and is formed by several streams, the
Ouad-el-Bicha being the principal, rising by one of the highest summits
of the Amour. The Ouad-ed-Djedi is formed by the union of the Ouad-
Mzi and the Ouad-Msaad coming west, the confluence being a little south
of El Arouat ; it receives afterwards the Ouad-Bedjran, the Ouad-Mlili, a
river of fabulous size, owing to its vast channel, and a number of other
streams near the Aouress; all these flow in on the left, coming from minor
basins. The right bank presents few tributaries save the Ouadi-et-Tell,
a valley 130 kilometres (80-77 miles) long and 25 kilometres (15-53
miles) wide. This channel is generally dry on the surface, with water
underneath.

The basin of El Hodna is occupied by the salt lake or Sebkha Msila,
commonly called Chott-es-Saida, the bank of the Saida, which is, like the
Melrir, a vast salt-mai-sh. The Ouad-Msila rises on the north slope of a
mountain, and flows round to the south of it. A number of other Ouads
flow into the marsh, the chief to the north being the Ouad-Msila; to the
east the Ouad-Metkaouk, of the same rapidity as the Bemel at Constan-
tina, and never dry. The chief stream on the west bank of the Chott is
the Ouad-ech-Ohelal, which changes its name several times, and receives
many tributaries from the Djebel Dira ; on the south we have the Ouad-
bou-Sada and the Ouad-cch-Chair.

The Ouad-Mzab is the largest valley that pours its waters into the
salt lake Ngoi^a, a has fond, or marsh without an outlet. Its chief tri-
butary, the Ouad-Metlili, rises .at the west part of a plateau called El Ferad,
forming Djebel Mahiguen, a day's journey south of El Arouat, and parallel

THE LAKES.

to Djebel Amour. First it bears the name of Ouad-Mahiguen, then of Ouad-
Metlili near that town, and soon after reaches the Ouad-Mzab, which also
comes from the Mahiguen, and first bears the name of Ouad-el-Abied, the
white river. After passing through the oases, it falls into the Ouad-Noumrat.
A number of other streams swelling the current, it falls, under the name of
Ouad-Mia, into the lake Ngouca. All the streams of this basin dry up, and
deluge the country after rain. Notice is given by horsemen directly the
northern horizon blackens, gun-shots are fired as soon as the torrent ap-
pears, all objects are removed, and soon, with a terrible noise, the flood
rolls on, and the Saharian city stands by magic on the banks of the waters,
which rise to the palm-tufts; but a few days only elapse ere all disappears.*
The rivers of Algeria divide it into a great number of basins, of which
the following is a rough estimate:

square
miles.

square
myriametres.

Basin of the Shellif . . . .

. 17,325

450

>> }>

Habra and Sig

5005

130

>> >>

river of Bugia

3850

100

>, >>

Tafna .

2887

>> jj

Rummel, or Rem el

2502

>> }>

Seybouse

2310

The shut basins contain a much larger surface; the chief being those
of Melrir and Ouaregla; those of the Tell of Constantina may embrace
about 125 square myriametres (4424-5 square miles). The following
table gives the inclination of the chief rivers :

Chiffa, in the Mtidja

Seybouse, plain of Bona ....
Rummel or Remel, from Constantina to the sea

Tama

Mazafran, from Kolea to the sea .
Harrash, from the middle of the Mtidja to the
Maison carre"e

inches.

metres.

•0031

. -0008

•1053

. 0,0027

•0975

. 0,0025

•0975

. 0;0025

•0507

. 0,0013

•0250

0,0010

The inclination of jJ~g-=-0025 (about 1 inch in 390) is very common in
Algeria ; it is ten times greater than that of the Loire between Orleans
and Tours, and twice that of the Meurthe between Saint Die and Nancy.
The great mountain districts of Europe alone present similar inclinations.

These remarks apply also only to the lower part of the course of Al-
gerian rivers. Cascades are frequent, the most remarkable being that of
the Remel at Constantina, where it falls 70 metres (219-60 feet) in one
leap.-j-

* Exploration scientifique ; Geologie, par M. Renou, Par. I, Ge"ographie physique,
1-15.

f Height of the rivers at different points in their course :

Ouad bou Sellam, near Setif ....
Remel above the cascade

feet.

metres

3280

. 1000

1577-68 .

. 481

38 TERTIARY BASINS, ETC.

The surface of the lakes alone is considerable; the whole south-east of
Algeria presenting a country partly occupied by Sebkhas, and covering 500
square myriametres. The following estimate of surface may be depended
on:

Sebkha, or Salt Lake, dry in summer.
The Great Chotts of the province of Oran hectares. acres.

together 255,000 . . 012,000

Chott-el-Hodna, or the lake of Msila . .150,000 . . 360,000
The East (Chergui) Zarez .... 56,500 . . 135,600
The West (Gharbi) Zarez .... 28,300 . . 67,920

Sebkha of Oran 31,250 . . 74,500

Sebkhas of the plateaux of Constantina . 40,000 . . 96,000

Salt Lakes, never dry.

Fzara, near Bona 14,300 . . 34,320

ElMaleh 867 20,808

Fresh Water.
El Houbeirat, near La Calle . . . 2848 . . 6635 "2

El Horn- „ ... 2367 . . 5680-8*

The limit of the Mediterranean basin is formed by a sinuous line gene-
rally parallel to the main line (consisting of the long chain running east-
north-east, and containing the Djebel Amour), except at the centre, where
it reaches the summits of the Djebel Amour. It has a surface of about
1300 square myriametres (52,050 square miles) ; but it is decomposed into
a number of closed basins, such as

Basins of the salt lakes of Oran and Arzeu
Sebkha of the plain of the Mina .
Basin of the Fzara, near Bona

or about 32 square myriametres (123*2 square miles), which reduces to
12G8 square myriametres (48,818 square miles) the surface of the basin
that sends its waters to the sea.

The salt lakes, or Sebkhas, of the north slope present very clearly the
two dii-ections that prevail in Algeria; the seven principal lakes, lengthened
out to an extent of about 750 kilometres (466-03 miles), describing an
east-north-cast direction ; whilst those of the province of Constantina fol-
low an east-south-east direction. The former present a total surface of
725,000 hectares (1,740,000 acres); the others, about twelve in number,
may have about 35,000 to 40,000 (84,000 to 96,000 acres).

hectares.

acres.

248,000

. 595,200

31,250

. 75,000

322,000

. 772,800

Remcl below the cascade

Seybousc at the confluence of tho Ouad Chorf and

Ouad Zenati

Chiff'a, issuing from the cutting ....
* The last two are each of them three-fourths of the lakes of Thun and Brienz in
Switzerland.

feet

metres

1348-08 .

. 411

918-40 .

. 280

492

. 150

GREAT ORGANIC LAWS. 39

The aspect of Algeria is uniform; the existence or absence of forests
being the greatest feature. The country at Constantina is bare, at La
Calle woody. Drawing near the coast, you first see the higher summits;
but soon you come under a lower ridge of 1000 or 1200 metres (3280
or 3936 feet), almost always green, from Tunis to Tangiers, though there
are some breaks in this ridge at the towns, especially at Tenes and Oram*

The three prevailing directions of the mountains are not always clearly
perceived; at Constantina they look like a chaos. The highest points
seen from that town are the Guerioun, 1727 metres (566456 feet), and
the Nif-en-Nicer, 1534 metres (5031-52 feet) in height; from the Chet'tba,
eight kilometres (4-34 miles) from Constantina, you see the Aouress ; the
Djorjora is seen eight kilometres from Algiers ; and the Ouanseris at an
immense distance.

The Sahara is divided into two regions: the northern mountainous,
more populous, and better watered; the southern lower, less peopled, and
consisting of oases, and containing 253,000 square kilometres, or 97,405
square miles.

The separation of Tell and Sahara is more simple to the west, but
complicated to the east, where the line of separation descends to the south
face of the Aouress. This results from the greater height of the mountains,
for the Chot't region in the west corresponds exactly to the Sbakt of the
province of Constantina; but the lowness of the western mountains makes
the land sooner arid, there being fewer streams ; while in the east the lands
around the salt lakes are often very fertile ; hence the Tell is broader there.

The division of the two parts of the Sahara is very simple ; it is the
foot of the mountains, forming an obtuse angle, the west side parallel to
the great ridge or watershed, and the east side parallel to the E.S.E.
chain ; the same angle is described by the great salt lakes. This limit
is dotted with a line of k'sour, or walled villages, starting from Figuig to
the west, and joins the frontier of Tunis north of Nefta, This is a great
channel for the Mecca caravan.

The Ouad-ed-Djedi and the Lake Melrir indicate the same limit ; the
west country is not quite so well known. This north zone has every
where a breadth of about 300 kilometres (186-34 miles).

The Sahara has a west and east slope, traceable, but not so clearly,
into the Tell. Their line of demarcation runs a little east of Algiers, passes
by the Djebel Amour, then near Stiten, and on the east limit of the oasis
of Touat, Avhere it cuts the meridian of Paris in lat. 27°. A low chain of
hills coasting the road from Algiers to Timbuctoo separates the two slopes.
Dividing Algeria into two slopes, north and south, or east and west, the
Djebel Amour is the pivot and focus of its physical geography. The water-

* Exploration scientifique, sciences physiques ; Ge"ologie de l'Algerie, par M. E. Renou
]ere partie, GtSographie physique, pp. 1-14.

40 GREAT ORGANIC LAWS.

courses, of which the Shellif and Ouad-Djedi are the chief, irradiate from
this centre, whose height is about 1600 metres (5248 feet).

The oases depend entirely on the orography of the countiy, the moun-
tains supplying them with water, and giving them life.

Metlili and the Ouad-Mzab towns alone occupy valleys where streams
run beyond them. In all the other oases the rivers come to an end.
The angle and height of the mountains near Biskara explain the knot of
oases there. Ouaregla receives not only the north waters, but an im-
mense torrent, the Ouad-Mia (100 streams), from Insalah, in the oasis of
Touat. Other oases, like Ouad-Souf, have a knot of sand-hills instead
of a flat bottom ; this makes them salubrious.

All the south-east of Algeria is a flat uniform country, consisting
almost entirely of one sebkha, and embracing, with a part of the Tunis
Sahara, 500 square niyriametres (19,250 square miles), looking like the
sea.

Including the villages of El Goha and Ocdan, and all the tribe of
the Chamba, which would extend its south limit to the 30th degree of ]ST.
latitude under the meridian of Paris, Algeria would have a surface of 4700
square myi-iametres, (it has 390,900 square kilometres, according to the
Tableau de la Situation, i.e. 150,496-5 square miles), only one-tenth less
than France. The centre would then fall about the 34° 7' lat., and 1° 4'
east long, of Paris (3° 23' E. of Greenwich), i. e. between Demmer and
K'sir-el-H'iran.*

The division of Algeria into Tell and Sahara resulting from orology
and potamology, or what we may call natural hydraulics, depends on
geological and meteorological causes, to be determined by the quadrant,
the anemometer, and general scientific analysis and synthesis. It cannot
be doubted that a great icy chain of 5000 or 6000 metres (16,000 or
19,000 feet) elevation in Central Africa would convert the Sahara into a
Brazil or Hindustan.

Heights of the Plains, Lakes, and Marshes.

metres. feet

Medjana, south of Setif 1000

Hachern Reris (plain of Mascara) .... 350

Mitidja (at Mered Blockhaus) 148

Salt lake of Oran 60

Marsh of Bou Farik 43

Marabout of Sidi Denden, on a hillock in the plain of Bona 38

Lake Houbeira, La Calle 30

Lake Fzara, Bona

Plain of Bona

3280
1148
485-44
196-8
141-04
124-54
98-40

* The length of Algeria between Tunis and Morocco, i. e. the mouths of the Zena and
Adjeroud, is in a straight lino 974 kilometres (605*23 miles). This estimate is less than
M. Jouffroy's ; but it is that of the Exploration scientilique, and is probably the most
exact.

ELEVATIONS.

Slopes of Plains.

inches.
From camp of Ouad Khmris to the sea in the Mitidja . -4875
Plain of Orau towards the south, between the town and

the salt lake -234

Plain of Tlemsen towards the north .... -6084

metres.
•0125

•006
•0156

Central Asia lias much analogy with the Sahara, especially in climate :
the distance from the sea occasioning extremes, at 45° N. lat. in Asia, you
have the cold of Iceland and the heat of the Gambia.

The undertaking of the French to reclaim the landes of Gironde by
planting is not impossible in the desert. Many shrubs live with little
water, and might attract rains and give birth to springs. The attempt
is somewhat problematical and hypothetical, yet experience can alone es-
tablish its practicability or impracticability ; nor should we be too ready
to pronounce innovations Utopian in this age of wonders.

The height of the Ouanseris, whose name has been so disfigured, has
now been ascertained. It can be easily seen from Medeah, 106 kilometres
(65 miles) off, and from the Plateau des Santons above Oran, though 220
kilometres (136-64 miles) off. In January 1842 it was all white with
snow. The Aouress presents gentle slopes, the Djordjora steep ones, with
sharp needles, and some points covered with snow the whole year. The
Dolomite mountains, near Tlemsen and Ouchda, are the steepest points
in the west.

As regards the slopes of the plains in the Tell, those of Bona and of
the Habra are the flattest ; in the south-east Sahara, as previously observed,
you find immense flat plains, little raised above the sea.

Heights of Algerian Mountains.

kilometres.

108 (664 miles) S. of Constantina
94 (5S miles) E.S.S 24° of My
78 (48 miles) S.S.E. of Tenes
155 (96-31 miles) S.E. of Tiaret
157 (96 miles) S.E. of Blidah .
7 (4 miJes) N.E. of Milianah
47 (29 miles) W. of Philippeville
10 (6-20^miles) W. of Bona .
Kahar, Mountain of Lions 15 (9 miles) N.E. of Oran .
Bouzareah . . 4 (2-48 miles) W. of Algiers ,

Chellia (Aouress)

Djerdjera

Ouanseris

Amour

Mouzaia .

Zakkar .

Gonfi

Edough (Idour)

metres.

feet.

• .

. 2312 .

7583-36

2126 .

6963-28

. .

. 1800 .

5904

. .

1600 .

5248

. ■

1597 .

5237-16

. .

1534 .

5031-52

(7 capes)

1096 .

3587-88

972 .

3188-16

615 .

2017-20

• * •

402 .

1318-50

The mean slopes of the mountains are as follows

The Santons, at Oran, S. side
Gouraia (sea-face) Bugia
Zakkar, near Miliana .
Bouzareah, near Algiers, N.E. slope
Mouzaia, near Blidah .

metres.

inches

•0218

•8502

•053

2-067

•021

•819

•020

•780

•018

•702

ELEVATIONS.

It may not prove unacceptable to the reader to be presented here with
a table of the elevation of the chief towns in Algeria.

metres.

feet.

Telegraph of Djernadra above Blidah

1400

4592

1100

:J608

1100

360S

920

3017'60

900

2952

Fort Gouraia, 2 kilometres N. of Bugia .

671

2200-88

056

1851-68

. 500

. 1640

. 400

1312

, 286

938-08

Enrperor's Fort, Algiers ....

, 210

. 088-80

. 124

, 416-72

. 105

. ::44-40

Oran, top of the town ....

100

32S

65-60

Algiers, Place du Gouvernement, lowest part

. 20 .

65-60

Such are the broad features stamped by the hand of nature on this
country, which, like all other inhabited lands, has been arbitrarily decom-
posed by man, according to the whim of despots or the sway of races. The
political divisions of Algeria will be enumerated and analysed in the fol-
lowing chapter.

CHAPTER III.

$o!tttrat 6fograpIj».

POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF NORTH-WEST AFRICA POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF ALGERIA

LATITUDES AND LONGITUDES ARAB MENSURATION TURKISH DIVISIONS

AND SUBDIVISIONS SCEENTD7IC FRENCH DIVISION — SIX DISTRICTS DISTINC-
TION OF TELL AND SAHARA ESOTERIC ANALYSIS EXOTERIC DELI5HTATION

SURFACE ARAB APPELLATIONS ZONES AND DEPARTMENTS.

North-western Africa has been variously divided at sundry epochs,
according to the predominance of races and dynasties. The territory
of the Republic of Carthage appears to have corresponded in a great mea-
sure with the present regency of Tunis ; but its influence extended over a
much wider surface, embracing the greater part of Northern Africa, and
comprehending a great multitude of tributary hordes, who, like the present
Arabs, led a nomadic life. To this class belonged the ISTumidians, with
many tribes of Libyans, including possibly the Gastulians. The territory
of these tribes was naturally fluctuating, in consequence of the roving-
mode of life of its population ; but as soon as the Numidians stand forth
as a free people, and assert their right to distinct individual nationality,
their territory seems to have answered with tolerable accuracy to the
present province of Constantina in Algeria. The two Mauritanias, as
they were afterwards called by the Romans, comprehending the remaining
portion of Algeria and the empire of Moi-occo, were brought into a state
of partial and nominal dependence on Carthage by Hamilcar, the father of
Hannibal. But it is difficult to assign any definite limits to the lands
occupied by those nomades at this early period of history. The con-
test between Syphax and Massinissa, and the tragedy of Sophonisba, at-
test the uncertain sway of Carthage over her turbulent neighbours.

After the Roman concpiest we arrive at more precise territorial notions
respecting North-western Africa. The immediate district dependent on
Carthage received henceforth the name of the Province of Africa.* Nu-
midia was made tributary to Rome under native princes, and its capital
retained the name of Cirta, till the Emperor Constantine conferred upon
it his own title, which it has retained to the present clay, though corrupted

* Michelet's History of the Roman Republic, ch. iii. iv. v. ; Herder's Philosophie der
Geschichte, b. xii. sec. 4 ; Dr. Russel's Barbary States, ch. i. Montesquieu, Grandeur et
Decadence des Romains, ch. 4.

44 POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY OP ALGERIA.

by the Arabs into Cossantina.* Mauritania was divided into two pro-
vinces, Mauritania Csesariensis, extending from Numidia to the River Mu-
lueha, and Mauritania Tingitana, from the latter stream to an indefinite
limit, corresponding to the present southern border of Morocco. The first of
the provinces in question answers pretty accurately in length and breadth
to modern Algeria, the second is represented by the empire of Morocco.
The country to the south of these provinces, known by the name of Gae-
tulia, was in a great measure independent of the Roman sway, and em-
braced a considerable portion of the three Saharas of Tunis, Algeria, and
Morocco, besides an unlimited stretch of the true desert. Further details
respecting these divisions will be found in the chapter on archaeology.

The political geography of North-western Africa in the middle ages
is an obscure and intricate matter, as shifting and transitory in its demar-
cations as the Saracen dynasties that ruled it.

After the Arab conquest, the capital of North-western Africa, while it

remained subject to the Asiatic caliphs, was placed at Kairouan or Kairwan,

a city which they erected in the province of Africa, or the territory of Tunis,

fifty miles south of the latter town, and twelve miles from the sea. Under

the African Khalifsf the capital was at Mehadia. After the yoke of the

Fatimites had been thrown off by the Sanhadja Berbers, the first branch

placed their capital at Achir, on the road from Bou-Sada to Bugia, and

afterwards restored it to Kairouan ; the second branch placed it at Bugia,

in the province of Constantine of modern Algeria. The Almoravides,

another independent dynasty of Moorish sovereigns, made Morocco their

capital ; and the Almohades, who succeeded them, followed their example

till the division of their empire. Then the branch of the Beni Mrin made

Morocco and Fez their metropolis; that of the Beni-Zeian settled at Tlem-

sen in the province ofOran in modern Algeria, and that of the Beni-Hafes

at Tunis.

The reader will perceive from this outline that the political divisions
of Barbary during the middle ages were as confused and intricate as those
of our European sires. At the period of the Turkish conquest in 1515,
Algeria in particular had been parcelled out into a multitude of petty
states, each governed by a petty sovereign, and all independent of each
other. But leaving these insignificant divisions, which topcgraphically and
ethnologically are of no more importance than some of the smaller coun-
ties of England, we shall proceed to lay before the reader a compendious
sketch of the political divisions of North-west Africa since they have re-
ceived a permanent and definite seal by the Turkish conquest. After the
brothers Barbarossa had reduced the territory of modern Algeria to sub-
jection, they distinguished it from the Empire of Morocco to the west by
the mountains of Trara in the province of Oran, and from Tunis to the

* &sU*]aU~J Qosanthina. t The Fatimite dynasty in Egypt.

LATITUDES AND LONGITUDES. 4.J

east by the Ouad-el-Zaine, a river near La Calle. The breadth of the re-
gency has always been somewhat fluctuating, owing to the sandy border that
forms its southern limit ; but during the Turkish sway the tribes of the
oases of Zab and the Mozabites inhabiting the Beni-Mzab district were
partially and nominally subject to the Janissaries, who maintained a gar-
rison at Biskara. The empire of Morocco, since it came under the sway
of the present dynasty in 1519, has been confined to the limits of the
ancient Tingitanian Mauritania, extending from the river Mulvia on the
east to Tafilet in the south, and comprised between the Atlas and the
ocean. Tunis, since 1520, has corresponded in most respects to the an-
cient territory of Carthage and the Roman province of Africa, the Zaine
river forming its west limit towards Algeria, and the island of Jerba its
east limit on the side of Tripoli. The breadth of this regency varies from
100 to 200 miles.

Having given this rough outline of the political divisions of Barbary
down to the French conquest in 1830, we shall proceed to fill up the can-
vass with minuter details as regards the regency of Algeria, the special
subject of the present work. And first, as to the territorial subdivisions
of Algeria under the Turks, it may be desirable to state here that the
regency under the Ottoman rule was governed by a despotic sovereign
nominally dependent on the Sultan of Turkey, and named the Dey. The
seat of his residence was Algiers, which was regarded as the metropolis of
the whole regency, which comprehended four provinces or beyliks. These
were governed by three beys, who were officers nominally subject to, but
virtually independent of, the dey. The beylik or province of Algiers, being
immediately dependent on the dey, did not stand in need of a special bey ;
consequently, though there were four beyliks, there were only three beys.
The other beyliks, after Algiers, were Oran, the western, capital Oran ;
Tittery, the southern, capital Medeah, 73 - 32 miles from Algiers ; Con-
stantina, the eastern, capital Constantina. Since 1830 the province of
Tittery has been added to that of Algiers, and hence the present vice-
royalty of Algeria contains three provinces : 1. Algiers to the centre; 2.
Oran to the west ; 3. Constantina to the east. Of tbese the last is much
the largest. Proceeding to analyse the individual provinces, we find that
the distance of the city of Algiers from the nearest and principal points
in France is as follows.* The pharos of Algiers is 758 kilometres (471
miles) from the bottom of the port of Marseilles, which represents about
the centre of the town. Algiers itself lies 7° 26' south and 2° 34' west of
Marseilles. The distance from Algiers to Paris, measured between the
centres of the two towns, is 1342 kilometres (833-88 miles). The dis-
tances of Algiers from the extremities of France are, that from Port Ven-
dres 645 (400-79 miles), and from Dunkirk 1585 (984-88 miles). All these

* The latitude of Algiers is 36° 49' 30" N.

46 POLITICAL DIVISION BY THE TURKS AND FRENCH.

distances have been obtained by mathematical calculation. The town of
Oran is in 35° 45' 57" N". lat. according to French observations (35° 58'
English observation), and in 2° 4' 52" W. long. (24' W. of Greenwich) ;
and its distance from Algiers is 66 leagues (165 miles) west, and fifteen
hours' sail from Carthagena in Spain.

The town of Constantina is in 36° 22' 21" N. lat. (36° 28' in the Ca-
binet Atlas), and 4° 16' 36" E. long. (6° 26' E. of Greenwich), and is 320
kilometres (198-84 miles) E., and 7° 17' S. from Algiers, as the bird
flies.* In estimating land-distances in Algeria, it is very essential to be
careful in making the statements of the natives an authority. Arab mea-
sures are always uncertain, and often incorrect. Their principal distinc-
tions in mensuration are : 1. the day's march ; 2. the hour's march ;
3. the mile ; 4. the farsekt.t The day's march is necessarily very vari-
able, owing to what may be called subjective and objective circumstances ;
e. g. the motive of the traveller, and the nature of his vehicle, or the
country over which he journeys. The only divisions of the day known
to the Arabs are the times of prayer, or the position of the sun : these
are — El fedjer, daybreak ; Es s'bah', sunrise ; El oul, 10 a.m. ; El alem,
mid-day ; Ed dohor, 1 o'clock, p.m. ; El acer, 3 or 4 o'clock, p.m. ; El
mor'reb, sunset ; and El lil, nightfall. The term ' mile' when used by
the natives in Africa is also a variable and optional distance. By the
French, however, the distances throughout Algex-ia have been ascertained
with their usual mathematical accuracy ; and it has been found that
the actual extent of the whole vice-royalty from east to west, including
Great Kabylia, is between 240 and 250 French leagues (625 miles). This
estimate agrees imperfectly with that of Dr. Shaw, about 100 years ago,
who gave the regency a length of 480 miles. Its breadth from north
to south, that is to say, from the Mediterranean to the true desert, varies
from 60 to 200 leagues (120 to 500 miles), containing, according to the
computation of Marshal Bugcaud, an Arab population of from three to
four millions, though other authorities represent it as much less or
greater. % About two-thirds of this territory p resents a surface of rugged
and wild mountains, intersected, however, as we have previously seen, by
numerous fertile valleys in many parts. § It was in 1843 that, accord-
ing to the division of the Minister of War, French Africa was divided
into three provinces, Algiers, Oran, and Constantina, each of which were
made to contain several subdivisions. Thus Algiers was divided into Al-

* These diverging mensurations are from the Exploration scientifiquc, and the Cabinet
A i I i -■ and Universal Gazetteer.

•f" The farsekt is probably derived from the Persian mile, farsang, Tzapacrayyris, con-
sisting, according to Passow, of 30 stadia, or 3750 paces, three-fourths of a German mile,
or nearly four English miles.

% For further particulars on the population the reader is referred to the chapters on
the native races and statistics.

§ Dawson Borrer's Campaign in the Kabylie (Longmans, 1847), p. 233.

THE BEYL1K OF CONSTANTINA. 47

giers and Tittcry; Oran into four, namely, Oran, Mascara, Mostaganem,
and Tlemsen ; and Constantina into two, Bona and Setif."

The old province of Algiers was bounded to the east by the river Boo-
berak, to the west by the Massafran, and was much smaller than the two
others (the Tell), being scarcely sixty miles in length and breadth. Under
the Turkish sway, as previously observed, the ten-it ory or province of Algiers
Proper was independent of the other beys ■ and its kaids or mayors were
immediately under the dey, whose direct authority thus extended over a
circuit of six square German milest (120 English square miles). It is
proper to add, that the limits of this territory were very fluctuating,
owing to the caprice of the deys. who found it frequently convenient to
extend their direct authority by encroaching on the territory of the re-
fractory or obnoxious beys. Thus Blidah, which properly belonged to the
province of Oran, and the plain of Hamza to the iron gates (a mountain
pass), were administered by the aga of the Arabs, who had the direction
of the province of Algiers.:};

The Turkish province of Titteiy, which has now been swallowed up
in that of Algiers, was much smaller than those of Oran and Constantina ;
and its name has been derived by some from the Arabic iteri,§ cold, be-
cause it contains some snowy mountains. The four chief divisions of
Algeria under the Turkish rule were frequently classified as follows : 1.
the western province, or Mascara ; 2. the territory of Algiers ; 3. the
middle or southern province of Tittery ; 4. the eastern province, or Con-
stantina.

The western province was that of Mascara, now called the province of
Oran.

This province embraces now a surface of 102,000 square kilometres
(39,270 square miles), with a population of 600,000. The present pro-
vince of Algiers contains a surface of 113,000 square kilometres (43,50-5
square miles), with a population of 900,000 persons. ||

The province of Constantina lies between the meridians of the rivers
Booberak and Zaine, and is nearly equal to the other two in extent, being
upwards of 230 miles long, and more than 100 broad. This province
has a surface of 175,900 square kilometres (67,721-5 square miles), with
1,300,000 inhabitants,*]" and includes the remarkable district of Algeria
known by the name of Great Kabylia, which has long been celebrated
for the sturdy independence of its mountaineers, and has lately become
the theatre of some of the boldest French exploits in Africa. As we

* Dawson Borrer, c. 16, on the Arab tribes.
t Xackriehten nnd Benierkungen, &c.

J Adr. BerbruggerVAlgei-ie historique, pittoresque, et monumentale : folio, Paris,
1843, p. 27. § Blofeld.

II Tableau de la Situation des Etablissements francais en Algerie, 1850, p. 719.

* lb. p. 719.

48 ESOTERIC ANALYSIS.

propose devoting a special chapter to tins interesting region, we shall
confine ourselves on the present occasion to a few brief statements re-
specting Great Kabylia, which contains a surface of 7800 square kilo-
metres (3003 square miles), with a population of 370,000, and an average
number of 80,000 fighting men, presenting a sea-face of 14G kilometres
(90 - 72 miles) on the Mediterranean, between Dellys and Bugia.

Previous to the French conquest and exploration of Algeria, there can-
not be said to have been any proper or accurate political divisions in the
country. It is only lately that they have been methodically established
for the sake of convenience ; and we here introduce those approved and
suggested by the scientific exploration of the French government.*

1. The Algerian Sahara is intimately bound to the Tell ; and the
union of the two regions constitutes Algeria. 2. All the partial threads
that compose this web are divided into three distinct parcels. Thus some
are found in the east Tell (Bona, Constantina, Setif ) ; others in the centre
Tell (Algiers, Medeah, Milianah) ; others, again, in the west Tell (Oran,
Mascara, Tlemsen).

The Sahara is further divided into three parts : 1. the east Sahara ;
2. the central Sahara ; 3. the west Sahara. Thus Algeria, besides two
transverse zones, is decomposed into three meridian segments, formed of
the corresponding parts of the Tell and Sahara. We shall henceforth
adopt this classification.

Algeria, politically regarded, means all the territory comprised, really
or nominally, in the old pashalik. This territory is divided by the com-
mercial habits of its population into three meridian segments, called, 1st,
East Province ; 2d, Centre Province ; 3d, West Province. These corre-
spond to what the natives call Beilik-ech-Cherguiia, Beilik-el-Oustaniia,
Beilik-el-R'arbiia. Each province is divided into two regions — 1st, north.
2d, south — essentially different, and belonging to the Tell and Sahara.
Hence Algeria is divided into six distinct regions, called thus :

For Europeans. For Natives.

North. Tell.

East Tell Tell-ech-Chergui.

Centre Tell Tell-el-Oust'am.

West Tell Tell-el-E'arbi.

South.

East Sahara S'ah'rct-ech-Cherguiia.

Centre Sahara S'ah'ret-el-Oust'aniia.

West Sahara S'ah'ret-el-K'arhiia.

It will be seen that in the political as well as in the physical geo-
graphy of Algeria the great characteristic distinction is that of the Tell

* See page 81. part ii. of E. Carette's Rccherches sur la Geographic ot le Commerce de
TAlgerio muridionale, in the Exploration seientifiquo : 4to, Paris, 1844.

CONTRAST OP TIIE TELL. 49

and Sahara. Before we proceed to determine more accurately the fron-
tiers of the viceroyalty, we shall pause for a short time to consider the
most striking natural and social features of these regions. By deter-
mining the northern border of the Sahara or southern zone, we shall be
able at once to determine the outline of the Tell.

The limits of the Tell and Sahara'"' are determined by their produce.
There are, however, transitional, hermaphrodite regions or zones, where the
date and the ear of wheat equally ripen ; and there are others again which
produce neither : these latter zones, being unenclosed and unfit for culture,
come under the head of Sahara. The natives distinguish the zones thus :
the country where corn is the rule belongs to the Tell ; the country where
corn is the exception belongs to the Sahara.

The Ouad-R'is'ran divides Algeria and Tunis throughout its course.
At the point where it enters the plain of El Mitli there are ruins also
called R'is'ran. Here the limit of the Sahara touches the frontier of Tunis.
These ruins are at the foot of a chain of mountains which is prolonged
without interruption east to the Djebel H'adifa, near Gabes, in Tunis,
west to the Djebel Metlili, near El Gant'ra. The edge of the Sahara
follows the foot of these mountains. Leaving the ruins of R'is'ran, the
limit of the Sahara of Algeria, all through the countries that we have
studied, may be divided into three parts : the first extends from R'is'ran
to the Djebel Metlili, and remains constantly in the basin of the lake
Melr'ir'; the second extends from the Djebel Metlili to the peak known
as the Grin-el-Adaora (the little horn of the Adaora), and follows con-
stantly the basin of El H'od'na; the third extends from Adaora to the
village of Frenda, and remains throughout in the basin of the Upper
Shellif.

It follows that the Algerian Sahara does not advance so far north in
the eastern as it does in the western part of the viceroyalty. R'isr'an
is in lat. 34° 20', and 140 kilometres (86-99 miles) from the coast. In
the meridian of Dellys it comes to lat. 36°, and only 80 or 90 kilometres
(49*06 or 50 92 miles) from the coast. Thus in the east and centre the
Tell or corn-country passes beyond the limits of the basin of the Medi-
terranean ; in the west it does not reach those limits. The valleys of the
Ouad-ed-Djedi and Ouad-el-Arab produce in their lower parts dates and
grains, and are thus of a hermaphrodite nature. To the west the upper
basin of the Shellif only produces dates. Hence on the limits of the
Sahara there are doubtful districts, to the eastward doubly productive
valleys, to the west immense ungrateful steppes. These intermediate
zones present' three basins : to the east, double culture, that of dates and
corn ; to the centre, double culture intermixed with pasture ; to the west,
pasture only.

See chap. iii. of E. Carette's Recherches sur la Gdographie, &c , ubi supra.

50 TELLIANS AND SAnARIANS.

We have seen that the Algerian Sahara is divided into basins : 1st,
that of the Ouad-Mzab ; 2d, that of the Ouad-Zargoun ; 3d, that of the
Upper Shellif. The Ouad-Zargoun only enters partially into this terri-
tory, which may more correctly be analysed into four primary basins :
1st, the Lake Melr'ir' ; 2d, the H'od'na ; 3d, the Upper Shellif ; 4th, the
Ouad-Mzab : and into three secondary basins ; 1st, the Za'r'es ; 2d, the
Ouad-Eir' ; 3d, the Ouad-Souf. It is proper to add, that the inhabitants
of the Sahara know no other division of the country than that into oases
and tribes.

The contrast between the Tell and the Sahara and their populations
may be summed up as follows :

"The knowledge of the solar months, though necessary in agriculture?
is less spread in the Tell than in the Sahara. In the Tell the marabouts
give the signal for tilling and harvest. In the Sahara, where the labour
is more individual, each proprietor regulates himself the order of his work.
In the Tell there is great ignorance and apathy when epidemics prevail
or approach • in the Sahara, on the contrary, there is much foresight.
The Sahara contains a great many towns and villages, whose construction
does not imply any great skill, but much more than a tent, the usual
dwelling of the Tellians, excepting the mountaineers of Kabylia, who live
in houses. The Tellian only knows his neighbour ; the Saharian is a great
traveller. The first only knows the day's march as a measure of time ;
the Saharian knows the Roman mile. The Saharian believes in labour,
and seeks it — he is strong, active, and clever; the Tellian lazy and
awkward. The first men who greet you on landing at Algiers are Sa-
harians, who constitute the porters and carriers of the capital. The
question then arises, is there more civilisation in the north or south of
Algeria among the natives 1 Except the Kabyles, who inhabit the moun-
tains of the Tell, there is decidedly more civilisation in the south, and
even the Kabyles themselves are greatly inferior to the Saharians in
sociability, though equal in industry. The Saharians have a loftier mind
and a more lively imagination ; allegory is common among them, and
some know even how to paint. They are the only population in French
or all north-western Africa who shew a little vein of culture. If European
civilisation penetrates Algeria, industrial arts will go to Kabylia, but
letters and sciences to the Sahara."*

Having now analysed the chief features of Algeria esoterically, we
shall proceed to determine its limits more clearly in an exoteric point
of view.

We have said that the Trara mountains have been generally regardedf
as the western limit of Algeria, and stretch a considerable distance from

* E. Carette's Rcchercb.es, kc. p. 236.

t Dr. Shaw's Travels in Barbary ; Nachrichten iiber d. Alg. Staat. 1798, 1800, 3 th 1 th.
p. 10 ; Dr. Russfl's Barbary States, p. 315.

THE FRONTIER OF TUNIS. 51

north to south, the northern point constituting the promontory known hy
the name of Cape Hone. Some writers have represented the river Mullo-
viha or Malva to be the limit, which may have proceeded from the cir-
cumstance that the district between the Trara mountains and the Malva
river is almost a desert, and a kind of neutral ground in the possession
of roving tribes independent of Morocco and Algeria. The distance from
the Trara mountains to the Ouad-Zaine, the east limit of Algeria, is from
1° 40' W. to 9° 15' E. of Greenwich (4° 39' W. to 6° 54' E. of Paris).

A short distance to the west of Cape Hone is Twunt, which, with the
Trara mountains, is, according to Blofeld, the west end of the province of
Oran and of Algeria.

The natural frontier of the Algerian Sahara to the south was long a
doubtful matter ; nevertheless it has one which consists in a chain of
oases in Algeria. These are cut off sharp from the south by an abyss of
sand ; and proceeding from east to west, they occur in the following order :
the Ouad-Souf, the Ouad-Rir, the Temaim, Ouarcgla, the Ouad-Mzab,
El Abied, and Sidi Cheikh. Beyond this chain of oases, sands and
droughts are effectual barriers to the advance of ambition and commerce.
This desert is also the southern limit of Tunis and Morocco ; and North
Africa obtains in this manner the character of an island, whose clear limits
are the ocean, the Mediterranean, and the desert.

We have previously observed that very false notions have long pre-
vailed respecting the great southern waste that occupies so large a portion
of the surface of Northern and Central Africa. Sand is the smallest com-
ponent element of this district, and only extends a few days' march from
the coast, and then you reach a stony and arid table-land cut up into im-
mense valleys of 50 or 60 metres (1968 feet). This plateau abuts on a
mountain-chain running from Cape Bojador to an unknown limit to the
eastward ; but to the northward these mountains touch on Morocco, and
are clothed with forests. Sand is only met with in the lowest places,
Avhere you also find well-water, whereas the hills and plateaus have
none.

The oasis of Touat is surrounded at some distance by mountains to
the westward and north-west ; the country that separates it from Morocco
is scattered with them, but we know nothing of their distribution. Be-
tween Morocco, Algeria, and Touat lies an uninhabited desert without
any water, and south-east of Algeria exists a like country stretching to
R'dames ; but between the two, near Ouad-Mzab, there exists a moun-
tainous country which extends only a little way east and west, and appears
to end a little before El Goh'a. The whole road from Algiers to Touat
only presents sand around El Goh'a, which stands about half-way from
South Algeria to the oasis. The desert resembles many other countries
topographically, but it is distinguished by a number of great shut basins
with a sandy bottom, flat, and more or less salt, containing brackish water

52 THE FRONTIER OF TUNIS.

a little underground. The Arabs call these plains, which have beds of
salt, R'out.*

Passing from the southern frontier of Algeria to the east, we find that
the Algerian oasis nearest to the regency of Tunis is the Ouad-Souf; and
the Tunis oasis nearest to the regency of Algeria is the Belad-el-Djerid,
of which Neft'a and Tozer have an almost equal right to be called the
capitals. The frontier-line is not accurately determined, but falls near
the sand-mountain Bou-Nab, belonging to the Algerian tribe Bbeia ; and
the wells El Asli, belonging to the Tunis tribe Neft'a. There is a large
space of neutral ground between the two territories to the north of these
oases in the vast basin of the Lake Melr'ir'.

Negotiations have taken place between the French government and
that of Tunis, in relation to certain points, within the last few years, since
when the border-line has been more accurately determined. The limits
of the two states in their southern part are, the wells of Bou-Nab, the
sand-hills around the Ouad-Souf, the plain El Mita and Ouad-R'isr'an,
the course of the Ouad-Helal, the defile of Bekkaiia, the ruins of H'idra,
the course of the Ouad-H'ldra, the Ouad-Serrat, and the Ouad-Malay.

The reader should bear in mind that there are many neutral grounds
in Algeria, occasioned by the hostilities of tribes, some of them being 78 or
80 kilometres (50 miles) in width.

A few years ago there were but two practicable roads from Algeria to
Tunis, that along the shore, and that of the Sahara ; every where else the
traveller was murdered; and you could only follow the first-mentioned
route by paying the tribe of R'ezoan a duty of 25 fr. per mule.-j-

AVe have seen (p. 49) that the Ouad-R'isr'an divides Algeria and Tunis
throughout its course, and at the point where it enters the plain of El
IMiti are the ruins of R'isr'un, where the east end of the Algerian Sahara
touches the frontier of Tunis.

The French documents on the limits of Algeria and Tunis near the
coast are somewhat contradictory. | Thus the maps prepared at the Depot
de la Guerre have successively placed it at the ruisseau of Saint Martin,
near La Calle, and at the Ouad-el-Zaine, two leagues farther east. Ac-
cording to M. Berard, it ought to be the channel leading from the lake of
Tonetrue at one league and a half east of La Calle.

Marmol§ and Gramaye|| include the island of Tabarca in the province
of Constantina ; Pierre Dan^f also places the limit of Algeria towards Ta-

* Notice geographique sur l'Afrique septentrional^ by Renou, in the Exploration scien-
fcifique, p. 332.

f Recherches, &c. of E. Carette, in the Exploration, sciontifiquc, p. 17.

+ Baron Baudc's Algeria, i. p. 261), appendix, note.

§ Africa of Marmol, b. vi. c. 2.

|| Gramaye's Africa Ulustrata, 1. 10.

^ Pierre Dan, Histoiro de Barbaric et do ses Corsaires : 4to, 1637, Iiv. ii. c. 1.

NATIVE APPELLATIONS. 53

barca. Dapper* places Tabarca in the province of Bona ; and he fixes
the western limit of Tunis at the Ouad-el-Burbar and El Zaine, the ancient
Tusca. Peyssonel,f about 1724-5, places the limit of the two regencies at
Cape Roux.

Dr. Shaw says (1732) that the Ouad-el-Erg was for many years the

limit of the two regencies ; this stream flows from the lake of the Nadis

(of Tonegue) five leagues east of La CatlaJ But as the territory between

"the Ouad-el-Erg and the Zaine was often put under contribution, Shaw

places the frontier at the Zaine, four leagues farther east.

Shaler, the United States consul at Algiers (in 1826), places the limits
at Tabarca, at the mouth of the Zaine, in 9° 16' E. long.

Numidia and the territory of Carthage were in like manner separated
by the Tusca, now the Ouad-el-Zaiue ; Tabarca and Yacca were Xumi-
dian towns. In 1741, the Lomellini of Genoa paid 25,260 livres to the
government of Algiers, and 15,285 to Tunis, for the island of Tabarca ;
hence it is evident that Algiers must then have laid claim to the left bank
of the Zaine, because to the west of La Calle the commerce of the coast
belonged at that time entirely to the French.

Half-way between La Calle and Tabarca, and at the distance of three
leagues from each, Cape Roux advances into the sea ; and Mount
Khoumir, whereof the cape is a prolongation, rises in sharp peaks to an
elevation of 1000 metres (3280 feet). Its almost inaccessible ridge bi-
sects the contested territory, and has been placed as a limit between the
two regencies by the hand of nature; hence 'the Algerines and the men
of Tunis have never attempted to establish themselves permanently on the
opposite side of this cape to their own country, without the aggression
leading to discord and strife.

Algeria, limited to the oasis of Metlili and of Ouai-regla, presents the
following surface :

Tell 14S0 square myriametres. 56,9S0 square miles.

Sahara, (North zone 1400 „ „ 53,900 „ „

or S'ah'ra 1 Oases .- 1320 „• ,, 50,S20 „

4200 160,700

We have already seen (p. 41) that, comprising the villages of El Goha and
Ocdan, and all the tribes of Chamba, which would extend the southern
limit to the thirtieth degree of latitude north of the meridian of Paris,
Algeria would have a surface of 4700 square myriametres (180,950 square
miles), or only one-tenth less than France. The centre would then fall
about 34° 7' N. lat. and 1° 4' long. E. of Paris, or o° 23' E. of Green-
wich ; or in other words, between Demmel and Ksir-el-Hiran.

* Dapper, Description de l'Afrique r Amsterdam, pp. 1S8, 1S9, 199. 16S6.
+ Peysonnel, Voyage dans les Regences d' Alger et de Tunis : 2 vols. Svo, Paris ; pub-
lished first in 1838. "

J Berard says H leagues (3i miles) E. of La Calle, which is probably nearer the truth.

54 NATIVE APPELLATIONS.

The length of Algeria between the frontiers of Tunis and Morocco, i. e.
between the mouths of the rivers Zena and Adjeioud, is in a straight
line 974 kilometres (G05-23 miles). This distance is about the same
as that which separates the Point of Raz, in Cape Finisterre, from the
mouth of the Lauter in the Rhine ; the direction is about the same, and
the eastern extremities fall under the same meridian ; but the Point of
Raz exceeds the extreme west meridian of Algeria, because of the dif-
ference of the length in the degrees of longitude.*

The etymology of the word Tell is doubtful. The talebs (c^JU?),
who are the Arab savans, call seheur the inappreciable moment that pre-
cedes daybreak, when night is no longer night, and day is not yet day ; at
the period of the Rhamadan, as soon as you can distinguish a white thread
from a black one, abstinence is incumbent on all true Mussulmans. The
seheur precedes that instant, and it is more easily appreciable in a country
with a wide horizon ; hence, according to these sages, the name of Sahara
has been given to this region of lofty plateaux which comes after the Tell,
of which the etymology, according to some authorities, is not the Latin

word tellus, but the Arabic word tal (JU? to tarry ; \X (toul), length),

which means ' to be last,' because the seheur is only seen there later.
Whatever may be the true history of these etymologies, the French under-
stand by Tell the land that yields grain ; and by Sahara the land of flocks
and pastures. As an Arab named Mohamed Legras once expressed it to
Marshal Castellane, " The Tell is our father ; she who married it is our
mother ;" or according to the saying of the nomadic tribes, " We cannot be
either Mussulmans, Jews, or Christians ; we are the friends of our bellies. "t

The Arabs themselves sometimes style the people of the divisions of
Barbary, including Algeria, by their productions. Thus they call the in-
habitants of the towns the gold people ; the inhabitants of the Tell, the
silver people; and the inhabitants of the Sahara, the camel people.%

A name commonly applied by the Arabs themselves to the Sahara
is Blad-el-Djerid (the country of dates) ; an epithet that older European
geographers caused to supersede the more correct appellation of Sahara,
which they erroneously transferred to the Great Desert. The Arabs of the
Sahara, in familiar conversation, frequently style themselves Djeridi, which
might be rendered palmers.§

Wc have previously stated that the first plateaux of the Sahara are
named Serssous, and form a succession of mamelons or mounds of almost
equal elevation, following each other in succession for an immense distance •
you would take it to be the swell of the sea magically stayed and petrified

* Exploration scicntifiquc.
f Souvenirs do la Vie militaire, &c. pp. 253-4.

J Lo Grand Desert ; itine'rairo d'uno caravane au pays des N ogres, by General Daumas :
1850, p. 34.
§ Ibid.

LATEST POLITICAL DIVISIONS. 55

by some invisible band. Amidst cacb of these inundations are found
springs of fresh water ; and fertile pastures, with sbort and thick grass,
stretch away, supporting and nourishing those sheep so famous for their
delicious meat and valuable wool. Farther on and beyond the first horizon
of mountains, at twenty leagues distance from the mountains of the Tell,
begins the real Sahara : there Count de Castellane was informed that the
traveller meets vast, empty, and naked plains and mountains ; oases with
tapering palm-trees, and other lands where towards the spring and during
the winter you can still find pasturage for the flocks ; and farther still, at a
great distance, you come to the mysterious world of sand.'"'

The surface of Algeria, including the Tell and the Sahara, is reckoned
at 390,900 scpiare kilometres (150,496-y scpiare miles), wkicb amounts to
about four-fifths of the superficies of the eighty-six French departments.?
This territory contains 1145 tribes, with a population of 3,000,000; to
which if we add the population of the towns, we shall obtain a grand total of
3, 1 9 6, 1 40. Except some Kabyle districts between Dellys and Philippeville,
and a few tribes on the borders of Tunis, the whole Algerian Tell (137,900
square kilometres, or 53,09T5 square miles) may be regarded as entirely
subdued by France. The Sahara, embracing 253,000 square kilometres
(97,40*5 square miles), also acknowledges the French authority; but its
population is much thinner and more scattered than that of the Tell, and
the French troops only occupy a few detached posts in it. The influence
of the tricolor has now penetrated to the southern limits of the Sahara,
especially since the capture of Zaatcha and Laghouat, and the French
authorities have representatives in the whole zone of the oases, j

The esoteric political divisions of Algeria have undergone considerable
modifications since the organic decree of the 15th of April, 18-15, which
maintained the old division of the regency into three provinces. In the
first place, the territory of each province was subdivided into three zones :
i. e. the civil zone, under the administration of the common law as decreed
by the legislature of Algiers, and under the direction of the civil power,
save in the case of certain restrictions applicable to natives. 2dly, the
mixed zone, where the European population being thinner was placed under
an exceptional regime, all the administrative, civil, and judicial functions
being performed by military men. 3dly, the Arab zone, which was ad-
ministered by martial law.

* Souvenirs, &c. p. 255. 1852.

f The Tableau do la Situation and the Exploration scientifiquo differ slightly in their
estimate of the surface of Algeria, the former reducing it to 150,19b'"5 square miles, and
the latter extending it to 100,700, making a difference of 10,201 square miles. The ten-
dency of all colonial governments in general, and of the French in particular, to extend
their limits, easily accounts for the inclination shewn by our neighbours to encroach on
.the sands of the deserts, ultimately embracing a surface of 180,950 square miles, and reach-
ing the 30th degree of N. lat. See page 53, and Le Sahara Algerien, by General Daunias.

X Tableau de la Situation, &c. 1S50, pp. 77-79-

56 THE HANDWRITING OF THE ALMIGHTY.

The particulars relating to the administration of Algeria being minutely
described in another chapter, we shall here confine ourselves to changes
in the territorial divisions ; one of the most important of which was that
which, by a decree of the executive power of August lGth, 1848, decided
that the colony should be subdivided into parishes. By the decree of the
9th of December, 1848, the old division of Algeria into three provinces
was still preserved ; but the distinction between the civil, mixed, and Arab
zones was suppressed, and Algeria was simply divided into civil territories
or departments, and into military territories, whose limits were fixed by the
executive power. The civil territories have been erected into three depart-
ments, taking the names of the three provinces.*

Before concluding our sketch of the political geography of Algeria, it is
Avell to describe a few divisions of the territory peculiar to the natives, and
which we have hitherto omitted.

A general and wholesale division applied by the Arabs to the whole of
north-western Africa is that according to the cardinal points. The south,
a vague and indefinite term applying to the Great Desert and Soudan, is
the Guebla. The west, including Morocco, and if you confine yourself to
Algeria, the province of Oran, is El Garb, or J'harb, whence the native
name for the empire of Morocco is Moghreb, and its people are styled
Moghrebins. The east is described by the word Cherg, and admits of an
unlimited extension : in its narrowest sense it may mean the province of
Constantina in Algeria; in its widest sense it may embrace Egypt, Arabia,
and the Levant.

Exoterically the Arabs call all other countries Beurr-el-Adjem (except
the Berber districts) where the Arabic tongue is not spoken, even if the in-
habitants should be Mussulmans. The spelling of Adjem is the same as
that of the word adjem, meaning ' ox;' and we are disposed to think that
the Arabs in their pride compare all who do not speak their tongue to

beeves ; adjel ( J-s-) in the singular signifying the ox that has not been

broken into the yoke, i.e. a calf.t

Empires depart, races dissolve, religions change phases, form, and sub-
stance; but the handwriting of the Almighty on the trackless sands and
the everlasting hills remains the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.
Carthage has become desolate, and the royal Hippo a habitation for
dragons; but the three zones of Herodotus still remain as fresh and dry
as ever, whilst old Atlas cuts the blue vault with his peaks, and the grace-
ful palm still nods its crest unchanged over the waving murmuring oasis.

* Tableau do la Situation, &c. 1850, pp. 77-79".

+ Le Grand Desert, &c., by General Daumaa, p. 161.

CHAPTER IV.
Algiers.

PRINCIPAL FEATURES OF THE PROVINCE OF ALGIERS THE SIIELL1FF THE HAEATCH,

THE MASSAFRAN, AND THE ISSER THE MITIDJA — THE SAHEL SIDI-FEE-

RUCH CAPE MATIFOtS ALGIERS — THE OLD PORT THE NEW PORT — STREETS

HOUSES BAZAARS THE CASBAH THE FAUBOURGS.

IXAVIXG given a general outline of the physical and political character-
X istics of Algeria, it is our purpose to launch forthwith into a minuter
topographical analysis of the regency. And in order somewhat to
diminish the dulness of dry details, we propose to interlard our pages with
copious and apposite extracts from the most recent visitors in Algeria,
illustrative of the scenery and topography of French Africa.

Before analysing the province of Algiers, we shall besrin, as in our larger
survey of the whole regency, by a broad outline of its natural features.

This province comprises, like the other two, its Tell and Sahara, and is
bisected twice by the two Atlas chains. The Djebel Amour towers aloft
in the southern part of the Sahara, which is watered by the Ouad-el-Djedi,
which passing the town of El Agrouat orLaghouat, flows east into the pro-
vince of Constantina. Farther north we find the two Zarhez lakes, called
Chergui and Gherbi, east and west.

In the east of the province the chief feature is the Djorjora range of the
Atlas in Great Kabylia, which will be described in another place ; and near
the sea we have the Great Mitidja plain and the Sahel coast-ridge, of which
more presently. The chief river is the Shelliff,* rising at the Djebel Amour,
at a place called Sebbeine-Ain, the 'seventy fountains.' Its first tributary
is the Nahar-wassal, from the west. Running N.E. it flows past Boghar,
near the sanctuary of Sidi-ben-Tyba, a little below Medeah; then pass-
ing close to Millianah, it flows west, washing the walls of Orleansville,
near which town it enters the province of Oran. It receives large contri-
butions the whole way, especially the Ouad-Midremme, the Ouad-Aradji,
and the Ouad-Foddha. The river Haratch is the Savus of the ancients,
and about one hours' march to the east of Algiers. It is a considerable

* Blofcld's Algeria Past and Present. 1S44. Blofeld asserts that the whole course of the
Sholliff from the Sebbeine Ain to Djebel Diss, i- e- the mountain of Sparturn, or reedy grass,
is little short of 200 miles.

58 THE MITIDJA.

stream, which takes its rise in the mountains of the Little Atlas to the S.E.
of Blidah, a French post and small Arab town situated about 10 leagues
(25 miles) almost direct south of Algiers. The Haratch traverses the
Metidja plain, where it is about 11 leagues broad (29^ miles), and falls
into the bay of Algiers 3 or 4 miles to the east of the metropolis. The
water of the river is muddy and brackish, and in winter it is subject to
great inundations. Its principal ford is called the Gue de Constantine ;
and when Mr. Borrer visited the regency, the French wooden bridge was
carried away, in November 1846, during the prevalence of an unusually
wet season, which occasioned extensive and disastrous floods in the Mi-
tidja plain. The wooden bridge in question sailed down the torrent on
that occasion, and went to pay a visit to the strong Turkish bridge which
is built five miles lower down.'"'

The Isser's chief source (according to the French map of the province
of Algiers, drawn at the Depot general de la Guerre, for 1846) seems to be
near Berouaguia, about 15 miles S.S.E. of Medeah, and in the territory
of the Beni-Hassan. From thence flowing under different names in aN.E.
direction for about 45 miles, it suddenly turns in the territory of the Beni-
Djaad almost direct north, and flows into the sea some 5 miles to the
west of Cape Djinet, a promontory situated about 45 miles to the east of
Algiers.

We shall pause for a moment to remind the reader of the present poli-
tical division of the province of Algiers, which, as has been previously
observed, contains at the present time the territory attached to the metro-
polis and the province of Tittery, according to the divisions under the
Tm-ks. This division of the viceroyalty is still much smaller than the
other two constituting the provinces of Oran and Constantina, from the
former of which it was till lately separated by the river Massafran, and
from the latter by the river Booberak. The province of Algiers is ana-
lysed into two subdivisions, which are those of Algiers and Tittery ; and
contains only 113,000 square kilometres (43,505 square miles). t Nor is
it in general so mountainous as the other provinces. The sea-coast to the
breadth of five or six leagues (12 or 15 miles) consists principally of rich
champagne grounds, behind which are a range of rugged mountains com-
posing part of the Little Atlas chain, running almost straight and parallel
to the coast. Beyond this range, and particularly in the neighbourhood
of Medeah, Titterie Dosh, and Hamza, the ancient territory of the Tulansii
.and Banniri, are extensive plains, though none of them equal to that of
Metijiah.

The latter plain, sometimes written Mitidja, together with the range
of hills called in Arabic Sahcl, on which the metropolis is built, constitute
the most important features of this province. The Mitidja is a vast level,

* Dawson Borror's Campaign in the Kabylio, p. 16.

t Tableau do la Situation des Etablissemonts, kc. 1849-50, p. 719.

THE B0UJAREA1I. 50

situated between the north slope of the Lesser Atlas and the Sahel, and
bounded to the east by the lofty mountain-range of Kabylia, in the pro-
vince of Constantina. It is watered by two rivers, the Haratch and the
Massafran, and is as flat as a billiard-table over its whole superficies. It
varies from three to five (and some say eleven) leagues in breadth, forms
a semicircle of about fifteen leagues, and touches the sea in two places, —
at the Fort of Maison Carree, a little to the east of Algiers ; and just below
Scherschell, formerly in the province of Oram The Mitidja entirely dif-
fers from the Sahel, or as it is sometimes called the Massif, or chain of
Algiers. It has been in turn noted for its fertility, for its barren sands,
and for its unhealthy marshes. All these statements are true, though
apparently contradictory, as the plain contains all these differences in its
ample embrace. Several Roman roads used to cross it; the most important
of them, following the coast, can be traced to the eastward and west of
the metropolis in the direction of Dellys and Scherschell.'"'

This plain is represented by eye-witnesses as a perfect desert now,
compared with what it was in 1830 and previous to the French conquest,
when upwards of twenty thousand Moorish villas and farms are stated to
have dotted its verdant surface, f

The Mitidja is a fine valley, eighteen leagues long and six or seven
broad (45 miles long and 14 or 15 wide); it is only slightly undulated
even at the water-shed separating the basins of the Haratch and Hamiz
from that of the Massafran. J The Atlas and the Massif or chain of Algiers,
which limit this plain, rise almost suddenly from it without any slopes.
The Mitidja to the west is bordered by the Sahel hills, which do not
attain any very considerable elevation, and are cut through by the
river Massafran in order that it may reach the sea ; and to the north-east
its boundary is formed by the sand-hills that the Haratch and Hamiz
cross at their mouth. It is well cultivated near the mountains, and marshy
in its lower parts; its aspect is generally bare : yet in some parts you
see, especially to the south, agricultural establishments and Arab ham-
lets surrounded with impenetrable hedges of Barbary figs, and with plan-
tations of olives, carob, jujube-trees, and some elms. The northern slope
of the Little Atlas is covered with brushwood, chiefly oaks and lentisks,
and is cut by great valleys, from which issue the streams that water
the plains.

Having completed our description of the Mitidja plain, we turn next to
the Sahel range, also known by the name of the Boujareah. This hilly
district, containing a superficies of twenty-five square leagues (125 square
miles), is washed to the north by the sea; to the east by the Haratch; to
the west by the Massafran ; and the south descends abruptly into the plain.

* Baron Baude's Algene, 18-11. The French in Algiers, by Lady Duff Gordon, 1845.
f St. Marie's Visit to Algeria; D.Borrer's Campaign, &c.p. 16; Pananti's Avventure, 1817-
£ Berbrugger, Introduction, p. 6.

60 SIDI-FEIUIUCH.

It is intersected by numerous valleys, which are well watered in winter,
but dry in summer. The Sahel, which constitutes an isolated range, oc-
cupies in front of the Mitidja an almost elliptic area of 33,000 hectares
(82,000 acres); the sea bathes its northern hemicycle, and Algiers is built
on its side exposed to the Levant or east. The soil of the Boujareah
is in general strong and good : the thickets that cover a large part of
its surface consist principally of carob, lentisks, wild olives, &c, which
are greatly injured by the cattle that are suffered to wander over the
country. Here and there, however, you meet Jerusalem pines, whose
vigour shews the nature of the soil to be adapted for the growth of wood.
The Sahel hills are the last slope of -this range to the south, and rise
suddenly from the plain to the height of 150 metres (487 feet). The
Boujareah has lost many of the sources that it once had, which supplied
in the time of Pere Dan one hundred fountains in Algiers. The Ouad-
Kniss, called by Nicholas de Nicolai (1587) the Savo, used to be a large
stream, and is now only a thread. It contains, however, many dry springs,
the drying up having resulted in all probability from the stripping of the
woods.*

The ridge of Algiers presents a very regular system of gradually as-
cending hills, cut by numerous gullies ; it sheds its waters to the south
into the plain, to the north they fall directly into the Mediterranean. The
culminating point of the Boujareah is 400 metres (1300 feet) above the
sea. This massif or ridge is covered in the neighbourhood of the town
with agreeable habitations, where abundant springs keep up perpetual
freshness and vegetation ; but it does not present a pleasant appearance
on the top : the land there is dry, stony, and covered with short shrubs ;
but the ravines when watered are woody, and capable of great cultiva-

tion.f

In individualising the minuter features of this province we shall begin
with a description of the sea-coast, and deposit the reader at first on the
peninsula of Sidi-Ferruch, where the French army landed in the invasion
of 1830. After leaving the river Massafran, the western limit of the pro-
vince under the Turks, the first object that meets the eye is a small tower
upon a rocky cape or isthmus, stretching about a furlong into the sea.:}:
This is the marabout, or tomb and sanctuary, of Seedy or Sidi-Ferdje, or
Feredje, corrupted by the French into Sidi-Ferruch. This building stands
on the extremity of the peninsula, which is situated about half-way be-
tween Scherschell (Julia Coesarea) and Algiers (Icosium), and advances
about one-third of a league (two-thirds of a mile)§ into the sea, with a
breadtli of 8000 metres (26,240 feet). The istlimus leaves two bays, one
to the eastward and the other to the westward, or to the right and left,
bordered with wide beaches and sand-hills. The ground of the peninsula

* Baron Baudc's Algeria, 1841, i. pp. 78-81. t Idem.

X One-eighth of a mile, according to Bloi'uld. § According to Berbrugger.

SIDI-FERItUCII. Gl

is mostly low and sandy, but it rises to the extremity and forms a rocky
eminence with several constructions. The chief among them is the mara-
bout above mentioned, with a minaret or square tower, to which the Spa-
niards have attached the name of Torre-chica. The Arab name is Sidi-
Feredje, the latter being the name of the native saint buried there, and the
word Sidi being an Arab title corresponding to our lord. The creeks of
Sidi-Ferruch offer at present a refuge and shelter in stormy weather to the
sandals of the country and other small craft. They anchor, according to the
wind, to the east or west of the peninsula. The natural jetties of rocks
by which these creeks am protected might easily be converted into moles.*

The peninsula can boast of five wells of brackish and one stream of
good water ; and at the distance of about nine miles to the north-east
begins the high chain of Bouiareah, here called Sahel, a word meaning
coast, shore. t Between Sidi-Feredje and the Sahel are some plains, on
one of which, bearing the name of Staoueli, an engagement took place be-
tween the French army and the Turks in 1830.

Before Khaireddin Barbarossa had made a port at Algiers, Sidi-Feredje
and Cape Matifou were frequented by the merchant-ships that resorted
to the capital. After this change it was still preserved from total neglect
by the veneration attached to the marabout, whose name, according to
Baron Baude, ought to be spelt Esseid-Efroudj, an epithet corresponding
to the Catholic appellation mon sieur St. Denis. The Mussulman popula-
tion have long been firmly persuaded that miracles are performed on this
spot by the supernatural power attributed to the saint ; and a marvellous
legend records how a Spanish captain who had offended the saint had his
ship three times enchanted back to the isthmus because he had some
portion of the Sidi's property on board. The third miracle operated, of
course, conclusively on the mind of the obdurate Spaniard, who forthwith
underwent circumcision. It is somewhat remarkable, however, that long
before the French conquest a tradition was current in the country to the
effect that the French would enter by Sidi-Feredje, and leave it by the
Isser.j The surface of the peninsula is about eighty hectares, and the
marabout on the top of the rock is not wanting in elegance. The promon-
tory terminates in the shape of a T, created by a bank of high rocks which
is prolonged by islets, and forms on its sides two little shelters sufficiently
valuable on this exposed coast. On the platform of the marabout, on the
14th of June, 1830, the lily flag of the Bourbons was hoisted by Jean
Sion, captain of the maintop of the Thetis, and by Francois Louis Beunon,
a sailor on board the Surveillante, who were the two first Frenchmen of
the expedition that landed on the African shore. §

The marabout of Sidi-Feredje has long been a noted landmark for

* Baron Baude, ii. p. 56. f i}^>- l~J

J Baron Baude, i. 55. § Idem, p. 54.

bX SIDI rERRUCH.

sailors, who generally know it by the name of Torre-chica, a term meaning
in Spanish ' the square tower;' and the peninsula is avowedly one of the
most convenient landing-places on the coast of Algeria ; hence its great
importance to the power possessing or invading Algeria, a fact ascertained
by the French in 1830. If a fort were built on the rock of the marabout,
the landing would be rendered almost impossible, and elsewhere it would
have been attended with great risk. The genius loci and the fortified lines
traced in 1830 would put an establishment in perfect safety from all at-
tacks of the Arabs on the land side.

To the westward of Sidi-Feredje, between the point of Scherschell and
Cape Aquathir, are every where scattered the remains of ancient cities.
Scherschell, which we shall describe more minutely in another place, is a
little town of potters and corn-merchants formerly included in the pro-
vince of Oran, and is thought to stand on or near the ruins of Julia Cae-
sarea, the capital of Csesarean Mauritania, and the royal town of Juba II.
under the protection of Rome.

As we propose to devote a special chapter to the archaeology of Algeria,
we shall avoid any farther details of antiquities on the present occasion.
Not far from the mouth of the Massafran, and below the town of Coleah,
is another marabout named Sidi-Fouqua;* and between Sidi-Feredje, Ras-
Accon-Natter, and Algiers is the tomb of Sidi Halliff, another marabout
about half-way between the peninsula and Algiers. Haifa league W.N.W.
of Sidi-Hallift' is the Ras-Accon-Natter or Cape Caxines, beyond which
and about three miles to the south-east is the harbour of Algiers, -j-

As the port of Algiers is described in another place, the present obser-
vations apply to the bay. Pointe Pescade, one league and a half north-west
from Algiers, is the most advanced portion of the chain of Boujareah.
Proceeding thither from the capital, you coast along a beach of about 800
metres, shut in between the point of Sidi-Kettani and that of the Salpe-
triere. A little farther on, two sources flow from the hollow of the rock
into the sea; and Moorish women, with their attendant negresses, are re-
ported still to frequent them, as in the days of Henri Quatre, performing
various ceremonies savouring of sorcery and fetichism, such as burning
incense and myrrh, and cutting off cocks' heads.J The road from the
capital to Pointe Pescade crosses several ravines, which are dry six months
in the year, and is bordered in some parts on one side by the sea and
dangerous precipices, while on the left it is flanked by steep slopes. The
soil consists of argilo-calcareous earth mixed with stones. §

Nine hundred metres (2952 feet) north-west of the jetty of Khaireddin,
the point of Sidi-Kettani projects to the E.N.E. towards the high sea, by
a reef of submarine rocks, which ends in the rock Mhatem at 460 metres

* Berbrugger's Algeria, 1843, p. 2. + Blofeld, p. 30.

+ Baron Baudc, ii. [>7 and following. § Idem, i. p. 117.

BAY OP ALGIERS. 63

(1508-80 feet) from the land. The latter islet is only covered by forty
centimetres (15*1G inches) of water.*

To the south of the capitalt the coast forms a small creek, where it
might be supposed that vessels could safely find shelter ; but during the
north winds there is a very dangerous surf. The European merchant-ships
used to be obliged to anchor in the bad creek called of the palm-trees, situ-
ated towards the middle of the faubourg Bab-azoun, beyond Ras-Tafourah ;
and they were in constant danger there, as the least wind raised a heavy
swell, from which they had no protection.^ The rock continues to the
opening of a deep ravine, which discharges the rains from the neighbour-
ing heights into the sea ; beyond this an extensive beach presents itself,
wdiich insensibly curves northward to the river Hamiz, forming thus the
greatest part of the circuit of the bay. This beach is generally very wide,
and when the sea-breeze sets in, the waves break continually over it, even
in fine weather ; viewed from the hills by the Fort of the Emperor, it pre-
sents a wide border of foam. The eastern part of this bay is closed by a
steep and precipitous shore, which rises gradually to Cape Matifou. At
this extremity there is a very good anchorage upon a bottom of sand and
mud, and sheltered from the east winds. Crossing the Hamiz, another
considerable stream, you arrive at Temendfuse, corrupted by the Franks
into Matifou, a low cape with a table-land in the middle of it, and a small
castle built by the Turks to defend the adjacent roads, which once consti-
tuted the chief station of their navy.§

Cape Matifou was the station of the Turkish galleys that used to bring
a new pasha to the Algerines from Turkey every three years, and his arri-
val was always notified to the city by a gun-shot. || There exist several
remains of an ancient city named Rusguniee at Matifou, which will be
noticed in the chapter on Archaeology. Cape Matifou forms the eastern
limit of the gulf of Algiers. Between the mouth of the Hamiz and the
northern slope of the cape there stretches a mile of highland, and this spot
would be healthy were it not for the vicinity of the marshes. After the
disastrous tempest which scattered the fleet and hopes of Charles V. in
1541, he was forced to march from Algiers to Cape Matifou in order to
embark his troops. He embarked from the ruins of Rusgunia?, of which
there existed at that time more remains than appear at present. His army
marched on the 27th of October from the suburb of

kilometres. miles.

Babazoun to the Haratch 9 . 5*59

The 28th from the Harateh to the Hamiz . . . 12 7'45

The 29th from the Hamiz to the ruins of Rusguniae .3 . . 1 - Sb'

Distance by land from Algiers to Cape Matifou . . 2£ U'90

* Baude, p. 30.

■f Described more minutely in the following chapter.

£ Berbrugger, p. 27. § Blofeld, p. 30 and following. || Berbrugger, p. 2<

64 ALGIERS.

The emperor embarked on the first of November on the fleet of Andrew
Doria, which weathered the Cape Matifou after unheard-of difficulty/' 5 '
Further details of this interesting expedition will be found in the chapter
on History.

Cape Matifou is a very important strategical position to the power in
possession of Algiers ; for it is evident that at the spot where Charles V.
embarked a discomfited army in a stormy season, others more fortunate
might accomplish a successful landing ; and the disposition of the ground
would enable an enemy to establish himself strongly thus near to the
capital. These reflections led Baron Baude to perceive and suggest the
importance of building a fort on the cape.t

Thus it appears that the gulf of Algiers forms a semicircular indenture
in the coast, three leagues in diameter and open to the north. j Its shores
are mostly desert, and the bottom of the bay is bordered by sand-hills,
which though not exceeding an elevation of forty metres (130 feet), yet
effectually stop the waters from the plain of Mitidja, in such wise that
even the Haratch and Hamiz can hardly get through. Hence there re-
sults a zone of marshes one league in depth, which at a rough estimate
presents a surface of 1200 hectares (3000 acres) to be drained.

Beyond the rivers Regya, Budwowe, Corsoe, Merdass, and Isser, which
run not far from each other and descend from the Atlas, is the little port
ofDjinet, where a quantity of corn is annually shipped for Europe. Djinet
is a small creek with a tolerable anchorage before it. The sea-shore, which
from Algiers to Temendfuse, and thence to this place, had few rocks and
precipices, begins here to be rugged and mountainous ; and among these
hills, three leagues further east, is the mouth of the Booberak, which
formed the east boundary of the province and separated it from that of
Constantina till recently. §

Before we make a tour into the interior of the province of Algiers, we
shall transport the reader, with his kindly permission, to the busy quays
and streets of the capital, and make him familiar with its scenery and
population.

The distance from Algiers to Port Mahon in Majorca is 64 maritime leagues.||

To Palma 57 „

To Ivica 58 „

We have already seen that Algiers is built on the northern slope of
the Boujareah range, whose highest point is 1312 feet above the level of
the sea, and which has a circuit of 90 kilometres (55-02 miles). The
sea defends 44 kilometres of this ridge (27'34 miles), and the Haratch

* Baron Baude, i. 73. t Idem, p. 76.

J Blot'eld represents it 8 to 9 miles wide and 4 deep.
§ Blofcld, p. 30 and following. || Twenty-four hours' voyage.

ALGIERS. 05

and Massafran 10 (G20 miles); thus leaving only 25 (14-53 miles) to be
defended by art to protect this whole district.* The name of Algiers
comes from the four islands which are situated out at sea in front of the
town. These were called in Arabic Ed-Djezair (the islands), contracted
into Djair.f The metropolis stands in 36° 49' 30" N. lat., and in 3° 28'
E. long, of Greenwich. The present lighthouse is built on the founda-
tions of the fortress erected by Peter of Navarre on the largest of the four
islets, whence it was called Pehon, the augmentative of the Spanish word
2>ena, rock.

The present metropolis of Algeria must be divided into two parts :
the new town, which is entirely French in its character, and is built on
the lower part of the slope and along the sea-shore ; and the old town,
which occupies the higher region, and is crowned by the casbah or castle,
the former residence of the Dey4 The suburb of Bab-el-ouad, or the
water-gate, almost entirely in the hands of the Europeans, stretches along
the sea-shore to the north-west, and that of Bab-azoun to the south-east of
the town.

The town of Algiers is a mile in length in front of the sea. The
streets of Bab-azoun, and Bab-el-ouad to the northward of the former,
both run north and south 3083 feet across the city. The Casbah street,
old, tortuous, and steep, leads down from the castle, and the old town to
the lower town and the port.§ The Place des Victoires is situated at the
foot of the Casbah, and the street of Porte Neuve or Bab-Edjedid termi-
nates at one end of the former place, and] at the other leads to the gate
south of the Casbah. The Place du Gouvernement is a large oblong space
planted with orange-trees, and surrounded with houses built in the Euro-
pean style ; and all persons going from one end of the town to the other
are obliged to pass through it, which makes it the centre of bustle and
activity, presenting a motley crowd of Arabs, Moors, Jews, Frenchmen,
Spaniards, Maltese, Germans, and Italians. || Along two sides of the Place
du Gouvernement are ranges of houses in the European style, four stories
high, and fronted with arcades and balconies. When visited by Count
St. Marie in 1845, some Moorish houses situated to the right, recently
burned down, had been replaced by some wooden barracks ; the only
ancient structure then remaining on that spot being the remains of a,

1 Baron Baude, vol. i. p. 53. f J* ',£* Djezair. Berbrugger, p. 27.

t The new town is called lli^ (Outa), the plain ; and the old town (J-ca* {Djebel), the
mountain.

§ Count St. Marie's Visit to Algeria, 1846, pp. i, 5.

| The well-known Cas"bah Street is a long and very steep street, interrupted occa-
sionally by steps on account of the steepness of the acclivity. Its shops were all lighted
and open when Count St. Marie passed through it in the evening ; and on all sides were
to be heard instruments of music, Moorish, French, and Spanish, with a great noise of
bawling, singing, &c. He also observed much chinking in the shops. Visit, p. 36,

(J6 THE MOLE.

tower called the Janina, surmounted by a dial. To the left the Place is
closed by a balustrade breast-high, behind which is a battery of eight guns ;
and farther down are seen the quay, the port, the vessels lying at anchor,
and the high sea.

The street of Bab-azoun has two rows of houses built on the same plan
as those on the Place; and the Bab-ehouad Street,* as previously remarked,
is built exactly like the former, and parallel to the shore. The Marine
Street runs to the right of the Place du Gouvernement, and in it are situ-
ated the old baths or hammams of the Deys. You descend to the port
through the Marine Gate, passing by the balustrade of a spacious terrace
adjoining the Admiralty, and after emerging from the arches of the latter
edifice you find yourself in the rear of the lighthouse.

The three streets of the Marine, of Bab-ehouad, and of Bab-azoun abut
in the great central Place. The two last form in reality only one, fol-
lowing the slope of the hill from north to south.f

Leaving Algiers by the Gate of France, which was close to the sea
during the existence of the old port, you crossed a mole, about 300 paces
in length, to a small island (the Penon) almost parallel with the walls of
the city. This island is about 180 paces long and GO broad, and at that
time it was entirely covered to the height of 12 feet with masonry, laid on
a foundation of reeds and sand. Upon this stone platform were erected
strong fortifications and arsenals, with a lighthouse in the centre. Thus
the port appears as an irregular square bounded on three sides by the
city, the mole of Khaireddin, and the islet. On the arrival of the French
at Algiers, this port, which had originally been constructed by the labour
of 30,000 Christian slaves, under the direction of the celebrated Barbarossa,
was in danger of destruction in spite of the immense works, the only oc-
cupation of thousands of captives. The foundations were undermined
and contained numerous cavities, while the upper parts were decaying
and full of fissures j in short, it would soon have become so ruinous that
a violent sea, so frequent and terrible in these offings, would easily have
completed its demolition.

The French, however, soon turned their attention to the port, and
threw in by the jetty enormous blocks of granite and marble. The ex-
perience of a few years, observes Mr. Blofeld, has proved the efficacy of
this plan ; but they had still to adopt means to save the mole, which, built
upon moving sand, isolated and projecting, and upon which the waves
broke with violence, was partly washed away, and required new founda-
tions. X The French therefore formed a pile of blocks of marble all round
the mole ; this pile, however, sank below the water the following winter,
but its overthrow consolidated a base upon which it became more easy
to establish other works. These embankments were fortunately disposed

* Count St. Mario, p. '27. t Baron Baudo, i. p. 102.

t Blofeld, p. 27.

THE OLD PORT. 67

by the sea much better than art would have done. They formed an
inclined plane, which blunted the force of the waves and presented a
strong foundation on which were erected other works, that not only pro-
tected the ancient ones, but added to the extent of the port. The latter
was, however, always much exposed to the north winds, and even within
it vessels have been destroyed by the swell of the tempests . It is true
that the works undertaken since 1836 made an improvement, and the
most recent additions and alterations, as will be seen farther on, have
rendered the anchorage quite secure. During fine weather vessels anchor
within a mile or a mile and a half of the coast, as at that distance there
are from sixteen to thirty fathoms water, with a bottom of soft mud ;
but it is advisable to use chain -cables. Ships never anchor to the
north of the lighthouse, as all that part of the coast is rocky : they
might, perhaps, do so opposite the flat shore of Bab-el-ouad, and in front
of a valley you meet there ; but there are rocks in the environs, and they
could not remain at their moorings during east winds. The old defences
of the port, as encountered by Lord Exmouth, and found by the French
in 1830, consisted on the Mole and Pefion of, 1st, the lighthouse battery
of fifty guns ; and 2dly, another strong battery north-west of the for-
mer and east of the port, with seven mortars. Several heavy guns sur-
mounted the gateway that commanded the mole, and 1 2 batteries of heavy
guns were placed at different distances at the waterside, in front of the
town. They were left much in the same state for some years after the
French conquest ; and Capt. Rozet* remarked during his visit, that the
finest work after the Casbah was the united buildings of the mole and
marine forts, which were mounted with 237 guns under the Turkish ad-
ministration, and were the strongest defence of Algiers. Further par-
ticulars respecting the topography and history of the port are furnished
by M. Berbrugger, who observes that nature had placed before Algiers
the elements of a port of middling extent. A chain of reefs starting-
from the shore, and following a south-east and north-east direction, runs
out and joins, at the distance of about 230 metres (754-40 feet) towards
the open sea, four islets arranged side by side, from north to south. This
reef has a shape similar to that of the letter T ; and it is very likely that
at a distant period it afforded very good shelter, but that the effect of the
waves on its schistous masses has loosened considerable pieces, and made
breaches which were noticed even in the sixteenth century. However
this may have been, the present port is the same as that of the Romans,
as is proved by the remains and direction of the Roman via in several
points of the Rue de la Marine. It was also the same under the Arab
chiefs ; and as fast as blocks were washed away by the sea, the Turks sub-
stituted others. The French at first did the same, but soon found that

* Voyage dans la Regence d'Algene, par Rozet, 2 vols. Svo, 1833.

68 THE OLD PORT.

it was an endless because an imperfect process. In 1831, M. Noll, en-
gineer of the hydraulic works at Toulon, was charged with the duty of
remedying this, and succeeded as well as he could ; but for want of a
foundation, he could not restore the basis of the jetty at the same time
that he had restored its body, so that the breaches extended, and it was
necessary to have an additional defence of hydraulic lime and gravel to
stop them effectually.

The mole, whose direction is almost perpendicular to that of the winds
that blow the strongest into the roads, is much more exposed to injury
than the jetty. The projection of the pier-head was repaired in 1831,
but destroyed in the winter of 1832. Subsequent efforts to repair the
jetty and mole did little good, when violent winter- storms in 1833-4
shewed that the system of loose stones piled round the mole might en-
cumber the harbour with dangerous shoals. M. Poirel then suggested
the Roman plan of using artificial blocks of hydraulic lime with gravel :
this system was employed at the bridge of Caligula at Pozzuoli (Puteoli).
A number of plans were now suggested ; but of these, two projects became
the favourites, called the great and little projects, or the Projet Raffineaio
de V Isle and the Projet Poirel. Nothing was decided in 1842,* and the
matter seems to have remained in abeyance ever since ; but we learn
that the energetic government of Louis Napoleon is seriously engaged in
making a great harbour at Algiers.

Writing on this subject in 1841, Baron Baude considers three pro-
jects for the improvement of the port most deserving of attention; 1st,
that of M. Berard, author of the Xautical Description of the Coast of Al-
ii' na ; 2d, that of M. Sander Bang, captain of a corvette, and that of M.
Poirel, civil engineer and inspector of bridges and highways in Africa.

M. Berard suggested a circular jetty uniting the north end of the bat-
teries of the mole with the land, and leaving a space of about nine hec-
tares (22 acres) between it and the jetty of Khaireddin, which would have
to be opened in the middle, and the present port would then answer the
purpose of outer port. M. Sander Bang and M. Poirel both propose to
make opposite the quarter of Bab-azoun a large port, of which the present
one would constitute the bottom. Several serious objections are made
to these plans ; and Baron Baude suggests with reason the propriety of
making the new port opposite the Bab-el-ouad suburb, north-west of the
town, the only side where there is room for the accommodation of an
increasing population and commerce. He proposes to run a jetty from
the Sidi Kettani point to the Mhatem rock, thence bending south-east
towards the lighthouse rock ; another small mole would run out towards
it from the Penon rock ; and between these two would be the entrance of
the new harbour, which would contain twenty-four hectares (GO acres),,

* Borbruggcr, part i.

THE NEW PORT. 69

only eight (20 acres) less than Marseilles, and the shore would offer an
admirable site for warehouses.*

With regard to the improvements of the harbour projected by the
present government of France, we find they are now in operation and
partially completed. It appears, moreover, that although their improve-
ments are by no means finished, the government of the Prince Presi-
dent recently ordered Vice-Admiral Baron de la Susse, commander of
the squadron of evolutions, to ascertain from practical experience whe-
ther the means of causing a fleet to enter and anchor in the port are
satisfactory. From a report of the vice-admiral, the substance of which
was published in the Monlteur, it seems that five men-of-war, towed by
steamers, severally entered the port, and cast anchor at a cable's length
from one another, near a place indicated by the naval authorities. A
sixth rnan-of-war also entered, and anchored on the line set apart for
steamers. The steamers of the squadron afterwards anchored, as did also
those of the local service. All these ships did not encroach on the space
reserved for merchant-vessels, and three men-of-war and steam-frigates
in addition might also have been placed without inconvenience. Accord-
ing to the observations made by the admiral, the removal of a rock called
Roche sans Nom, situated about the middle of the port, would allow a
fleet of at least twelve men-of-war and as many frigates to anchor, in
addition to the mercantile vessels. Orders have been given to have the
said rock removed forthwith ; and the port, when completed according to
the plan definitively adopted in 1848, will be surrounded on the northern
side by a breakwater 700 yards long, on the south by one 1200 yards in
length, and the entrance will be 350 yards wide. Each side of the en-
trance is to be defended by a strong battery. t

The old mole, uniting the island to the town, was 600 paces long, and
the phare or lighthouse was 35 fathoms in height.

Seeing the importance of the subject, it has appeared desirable to com-
plete our description of the latest improvements accomplished or projected
in the port of Algiers, as described by the French official documents, which
rightly observe that the maritime constructions are of the first importance
in Algeria, by securing the protection and supplies of the colony.

From 1842 to 1846 various alterations were made in accordance with
the project of Mr. Bernard, inspector-general of woods and forests (ponts
et chaussees); but they only admitted a sheet of water containing 56 hec-
tares (140 acres) as the military and commercial harbour of Algiers, with-
out providing any roadstead.

It was only on the 26th August, 1848, that a distinct project was
adopted for its serious improvement and enlargement, in consequence of
deliberations of the mixed and nautical commissions of Algeria, of the

* Baron Baude, vol i.

t See the article of the Paris correspondent of the Times of Wednesday, Nov. 25th, 1S52,

70 THE NEW PORT.

superior administrative council, of the council of admiralty, and of the
general council of woods and forests.

The project adopted proposed to make of Algiers a good harbour for
the military and commercial navy, and to prepare a roadstead in front of
the port. The means devised were as follows :

1. A jetty called the north jetty, length above water 700 metres (2296
feet), including the pier-head; 2. another jetty, called the jetty of enclosure
(d 'enceinte), to measure with its pier-head a length of 1205 metres (395240
feet), and which may be named the jetty Bab-azoun, beeause it takes root
at the foot of Fort Bab-azoun; 3. an internal jetty, called Algefna, which
will answer both as a landing-place and a store (pare) for coals.

The two great jetties will be separated by a passage of 350 metres
(1148 feet), and the sheet of water contained between them will embrace
about 90 hectares (222-30 acres) of surface.

The roadstead will be protected, 1. by a breakwater presenting a
development of 1200 metres (3936 feet); 2. by a south jetty, also 1200
metres long. The space devoted to the roadstead would amount to about
700 hectares (1680 acres).

The north jetty, which it was most essential to build at once, was
begun the first. In August 1842 its length was 180 metres (59040 feet);
on the 31st of the folloAving December, 220 (721-6 feet); at the end of
1843, 256 (839-68 feet); at the end of 1844, 367 (1203-76 feet) ; at the
end of 1845, 409 (1341-52 feet); 502 (1646-56 feet) at the end of 1846;
600 (1968 feet) at the end of 1847; 659 (2161-52 feet) at the end of
1848; and 728 (2387-84 feet), including the shelving slope at the end,
on the 31st of December, 1849. This length of 728 metres, composed
of 530 metres (1738-40 feet), raised 2 metres and 50 centimetres (8-20
feet) above the level of the sea and finished, and of 112 metres (367-36
feet) raised 2 metres and 50 centimetres (8-20 feet) above the sea and
unfinished, and of a submarine part of 86 metres (282-08 feet), sheltered
a surface of 78 hectares (195 acres). At the end of 1850 this jetty had
reached its entire development, and had been carried out to its pier-head
with a depth of 25 metres (82 feet). The sheltered surface already em-
braced above 80 hectares (200 acres). In 1850 they were engaged in
finishing the pier-head, on which it was intended to build a fort with a
double row of batteries. A powerful battery was built as early as 1848
at the foot of the same jetty.

The head of the jetty of Algefna was built at the same period, having
a length of 81 metres (265-68 feet) and a breadth of 32 (72-36 feet), in
order to establish a battery. The jetty of Bab-azoun was in process of
execution in 1850 ; a pile of timber caulked with oakum, 70 metres
in length, having been established in 1848-49.

Up to the year 1846 artificial blocks of hydraulic lime of from 10 to
15 cubic metres (352-87552 and 529-31328 cubic feet, or 13-06946 and
19 604 19 cubic yards) were used for the maritime works at Algiers. In

THE NEW PORT. 71

1846 a mixed system was adopted, which produced a remarkable economy
in the expense of building. This system consisted in employing rough
blocks of stone as a foundation to within 12 metres (39"36 feet) of the
surface of the water on the exterior side exposed to the action of the
sea, and to 8 metres (2 6 "24 feet) from the surface on the interior, and
in building all above this with artificial blocks. The pier-heads, in the
whole of their circumference, are considered as an extei-nal facing.

The different works that remained to be done in 1850 to complete the
new port and roadstead came under the following heads :

1. The completion of the north jetty, the building of its pier-head and
of the fort to crown it; 2. the construction of the jetty of Algefna ; 3.
the building of the quays going from north to south ; 4. the construction
of the first branch of the jetty of Bab-azoun, giving it all the length neces-
sary to found the platform intended for the establishments of the navy, and
to diminish the swell within the port ; 5. the establishment of one of the
stairs of communication between the quays and the town; 6. the scarping
of a rock existing within the harbour, known by the name of the roeJie
sans nom (nameless rock) ; 7. construction of the establishments of the
navy ; 8. completion of the jetty of Bab-azoun, the construction of its
pier-head and of the fort intended to crown it ; and 9. second stairs of
communication between the port and the town.

The whole expense necessary to complete the port, without including
the roads, which are postponed, is estimated at 41,592,000 fr. (1,G63,608Z.)
Up to Dec. 31st, 1849, 14,600,000 fr. (584,000^) had been spent. Hence
there remains to be spent in additional work the sum of 26,992,000 fr.
(1,079,680*.)*

A powder-magazine in rear of the lighthouse exploded not long before
Count St. Marie visited Algeria in 1845, reducing the surrounding buildings
to complete ruin ; but the damage has been since repaired. The mole was
at that period 2000 paces long and 6 above the sea, wholly constructed of
enormous artificial blocks of hydraulic lime and gravel, and the works then
in progress were not completed at the time of the count's visit. It formed
an inward curve, contracting the mouth of the port.

We trust that the previous remarks will have made the reader familiar
with the port of Algiers ancient and modei'n ; and we propose now to
notice the chief buildings and the style of architecture observed in the
capital. In 1830 the narrow winding streets of the town underwent a
rapid change under the management of the conquei'ors. The greater part
of them had no written name, and none of the houses were numbered,
which rendered it impossible to make out any general direction, without
having a sort of general plan of the distances between the principal objects
in the city. It was found necessary to widen those streets, to adapt them
to the convenience of their European inhabitants, and to give them that

* Tableau de la Situation, 1850, pp. 314, 315.

72 EUROPEAN HOUSES.

straight form so necessary to all who estimate the value of time. The
speculators who travelled in the rear of the army lost no time in erecting
houses five stories high, which certainly have a very fine effect; several
streets with arcades have been built ; and, in short, all has been done to
constrain the natural orientalism of Algiers into a Parisian shape. A rich
Moor, a man of great experience and good sense, observed to Madame
Prus in 1850, shaking his head sadly at the sight of one of these lofty
habitations, the numerous apartments of which accommodated a host of
lodgers : " They seem little aware that this is a country subject to earth-
quakes ; for here they are building away as they might do in France, while
at no great distance from hence the ruins of Oran and Blidah are evident
proofs of the danger they incur. Let them look at our Moorish houses-
and observe how low they are built, and with what care they are propped
up on beams, and made so as to support each other even on opposite sides
of the street. Then let them ask, why have the natives fixed on this mode
of construction 1 ? and I will answer them, that in 1717 an earthquake was
felt for nine months, which destroyed three-fourths of the town, while the
population lay encamped in the fields, and only returned when all symptoms
of the calamity were over. In 1825 another convulsion threw down the
walls of Oran and Blidah, and crushed many of the inhabitants under the
ruins. Algiers at the same time felt fifty-three shocks in a fortnight. An-
other took place in 1839; and even worse consequences might have ensued
but for the manner of building adopted since 1717."

Before this precaution was used, no other remedy against the disaster
was known but that of strangling the reigning Dey. Though European
fraternity prefers to strangle saints and heroes rather than despots, it would
at least be wise in the French if they were to conform to the custom re-
sulting from this dear-bought experience, and sacrifice elegance to security.

In visiting the different quarters of the city and becoming familiar with
its architecture, we shall accompany some of many Europeans who have
described its curiosities. Count St. Marie informs us* that the Fisher-
man's Quay is at the foot of the Government Terrace, which is ascended
by a few steps and a sloping path. All the men whom you meet there
selling fish are Maltese ; the best fish being the tunny : oysters are rare,
and different in form and colour from those of Europe. Leaving the Place
du Gouvernement, the party whom we accompany reached in about half an
hour the boundary of the city at the Bab-azoun gate, which consisted then
of double arches connected by a sort of bridge crossing a ditch, which
runs along the foot of the city wall. The principal gates of old Algiers
were the following: 1. the new one, Bab'ed-Djedid, on the top of the
hill near the Casbah; 2. .the Gate of Bab-azoun, through which you pass
into the Mitidja plain; 3. the Gate of Bab-el-ouad, to the west of the
town; 4. the .Marine Gate, leading to the arsenal and the mole; and

* p. 31.

MOORISH ARCHITECTURE. 73

5. that of Fishermen. On the right of the Gate of Bab-azoun, and within
the city, stands a small marabout, the grated door of which is always open.
This building is said to be the burial-place of the Emperor 1 '' Barbarossa, as
►St. Marie curiously styles him, evidently meaning the pirate Khaireddin :
it is held in great veneration by the Arabs, f

We shall next accompany our friends into the interior of a Moorish
house in the Bab-azoun Street. After ascending a few steps, they entered
a large court with flags of white marble, having in the centre a basin of
water with orange-trees about it. Along four sides of this court ran two
galleries, one above the other, fronted with beautiful carved wood, and
supported on marble columns. One side of the house in question con-
tained the city Museum, which possesses a collection of animals, minerals,
Roman and Carthaginian tumular stones, and old arms. Within the same
building you find moreover a library, also in other parts a college called
royal. All the houses of the Moors in Algiers are like the one now de-
scribed. They are massive square buildings, and have no windows towards
the street, the entrance-doors being low and small. The ceiling con-
sists of carved wood gilt, and the Avails are pierced on the inside with
small dormer-windows. The walls of the apartments are hung with flags
and draperies, and faced with Dutch tiles or varnished bricks with passages
of the Koran inscribed on them, and eilt or coloured ornaments. On the
floors are spread in the better class of houses costly carpets and cushions
of cloth-of-gold. The ground-floor is appropriated to the slaves, and a
narrow winding staircase leads up thence to the first-floor, which is occu-
pied by the family ; the flat terrace on the roof being used as a prome-
nade. The architecture of the Moorish country houses is similar to that
of their town residences, save that they are surrounded with walls two feet
high, and almost impenetrable plantations of thorny figs and aloes.

Before we proceed any farther on our fatiguing round of sight-seeing,
we will seat the reader in a fiacre, and drive to the most prominent objects
of curiosity. These fiacres resemble a basket made of wood, and hung
round with curtains of various colours. The drivers are frequently Spani-
ards, with a small Spanish hat adorned with streamers of velvet. Proceed-
ing to the old town, we find the narrow streets almost roofed over by pro-
jecting houses, the fronts of which nearly touch each other from the first
story to the terrace on the top. The streets in this part of Algiers are
paved with round uneven stones ; and at this quarter is the Gate of Victory,
on one side of which is a fountain of white marble, constructed among the
ruins of an ancient Roman aqueduct, j Algiers is built in the form of an
amphitheatre, and is commanded by the Casbah ; but the moats and ditches

* Count St. Marie, always more remarkable for the facility of his style than for the
solidity of his facts, is a good specimen of the literary discrimination of authors and readers
in this veracious age. Examples : Baba-Aroudj is converted into Barbarossa. the amiable
German oppressor of Milan ; and the Vandal invasion is placed in the seventh century.

+ St. Marie, pp. 4-7. + Ibid. p. 16.

THE CASBAH.

which run alongside the walls of the city on the right and left used not to
extend to the walls and hastions of this ancient abode of the deys. The
Casbah* is hardly recognisable even by the Arabs, from the changes that
have been made in it by the French, the little kiosk where Deval the
French consul was insulted by the blow of a fan of the dey (1827) remaining
alone unaltered : the walls of this pavilion are lined with porcelain. " From
the courtyard," continues Count St. Marie, " we descended into some vast
caverns divided into chambers, where the French found numerous trea-
sures amassed in 1830 ; but previous to that date their approach was ren-
dered impossible by a number of tigersf and hyenas being chained near

-^gggs

GARDENS OF THE DET AT THE CASBAH.

to guard them. All other parts of the place are entirely changed, and —
proh pudor ! — the Avomen's apartments and the harem are converted into
quarters of artillery ; almost an equal sacrilege to that of converting the
marabout of Sidi-Djemyah into a station-house for gendarmes. In a beau-
tiful little kiosk attached to the Casbah, commanding a magnificent view
of the sea, the city, and the country, there is now an ambulance or mili-

J^^ajj- Tho word Casbah moans literally ' reed.' Cours d'Arale vulaaire, par A.

Gorguos, vol. i. 1 1. 189.

+ This must bo an error of tho count, as there are no tigers, but only animals of tho
leopard tribe in Algeria.

THE BAZAARS.

tary hospital. Near this spot are fountains of fresh clear water, and
marble reservoirs in which the soldiers now wash their linen ; and a small
mosque at a little distance has been converted into a Catholic chapel, sur-
mounted with a cross. The French, on taking possession, guaranteed to
the Arabs the free enjoyment of their religion; but they have turned their
mosques into Catholic chapels. The Protestants have purchased ground
for chapels, and the Jews have converted certain houses into synagogues."*
The Casbah commands the whole town, and the hill on which it stands
is 500 feet above the level of the sea. Gloomy battlements surround the
castle, which is capable of accommodating two battalions, but is itself
commanded by the Fort de l'Empereur on the road to Douera in the Sahel,
of which more anon.

" Algiers," observes our friend St. Marie, " is the only town in the
regency which, by the erection of new buildings and the accumulation of
French inhabitants, presents the aspect of a rising colony. All the other
towns which surround Algiers preserve for the most part their primitive
aspect, with the exception of some large buildings erected here and there
by the French for barracks and hospitals." Descending once more to the
lower town, we pass from the middle ages to our high-pressure civilisation,
and fancy ourselves in the handsome streets of a European capital. Those
of Bab-azoun and of the Marine are spacious and elegant, and contain some
good shops. The bazaars are constructed in the Moorish style, and in ge-
neral are most curious. -j- That in the Rue du Divan is principally occu-
pied by Moors employed in various embroideries on leather and silk, for
which the capital is famous, such, for instance, as ladies' slippers, purses,
portfolios, &c. Farther on are venders of essence of roses, jasmine, and
other perfumes ; and in the shops are displayed chackias, or leathern caps,
such as are made at Tunis, silk scarfs or fotas, and many articles of the
same description. The della or auctioneer walks about laden with bur-
nouses, "djaba dolis," or men's vests, rhhlahs or women's tunics, and frim-
lahs, a sort of spencer worn by ladies. His fingers glitter with diamonds,
and his hands are hardly able to grasp all the insaias (anklets), rclites,
(bracelets), sarmas (ornaments worn by married Avomen), and other ar-
ticles of value, which he is employed to dispose of for the benefit of
Moorish ladies pressed for want of money. X Some immense works, ob-
serves Mr. Blofeld, have been made in the Place du Gouvernement, and in
the streets de la Marine, of Bab-azoun, and of Bab-el-ouad ; these have
a handsome appearance, with their long galleries, their shops, and the
crowds which animate them. In the street of Bab-el-ouad the passengers
are more numerous than those in the Strand in London. § In these places,
excepting in some parts of the Rue Bab-el-ouad, there are no longer any

* St. Marie, p. 16. f Madame Prus, 1850, p. 21G. J Idem, p. 216.

§ Blofeld, p. 13.

76 OLD ALGIERS.

Moorish houses ; all is changed ; and were it not for the throng of Turks,
Moors, Arabs, Negroes, &c, the stranger might fancy himself in one of
the principal French cities.

While on the subject of the shops and bazaars, it is well to remark
that the shops of Algiers contain now the luxuries, comforts, and fashions
of Paris, bronzes, porcelain, glass, rich shawls, embroideries, woollen stuffs,
silks, cottons, &c.

On leaving his hotel in the Place du Gouvernement, Count St. Marie
passed through the Janina arch and saw the governor's palace, an old
Moorish house faced with marble and adorned with marble columns. In
front of it is the bishopric, a miserable place as to its exterior, which is,
however, better inside the Avails. M. Dupuch, who was bishop in 1845,
had been previously a counsellor at Paris, subsequently became a Car-
thusian monk, and ultimately a prelate. Soon after they reached an Arab
bazaar, consisting of a spacious gallery, newly built and of curious con-
struction, containing ranges of arches, each forming a separate shop for
the sale of various merchandise. In one of them the count saw, as at Stam-
boul, attar of roses, fragrant pastilles, silk fillets of various hues orna-
mented with gold and silver, bracelets of plaited silk, intermingled with
coral beads, hose, red trousers, girdles or scarfs of gold, and little pots of
colours — blue for the eyebrows, red for the cheeks, and yellow for the
nails.

The barbers in these bazaars are mostly Koulouglis, or sons of Turks
by Moorish Avomen. In the centre of the bazaar is a little rotunda for
sales by auction.* The bazaar of the Fig-tree, a small open space, con-
tains the shops of the richest tradesmen.

The principal streets of the capital are tAventy feet wide, most of the
others being just Avide enough to admit of three persons walking abreast ;f
and though the loAver toAvn is quite European in its character, the upper or
Moorish quarter resembles most other cities of the East, containing nar-
roAV winding streets, obscured by projecting stories and overhanging roofs. J
" The lower part of the tovvn which surrounds the port," observes M.
Lamping, "has already acquired a completely European character. The
streets of Bab-azoun and of the Marine are as handsome and as elegant as
the boulevards of Paris ; but the upper toAvn retains its Arab appearance,
and is almost exclusively inhabited by Moors and JeAvs. The streets are
there so narrow, that tAvo horses cannot pass without difficulty. The
Arabs have no notion of carriages." A motley croAvd fills most of the
great thoroughfares, consisting of various races. Next door to an elegant
French milliner, an Arab barber was shaving the head of a Mussulman ; and
an Italian restaurateur, who extolled his maccaroni to every passer-by, Avas

* St. Marie, p. 43. t Blofeld, p. 3.

$ The Foreign Legion : 1st Part of Lady Duff Gordon's French in Algiers, p. 16.

ALGIERS FROM TIIE SEA.

the neighbour of a Moorish slipper-maker. Every thing, moreover, in the
capital wore a martial aspect.'"'

In the streets of old Algiers the windowless houses scarcely leave an
interval of two metres (G-5'6 feet) between them, and the salient eaves
overhead belonging to the upper stories hardly suffer the passenger to see
the sky. The narrowness and obscurity of these lanes at first shock the
European, but the coolness resulting from the same cause speedily recon-
ciles him to these drawbacks. The only things wanting in the Moorish

STREET IN ALGIERS.

houses are exterior openings to ventilate them. They are in other re-
spects more picturesque and better adapted to the climate than our archi-
tecture. The inside of the Bourse of Paris, reduced in scale and with the
African sky overhead, gives a good idea of the interior of a Moorish house.f
" I toiled through the narrow streets," says M. Lamping, " up to the
Casbah, the former residence of the Dey, the road to which is so steep

The Foreign Legion, p. 15.

t Baron Baude, voL i. pp. 50-52.

78 ALGIERS FROM THE SEA.

that steps had to be cut to form it. As I did not know the shortest path,
it was at least two hours before I reached the top."* Algiers itself is
built in the shape of an amphitheatre on the declivity of the Sahel hills,
and when seen from a distance looks like a huge white pyramid, for
the town forms a triangle, the highest point of which is crowned by the
Casbah.-j-

Before we pass through the former gates of the capital to visit the
suburbs, we shall present the reader with the following sketch of the ap-
pearance of Algiers on landing, from the pen of Marshal de Castellane, the
latest authority on the subject.

" On approaching Algiers from the sea, it presents the appearance of a
towu tranquilly and lazily reposing along the slope of a hill, surrounded
by a fresh and verdant country. On penetrating into its precincts, how-
ever, European bustle and activity belie the indolent exterior of the
city. The fact is, that Mussulman Algiers is at an end, and is making
room daily for its Gallican successor. On first landing, the visitor is greatly
struck with the strange and motley crowd in its streets, where every one
seems to run rather than walk. A novel display of various costumes at-
tracts the eye on all sides. One moment you meet some Biscris moving
along with a rapid and cadenced step, carrying a heavy load on a long
pole; presently an Arab appears in his bournous, then a Turk still sport-
ing the graceful turban, a Jew with his sombre attire and cautious look,
the oil-carrier with his goat-skin pitchers, and to crown the tumult thou-
sands of asses and their negro drivers, curricles with two or three horses,
baggage-mulesj proceeding in long files with provisions for the military
storehouses, horsemen galloping full tilt contrary to the police regulations,
colonists with white hats and broad brims, or glittering officers lording it
over every one in conscious self-importance. In short, you have the con-
fusion and agitation of an ant-hill; every where energy, hope, and its off-
spring, steady and active labour.

" The lower town, by the port, is the seat and scene of this activity,
and presents a great contrast to the silence and repose of the higher part
of the town, which is the refuge and head-quarters of Mussulman gravity,
and offers a labyrinth of narrow and winding lanes where two men can
hardly walk abreast. Occasionally a white phantom glides past you as
you thread your way through its narrow streets, a door is seen to open

* The Foreign Legion, p. 38. t Ibid. P- 15.

J The baggage-mules are always styled ministers in Algeria ; and if you ask the
soldiers why, they will answer you, because theso beasts are charged with the affairs of
tho state, or because they have the telegraph at command, pointing to their long movable
oars. It happened once upon a time that a real minister, M. do Salvandy, visiting the
province of Constantina, was escorted from Philippevillo to Constantina by soldiers of the
waggon-train. On climbing a hill his ears wore suddenly offended by hearing the word
' M inister !' shouted out on all hands, amidst a shower of imprecations and blows. Aston-
ished, he asked what it all meant ; and whon informed, ho laughed as heartily as any one
at the joke. — Castellane' i Souvenirs, p. 11.

FORT OF TWENTY-FOUR HOURS.

mysteriously, and the apparition vanishes. It was a Moorish lady. The
old despotic spirit oftheDeys seems still to hrood over this part of Algiers,
though the French tricolore has long waved over the Casbah."*

Having completed our description of Algiers within the old walls, we
shall transport the reader to the old faubourg of Bab-el-ouad, to the west
of the metropolis, passing through the gate of that name. The first object
that here claims our attention is the Fort of Twenty-four Hours, called by
the natives Bordj Sitti-Takelits (the fort of Madam Takelits), because it
was built near a marabout of a holy woman of that name. It is situated
at a few fathoms from the sea, behind the Tophana-j- or battery of Sidi-

TERRACES OF ALGIERS.

Kettani, another saint honoured here. It is an oblong square with ir-
regular sides, without lower embrasures, commanded to the west by heights,
which could not hold out after the town was taken. The French have
laboured recently to scarp it by cutting down the limestone rock on which
it is built level with the esplanade of Bab-el-ouad. This fort was built
in the 18th century, and is now occupied by disci 'plinaires.

* Souvenirs de la Vie militaire en Afrique, par lo Comte P. de Castellane (now a
Marshal), p. 1. 1852.

+ Tophana is a Turkish compound word meaning ' gun- wharf :' top, gun ; hana, wharf.

80 MILITARY CONVICTS.

The great changes that have been recently made in Algiers have en-
closed the Forts Neuf and that of Twenty-four Hours within the present
walls, which also embrace the old faubourg of Bab-el-ouad. The present
gate of Bab-el-ouad is opposite the point of Sidi-Kettani ; and the new
faubourg of Bab-el-ouad stands opposite the cmse (or cove) de la Sal-
jKtriere, and underneath the hospital of that name.

Between this Fort of Twenty-four Hours and the road of the Jardin
du Dey (Dey's Garden) you see an isolated structure on a chain of rocks,
with some luxurious trees rising above its walls. The cupola of a mara-
bout announces it to be a saint's tomb consecrated to Sidi-Djemyah, but
he has been unceremoniously thrust out by a post of gendarmes. The
garden of the convicts is on the other side of the road, in which you see
the elegant agave-flower, Avhile Mount Boujareah forms a background to
the prospect.*

"Nearly facing the Fort of Twenty-four Hours," says Count St. Marie, t
" we entered a garden called the Jardin Marengo. It is a pretty place,
belonging to Colonel Marengo, formerly the commander of the citadel of
Algiers. The garden has been cultivated by condemned soldiers, to whom
it must be a severe punishment, owing to the great heat. Scarcely a day
elapses without some of them experiencing coups de solell and other acci-
dents, occasioned by exposure to the sun, whose ardent rays destroy the
freshness of vegetation; and though much care is bestowed on the cultiva-
tion, it is not so beautiful as it would be in a more favourable locality.
In this garden is situated an old marabout, the walls of which were faced
externally with white, blue, and green porcelain. This little temple has
been surrounded by flags, and has a very pretty effect. The real name of
Colonel Marengo was Capon ; and his father, who distinguished himself
at the battle of that name, received in jest from Buonaparte the appel-
lation, which is still retained by his son, though it is said that he has
not much military talent."

The Fort Neuf (Bordj-el-zoubia) is situated at the northern angle of
Algiers, and was so called by the Europeans because it was a recent erec-
tion, having been hardly completed in 180G. It was one of the first
places that occupied the attention of the French after the conquest, and
additional works were consti'ucted to put it in a state of defence. They
began to surround it with a moat, and to make revetements and masonry
escarps; which, with other improvements, enabled 1200 men to find ac-
commodation in its vaults. It was, however, afterwards given up to the
military convicts under Lieut.-Col. Marengo. J

Baron Baude observes that the convicts have been usefully employed
on many works in the port, and that they have formed a good garden at
the barracks, besides an excellent champ de manoeuvres. The system of
Convict-labour lias worked well, and they have improved morally and ma-

* Berbrugger, part i. p. 39. t P- 27- + Berbrugger, p. 39.

OLD FAUBOURG BAB-AZOUN.

terially Tinder the treatment they have experienced.* M. Berbrugger, who
examined into the condition of the military convicts, bears witness to
the cheering results presented by the instruction and discipline to which
they have been subjected. The men have been taught general elementary
Knowledge, and, what is still more important, self-respect and esteem for
their superiors. There is some good element in most criminals, even the
most obdurate ; and by touching the right chord, they can generally be re-
claimed. Vice is much more circumstantial than inherent in man. After
the expiration of their term of servitude, the men have returned to their
regiments, where they have almost universally behaved well.

The old gate of Bab-el-ouadt opened to the north of Algiers, on a plain
where there is more room for building than on any other side of the town.
Nevertheless the pirates preferred the hill, thinking that it would place
them in a safer position ; but since 1830 there has been a determination
of population towards this plain, and most of the public establishments
belonging to the colonial government have been erected on that side. The
space contained between the old gate of the town and the sea is filled by
the Fort Neuf, which, as previously stated, is a prison-barrack of military
convicts. ;£

The Fort of Twenty-four Hours was built in the oldest part of the vast
Mussulman cemetery stretching from Bab-azoun to Bab-el-ouad, along and
outside the walls. A new zone of tombs began beyond this circle, forming
that of the Christians; then beyond that, and in the direction of the ravines
of the Boujareah, lay that of the Jews. The tombs of several of the deys,
such as those of Mustapha, Moussa, &c. were situated in that part of the
Mussulman cemetery lying between the Fort Neuf and that of Twenty-
four Hours. They were shaped like marabouts, of a square form, with a
cupola at top; but were destroyed by the French in 1830. The ground
of these cemeteries has been greatly encroached upon by French settlers ;
and it is anticipated that all traces of them will gradually disappear as
the European town stretches out on the road to Pointe Peseade, beyond
the old Bab-el-Ouad gate.§

Proceeding to the other extremity of Algiers, we pass through the old
gate of Bab-azoun into the old suburb that bears the same name. The
faubourg of Bab-azoun only exists in the memory of the first-comers to
Algiers, most of the buildings having been knocked down to enlarge and
open up the approaches to the town. Very little remains of this pic-
turesque quarter, except Le Quartier des Spahis and some little Moorish
shops, where the Arabs come to buy rope, and straw mats, iron, pottery,
&c. But the population frequenting this district has much changed of
late ; and on coming from the steamboat you see there in a few minutes
specimens of all the Algerian races. The Rue Bab-azoun passes through

* Baron Bande, vol. ii. p. 57. t fbid-

J Ibid. vol. L § Berbrugger,, p. 1.

OLD FAUBOURG BAB-AZOUN.

the gate of that name to the country. It was at that gate (the old one
now destroyed), that during the disastrous expedition of Charles V., Ponce
de Balagner, dit de Savignac, knight of the Temple, plunged his dagger
into the gate, and fell a victim to his daring gallantry. The walls used to
be lined with heads of the innocent and guilty ; and on to the iron hooks
that projected from their sides, criminals, imaginary or real, used to be
precipitated from above, and remained suspended in agony till death put

STREET IN ALGIERS.

an end to their sufferings. A square planted with trees, and having in its
centre a basin, is the place of execution ; and at the foot of an escarp on
the right is a row of curtained carriages (voilures tapisse.es), to take the
travellers about the environs. A little farther on, you probably meet with
a native band, whose music being rather more remarkable for noise than
melody, speedily puts to flight all who have any pretensions to an ear.
Sometimes you may also meet in this locality serpent-charmers from
Morocco, who display their mesmeric influence over the tribe of creeping

OLD FAUBOURG BAB-AZOUN. CO

things. Above this spot is situated the wood .and charcoal market, con-
taining tattered tents, camels, and dirty Bedouins proudly wrapped in
rags. A little to the right are the barracks of the spahis;* while to the
left is a fine high building, which is the Caserne du Train des Equipages,
or the barracks of the waggon-train. + Most of the old structures in this
vicinity are demolished or condemned, and handsome streets and public
buildings will shortly meet the eye of the visitor on passing through the
new gate of Bab-azoun. Between 1841 and 1845 the new faubourg of
Bab-azoun was created, and considerable expense incurred in levelling and
paving. The whole district is now within the new walls. J

* Native troops. See the chajnter on the French army in Algeria,
f Berbrugger, p. 6. I Tableau de la Situation.

PART OF ALGIERS AND MOSQUE OF ABD-ER-RAHMAN-EL-TSALEBI.

CHAPTER V.
JhnttsttfS of SIgtcrS.

KELIGIOUS EDIFICES BATHS FOUNTAINS DRAINS NEW CIVIL EDIFICES

HISTORICAL STATISTICS OF ALGIERS THE POETRY OF EASTERN LIFE — AN-
TAGONISM OF THE SOCIAL STATES OF EUROPE AND AFRICA NEW MILITARY

EDIFICES AND DEFENCES.

IN 18.33 Algiers contained 120 mosques and marabouts, fourteen syna-
gogues, and one Roman Catholic chapel. Three of the mosques had
in 1843 been turned into Catholic places of worship, and one of them is
now the French cathedral church, and has some yery beautiful arabesques
on the walls and ceiling, and the doors have flowers carved upon them
in a style not excelled by Grindling Gibbons.

As regards the native sacred edifices, they arc commonly divided into
three classes: 1st, the djamas, which are the principal mosques; 2d, the
mesjids, called in Egypt mesguid, whence came the Spanish term 'mez-
quita,' and our mosque. The khotbah or public prayer is offered up in the

RELIGIOUS EDIFICES. 85

djamas on Friday, the Mussulman Sunday. The third class consists of
marabouts, which ax*e the tombs and sanctuaries of saints ; of this class
more anon. The Algerian mesjids are somewhat like our Gothic churches
in their interiors, but instead of seats and benches, they strew the floor
with mats, upon which they perform the several stations, sittings, and
prostrations that are enjoined in the ceremonies of their religion, and
which are so accurately represented in Lane's Modern Egypt. Near the
middle of the mesjid, or more especially of the djama (the great), is a huge
pulpit, balustraded all round with a few large steps leading to it. In this
the mufti, or one of the imams,* places himself every Friday, and explains
some parts of the Koran, and exhorts the people to piety and good works.
The wall of the mosque on the side towards Mecca is called kibla, in which
is a niche representing the presence and the invisibility of the Deity. A
minaret rises commonly at the opposite end of the mosque, having a flag-
staff at the top. The mesjids, sanctuaries of marabouts, the muftis, imams,
and other dignitaries attached to them, are supported by revenues of
houses and lands bequeathed by will, or appropriated by the public for this
purpose, f

A good specimen of a mosque of the second class is presented by that
of Sidi-abd-er-Rahman-el-Tsalebi, situated between the marabout of Sidi-
Sadi and the west rampart. It is a charming edifice, held in high vene-
ration by the Mussulman population on account of the saint buried there.
The flags of the Turkish troops used to be kept in it, and the following
inscription in Arabic was over the door : "In the name of the gracious and
merciful God : may God shed his mercies on our lord Mahomet ! The
building has been finished, with the divine help, by the hand of our emir,
the very powerful and generous El-Hadj Ahmed-ben-el-Hadj Massli. May
God direct him towards grace by the merits uf Zerroug and those of the
sincere Abou-Beker. Its date, O thou who inquirest, is in the words
qad djaaltouhou min sabiquin (I have formerly established it)." This
implies 1108 of the Hegira, as letters in Arabic have a numerical value.
A new inscription shews the edifice to have been built in 873; and it ap-
pears that the marabout Sidi-abd-er-Rahman was born at Tsaallah in the
province of Constantina, as his name implies.

We add a list of the duties and obligations attached to this establish-
ment. 1st, the distribution of alms and aid ; 2d, the repair of fixtures ;
3d, daily expense in giving food to the natives who resort to it ; -ith, re-
ligious expenses of all kinds. Offerings daily placed on the tomb of the
marabout, and the rent of certain endowments, make up an income of 800U
boudjous (1 boudjou=l fr. 80 cents=l6\ GcL). The expenses amount to
6,500, leaving an excess of 1,500 boudjous. The officers of the establish-

* Different ecclesiastical officers of the Moslem hierarchy, of whom more anon, in the
chapter on Religion and the Law-tribunals, Part IL
t Blofeld, p. 136.

FOUNTAINS.

ment consist of an oukil or administrator, three imams, a chaouch or beadle,
three heuzzabins or readers; and one woman to sweep it.*

In many of the towns of Algeria, especially the capital, since the
French conquest, the number of mosques being found excessive, several of
them have been converted into hospitals, warehouses, and even Catholic
churches. Thus at Algiers two mosques have been turned into the cathe-
dral and the church of Notre Dame des Victoires. A sufficient number
of mosques, however, have been preserved and repaired to meet the wants
of the Mussulman population.

The French official documents - !/ divide all the mosques in Algeria into
five classes, save the great mosque of the capital : 1st, the mosques with
great minarets ; 2d, those with a pulpit for the khosbah ; 3d, the mosques
with less important pulpits ; 4th, the mosques without pulpits ; oth, the
small chapels. Of the 1st class, Algiers has 3 ; of the 2d class none ; of
the 3d class none ; of the 4th class 4 ; and of the 5th class 1 2.

Thus Algiers, including the great mosque, has twenty Mussulman
temples, whose ecclesiastics will be enumerated in another place.

The Jews have twenty-five synagogues at Algiers ; the Catholics have
two churches and one chapel ; and the Protestants one place of worship at
Algiers, and one at Douera (a neighbouring colony).

Next to fresh air, good water is the first necessary and greatest luxury
of life. Without plunging into the excesses of hydropathy or teetotalism,
it may be readily admitted that apitrrov jxiv vcwp, and that aqua fresca is
equally valuable with the Promethean fire, especially in the realms of the
sun, where, if any where, cleanliness is next to godliness. Drains, baths,
and aqueducts were the first care of the Romans, and their vestiges may
be traced throughout Algeria.

The capital used to be well supplied with the crystal liquid from the
Boujareah under the earlier deys ; but Turkish improvidence [neglecting
the plantations has caused many springs to dry up. The French seem
at length aroused to a sense of the importance of a good supply, and
active measures are taking to secure it. In many instances the old Roman,
and sometimes the more recent Turkish, conduits and channels have been
repaired and employed; 1400 years not having sufficed to ruin the cyclo-
pean structures of the masters of the world.

Between the years 1840 and 1847, the French government has com-
pleted the erection of nineteen fountains in the cajutal of the colony and
its precincts. These works have cost the sum of 141,44Gf. 22 cents
(56571. 17s. 8d.), and have been erected in the following localities :

Rue do Chartros, at the angle of Hue Porte Neuve ... 1
line de C'hartres, at the angle of Rue Bruce .... 1
On the Place do Chartros 1

Berbrugger, part i. p. 34. f Tableau des Etablisscments, &e. 1850, p. 362.

DRAINS. 87

On the Casbah hill 1

Rue du Palmier ......... 1

At the corner of Rues Reynard and Regard .... 1

Rue de la Revolution ........ 1

Rue de l'lntondance 1

Rue de Nemours 1

Rue Bruce . . . . " . . . . . . .1

Al'Agha 1

Rue de Ja Giraffe .1

Rue de Chartres, corner of Rue du Chene .... 1

Bottom of Rue de la Casbah 1

Rue d'Annibal 1

Rue de Navarin . 1

Corner of Rues du Chat and du Locqdor 1

Rue de Staoueli 1

Mustajjha barracks of waggon-train . . .... 1

Draining is another subject to Avhich the French government has de-
voted a good deal of attention ; and it is somewhat mortifying to reflect*
that those great nations of the West who boast of their enlightened polity
and humanising civilisation, should be still distanced in undertakings of
public spirit by the old-fashioned men of the Augustan age. So evident
is it that our progress has been very onesided and revolutionary in its
character. Stern necessity, the cholera, and the footprints of Rome have
at length roused the French to purge their cities and span the colony
with the mileage of high roads.

The following are the larger-sized drains which the French call de
grande section :

Length. Expense.

Drains in the Rue de Chartres .... 315 metres 37,S94 fr. 26 cents.

Drains in the Rues Doria, Des Trois Cou-

leurs, Mahon, Duquesne, de la Marine,

du Marteau, &c 840 „ . . 45,399 „ 04 „

{Middling size.)

Drains in 45 streets (1842-5) 1279) 149 S61 in

Repairs in 64 streets 1277) "

New drains (1S46-9) 2S00 „ . . 121,000 „ „

6647 metres . . 387,154 fr. 40 cents.*

A plan has been started for building a great drain, destined to carry
off all the filth of the town beyond the port, so as to avoid the stagnation
and effluvia that result, as at Marseilles, from imperfect sewerage. It is
to be hoped that this project, which smacks somewhat of colonial grandeur,
may receive the sanction of the government.

While on the subject of sanitary measures, the following regulations of
the French authorities to preserve the cleanliness of the town are deserving
of notice.

* Total of drains, 21,802-16 feet ; expense, 15,486/. &s. id.

83 CIVIL BUILDINGS.

By an arrete, or decree of government, of the 26th July, 1843, every
resident is obliged to have swept that part of the way contiguous to his
house or other premises, and to clear away the mud opposite his dwelling
as far as the middle of the street. All rubbish is to be heaped up and
canied away by the scavengers. All glass, &c. to be thrown aside sepa-
rately, where it cannot inflict wounds. No fires are to be lighted in the
streets, nor is it allowed to throw any thing out of the windows. From
the 1st of June to the 1st of October, all the inhabitants are required to
water the streets twice a day ; for which purpose the water is to be ob-
tained from the public cisterns only.

The next subject that claims our attention is the historical statistics
of the public streets in the capital since the French occupation. The Rue
de Chartres was paved with lava in 1841-42 ; and in the last-named year
the names of the streets and squares were put up. From 1840-1842 the
squares were planted ; and between 1842-44, the Place Royale, Place Mahou,
and Place de Chartres were paved ; besides which the streets of Joinville,
Tanger, and des Mulets were opened. In 1844 the square of Isly and the
streets of Mogador, Isly, Joinville, &c. were paved; and from 1845-46, foot-
pavements and various plantations were made.

We now pass to the new civil and military edifices, the former of
which Ave shall classify under the following heads : 1. public justice ; 2.
education ; 3. divine worship ; . 4. general administration ; 5. finance ; 6.
municipal; 7. hospitals; 8. archaeological and literary.

Justice. The court of appeal and the tribunal have been esta-
blished in two vast houses of Moorish construction. The central prison
of Algiers, built on a half-cellular system, is not quite finished, but it is
already opened for the reception of prisoners. It is, however, only a de-
partmental prison, and not a house of detention ; and they still send to
France prisoners condemned to a longer space of confinement than one
year. The expense is estimated at 744,000f. (30,160/.)

Education. A Lyceum was founded and built at Algiers between 1847
and 1849, costing 51,500f. (2060?.); and a (mutual) school between 1840-49,
costing 10,330f. 70 cents. (413?. 4s. 2d.)

Worship. The cathedral at the metropolis is a vast building, begun
in 1840, and though not yet completed, is already partially consecrated
and devoted to divine worship. A good deal remains to be done before
it will be finished. The expense, up to December 1849, amounted to
730,215f. (29,208?. 12s. 6d.) A handsome Moorish house, suitably re-
paired, has been converted into the bishop's palace. A great seminary
has also been established in the old camp of Koubah : Notre Dame des
Victoires and the chapel of Bab-azoun were formerly mosques, and have
been previously noticed.

Administration. The hotel of the Prefecture for the general direc-
tion of civil affairs was begun in 1845, and finished in 1849 ; expense

LIBRARY. 89

200,000f. 50 cents. (8000Z. 0s. 5d.) The central police-station was finished
n 1847, costing 4729f. 40 cents. (189?. 3s. 8d.)

Municipal service. When municipalities were established in Algeria,
in 1847, a new mairy was placed in the new building adjacent to the
old direction de Vinterieur (colonial office), now converted into the general
secretaryship of the government.

Hospitals. Mediterranean usage entailed on Algiers the necessity of
building a lazaretto from 1841-42, at an expense of 461,922f. 92 cents.
(18,476?. 195. lOd.)

The hopital civil has been established in the old barracks of Janissaries
at Bab-azoun, the repair of which cost 92,999f. (3720£.) The orphan
asylum at Mustapha has cost 42,415f. (169G£. 12s. ikl.), and the house of
the sisters of mercy (1848) 30,634f. 66 cents. ([2251. 7s. 6d.)

Museum and Libraries. The library and museum were removed in
1845-6 from the college of Algiers to a house in the Rue des Lotophages.

This house, the first story of which is appropriated to the museum,*
and the second to the library, was built about sixty years ago by El-Hadj
Omar, grandson of Hassan Pasha, on some rocks by the sea-shore, bathed by
the waves on two sides. It is a splendid Moorish dwelling, and one of the
most complete and curious models of that native architecture which has
almost entirely disappeared at Algiers. In this respect the house itself
may be regarded as a museum. The library, placed, as we have said, on
the first story, comprises four halls (salles) opening on a pretty gallery
paved with squares of porcelain.

We shall pause awhile to dwell on the literary monuments of a patri-
archal race and of a waning religion contained in this edifice. The first
••oom contains works of theology and of philosophy, maps, and stamps.
The second, archives, books of natural history, of astronomy, of mathematics,
of physical science, of chemistry, of architecture, of medical science, of
agriculture, of history, and of what relates to war, marine, and belles-let-
tres. The third compartment contains two reading- rooms ; one for Eu-
ropeans, the other for natives. In connection with the last is a large
glass cabinet, in which the Arabic mss. are deposited.

In the European reading-room you find the works relating to Algeria,
and in general those that ai*e in most demand.

Prirded books. This collection is already of considerable importance in

* The antiquities and specimens contained in the Museum will be noticed in the
chapter on Archteology. The only curiosity we shall here record is a discovery by the
celebrated naturalist, Bory de St. Vincent, who, gaping for lions in this virgin field of
science, was delighted one fine morning to see a singular specimen of natural history
brought in by a sous-officier. He rewarded the man handsomely, and, enchanted with
the novelty, he wrote a learned description of his wonderful variety to the Jardin des
Plantes, describing its singular proboscis, resembling an elephant's trunk, and giving it
the name of rat trompe. Judge of his dismay, after the lapse of a few days, to find that
the proboscis consisted of another rat's tail artfully put through the nose of the speci-
men ! St. Marie.

90 STATISTICS.

supplying Intellectual food to the metropolis, though it is not large enough
to meet the wants of its studious inhabitants. The number of books
inscribed in the catalogues amounts at present to above 5,500 volumes,
pamphlets, maps, and plans, distributed in 2100 works, classed as follows :
1st, Algeria, all works and documents, &c. on the colony ; 2d, moral sci-
ences, including mental philosophy, geography, philology, and archaeology.

Manuscripts. The collection of Arabic mss. is greater than the wants
of the place. The natives hold them in high esteem • but unhappily there
are but few hard workers among them, and this part of the collection will
not be justly appreciated till a greater number of Europeans apply them-
selves seriously to the study of Arabic.

The period of Ramadhan, which ends in fetes, leads the Mussulmans to
extraordinary expenses, and always produces a rich harvest of Arabic mss.
The year 1850 was remarkable for the number it yielded. The library
of Algiers has taken advantage of this circumstance in adding to the store
a variety of good works, especially a geography of Mohereb,* containing
some curious details on the Roman antiquities of each place. The num-
ber added to the collection since 1846 amounts to 200 mss. on every
variety of subject.

It will be gathered from these observations that the library of Algiers
contains a most remarkable and matchless collection of matter relating to
the special literature of Northern Africa.

At a time when the ancient Moslem empire seems about to fall in
pieces, when the mysteries of harems and pyramids and mosques are being
trodden under foot by the Giaour, and the Crescent begins to pale before
the Cross, it is not without pleasure that we hail all strenuous efforts to
preserve relics and monuments of that singular race, which, under the im-
petus of faith, burst like a whirlwind from the desert, sweeping over the
plains of Africa and the vales of Spain, till the scimitar flashed on the
banks of the Loire, and the muezzin's call reverberated amongst the val-
leys of the Basques.

The historical statistics of the city of Algiers present us with the fol-
lowing details : In the beginning of the 17th century, Algiers, as described
by Jean Baptiste Gramaye, in his Africa Ilhistrata,\ contained 13,000
houses, many of which held 30 families. In the Jews' quarter, the house
of Jacob Abum had 300 inhabitants, and that of Abraham Balhin 260.
There were 100 mosques, each attended by three marabouts, and some by
30 or 40 ; and there were moreover innumerable oratories. The number
of baths was 8(j ; and besides superior schools, in which the Koran was
interpreted, there were 86 schools in which children were taught to read
and write.

* L^ijX^c Morocco.

f Jean Baptiste Gramaye was born in 15S0, and his Africa III uslrata was published in
1G22.

STATISTICS. 91

Haedo counted 10,000 gardens in the district of the capital, hut the
registers of the regency made them 14,098; and all of them contained
two or three, hut most of them eight slaves. There were at that time
about 35,000 Christian slaves in Algiers and the neighbourhood. Ali
Mami had 132, many had 60 and 70, and the Dey's bagnio had 2000.

Haedo, Avho had lived there, estimates the white Moors at 2500
families, and the black Moors, or Kabyles, at 700 families. Of Arabs and
beggars there were 3000 ; and the Modajares, driven from Spain, made up
1000 additional families ; besides which there were 1000 Yalencian Moors.
There were 1600 Turkish families besides the Janissaries, 6000 renegades,
6000 Janissaries, 136 families of caids or civil authorities, 300 rais or
masters of ships, 86 scherriffs,* and 800 hadjis, or men who had made the
pilgrimage to Mecca. Each of the three galleys was manned by 80 Turks,
the others had about 30 men. The city contained, moreover, 80 black-
smiths, 1200 tailors, 3000 weavers, 120 cheesemongers, 300 butchers, and
400 bakers ; it had also 150 Jewish houses, and, according to report, 8000
Jews. De Breves,t ambassador of Henri Quatre to Turkey in 1628, gives
Algiers 100,000 inhabitants ; and Pierre Dan,;J; in 1637, ascribed about the
same number to it. At the French conquest in 1 830 it had about 40,000,
though the size of the town in both cases was nearly the same, comprising
50 hectares and 53 centiares (125 acres). Besides this, the jetty con-
tained four hectares 09 centiares (10 acres), giving as the general re-
sult, 54-62 hectares (136 acres). In the most crowded quarter of Paris,
that of the Arcis, you find about 1554 persons per hectare (2^ acres);
this proportion would give 80,000 to Algiers.

In 1841 there were only 16,000 Mussulmans in Algiers ; hence 14,000
must have emigrated since 1830. This result had been caused in part
by the increase in prices. In 1830 wheat and barley were sold at 2 fr. the
hectolitre (Is. 8c?. sterling per 22'009667 gallons, or 2|ths bushels); an
ox cost 18 fr. (16s.); a sheep, 2 fr. 50 cents. (2s.); 100 eggs, lfr. 20 cents.:
and these prices remained almost the same up to 1834 ; but in 1841 pro-
visions had become almost as dear as at Paris.

The population of the capital is by some thought to have amounted to
70,000 before the French invasion. After that date the natives have been
reckoned for some years at 30,000, analysed as follows :

Moors 17,000

Jews 5,000

Turks 4,000

Negroes 2,000

Kabyles cand Arabs 1,000

Biskris and Mozabites 1,000

30,000

* Scherriffs are descendants of the Prophet.

+ Eelation des Voyages de M. de Breves, 1628.

+ Histoire de Barbarie et de ses Corsaires, 4to, 1637.

RECENT IMPROVEMENTS.

To these must be added 30,695 Europeans, which will give a total of
60,695 inhabitants shortly after the conquest.

In 1833 there were 2,920 houses, 148 public fountains, 14 synagogues,
one Eoman Catholic chapel, 120 mosques and marabouts, and 48 schools
for boys and girls. In 1843 the city contained, besides, two theatres, the
Grand Theatre and the Theatre des Petites Varietes,* good libraries, and
two good newspapers ; one of which, the Akbar, was published twice a
week, and contained four pages. Three of the mosques had been con-
verted into churches, one of them constituting the French Catholic ca-
thedral ; but many of the numerous fountains were dry, and there was a
want of good water.

The European population of Algiers has much fluctuated, as will be
seen in another place. It appears to have reached its maximum in 1847,
having amounted, on the 31st December of that year, to 42,113 persons,
whereas on the 31st December, 1848, it had fallen to 37,572 ; and at the
same date in 1849 it had been reduced to 37,114. Various causes have
contributed to this result, especially political agitation, and the greater
safety and facility of colonisation in the interior, t

As regards the present statistics of education and public worship at
Algiers, the fullest particulars will be given on these points in a future
chapter. We shall here simply state, that the number of European pupils
of both sexes, public and private, amounted in 1849 to 1178 children.

Many important alterations and improvements have been effected in
Algiers since the visits of M. Blofeld and Count St. Marie. If the reader
casts his eye over the map of the capital accompanying this work, he will
perceive more easily than by any other method the chauges that have
taken place. First, the old wall and precincts no longer form the boundary
of the city, which includes the old faubourgs of Bab-azoun and Bab-el-
ouad, the Moorish gates having been destroyed. The city has been sur-
rounded with new Avails, ditch, and bastions, and a new citadel is erected,
embracing the old Casbah. Several new gates have been constructed, in-
cluding the Porte Constantine, a little above that of Bab-azoun; the new
Porte Bab-azoun, adjoining the fort of that name ; and beyond, the Porte
du Sahel, east of the citadel, and the Porte Vallee, west of the citadel ;
besides the new Porte de Bab-el-ouad, close to the point of Sidi-Kettani,
and the Fort of Twenty-four Hours. Several new streets have also been
formed, that of Bab-azoun being prolonged, and widening all through
the ancient faubourg of that name to the Porte Bab-azoun. The new
street of Bab-el-ouad is a prolongation of the old one, and passes through
the great Place d'Armes, opposite the Jardin du De)-, to the gate of the

* Algeria, resolved not to bo behindhand in the amenities of civilisation, has completed
a magnifidfent theatre ; and an excellent operatic troupe has just left Paris to commence
operations there (July 1853).

t Tableau do la Situation, 1S50, pp. 91-96.

BARBARISM AND CIVILISATION. 93

same name. The Eue d'Isly runs from the Porte de Constantine parallel
to Bah-azoun Street, passes through the Place d'Isly, and joins the Rue de
Bab-azoun at the Place de Garamantes by the Rue de Rovigo. Rue Pou-
driere runs down from Porte and Place Sahel to the Rue d'Isly. A number
of other labyrinthine streets are christened Rue de Rovigo, and the Rue de
la Lyre runs from the Place du Gouvernement to the Rue d'Isly ; parallel
with the Bab-azoun Street several large open spaces have been cleared, es-
pecially the Place Nationale, close to the quays, opening into the Rue de
la Marine ; and a new street, called Rue du Rempart, that runs along the
quays eastward. The Place Nationale (formerly Place du Gouvernement)*
is planted with trees, and is the principal square of Algiers. All the old
rampart to the westward from the Casbah to the old Porte Bab-el-ouad
has been converted into the Boulevard Vallee. These, and many other
minor improvements which have been made, quite alter the character of
the city, conforming it to a third-class European capital. It is doubtful
if it is so well suited, however, to the climate and country. f

After entering Algiers through the new gate, Bab-azoun, it is proposed
to erect on the left, opposite Fort Bab-azoun, an entrepot de tabac, or
depot of tobacco, and a halle am ble et aux Indies, or corn-exchange ; and
all the and on the right of the street between the gate and the Mosque
of Sibi-Abd-el-Kader is reserved for military constructions.

It is needless to add, that when these alterations and improvements (?)
are effected, the whole of the lower part of Algiers will be identified in
appearance with most large continental fortified and seaport towns ; and
a long interval will not elapse ere the old town, the Djebel, will melt away
in the embrace of its juvenile successor, the Outa.

As a relief to the somewhat dry details of this statistical chapter, we
here present the reader with the impression made by Algiers on the mind
of an intelligent French officer, now a Marshal of the Empire.

" The town of Algiers," observes the soldier, " combines the gaiety of
Paris and the charm of eastern life ; and contains, in particular, one ter-
race that recalls the enchantment of the Arabian nights. You go there,
when the oppressive heat of the day is passed, breathe the refreshing
breeze, while you contemplate the sea with its thousand scintillations,
above your head hang, apparently suspended, the white walls of the houses ;
then surveying the bay of Algiers, your eye rests on slopes covered with
roses and verdure, and on the mountain outlines that fade and shade into
the Jorjora, whose barren ridges cut sharply the blue canopy of the sky."|
Before we take leave of the island city (Djezair), it may not be un-
profitable if we offer a few observations on the contrasts of European and
oriental social life and architecture, and on the main principles mani-
fested in both.

* Names in France and its colonies are as fluctuating as dynasties.
f Tableau de la Situation. J Castellane, p. 249.

94 BARBARISM AND CIVILISATION.

An imperfect idea of this antagonism may be given by saying that
eastern life is poetry, and western prose. The fascination of the fabulous
and the hues of romance will ever gild the battlements of Damascus,
and hover round the minarets of Cairo, casting into a stern shade and
pallid twilight the dismal machinery of Teutonic and Scandiuavian poetry.
To the sunshine of imagination, Saladin, Alraschid, and the Mameluke
Beys will ever carry off the palm from Hound Tables and the aureole of
Roncesvalles. There is a wealth of wonder, a gorgeousness of tint in
oriental life and thought, that cau never square with doublet, point lace,
trunk-hose, or inexpressibles.

Chivalry and gallantry first passed from Saracen tents under the crests
of northern barons, and inspired the rugged breasts of steel-clad Goths
with gentleness in bravery. Thus, to the airy minaret, the tinkling
fountain, the tapering (fete, and Ali Bey on his barb, belongs the diadem
of fancy. Yet the westerns shall have their due, and in the workshops of
Manchester and the atdiers at Paris, I ween that you shall find miracles
that put Aladdin's lamp to the blush. Look, however, to the Vulcan, and
your lamp goes out, for you shake hands with ragged socialism and hoarse
radicalism.

The mind of man leaves its stamp on his greatest as well as smallest
creations, and his clothing, his thatch, in short, all that reflects him, is an
image of, and correspondence to, his character, modified by time and space.
Hence the social state of a people can be gathered from its architecture
and its tailoring, which also give the key to the climate that it inhabits,
to its dominant pursuits, and national propensities.

The great contrast of Moorish and European houses is a type of their
national antagonism. The latter are impelled by a vague instinct of as-
sociation to issue from the castellated isolation of families in the dark ages,
and to hive together in vast agglomerations of humanity, where the indi-
vidual and the family become fractions of the social body. Such agglome-
rations are no doubt without any form or organisation, and only cemented
by physical position ; but they form the natural and necessary bridge from
the hostile isolation of barbarism to the complete association of humanity,
to which all the higher tendencies of modern civilisation are pointing.
A Moorish house shews at one glance its great distance from this con-
summation. Generally small, they can oidy hold one family ; and whilst
our European houses give free admission to the light of heaven through
large and numerous Avindows, the Moor gropes about in a perpetual twi-
light, his walls presenting the appearance of a prison.

These two facts are symbolical of the great characteristics of eastern
ami western life. The more progressive race, leading a more public life,
required vaster and more comprehensive edifices, embracing numerous
groups, who find daily the advantage and amenity of a greater social
approximation between the members of society, accepting material as-

BARBARISM AND CIVILISATION.

sociation in the first instance as a prelude to the general extension of this
great principle to more elevated interests. But in oriental life, where
man has never conceived of a higher association than that of private fami-
lies in the most imperfect form, through the slavery of woman, no other
dwellings could be expected than houses uniting the character of castle
and dungeon.

MANUFACTURE DE TABAC.

It is natural to infer from their residences that one of these hostile
races is inquisitive, sociable, and accessible, on seeing the number of win-
dows in their houses; nor can we wonder at the Arab captives at Mar-
seilles comparing the French dwellings to large ships pierced with port-
holes. And do not the long bare walls, with a few rare pigeon-holes and
barred openings, announce a people careless about every thing beyond
their family group, disdaining to look abroad, and anxious to hide the
mysteries of the household from the profane crowd 1 The inquisitive
and restless citizen of the West required the broad daylight and a wide
horizon to look about him, learn the news, and see what was going

96 BAIlBAItISM AND CIVILISATION.

on ; but a jealous nation, shut up in individualism, could not endure to
lay bare the privacy of its seclusion to neighbours and strangers ; patri-
archalism could not brook the fraternising co-operation of our social life.
Climate has also much effect in modifying the architecture of the two
races, and shews our folly in trying to naturalise our architecture, diet,
and tailoring at the Poles or under the Line.

Nature having been sparing of heat and light to the European, he has
been forced to exert his ingenuity in making the most of the share allotted
to him. Like the plant growing in the shade, that stretches and inclines
towards the glorious sunshine, the European throws open his walls to let
in the pale rays of his watery sun. But in Africa, with its cloudless sky,
burning sun, and dazzling light, the severest winter is like a fine autumn
with us ; and through most of the year shade being the great desideratum,
windowless walls, cool arcades, courts, and fountains, are the architecture
indicated by nature and followed by man.

As regards the latest military works, the greater part of the fortifica-
tions on the land-side were completed in 1850, including bastions, ditch,
curtains, &c. On the Islet of the Marine six batteries had been established,
besides a battery for twelve pieces on the rock Algefna, the battery of El
Kettani, and the Fort des* Anglais. They have also established three
powder-magazines, to contain 300,000 kilogrammes (660,000 lbs.) ; but
the sea-defences were incomplete in 1850*

* Tableau, p. 15.

CHAPTER VI.
Drmiute of 3lgtcr<$.

PRECINCTS OF ALGIERS THE TWO MUSTAPHAS JARDLN D'ESSAI BUFFARICK

MODEL FARM MAISON CARREE THE CAFE OF HAMMAH THE CONSULATE

OF SWEDEN — AYOUN BENI MENAD POINTE PESCADE.

WE propose now to make a few excursions in the environs of Algiers,
in the society of some select friends who will act in the capacity
of guides.

" Leaving the back gate of the Casbah," says Count St. Marie, "we had
before us, on a little eminence, the entrenched camp of Tagarins. It con-
sists of a large square enclosed by wooden palisades, containing eight rows
of parallel barracks, with sufficient room between each for the free move-
ment of the troops. The beddiug at that period was miserable, the ham-
mocks consisting of canvas without mattresses or covering, and they were
strung by ropes to the walls and to poles. The men quartered there in
1845 consisted of the celebrated Chasseurs d'Orlcans, now known as the
Chasseurs de Vincennes, the first body of troops that Avere provided with
Minie rifles.

" Pursuing our course (the other side of the Tagarins), we came in sight
of four rather large hospitals, which, being exposed to all the winds, are
in a very unfavourable situation. On the opposite side of a picturesque
ravine which lay open before us, we saw two buildings comprising the H6-
pitaux du Dey and la Salpetriere, the former of which is very large, and
situated nearer to the sea than the latter. The principal room in the
Hopital du Dey is calculated to contain 2000 beds, and was used under
the Deys as a receptacle for plundered goods. The surrounding rocks are
clothed with plantations of aloes and acacias. This hospital is admirably
arranged and conducted, containing clean neat rooms with iron beds, all of
good quality and in good order."

On another occasion our friend St. Marie entered the street of la
Charte within the walls, which was thronged with people, because the
market held in the Place de la Charte was about to open. In the middle
of this square is a fountain surrounded by orange-trees; and it presented
on this occasion a busy scene, with country people seated in rows display-
ing the different objects of their cultivation. Various fruits, which are
almost unprocurable in Europe at that season (winter), were exhibited in
great profusion in this market, which was crowded with negresses, Maltese,

98 VIEW FROM THE EMPEROR'S FORT.

Marseilles flower-girls, &c. &c. A short distance after leaving tlie market,
our party passed a Protestant church of moderate dimensions, winch at
that time was nearly completed. When they had issued from the gate of
Bab-azoun, they turned up an ascending road to the right, where a stone
has been placed with an inscription stating that it was traced out by
General Berthezene in 1831.

Following this road they reached the Fort de l'Empereur, which com-
mands a magnificent view of the coast and town. Between the fort and
the shore the eye plunges into a large ravine thickly studded with houses
surrounded by gardens ; more to the right is a heap of ruins, which are
the only remains of our consul's villa; and looking back you see the com-
mencement of the Sahel and Delhi Ibrahim, a small European village on
the road to Douera. The Fort de l'Empereur forms a large square on an
eminence completely commanding Algiers ; but it is no longer fortified, and
is only garrisoned by one company of disciplinaires* This fort was the
largest work in the vicinity of the capital under the Turkish government,
and was named after Charles the Fifth. It is situated to the right of the
town, and commands the approaches from the land side. The hill on which
it stands is 1100 metres (3608 feet) south of the Casbah, and 210 (688
feet) above the sea; and it consisted in 1830 of three bastions with a
cavalier in the centre, and used to mount 50 cannon. t

After passing the fort, St. Marie proceeded along a broad road called
the Girdle road, which, however, was not in a fit condition for the passage
of carts, having on each side hedges of myrtle, hawthorn, and lilac, and on
one side a limpid little stream. These features of scenery, added to the
view of the roadstead on the left and clusters of shady trees on the right,
made this part of the ride most delightful. Soon after, a pathway down
a steep declivity brought them to the village of Upper Mustapha, where
a terrace in front of the restaurant commands a fine view. To the left
appeal's the city, with the Fort of the Emperor ; further down the village
of Lower Mustapha and its cavalry camp; to the right you see the village
of Koubah;* and nearer the sea-shore the Jardin d'Essai (experimental
garden), the mills of Hussein Dey, and near the end of the curve, the
Avhite walls of the Maison Carree. Broad roads connect these different
points, and the picture is enlivened by numerous country-houses and
green pleasure-grounds.

The most recent works effected by the military engineers at Mustapha
are the construction of a forge and a cart-house, a masonry trough, and

* St. Marie, pp. 20-23 and 47-49.

+ See the description of this fort shortly after the French conquest, by Captain Rozet,
Voyage, &c. Prince Piickler Muskau's Semilasso in Africa, vol. i. ; and Dr. Russcl's
Barbary States.

J The military engineers have lately established temporary ditches at Koubah, and put
in order the buildings of this camp before- giving it up to the civil administration (des
domaines). Tableau, &c. 1S50, p. 17.

t=
PR

w
o

H
PS
(3
O

THE JARDIN D'ESSAI. . 99

three aqueducts to bring in a supply of water. Several bureaux for the
different officials have been added, and some stables built. They have,
moreover, lately erected there a store for forage on the side C, two masonry
basins containing 300 hectolitres (about GG00 gallons), and a branch from
the aqueduct of Hammah to feed them.*

The villages of Upper and Lower Mustapha are built on the slope of a
hill; and the latter contains a cavalry camp, which was occupied in 1845
by the first regiment of the Chasseurs d'Afrique, commanded by General
Bourgon, a man who has distinguished himself in Africa. The camp is
surrounded by wooden palisades, and the stables form one of the four sides
of the upper quadrangle. Within its ample precincts are contained a
small hospital, veterinary hospital, and surgeon's quarters : it possesses
also extensive magazines of forage, and is supplied with water from a
neighbouring stream, which requires filtering, f

Upper Mustapha (Mustapha Superieur) is built on a declivity of the
Sahel about a league from Algiers, and is surrounded by most exquisite
fruit-gardens. It was formerly the palace of the Dey's son, and boasted a
great degree of splendour. The edifice, was built round two courts, the
smaller of which is adorned with G4 marble columns supporting magnifi-
cent rooms that formerly constituted the seraglio, j. Nevertheless the
bland repose of European scenery is wanting here, the lines being rigid
and not sufficiently softened off. On the opposite side of the road stands
the country house of the Governor, once the Dey's ; near it is an old
Moorish house occupied by the Colonel of the 1st Chasseurs ; and further
back is the country residence of General Yussuf.§ All these are large
buildings, and the gardens surrounding them contain fine fountains and
orange-trees.

The cavalry camp of Lower Mustapha is very clean, with flower-beds
under the- officers' windows, besides a cafe and restaurant. The privates
sleep on iron bedsteads; at the head of the bed are the trappings, arms, and
bridle of the horse ; at the foot of the bed the saddle is placed ready for
use, and in eight minutes the trooper may be mounted. When visited by
St. Marie, wild boars, eagles, &c. were roaming about the barracks ; these
animals having been tamed by the officers, who are much attached to the
chase. At a little distance, we find a Moorish coffeediouse called "the
Plane-tree," 1 1 on one side of which is a marble fountain and a small mara-
bout with fine plane-trees; facing this cafe is the railing of the Experi-
mental Garden. The road, after passing the cafe, followed the curved

* Tableau de la Situation, &c. 1850, p. 17. t St. Marie, pp. 47-50.

J The Foreign Legion, p. 16.

§ A distinguished cavalry officer in the French service, of uncertain extraction, of
whom Prince Piickler Muskau gives an interesting description, and whose romantic adven-
tures will be noticed in the chapter on the French Army, Part II.

II Hammah.

100 TEE MAISON CARREE.

line of the sea- shore; and after riding some distance, says St. Marie, we
came to some water-mills on a shady little stream. These mills, the
rivulet, and a hridge, are all called Hussein-Dey. The bridge is thought
by the Count to be of Roman construction, and the banks of the stream
are clothed with a luxurious vegetation. The acanthus, with its broad,
glossy, dentated leaves, looked at a distance like a Corinthian capital level
with the ground. The road in this part is overshadowed by enormous
fig-trees, and the wild vine and ivy are seen climbing up the acacias,
orange, and lemon trees. The officers of Mustapha barracks were ob-
served in this vicinity, on their road to hunt wild boars on the banks of
the Haratch, armed with Cossack lances, and followed by large lion dogs.

The road still descending brought them to the bridge of the Haratch,*
at the foot of the hill on which stands the Maison Carree. This bridge,
which is of Moorish construction, consists of ten arches ; but when visited
by St. Marie water flowed through one of the arches only, whilst in the
rainy season all are filled. At the end of the bridge is a post of native
tirailleurs, and further on occur a few European houses used as inns. It is
a curious fact, that all the houses in the villages of Algeria are places of pub-
lic accommodation, i. e. drink and other refreshments are every where sold.
Beyond this spot they arrived by a zig-zag road at the summit of the hill
and before the fort of the Maison Carree, which is a barrack rather than a
fortress. There are embrasures on all sides of the walls, which are twelve
feet high ; four sides of the interior are occupied by buildings used for the
service of the barracks ; and a little square building in the centre of the
court contains the officers' apartments, the powder-magazine, and the
stables. The fort can contain about 1200 men, and would be the key
to the road to Algiers if captured by an armed force coming from Fon-
doulk or Kabylia. " This fort," says St. Marie, " is of Moorish construc-
tion, but I could not learn the particulars of its origin, though the building
appears contemporary with the Emperor's Fort. Leaving the Maison
Carree, and turning your back to the sea, you have before you a distant
view of the Fondoulk, the Mitidja, and the beginning of the Lesser Atlas
chain. A few white spots on the horizon shew the site of Blidah. All
around you in this spot is barrenness and stunted vegetation."

Men of sense in Algeria spoke in 1845 (the panic year) of running a
jetty round the shore of the bay, which is a quicksand, for a railway
leading from Algiers to Blidah, passing the Maison Carree, and afford-
ing communication with some new villages about to be built at the foot
of the mountains of Kabylia.

After the Maison Carree St. Marie and his party came to a plain of
sand along the shore, and halted at a sequestered building called the
Water Fort, now no longer a military post, but the property of a colonist.

• By an unaccountable oversight St. Mario calls tho Haratch the Shellif' wliich runs

west ol'-Milia-i.'.

THE MODEL-FARM. 101

They then left the sands, plunging into thickets of jujubes by a path
leading iu the direction of the Rasauta, a secluded farmhouse, which
was at that time surrounded by several little encampments of Arabs. It
belonged at that period to a Spaniard, and was surmounted by a steeple.
The encampments were almost hidden by plantations of fig-trees and aloes,
but they perceived that the tents were high and covered with skins of ani-
mals, and their approach was guarded by numerous Arab dogs, who have
a natural antipathy to Europeans, whom they would worry and devour if
they entered a douar (Arab village) without the protection of a native.
Continuing their excursion, they passed on the left the little French village
of Fondoulk,* situated nine leagues (22^ miles) E. of Algiers, where there
is an entrenched camp ; and they proceeded to ford the Haratck,f which
in this part is a narrow stream with high banks. Soon after passing the
river they came to a road running through an immense ditch, which the
colonial government proposed at one period to cany as a vast moat round
Algiers in a circuit of ten miles, for the purpose of enclosing and protect-
ing a portion of the Mitidja and the remaining district near the capital.

A short distance further on they reached the Ferine Modele (Model
Farm), an establishment formed for the purpose of improving the breed
of cattle, and the quality of fruit, vegetables, ite. It has, however, proved
an entire failure, owing to its exposed situation, having been plundered by
the Arabs, who, moreover, destroyed the crops of corn around it. The fields
belonging to it are now used for fodder, and as soon as the grass is mown
it is given to the government, as otherwise the Arabs would burn it.
When visited by St. Marie, the farm was in a ruinous condition, and he
was of opinion that it ought to be abandoned. Pursuing their road, our
party came to a Moorish fountain, which some military wag had christened
Cabaret du 43me, an inscription then legible on the masonry. Soon
after passing this spot the road became monotonous, the vegetation on
this part of the Sahel being stunted in its growth, and consisting princi-
pally of thickets of brambles. They advanced to a more verdant hill, and
to some mills belonging to a Maltese, who arrived almost penniless at Al-
giers a few years ago, and now by thrift and steadiness has been able to
marry his daughters with handsome dowries. In a ravine at their feet
they saw from this spot the village of Birkadem,| containing some colo-
nists' houses in the European style, a handsome Moorish coffee-house, and
a white marble fountain in the Byzantine style. All the houses of this
village have pretty gardens with running streams before them, and the
neighbouring country presents a delightful pastoral appearance and a

The word Fondouk XvXiJ means literally 'bazaar.' A. Gorguos' Cours (TArabe,
&C. vol. i. p. 219. It comes from the Greek irav^ox^ov.

t Here again St. Marie calls the Haratch the Shellif, p. 54.
X j* jU-y.J, 'Birkadem/ the Well of the Negress.

102 FORT BAB-AZOUN.

luxuriant vegetation. They proceeded hence along a well-made road to
the village of Birmandreis, which in most respects resembles that of Bir-
kadem. After descending another little declivity, they mounted to the
summit of the ridge, where stands a monument erected to General
Voirol, under whose direction this road was made. Descending the other
side of the hill to the capital, they were delighted, as the shades of night
came on, with the brilliant phosphorescent appearance of the sea at their
feet.*

The whole coast from Algiers to the fortified camp of Kouba was
formerly inhabited by the most wealthy Turks and Moors, who spent here
in pleasure the prizes they gained in piracy. Many of these villas
are still in good repair, and in the hands of French and Spanish pro-
prietors ; and the soil around them is very productive, owing to the
springs which rise in the hills. There still remain many traces of the
Roman and Moorish mode of irrigation ; but the bold arches built by the
former have long been in a state of decay, while the modest pipes laid
down by the latter underground are found to be still serviceable. The
bay presents the most enchanting scene for a few miles E. of Algiers,
the sides of the mountains being crowded with beautiful gardens and villas
built in the Moorish style. On the ridge of the Sahel there used to be
(1841) a semicircular chain of fortified camps and blockhouses, intended
to protect this fruitful district against the Berbers. Many of these still
exist. t

Opposite the barracks of the Avaggon-train previously described, in the
faubourg of Bab-azoun, is the road winding up to the Fort de l'Empereur
on the top of the mountain. This was the first of the military roads that
have now become so common in Algeria; it bears the name of the Chemin
Bovigo, having been made in 1832, when the duke of that name was
governor-general. After letting off this branch, the street of the faubourg
Bab-azoun coasts along the strand, passes between the marabout of Sidi-
Abd-el-Kader-el-Djelali (frequented by women who want to have children),
and some French guinguettes (drinking-booths) shaded by palm-trees, whose
graceful shapes and verdant freshness present a strange contrast to the
prosaic wine-bibbers that frequent the pot-houses underneath them. Beyond
these European structures the faubourg ends, though you meet a number
of habitations with shining whitewashed walls, that contrast well with the
verdant country all the way to the Maison Carree.J

The square fort to Uie right of the city, fort Bab-azoun, standing on
the sea-shore, which it commands, is situated one-fourth of a league (two-
thirds of a mile) from Algiers beyond the Bab-azoun faubourg, and con-
sists of a simple rectangle of masonry. It has an elevation of 15 metres
(49'20 feet) ; it presents a fine battery on the side facing the sea; and it

* St. Marie, p. 64. t The Foreign Legion, pp. 15-18. .

! Berbrugger, p. 19.

JBUFFAIilCK. 103

stands S.S.E. of, and distant about one mile from, the mole. Beyond
fort Bab-azoun, one-fourth of a league to the east of Algiers, is a plain
1 200 metres (3936 feet) in breadth, extending to the Mitidja, and enclosed
between the sea and the coteau or declivity of Mustapha. The French
have planted what they call a Jardin d'Essai (experimental garden) in this
plain, which is named Hammah. To the east of the Haratch, three miles
beyond fort Bab-azoun, is the Fort de l'Eau, which is an irregular building,
but no longer a military post. There used to be several batteries, and
some still exist, between Algiers and Cape Matifou along the sea-coast,
the distance separating those two points being 24 kilometres (14 - 29 miles).
The Maison Rouge, alias Maison Carree, is situated on a hill above the
Haratch, and was formerly the Haouch of the Aga, where he kept 2000
men in garrison ; it consists of a square building, each side measuring
85 fathoms.

On a subsequent occasion St. Marie made another excursion, passing
through Lower Mustapha, Birmandreis, and Birkadem,* till he came to a
plateau that commands the Sahel range. Turning to the right from the
Model Farm, and following a narrow road, after proceeding eight leagues
(20 miles) they saw the chain of the Little Atlas before them. Around
them an immense plain, the Mitidja, extended on all sides, with only one
solitary palm-tree visible on its ample surface. At length they arrived at
Buffarick after a four hours' ride : it is surrounded by verdant poplars, in
a delightful situation, and is supplied with plenty of water • indeed the
supply is somewhat too copious for the salubrity of the place. The streets
of Buffarick are wide and straight, and shaded by rows of poplars and
willows. Many of the houses are built of stone, instead of the poor
wooden ones which used to constitute the Camp of Erlon, part of which
was still in existence in 1845 at one end of the town, and contained
some troops. -j-

" Buffarick," says M. Lamping, " is another fortified camp and a small
village which stands on the river Haratch, in the middle of the plain of
Mitidja. The soil is here very productive, but the air so unhealthy that
the village has been depopulated more than once." Official documents
add that this place, which was once so unhealthy, has recovered its salubrity
through the extensive system of drainage that has been introduced. Its
buildings are spacious and numerous, it is surrounded by a considerable
extent of cultivated land, and its colonists are in easy circumstances.
Nineteen farms radiate from this town as from a common centre ; and
the authorities are now engaged in extending its territory, as its narrow
limits form the only obstacle to its rapid increase.

The Mitidja plain, says another tourist, in one place cultivated with

f The camps of Birkadem and Beni-siam are to be converted into hospitals. Tableau,
P . 17.

t St. Marie, p. 78 ; the Foreign Legion, p. 4.1; Castellane, pp. 4, 5.

104

7a fABIXS.

corn, in another stretching out in wide expanses of brushwood and c>
grass or vast marshes, producing forests of lofty reeds, offers in some parte
a fine covert for the wild boar and the panther.* At a spot in the plain
called Arba there is held once a week one of the greatest markets of the
neighbourhood, which is much frequented by Arab-, who bring to it their
horses. cattle, and other property. Arba is a pleasant spot. Delightful gn
of orange, lemon, and pomegranate trees, with massive clumps of lentisks and
wild olives, adorn this portion of the plain : and at that season (May) the
earth was gay with flowers of every hue. whilst the song of the nightingale
was heard on all - ' - and what was better still, the travellers' horses
were revelling among fine herbage. This position is at the foot of the
Djebel M -- . one of the inferior heights of the Little Atlas. Xumerous
streams water the plain in the neighbourhood, of which the principal is
the Ouad-Arba : yet though the water they contain is clear, it is not whole-
some, being liable to produce diarrhoea. +

Taking the gentle reader by the hand, we shall now lead him to some
of the most picturesque and characteristic haunts and lounges of the natives
near Algiers.

On a ridge that comma:-;; Algi rs, * the distance of 150 in- \ -
(4:02 feet), towering over the immense ravine that separates the Boujareah
from the hill on which the capital is built, there stand the remains of a
fort raised by Hassan Pasha. It was built of a kind of mortar which
reminds one of the Boman cement, and is consolidated by corner-stones
of strong masonrv. which must have driven it the strength of Boman
bui _- and in - is - departs widely from must native struc-

tures. Enormous facings of wall stand still ra t, wing to the great
adherence of the materials, and astonish the beholder by their size : but
hanging over a precipice undermined by the action of rain-water, they con-
stantly threaten the demolition of the frail structures scattered over the
hill beneath.

It was in these ruins, called by the French the Fort de l'Etoile or des

aha, that the bat r rere begun, intended to breach the Casbah in

'. when the people of Algiers, fearing a storm, forced t" Eassan

to enter into negotiations preliminary to the surrender. The Tagarins was

in ruins in 1830, having been blown up by a neg - who, jealous of her

master the governor, fired the powder-magazine and perished with him.

The Emperor's Fort was used as a prison fur officers in 1843. If the
main building rose a little higher above the walls, it would form a toler-
ably agreeable dwelling, and the delicious view that it commands would
be a great compensation for a short captivity within it- precinct*

The fort is what the French call t) . on the ridge

that descends from the culminating point on which towers the Casbah,
and commands a view of the road to Blidah, by the Sahel ridge, also of

* Dawaon Borrer, p. _ f Ibid, p. 2L * Berbrugger, part i.

CONSULATE OF SWEDEN. 105

the road to the same town that passes by Birkadem and the plain, and
of a third road that runs along the sea-shore towards the Maiaon Oarree,
where it divides into several tranches, some leading to the farms of the
territory of Beni-Mouca, whilst another terminates in the camps of Fon-
duuk and of Kara-Mustapha, and a farther branch leads to the solitudes
of Cape Matifou.

These different roads, which are continually paced by a population pre-
senting an inconceivably bizarre mixture, and animated by an extraordinary
movement and circulation, offer a most atti-active spectacle.

Add to this the sea-view, the continual arrival and departure of ships
of war and merchant vessels, the appearance of the pretty villas sur-
rounding the fort, some of which, suspended over abrupt precipices, look
like pictures hanging to a wall, — and the reader may form a proximate
idea of the noble scenery commanded by the Fort de TEmpereur.*

Though the Barbary pirates were no respecters of persons or of na-
tions, the ambassadors of Christian states seem generally to have led a
luxurious and easy life at Algiers.

The consulate of Sweden was one of those charming country-seats so
numerous near the capital before conquest, war, and military occupation
had left fatal traces of their passage in felling most of the noble trees
that adorned its gardens. The spot where the consulate stands must be
the site of some Roman structure, from the remains that have been lately
discovered there ; nor is this strange, as the slopes of Mustapha must
always have been a favourite spot for villas, and most of the consuls
resided on this side, including those of Holland, Spain, Denmark, and
Sweden. The residence of the latter is situated on one of the culminating
points of the slope of Mustapha, and the eye embraces both declivities.
Few views can equal that which meets the eye from this point ; as you
behold in one glance all the details of a richly cultivated landscape,
adorned with all the attractions of art, and the wild background of the
rugged and precipitous mountains that frown above it. The blue waters
of the Mediterranean perpetually breaking against the dark schistous
rocks of the coast cover the shores with a circle of white foam, that
presents the appearance of a broad silvery band, diversified at night by
phosphorescent streams of fire. Mountain, plain, and ocean harmonise
beautifully in this graceful view, which the eye is never satiated with
beholding. -f-

Between the Fort Xeuf and the Jardin du Dey. to the left of the road
of Boujareah, there appear a number of whitewashed tombs, which at a
distance look like a nock of sheep in a meadow. Their shape is very
like the hull of a ship reversed, and placed on a rectangular base. Some
of these monuments are of marble, and almost all contain inscriptions, of

* Berbrugger's Alg£rie, part i. t Ibid.

10G

CAFE OF EAMMAE.

which some are very short, only giving a simple enumeration of the names
and qualities of the deceased, whilst others, much longer, cover the stone,
and contain many scriptural extracts; This is the Jewish cemetery.*

Following the road from Algiers to Koubah, the traveller finds at the
foot of the hills, and opposite the Jardin d'Essai, the pretty Cafe of Ham-
mah, called by Europeans the Cafe of the Plantain-trees. This name is
derived from the fine trees that shade the native building, whose appear-

CAFE DE I1AMJIAU.

ance, however, has been greatly changed since the conquest. The pitiless
hand of civilisation has here, as elsewhere, almost demolished the pic-
turesque. The narrow shady path that used to lead there has been re-
placed by a wide, straight, dusty road, the work of civil engineers. The
formal avenues and regular alleys of the Experimental Garden are the pre-
sent substitutes for the wild and capacious clumps of tries that used to
separate it from the Mediterranean. Then the noisy French guinguette
(wine-shop) has hung up its symbolical cork alongside the Moorish cafe,
typifying the contrasts of the two races. Thus, next door to the lively,

* Berbrugger, part i.

CAFE OF HAMMAH. 107

gay, and noisy French, adding to their natural excitement the fictitious
excitement of fermented liquors, you see the grave and immovable natives
sipping Mocha and pure water, — inoffensive tonics that leave the reason
clear.

Leaving the broad prose of the wine-shop, let us enter the poetical at-
mosphere of the Moorish cafe, realising the dreams of Eastern romance.
Several large mats are extended in the shade of the plantains, and the
customers may be invariably seen seated there with their legs crossed, or
recumbent in the scriptural and classical attitude of John and Alcibiades.

The shop of the qahouadji ^j-^-^i' or coffee-house-keeper faces the centre
tree, and contains benches covered with mats ; but it is seldom re-
sorted to, save in bad weather. Near a stove, always containing boiling
water, stands the mortar in which the coffee is pounded ; and over it hangs
a board destined to receive the names of those customers who are suffi-
ciently well known to obtain credit. Some pipes, a few wooden foot-
stools, and two or three draughtboards, form the rest of the furniture.
There is a great distance between this simple establishment and the daz-
zling luxury of French cafes ; but the situation, architecture, and arrange-
ments of these native Algerian coffee-houses are so picturesque, original,
and antique, that they give birth to tranquil and primitive emotions,
foreign to the gildings and trappings of the French metropolis. Though
frescoes and gilding are wanting, there is nothing to excite the painful
reflection of palled appetites and bankrupt competition, as in our princely
houses of entertainment.

The qahouadji of Hammah, without the dread of failures or rivals,
passes his happy days at his stove or among his customers. Armed with
a little pair of tongs, he may be seen hurrying to deposit a live coal in the
pipe of one customer ; whilst he hands a fendjal, or cup of aromatic coffee,
to another, for the modest price of five centimes (a halfpenny). When not
engaged in these duties he is always at his post by the stove, concocting
the precious liquor that forms the basis of his revenues. When the water
boils, he pours in the bruised coffee, stirs it a few minutes, and then after
pouring it several times from one pot to another, discharges it at length
into very small cups, with copper egg-cups as saucers. The beverage
taken in small quantities in hot weather is very wholesome and re-
freshing, and a happy substitute for those copious libations of debili-
tating fluids that predispose the system to fever and dysentery.

The natives do not resort to these places only to drink coffee. They
play at many games, especially cards, making use of Spanish parks and
terms. Tims they call the colours, oros, coptcs, espados, bastos, and the
court cards, rey, dama, sola, and the others, cualro, as, seis, &c. The
frequent intercourse between Barbary and the Peninsula, and the Andalu-
sian origin of many Moors, will explain this fact.

Draughts are also a favourite amusement ; but the squares, instead of

108 HACHICH.

being black and white as with us, are hollow or flat alternately. They
also substitute for our men two kinds of pieces, whereof one resembles
the castle, and the other the pawns in chess. Their mode of play like-
wise differs somewhat from ours ; e. g. no one can be forced to take.

But the entertainments of the Rami, or story-teller, are the great at-
traction. It is chiefly in the Ramahdan fast that this worthy displays his
powers. The Thousand and One Nights are the chief fund on which he
draws ; and when he originates the matter, his improvisations have a
revolting obscenity to European ears. Some expressions are continually
repeated in their discourses, such as J\5 qal, L^-lli qalet, jXi qalou (he

■c (J

has said, she has said, they have said), Ji* J^- Ju qal fil nmtsd

(they say in the story), jLi [J kimom quolou (as they say, &c), render-
ing an Exeter-Hall patience necessary to endure such monotonous deli-
very.

There are some other recreations to which the less rigid Mussulmans
addict themselves at the coffee-houses, including a certain description of
intoxication, called kif, not prohibited in the Koran. Some take afioun
(opium) ;""" others munch a kind of bean named bouzaqa, which is re-
ported to kill all animals having the appendage of a tail (zaqa). They
also eat an opiate paste, madjoun ; the women are particularly fond of
this substance. Boundje is another intoxicating substance that they em-
ploy ; but hachich, f or Indian hemp, mashed fine, and smoked in very

* From jLi\x a ^ l fy a i health, calm, serenity.

t The botanical features of this plant will be found in the chapter on the Algerian
Flora ; but we propose to give in this note the substance of Dr. Lagger's remarks on the
mode of preparing and using the plant. Koempfer says that the term kif is used in Persia
to designate all substances that generate intoxicating effects. The principal of these sub-
stances are tobacco, the poppy, and hemp. Silvestre de Sacy informs us that the Arabs
of Egypt use the term kief to designate the stupor into which the use of the hachich
throws them.

In Algeria they apply the names of kif, of hachich, and sometimes of tekrourl, to the
extremity of the stem of the hemp, including the leaves, the flowers, and the seed, some-
times smoked by the natives in very diminutive pipes. These smokers are mostly inha-
bitants of the towns and villages, and are rarely met with among the Bedouins. The
Arabs call hemp k'anal. European hemp is styled by botanists cannabis sativa, Indian
hemp cannabis ipdica, called hachich in Egypt. Mekrizy, who lived in the fifteenth
century, maintains that the use of hachich was discovered by Soheikh Haider, who died
in 618 Beg. (1121); others attribvito it to Scheikh Birazian, who lived at the time of
CosfMS ; and sumo have affirmed that it was known to the ancient Greeks.

Jts employment has been repeatedly forbidden by the Mussulman sovereigns. In
Algeria the French troops and colonists have only used it to become acquainted with its
effects, in all parts of the regency this hemp is cultivated by the natives in gardens
surrounding the towns, exclusively for the purpose of smoking, or otherwise consuming
its stem. At Constantina, and in some other towns, they prepare comfits made of it,
which aro eaten to procure pleasant dreams. To make the inadjoun, the hemp is first

MUSTAPHA DEY. 109

little pipes exclusively used for that purpose, is the great instrument for
creating kif.

The inebriation resulting from the use of these substances has generally
a tranquil character : the persons under its influence have commonly bril-
liant eyes and a bright complexion ; sometimes a vacant laugh disturbs their
features, at others a melancholy torpor settles on their face. They say
that the chief object in view in using them is, because they are powerful
aphrodisiacs.

The coffee-house proprietors are Turks, or Koulouglis ; and some say
they are employed as spies by government, to report the conversation of
Moors and Arabs, which is, however, generally vague and extravagant.

Before we leave this cafe, it should be added that it is built on
the channel of a Ptoman aqueduct that descended from the hills of Mus-
tapha, and abutted at a kind of reservoir, of which some traces were found
in surveying the Jardin d'Essai. All the remains found on this spot con-
sist of some foundations, an oval basin paved in mosaic work and cut
in two by a partition wall, a medal of the Lower Empire, and some frag-
ments of pottery.*

On the slope of the hills of Mustapha is another interesting object,
consisting of the remains of a country house belonging to Dey Mustapha,
and surrounded by beautiful gardens. The hills of Mustapha stretch from
Bab-azoun in the direction of the Maison Carree, and display all the rich-
ness of southern vegetation, and the remains of great luxury in Moorish
architecture. The gardens of Mustapha Dey are situated above the vast
infautry barracks of that name, and were a favourite resort of the proprietor,
who used to keep his wives there in the fine season, and reth'ed to
that spot himself to seek repose after the fatigues of office. The Algerine
people were very partial to him, and still praise his justice and kindness.
These qualities probably led to his ruin, as the Janissaries wished for
sterner and more uncompromising leaders. Having heard of their inten-
tion to slay him, one day that he was going from the Djeminah to the
mosque of Seida,-j- as a last resource, he fled with his khaznadji (finance
minister) to seek refuge in the sanctuary of Sid-Wali-Dada, situated at

pounded, and then mixed with honey or butter; but the most usual way of consuming
it is by smoking. The following is a common preparation of it : hemp-seed is pounded
and boiled with an equal quantity of sugar and water, in the proportion of one-half to
two pounds of sugar. Among the Harectas (province of Constantina) hachich-leaves are
given to the horses to give them spirit on fantasia days (fete-days with sham-fights).

The curious reader who wishes to learn farther particulars relating to hachich and its
ecstatic effects is referred to Ebn Beitar's Treatise on Simples, J. J. Ampere's article in
the Revue des deux Mondes, January 1842 ; and M. Aubert Roche's experiences of its
effects in the Vocubulaire d'Histoire Naturelle attached to General Daumas's Grand
Desert, p. 401.

* Berbrugger, part i.

+ A very pretty mosque pulled down by the French.

110 TIIE BRIDGE OF THE HARATCII.

Ketchaoua, a little above the mosque that has been converted into a
Catholic church. But the road was blocked up by mutineers clamorously
demanding the head of Mustapha ; and when the khaznadji entered the
street, he was instantly cut to pieces. The unhappy dey followed the
steps and shared the fate of his minister, being hacked to pieces by the
yataghans of the Janissaries before he had time to reach the door of
the marabout.

No one who visited Algiers a few years since can have forgotten seeing
in the streets of that city a lame old man with a long silvery beard, whose
gentle and venerable countenance attracted the beholder : he was the first
native who wore the cross of the Legion of Honour over his oriental dress.
This old' man was the son of Mustapha Pasha; a circumstance that alone
would not have secured him much consideration among his compatriots if
this Koulougli had not possessed a large fortune. Out of office a man was
nothing in that country ; and frequent revolutions, as well as polygamy, had
indefinitely multiplied the dey's children. Hence the humblest European
visitor at Algiers may now have his boxes carried by the offspring, of those
proud pirate chiefs, once the terror of Christendom.*

Important monuments are so rare in Algeria, save in the towns, that
Europeans are always wont to attribute them to an older people than the
present possessors of the soil. Thus the bridge of the Haratch has been
given a Eoman origin, though Charles V., in his disastrous expedition of
1541, found no bridge there, and was forced to throw a flying bridge across
the river. Lastly, the Arabic inscription given below removes all doubt
on the subject, proving that it was built in 1149 of the hegira (a.d< 173G)
by Pasha Ibraliim-ben-Pvamahdan.

During a great part of the year this bridge is as useless as that over the
Manzanares at Madrid ; but in rainy weather it is invaluable, maintaining
the communication with the eastern tribes. The apathy of the Turks had
deferred its erection for two centuries, and it was only under the last dey
that it was secured by the erection of the fortress called the Maison Garree
by Yahhya Arha. The pirate government, in its usual regard for the
liberties of its subjects, built it after the following plan. Every one who
had to pass the bridge to Algiers was obliged on his return, if he had beasts
of burden, to bring a load of sand, mortar, and bricks. Those who could
not be turned to account in this fashion were forced to work at it like day-
labourers ; and when they asked for food after a hard day's work, they were
paid by a good bastinado.

The military importance of this spot did not escape the French ; it be-
came their out-post to the east, and remained so in 1843. Before describing
the bridge, a word on its builder. Ibrahim was raised to authority on the

* Berbrugger, part i.

THE BRIDGE OF THE IIAKATCII. Ill

12th of Raby-el-Aouel, 1145 (23d April, 1732). This is proved by his
seal ; and he bore the name of Khaznadar, having been treasurer before
he became pasha. He met with a good share of misfortunes in his adminis-
tration, as the Spaniards retook Oran, which they had lost in 1708 ; and in
1147 (a.d. 1734) Algiers was ravaged by a terrible famine, corn costing
three ryals (about ten francs) the saa (three-fifths of a hectolitre).* In
1740 it Mas visited by the plague, which came from the west, and lasted
three years. In 1840 a violent storm destroyed a great many ships in
the port; and in 1742 the lightning struck the Bordj Mouley Hhacan
(Emperor's Fort), set fire to the powder-magazine, and blew it up with the
garrison. Happily for Ibrahim, his Janissaries were not so superstitious as
those of Omar Pasha, who was slain, though much beloved, because the
plague, the locusts, and Lord Exmouth had come iu his time. Ibra-
him, like his predecessors, was almost independent of Turkey. The only
war he undertook was one with Tunis, which ended in his favour by his
appointing his subject Ali Bey as its governor. Ibrahim died in 11.58
(a.d. 174.5), and was succeeded by his khaznadji, Ibrahim Khoudja. Like
all the biographies of the Algerine deys, save one or two, this notice is
meagre enough, a matter perhaps not greatly to be regretted.

The position of the bridge over the Haratch is eminently unhealthy;
hence it has always been garrisoned by native troops in French pay. In
1843 they consisted of native tirailleurs under the Chef de Bataillon Verge.
A native tribe, called the Aribs, has also been settled for some years in the
eastern part of the Mitidja. These Arabs are natives of the province of
Constantina, where being dispossessed of their own territory by more power-
ful neighbours, they came west, the greater part settling at Hamza; but
many were granted the Rasauta district, which they peaceably enjoyed till
it was given to the Polish prince Mir. After some discussion the mutual
claims were adjusted, and the Aribs remain. Besides being shepherds, they
are Makhzen, or irregular horsemen; and their chief bears the name of
Ben Zekri, and professes to be descended from the great Granadan family
of that name. He is said to be partial to the bottle.

An attempt was also made to establish an Arab colony near the Ha-
ratch bridge, consisting of a gathering of Arabs, Kabyles, <fcc. from all
parts of Algeria. This rabble was christened' the Beni-Ramasses by the
soldiers, and has naturally failed, the Frank and Mussulman elements not
admitting of. an easy fusion and amalgamation.

There is now only a little village containing a hundred houses, built
in a straight line, near the bridge. Its inhabitants consist exclusively of
the native tirailleurs and their families. No cultivation is carried on,
and the only means of subsistence of the heads of these families is derived
from their pay.

* S.?. id. ; three-fifths of 22-009667 gallons, i. e. for about 16 imperial gallons, or 2
bushels.

112 THE BRIDGE OF THE HARATCH.

We here present the inscription of Ibrahim on the bridge, with its
translation :

x V - * t>

LS ^iJ! &3.j! a-jU 3\ ye. ^W j-j J-M UjUj j;

The anxiety to make each half-line rhyme with the following has caused
some words to be removed from their legitimate place by the composer.
Thus, instead of \^ii at the beginning of the second half of the second
line, you ought to read Xxai, We annex the English transcription of
these lines, followed by their translation.

Tamma benaouana albery alKihy an idny banyhi lioudj allahy.

Rihi Ibrahim Pasha ben Ramahdan amara fasara cantharatan lana kamatara.

Djaala allah sayahou sayan mashkouran oua djezaouhou djezaan nioufouran.

Sanata tesan oua arbayn oua mayet oua alf min hadjarati min lahoualizz oua alscharf.

Translation.*
(The words in the inscription are supposed to he spoken !>>/ men of Algiers.)

We have finished this wonderful and brilliant structure, with the permission of him
who undertook it in the sight of God.

The order came from Ibrahim Pasha, son of Ramahdan ; and the result was the
bridge you see.

May God take his efforts as a work worthy of reward ; and may this reward be
considerable !

The 1149th year of the hegira of him to whom glory and honour belong.

The word ' hegira' means flight, as the reader knows ; and the Maho-
metan era dates from Mahomet's flight from Mecca to Medina. -j- Ibrahim
Pasha, of whom mention is here made, came in all probability from Tur-
key to Algiers, which accounts for the wording being in Ottoman and not
in Algerian Arabic.

At two kilometres (1£ miles) from Algiers, on the road to Pointe Pes-
cade, stands a very pretty chapel, now a French cabaret. This is the

£°-
marabout, or koubbah, or q'bor „\j of Sidi Yakoub. We know not on

what principle the saint has made way for the cook, but certain it is that
religion has here given way to the kitchen, and Bacchus has supplanted
tli<; holy Mussulman whose remains had reposed in peace on that spot
for three centuries. Father Haedo calls the saint by the surname of
El-hel-Desi, intended for El Andalouci, shewing that he was a refugee

* By M. Reinaud, Member of the Institute ] f Berbrugger, part i.

AYOUN-BENI-MENAD. 113

Spanish ]\roor ; and he asserts that lie went mad towards the end of his
life. He adds, that he was one of those marabouts who were wont to
take singular liberties with the fair sex of Algeria, giving a good sound
beating to the poor women who flocked to kiss his hands. The sly tra-
veller insinuates that the Algerian ladies, notwithstanding his violent
habits, did not scruple to invite him and his like to visit them, hoping
to get young saints by his intercession ; nor did parents or husbands
oppose this, regarding the practice as a signal blessing.

The Koubbah of Sidi-Yakoub, built on the top of a schistous rock, and
encompassed by fine olive-trees, is contiguous to the Hospitals of the Dey
and of the Salpetriere, which have been noticed elsewhere.

Several streams issue from the rock below the koubbah, and flow over
the strand. This place is named Ayoun-Beni-Menad, or the fountains of
Beni-Menad.

The aged natives assert that they received their name from their
builders, a tribe called the Beni-Menad, living between the western part
of the Mitidja and Scherschell. These fountains and the koubbah are
visited with equal fervour by Jews and Mussulmans. The same remark
applies to Sidi-Ali-Zouoni ; and the Moors state that it is because these
two saints shewed the Jews some favour.

The fountains being the residence of genii, a race popular with all sects,
we need not be surprised at their receiving the attentions of the children
of Ismael and Israel, though the latter keep to the springs nearest the
Salpetriere.

There are seven fountains at Ayoun-Beni-Menad:* 1. Ain-el-Q'hha-
lah, the black fountain ; 2. Ain-el-Bidha, the white fountain ; 3. Ain-el-
Khadrah, the green fountain; 4. Ain-el-Sefrah, the yellow fountain;
5. Ain-el-Hhamra, the red fountain ; 6. Ain-loun- el-Foul, the bean-
coloured fountain ; 7. Ain-Oulad-Sergou, the fountain of the children
of Sergou. j-

Certain sacrifices are offered up every Wednesday at these fountains,
respecting which we have gathered the following curious particulars :

It is necessary to sacrifice a completely black fowl at the black foun-
tain, a white one at the white fountain, and so forth ; and this practice

* ,~+S- ayn makes in the plural i.\j*-Z- ayoun, fountains. The names of the foun-
tains in the Arabic character are as follows :

1. ^iLsaxll ,-*£ Ain-el-Kaldd-

2. -*Li.Jl ,,.*£■ Ain-el-Bmld.

3. l-d>- ^J] .,*+£■ Am-el-Kltadra.

4. y'JLfljn .,**£■ Ain-d-Sfarra.

J *—* "

5. if^cs^ll ,,**£■ Ain-el-Hcmra.

®- c< U' LJ7 r f,Al ~ Ain-loun-el-

Foul.
7. &z j*a SXk .»*£ Ain-Oulad-Sergou,.

f The negroes in then- dialect call the Christians Oulad-Sergou.

114 AY0UN-BEN1-MEXAD.

seems to be of ancient date, as Father Haedo* speaks of the green fountain
as the Alarne-Hader, by which he means the Ain-el-Khadrah; and he re-
lates that in his day fowls were solemnly sacrificed there to the genii.

Sheep, goats, and bullocks are also occasionally offered up there, but
rarely, .owing to the poverty of the devotees. The genii are Christian,
Mussulman, and Jewish ; and the Mahometans relate that Mahomet, not
wishing the faithful to be tempted during the trying fast of the Ramadhan
by infidel genii, shuts them all up the night before the beginning of their
Lent, and only releases them on the 26th of the same month, — in the same
way that the police in Europe keep a good watch over well-known old
criminals during holidays.

The weekly pilgrimages to, and sacrifices at these fountains are for the
purpose of healing diseases : the process we shall explain presently. But
the genii are not to be courted with impunity, and the health of the body
is often recovered at the cost of the soul. The frequenters of these wells
often become what is called medjnoun (possessed by genii). This disease
has several developments. Some fancy themselves mendicants, and, what-
ever their station, go about in rags begging. Others practise what is
called djebbeb, i. e. dance and leap about to the sound of a large drum,
till they fall down in a kind of trance, in which they can swallow live
coals, digest nails, &c. This state is evidently analogous to the pavia of
the Pythoness and the trances of the dancing dervishes, and may not im-
probably be occasioned by the anaesthetic properties of the water or air,
as in the case of the clefts at Delphi.

Sometimes the frequenters of the black fountain are seen dancing the
djebbeb in black dresses on the spot. It would, however, be tedious
to enumerate all the extravagances connected with this genii-worship,
though the subject is interesting in a psychological -and anthropological
point of view.

We shall now give a brief description of the "Wednesday sacrifices.
Just after the gun-shot fired at dawn, when the gates open, a crowd of
Moorish women, preceded by negresses with fowls, pour forth towards the
Jardin du Dey. A few venerable negroes with white beards, and very
fat negresses, who are the sacrificators, march in front.

Arrived at the fountains, the votaries seek their favourite spring.
The old women throw grains of incense into a little stove, and toss it
round the body and head of their patients, after which they bathe them
in the fountain. Young girls arc stripped naked behind a screen formed
by the long cotton veils used by the women in the streets; and after
their fumigations they soon repair the disorder of their costume, and
prepare to assist at the sacrifices.

* Father Haedo published iu 1G37 a work ontitlod Topogvafia y Istoria goneral de
Argel : Y'uJladolid.

AYOUN-BENI-MENAD. 115

A negro, after drawing his knife round the neck of the fowl several
times, cuts its throat. Auguries are drawn from the operation. Thus it
is very unfortunate for the bird to die at once. When dead, the sacri-
ficator dips his fingers in the hlood and daubs the face of the patient.
Wheat and other offerings are cast into the sea for the genii after this,
and the patients depart, carrying water from the springs to complete their
cure. The cure can he ohtained also hy proxy.

It seems strange that one of the fountains, that of the children of Ser-
gou, should he consecrated to Christians, as that word signifies in the guen-
aouya or negro idiom. But these hlacks are some of the chief actors in
the scene, and many of them hefore conversion were Abyssinian Christians.
Not that Christendom has cause to be proud of them, for they cut a most
disgusting figure in the djebbeb. When thus excited, religious enthusi-
asm leads them not to bite the thorny leaves of the Barbary fig, or to
swallow nails and hot coals, but to make a meal like that of the prophet
EzekieL* to satisfy their depraved appetites.

Many of these curious superstitions and phenomena will remind the
reader of the convulsionaries of St. Medard, of St. Vitus' s dance in the
dark ages, and of the Cevennes fanatics, and other epidemic disorders of
the nervous system wrought by fanaticism and sympathy, and proving
the uniformity in the psychological and physiological developments of man
in all phases of time and space, t

* Ch. iv. ver. 12.

+ Berbrugger, i. p. 68. See some other interesting particulars on native supersti-
tions by M. Berbrugger and L. Piesse, in the Legendes Algeriennes, Paris, 1843 ; also
Baron Baude's Alge"rie, vol. i. ; and Relation des Voyages de M. de Braves, Ambassador
of Henri Quatre in Turkey, 1628. On the djebbeb dance, see Part II. the chapter on
the Negroes^

CHAPTER VII.
Interior of the $3rot)tiuc.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ALGERIAN SCENERT INTERIOR OF THE PROVINCE BLIDAH

THE CHIFFA MEDEAH MILIANAH THE RIVER OF SILVER TENIET-EL-

HAD BOGHAR THE KOUBBER ROMEAH SCHERSCHELL TENES THE

DARHA ORLEANSVTLLE AUMALE THE OASES OF THE BEN1-MZAB — THE

BEDOUIN TRIBES.

While our European visitor is engaged in scaling the shoulders of old
Atlas, or toiling along the dusty roads of Numidia, it may be some
refreshment to his fevered blood to pause awhile under yon shady palms,
that bend their graceful heads over the whitewashed marabout ; and as he
wipes the sweat from his brow, to take a survey of the broad features of
African scenery.

And first, as he casts his weary limbs on the parched ground, let him
mark well the fiery glories of that southern sun, which no effort of pencil
or pen can conjure into the misty imaginations of patent cockneys and
baclauds de Paris. Nothing can give an idea of the sun of Africa to the
absent ; not even the rising of this glorious orb on the vast expanse of the
ocean, nor its setting in waves of fire on the savannahs of Guiana. The
sun of Africa appears gigantic and in unison with the whole aspect of
nature in this terrible country. The same character of arid grandeur per-
vades every thing — deserts, rocks, mountains, plains ; the very men partake
of the nature of the lion.*

After a frugal repast of dates, and a refreshing draught of the crystal
brook that laves his feet, let our new acquaintance climb that ruinous pile
to the left, and gaze at the strange scene unrolled before him. His eye
wanders over a vast treeless plain ; and his spirit is roused by one of those
mighty impulses that issue from the bowels of the earth in Africa, and to
which Europe is a stranger. Large saltdakes at his feet sparkling like
diamonds, immense Avaves of land lost in mirage rolling away to the back-
ground, rocky arid ridges breaking the horizon on one side, a dark line in the
distance seducing the imagination witli ^Mediterranean dreams, the spectral
Arab flying across the plain, and the dazzling koubbah with its venerable

* Madame Prus's Residence in Algeria.

BLIDAH. 117

plantains. As this strange solitary landscape unfolds, the spectator is
filled with indescribable sadness; yet is the feeling mixed with grandeur,
elevating instead of casting down the soul. The shades of ages hover over
you; and these plains and mountains, the battle-field and grave of mighty
nations long since gathered to their fathers, seem to retain some myste-
rious enchantment that inspires you. Hence the attachment felt by all
who have visited it to that land of fables, prompting private or commander
to escape from the monotony of the Bois de Boulogne or Elysian Fields,
and to seek once more the risks, the accidents of flood and field, and
those African breezes that are life to the soul.*

Meanwhile, as the traveller stands wrapt in these sweet day-dreams,
let him beware of those mighty clouds that come sweeping up from the
horizon, for they bring with them very unpoetical consequences. And
now 1 fear that he is too late, and must stand the fire of African water.
They say in France when it rains hard, that the devil is beating his wife,
who goes and has a good cry. The devil must be very savage in Africa,
for the showers in that favoured clime consist of successive sheets of
water, -j- which have already drenched our poor friend, without throwing
cold water on the characteristic ardour of a British traveller. I am glad
to see that, with a red Murray's Handbook in hand, he trudges on soaked
to the bone, drinking in the amenities of tropical scenery.

But the storm is past ; and, forgetting his shower-bath, our honest Briton
stops before the shadowy caravansary, where, seated in a family circle of
social camels, his spirit holds converse with the glories of a southern night.
Reclining his head on an ass couchant, he sounds the fathomless depths of
that dark-blue African sky, resplendent with its millions of precious stones,
till his mind wanders into the enchanted chambers of some Eastern sor-
cerer. The silvery light of the moon streaming over the landscape pours
calm and repose over vale and mountain ; whilst the abrupt ribs and ridges
of the mountains, illumined at intervals by its rays, stand out like so many
ghosts from the mysterious backgrounds

Before we make excursions through the remoter parts of this pro-
vince, Ave shall give a broad outline of its more striking features inland.
Blidah SA-L (the Bida Colonia of Ptolemy) is situated at the foot of
the Little Atlas, at the entrance of a deep valley, twenty-nine miles south
of Algiers. The environs of this town are rendered beautiful by the
numerous orange-groves that fill the air with their delicious perfume,
while fruitful corn-fields cover the sides of the adjacent mountains. At
the entrance of this city you find a cemetery with peculiar sepulchral stones.
Aerial minarets, cupolas, tile-covered roofs enclosed in groves of trees,
and a beautiful vegetation, account for the love entertained by its inha-
bitants for their native place, which they used to style the second Da-

* Castellane, p. 36-1. fTbid. p. I/O.

118 THE CHIFFA.

mascus. Blidah is internally a well-built town, having regular streets
much wider than those of Algiers. It is surrounded by a wall twelve
feet high and one mile in circumference, with gates at each end cor-
responding to the cardinal points, and communicating together by a street
that goes round the interior of the town. The population of Blidah,
which formerly amounted to 14 or 15,000, is now reduced to 6000.
The greater part of the town was destroyed by an earthquake in 1825 ;
but it was rebuilt on the same site, and is now known by the name of
New Blidah. The houses of the town are built like those of Algiers,
and some of them looking into an inner court are surmounted by a ter-
race.

Blidah possesses four stone mosques, which are inferior to those of the
capital ; and it contained lately many ruinous debris scattered about the
town, occasioned by the earthquake. The country in its vicinity is well
cultivated, presenting many fields of corn, potatoes, and flax, surrounded
by hedges. These fields do not extend to the northward, but to the south
they occupy nearly one-fourth of the slope of the mountains ; and though
they contain few houses of stone, many huts of reed and wood are scattered
over them. Omnibuses pass daily through Blidah, on their way from
Algiers to Medeah.*

The principal passes over the chain of the Lesser Atlas, between the
Mitidja and the valley of the Shellif, are : 1st, the Col de Teniah ; 2dly,
the Col de Mouzaiah ; 3dly, the Portes de Fer, or Iron Gates, a cutting of
the Chiffa. The Portes de Fer are situated between the peaks of Beni-
Salah and that of Mouzaiah, the former 1520 metres (4985-60 feet), and
the latter 1560 metres (5116-80 feet) in height. These peaks are separated
by an interval of 10,000 metres (32,800 feet), forming the pass.f This
is the most direct route from the valley of the Shellif to Algiers ; the pass
is only 400 metres (1312 feet) above the level of the sea, and not much
higher than the bed of the Shellif.

The road between Blidah and Medeah through the Lesser Atlas crosses
the river Chiffa sixty-two times. The engineers have surmounted appa-
rently invincible obstacles, and the works that they have executed are
amazing. The rocks approach so near in some parts as scarcely to leave
room for a man to walk erect ; and during the rainy season it was for-
merly impassable, being bordered on both sides for eight leagues (twenty
miles) by steep mountains ; but the engineers have made a road through
these defiles, confining the river and blasting the rocks. The road now
rests all the way on a strong embankment confining the waters, is carried
on both sides of the river alternately, and rises gently to Medeah. At all
seasons it is now as good as the best English road, j s

After emerging from the pass you approach Medeah &iXji which was

* Blofeld, p. 33. f Baron Baudo. X St. Marie, p. 18.

MEDEAH. 119

formerly the residence of the Bey of Tittery, under whose government it
possessed a barrack for the Turkish militia. Medeah contains still a cas-
bah and a very pretty palace, and is surrounded by a rather high stone
wall one mile in circumference, in which are five gates, two of which are
to the north, and the other three Jace the south, east, and west.

These gates were till lately weakly defended by a few loopholes, through
which the besieged could fire on the assailants ; whilst above the south
gate there used to be two 8-pounder culverins of Spanish manufacture.
The appearance of Medeah is very different from that of Algiers in the
construction of the houses, all being built of stone and whitewashed with
lime ; but the interiors are the same, consisting of a ground-floor, a first
story, and gallery supported by pillars* Medeah contains many foun-
tains, which are, however, in general mere spouts in the Avails ; a pretty
Moorish coffee-house ; and a caravansary, where you can get a change of
horses, a rare circumstance in Algeria. This town also contains, or rather
contained (1843), several mosques and a public school, with a population
of 6000 or 7000.. Near Medeah stands a remarkable aqueduct, which has
been supposed to be of Roman construction : but the minarets of the
mosques are built in the same way, i. e. in stone and bricks of a peculiar
composition ; and the aqueduct, though ancient, is thought by some writers
to be the work of the native Africans.

The environs of the town are beautiful, presenting numerous vineyards
and orchards and much cultivation, displaying the agricultural industry
of the possessors. The inhabitants of Medeah are much more active thau
is usual with the Moors and Arabs, being never unoccupied ; even in the
coffee-houses they knit a kind of sock for the feet, using very thick and
short iron needles. Many employ themselves, moreover, in different me-
chanical occupations, such as those of joiners, tanners, smiths, &c. ; but
their principal pursuit is agriculture. Omnibuses ply to Algiers, through
Blidah for ten francs (8s. 4c?.).*

There is every reason to think that Medeah, which stands behind the
first chain of the Little Atlas, south of Algiers, is of Roman origin, as the
Arab structures of the town contain several fragments of Latin inscrip-
tions, and of pottery and other ancient materials. If the distances in the
Itinerary of Antoninus are correct, it corresponds to Caput Cillani. Leo
Africanus makes no mention of. this town ; and Marmol calls it Mehedia,
which is very like its Arab name Mediyah. He describes it as an old
town, built by the Romans in a great plain at the foot of a high mountain;
and he asserts that it was formerly very populous, but that it was de-
stroyed by a schismatic khalif, who subsequently built a castle there, that
he called Mehedia, from his own name Madhi. Before this event the
town was called Alfara. The remains of this castle, containing many
Roman materials, still exist. +

* Blofeld's Algeria, p. 35. t Berbrugger, pail i. p. 59.

1'20 PROVINCE OF ALGIERS.

Two roads lead from Algiers to Medeah. The oldest, longest, and most
fatiguing is over the Teniah, or Col de Mouzaiah, and descends to the
Olive Wood, a narrow tongue of land separating the waters of the Chiffa
from those of the tributaries of the Ouad-Djer. The other road, com-
pleted in 1842, passes through the cutting of the Chiffa, ascends the
western hank of that river to reach the vale of Ouzra, and passes over
Mount Nadhor, whence it reaches Medeah, running parallel to the aque-
duct. This road is at times impassable in winter, and requires frequent
repairs ; and like the Khyber pass in Afghanistan, it might be the grave
of an invading army in the hands of a determined foe.

Medeah, standing 1100 metres (3608 feet) above the sea, has a very
cold climate in winter, though the heat is excessive in summer. Abundant
falls of snow occur there, obliging the inhabitants to build sloping roofs,
contrary to their usual custom, which circumstance gives the scenery
a European chai'acter. Olives and oranges* have disappeared here, to
make room for pear, apple, cherry, poplar, and mulberry-trees ; yet the
vine thrives notwithstanding the elevation, and the Jews make a noted
white wine in the environs of this town.

Medeah is surrounded by a belt of gardens, that give the scenery an
enchanting appearance. Marshal Clauzel, who succeeded M. de Bourmont
in 1830, saw immediately the importance of the position, and marched on
the town at the head of a French force, which took possession at once.
Its gallant defence by a small garrison under Colonel Marion against a
vast host of natives is a brilliant episode in the history of French Africa, -f-

Milianah is situated on the declivity of the Little Atlas, half a mile
from the rich plain of the Shellif, and two leagues (five miles) from El-
Flerba, which stands on the site of a Roman town. Political revolutions
had so materially injured the prosperity of Milianah, that we find it de-
scribed by a generally accurate writer as a small village, exposed to the
south and south-west, surrounded by dilapidated walls with three gates,
each defended by three small towers.;}: The fact is, that owing to the
struggle between the French and Abd-el-Kader, it was almost ruined and
depopulated ; especially when the latter, making Tegedempt his capital,
forced many of the inhabitants of Milianah to migrate thither. The houses
of this town are tiled, instead of having flat roofs covered with plaster,
forming terraces, according to the custom of this country. If access were
less troublesome, Milianah has several advantages to recommend it, being
admirably supplied with water from the neighbouring mountain of Djebel
Zeccar, one of the most considerable eminences in this part of the country.
It is surrounded by many fruitful gardens and vineyards, and has a very
line view of the rich arable country of the Jendrill, Matmata, and other
Aral) tribes, as far as Medeah. In the spring, devotees from Algiers,

* St. Marie and Lamping contradict this, see pp. 134 and 138.

+ Berbruggcr, part i. J Blofcld, p. 73 et seqq.

OUAD-FODDAE. 121

Blidah, Medcah, and the neighbouring villages, used to come with great
reverence to kiss the shrine of Sidi-Yousef, tutelary saint of the city.
There are also several Koman remains at Milianah.*

A large tract of country has been taken from the province of Oran
and added to that of Algiers, to the west of Milianah, embracing the
important post of Teniet-el-Had, and the wild Aghalik of the Beni-Zoug-
zoug, and of the Ouarensenis or Ouarsenis. To the south-east of Milianah
you reach the Aghalik and post of Boghar, on the verge of the Sahara,
which contains the two lakes called Zarhez-Chergui (east), and Zarhez-
Gherbi (west).f Finally, the district surrounding Mascara embraces many
new French colonies, for an account of which the reader is referred to
the chapter on Colonisation.

Near Milianah you come to the Ouad-Foddah, a mountain-stream
flowing through deep ravines, the scene of a daring exploit of the French
army under Changarnier and Cavaignac in the year 1842.;};

The Ouad-Foddah, or river of silver, has its rise in a high rugged
mountain called Wan-nash-reese, the Gueneseirs of Sanson, and the Gauser
of Du Val, but properly the Ouanseris,§ eight leagues (twenty miles) to
the south of Sinaab. It is commonlv covered with snow, and on this
account it is one of the principal landmarks of this country, being visible
the whole distance from El-Callah to Medeah, towering above a number
of smaller mountains. It is probably the Zalacus of Ftolemy, while Sinaab
corresponds with tolerable accuracy to his Oppidoneum. After abundant
rains, considerable flakes of lead, for which this mountain is famous, are
brought down by the river ; and as, after being deposited on the banks,
they would naturally glitter in the sun, this circumstance probably gave
rise to the name of the stream, the river of silver. Abulfeda, with
other later geographers, has been mistaken in deducing the river Shellif,
instead of only one of its branches (the Ouad-Foddah), from the Wan-nash-
reese, or Ouanseris mountains.

The Ouled Uxeire and the Lataff run on each side of the Foddah, and
opposite its junction with the Shellif are the walled villages of Merjejah
and of Beni-Beshid. In former ages the latter had a citadel, 2000 houses,
and a race of warlike inhabitants, who held sway over this country as far
as El-Callah and Mascara (province of Oran). But at present the castle
is in ruins, the 2000 houses have dwindled into a few cottages, and the
people, long subject to the Turkish government, are become equally
timorous and cowardly with their neighbours, if we may believe Blofeld.

* Blofeld, p. 73 et seqq.

t From ^Jr^> ckerq, 'east,' and <r{r~ rorli, 'west.' The text is the spelling in the
Tableau. A. Gorguos, Cours d'Arabe vulgaire, p. 130, makes 'western' in the singular
t^c-j-z rorli, plural <• '■ J i^r. gharaba. General Daumas spells 'west' J'harb. Some Arabic
sounds have no adequate expression in the Indo-Germanic languages.

t Blofeld, p. 73 et seqq. ; Castellane's Souvenirs, pp. 60-73.

§ Castellane, Berbrugger, and Blofeld differ in the spelling of this name : we have pre-
ferred Castellane's, as the most recent.

122 TENIET-EL-HAD.

However, their fruits, and particularly their figs, for which they were
always famous, continue to enjoy the same reputation as before, and may
dispute the palm, with those of the Beni-Zerouall for size and delicacy of
taste. Two leagues (five miles) to the east of the Beni-Reshid, on the
north banks of the Shellif, is El-Herba, Avith a narrow strip of plain fer-
tile ground behind it. At this spot are several small marble pillars, of
a blue colour and good workmanship ; but the capitals, which were of the
Corinthian order, are much defaced : there are besides several stone coffins
at the same locality.

El-Khadarah is only 13 miles in a direct line from the river Foddah,
though it is much farther by the road, owing to the steep intervening
mountains that give it a circuitous course. It is situated on a rising
ground, on the brink of the Shellif, and is sheltered from the north winds ;
while one mile to the south, Djebel-Dwee, another high mountain of a
conical shape, supplies the small and beautiful plain between the ridges
with a good rill of fresh water. The constant green of these plains may
not improbably have given rise to the name of El-Khadarah \jJl>~ Ji^
or El-Chuhdary (the green), by which these ruins are known.

Seven leagues (17|- miles) east of El-Khadarah, and at a short distance
from the Shellif, are the ruins of El-Herbah,* another Roman town of the
same name and extent as that just now described. This appellation fre-
quently occurs in the country, signifying pulled doivn. At this point the
Shellif begins to widen through a plain as large and fertile as any in
Algeria, situated at a short distance from Milianah ; and the Atlas Moun-
tains, which from the Beni-Zerouall to El-Khadarah came down close to
the river, retire at this plain to the distance of two leagues to the north
of the stream.

Such is the famous district of the Ouad-Foddah, beyond which, to the
south-west by west, you enter a labyrinth of defiles, fantastic cliffs, and
forests, peopled by Kabyles, and known as the Aghalik of Ouarsenis, of
Avhich more anon. A little to the right of this rugged district stands
the new French post of Teniet-el-Had, near a splendid forest of cedars, one
of the most striking spots in Algeria. -f- This post is built on the plateaux
called Serssous, its population amounting in December 1849 to 97 Euro-
peans and seven natives. The last accounts state that the military defences
of this advanced post are in a very forward state. J

Almost due south of Medeah and Milianah, near the banks of the
Upper Shellif, is the Aghalik and the French post of Boghar, which is a
regularly fortified place with bastions and curtains, situated in nearly the
same meridian as Algiers. Its population amounts to 127 persons. The
chief buildings that have been erected at Boghar consist of barracks, hos-

* More correctly El-Korbah, <* Jp- J I.

+ See an excellent description of this whole district in the first section of Castellane's
Souvenirs, i>. 40 et seqq.
J Tableau, p. 23.

KOUBBER ROMEAH. 123

pital, and magazines; besides which several gates have been finished, some
streets have been formed, and the town is supplied with springs of water.*

The remaining portions of the province of Algiers consist of the sub-
division of Orlcansville on the sea-shore, west of Sidi-Ferruch, the Sahara
or southern part of the province ; and the territory of Dellys on the coast,
to the east of the capital. We shall describe those portions of Great
Kabylia, which belong respectively to the provinces of Algiers and Con-
stantina, under one head, in the chapter on Great Kabylia, a country
deserving a special notice.

We proceed to describe a district situated along the shore of the Me-
diterranean, which has been taken from the province of Oran and added
to that of Algiers within the last few years. This territory, which includes
the towns of Scherschell, Tenes, and Orleansville, stretches from the Hadjute
district near Sidi-Ferruch and Koleah to the Aghalik of Sbeah. We have
previously stated, that the eastern boundary of the old beylik of Oran used
to be formed by the river Massafran, after crossing which stream the

traveller comes to the Koubber Romeah <u>. , f jJ,t m Turkish Mmwpasy,
or the treasure of the sugar-loaf, supposed by some antiquarians to be the
ancient family sepulchre of the kings of Mauritania, and situated on a
mountainous part of the Sahel or coast range, seven miles to the east of
Tefessad. A minuter description of this mysterious edifice will be found
in the chapter on Archaeology. Westward of Koubber Romeah are the
ruins of Tefessad, supposed to be the ancient Tipasa ; and beyond this
point you reach Mers-el-Amouse, or the port of Amouse, which offers a
very safe refuge for shipping in westerly gales; and to the westward of
this port is a considerable cape called Ras- el- Amouse, after doubling which
you speedily arrive at Scherschell or Cherchell,! built on the site of the cele-
brated Jol, or Julia Caesarea, once so renowned as the capital of Cesarean
Mauritania, of which more anon. It is recorded that Andalusian Moors,
driven from Spain by the unchristian intolerance of that age, built a city
on this spot in the fifteenth century, which was thrown down by an
earthquake in 1738.

A strong wall forty feet high, supported with buttresses, winding for
two miles through several creeks on the sea-shore, used to secure the town
on the sea-side. The city, to the distance of a quarter of a mile inland

* P. 21. Marshal de Oastellane says : (( Boghar, under the same meridian as Algiers,
or thereabouts, rises like an eagle's nest at the entrance of a valley leading to Medeah ;
and Abd-el-Kader had lately established a cannon-foundry and important establishments
there. We have converted it into an advanced post in the province of Algiers, a place
of refreshment and rest for the columns operating on this side" (p. 243). He adds : " The
valley we were following was green and beautiful ; . . . the nearer we approached Medeah,
the more broken the ground became." Ibid.

f Tomb of the Christian woman.

+ The name of this town, like all others in Algeria, has been variously spelled by
Europeans : we have adopted that used by the Tableau de la Situation.

124 SCHERSCHELL.

from this wall, lies on a plain ; and after rising for the space of a mile gra-
dually to a considerable elevation, spreads itself over a variety of bills and
valleys, and loses sigbt of the sea.

One of tbe chief gates on this side is about a furlong below the top of
these hills, and leads to the rugged possessions of the Beni-Menasser ; and
of the two gates on the sea-shore, the western lies under the high moun-
tain of Beni-Yifrah, and the eastern under that of Skenouah. Scherschell
being thus enclosed among high mountains and narrow defiles, all commu-
nication with it on the land side may be easily cut off.

A tradition exists here that the ancient city was destroyed by an earth-
quake, and that the port, which was once very large and good, was ruined
by the arsenal and other buildings falling into it. The cothon,* which had
a communication with the western part of the port, is the best proof of
this ; for when the sea is calm and the water low, as frequently occurs
after strong south-east winds, you can perceive over the whole area of the
harbour massive pillars and other ruins, which were probably cast there by
some great natural convulsion. St. Marie, who reached Scherschell by water,
states that the landing in 1845 was very bad; but the last official docu-
ments of the French Government shew the present state of the port to be
greatly improved. It appears that the old Roman basin has been dug out
and restored, and that it is now opened for the purposes of navigation,
though it is only adapted to receive vessels of low tonnage. The jetty of
Joinville, which shelters the entrance to the basin, has a development of
100 metres (328 feet), and the quays cover a surface of 17 hectares and 42
centiares (43 acres). The expense of these improvements has amounted
to 388,000 fr. (15,5201.) As regards the defences of the town, it seems
that the French have enclosed Scherschell with a new wall of masonry, in-
cluding bastions, of which the plastering and the platforms were two-thirds
finished in 1851. The expense has amounted to 18,G00fr. (7i4l.)

A battery for four guns has been completed on the strand called Zi-
zerin, and they have built the two intrenchments and the cart-houses
which are its accessories. The parapet of the provisional battery on the
Islot de la Marine has been partially raised ; two supporting walls have
been built, one for the internal and the other for the external slopes.
The provisional battery No. 3 has been completed on the slope of the
port, as well as its traverse and dependent magazines. The expense of
these works amounted to 4G00fr. (184J.): and it was proposed to com-
plete the works of the enclosure from the (late of Tenes to the sea; to
build two permanent coast-batteries, one on Cape Zizerin, and the other
on the islet of Joinville ; and to establish the batteries for the use of ar-
tillery. The estimate for these works amounts to about 79,000fr. (31G0£)t

Kw0a>v, artificial l>asin, literally a goblet or drinkinjj-vcssel. Sec Passow's Lexicon,
vol. i. |>. i:;m.

t Tableau do la Situation, pp. 344 and 38C.

TENES. 125

As early as 1845 the old Moorish houses of Scherschell were beginning
to disappear, whilst handsome European edifices were rising in their stead.
On the beach stand two little white marabouts, shaded with palm and date
trees, and to the eastward you see the ruins of a picturesque Roman
aqueduct ; but the country is in general rather flat and covered with
brushwood. The garrison musters usually somewhat strong, and is com-
monly composed of infantry alone.*

Not far distant from Scherschell is a rill of water which is received
into a Roman basin called Shrub-oua-Krub, i. e. " drink and away;" as
there is, or rather was, great danger of meeting robbers and assassins at
this spot. To the west of Scherschell you come to Bresk and Dahmus, on
the site of two Roman cities ; farther on are several small islands where
there is good shelter for small vessels ; and beyond these you come to the
large promontory of Nakkos (the Promontorium Apollonis of Ptolemy),
so called from a grotto that the waves have scooped out underneath it in
the shape of a bell. Approaching this cape from the coast of Spain, it
presents the appearance of a wild boar's head.

Beyond Cape Nakkos is Tennis or Tenes, a town lying in a low dirty
situation at a short distance from the sea. The anchorage-around being
too much exposed to north and west winds, is the frequent occasion of
vessels being cast away at this spot. The Moors have a tradition that the
Tenessians enjoyed formerly such a high repute for sorcery, that Pharaoh
sent for the wisest of them to contend with Moses in the performance of
miracles. It is certain that they are now the greatest cheats in the
country, and as little deserving of trust as their roadstead.

Hammet-Ben-Yousef, a neighbouring marabout, is reported to have
given the place the following character :

Arabic. E»<jli$h.

Tenes Tenes

Ibna ala cTnjv Is built on filth.

Mawah shcm. The soil of it is stinking.

Madim. The water of it is black,

Oua aoua semm. And the air is poison.

Oua Hamet Ben Yousef And Hamet Ben Yousef

Ma dukkul tsemm. Would not go there.

Tenes is situated ninety miles west of Algiers ; and a fine road is in
process of construction, that will unite it to the inland colony of Orleans-
ville. A new European town has been erected since 1830 at Tenes, out-
side the sorry old Moorish precincts, of which Hamet-Ben- Yousef gives
such a deplorable account. -f

The improvements that had been effected at Tenes up to December
1849 consisted of 820 metres (2G89-G0 feet) of principal streets and 4250
(13,940 feet) of smaller streets in a state of repair, of two squares, and of
the plantation of 3000 trees. The expense of these works amounted to

* St. Marie, p. 193. t Blofeld, p. U.

126 DARHA.

9 GO?. They have also built a slaughter-house and opened a cemetery, at
an expense of 42,000 fr. (1680J.)

As regards the fortifications, they have built a battery to defend the
coast ; the town-wall to the east, south, and west is finished, besides bar-
racks for 450 men; a hospital for 150 patients, and magazines for provi-
sions, were also partially completed, together with a powder-magazine to
hold 15,000 kilogrammes (33,000 lbs.).

They have also constructed a battery to sweep the anchorage, besides
an arsenal and different minor edifices connected with the war-establish-
ment.

The total expense of the various military structures amounted to
31,491?. 15*. I0d*

The name of Darha, which means in Arabic 'north,' is given to a moun-
tainous district of country on the borders of the provinces of Algiers and
Oran, comprised between the Shellif and the sea from Tenes to the mouth
of that river, which after having formed its limit to the south, flowing in
a westerly direction, turns abruptly to the north, and cuts it off in this
manner on two sides. The population of this country, which is 50
leagues (125 miles) in length and 20 (50 miles) in breadth, is Kabyle.t
The soil, remarkable for its fertility, is well cultivated. It contains some
magnificent orchards, and the principal branch of its commerce consists
in the sale of dried figs ; but the people of the Darha, being protected by
their river, and seldom visited by any agents of the government, carry on
another kind of industry which they find still more lucrative. Some are
robbers, others are receivers of stolen goods. The latter inhabit chiefly
the little Arab town of Mazouna. The subdivision of Mostaganem in
the province of Oran, and that of Orleansville in the province of Algiers,
are required to preserve order in the Darha.

The authority of the subdivision of Mostaganem extends over the
shore-district about the mouth of the Shellif, which is in a less turbulent
state. The subdivision of Orleansville, on the other hand, has to look after
the most savage and vagabond tribes. The town of Tenes, situated on
the sea-shore at the eastern limit of the Darha, is one of the principal
points from which the surveillance is carried on. When circumstances
have rendered it imperative to concentrate a large force in the Darha, the
operations of troops from Mostaganem, Orleansville, and Tenes have been
combined to reach and strike the enemy. |.

Orleansville, the capital of this subdivision, was founded on the Shellif
in 1843. It contained in 1849 a square planted with 3000 trees; 1400
metres (4592 feet) devoted to principal, and 2400 (7872 feet) to minor

* Tableau de la Situation, pp. 345 and 387.

f The Kabyles arc the iScrbci - race, who are thought to he the descendants of tho
ancient, Nnmidians and Libyans.
X Castellane, p. 121.

OHLEANSVILLE. 127

streets ; the population consisting of 849 persons. The military works
and defences of this town are in a very forward state. In the western
part along the Thigaout they have built up supporting walls to strengthen
the slope. The streets of the ramparts have been completed, most of the
ditches of the enclosure of the Zmala of the Spahis have been begun, as
well as the main building.* {Zmala <u~oi, literally baggage, i. e. quai'ters,
or camp.)

The enclosures of the Fort or Bordj Ain-Meran, besides the telegraphic
posts of Ouled-Kosseir, of Temoulga (on the l'oad fro in Orleansville to Mil-
ianah), and all those on the lines from Orleansville to Mostaganem, and
from Orleansville to Tenes, have been built. The principal enclosure of
the town has been finished from bastion No. 1 to bastion 7. The east
and north fronts have to be raised higher, and the plantations and level-
ling of the rampart streets have still to be completed. A number of public
buildings have been erected within the town during the last few years,
including the quarters for the officers of the garrison, cisterns, baths,
windmills, &c.t

The present state of colonisation in the vicinity of this town will be
described in the chapter relating to that subject.

After this cursory outline of the western subdivisions of the province
of Algiers, we shall return to Medeah. That part of the Atlas between
Blidah and Medeah, which reaches as far as Mount Djordjora in Great Ka-
bylia, is inhabited by numerous clans of Kabyles. The Beni-Sala and
Haleel overlook Blidah and the Mitidja ; whilst the Beni-Selim and Haleefa
sometimes descend into the pasture-ground near the banks of the Bishbesh,
or river of fennel, a great quantity of which grows upon its banks. Farther
east live a branch of the Meyrowa, within sight of the great plains of
Hamza, opposite Sour-Guzlan (Aumale) ; below them the Inshlowa and
Bougaine, which overlook to the south the fertile plains of the Castoolah,
noted for the feeding and breeding of cattle. Not far from the Castoolah
are the Kabyles of Mount Djordjorah, of whom the Beni- Alia are the prin-
cipal on the north side, and the Beni-Yala on the south.

Five leagues (12^ miles) to the south of Medeah rises the Tittery
Dosh, as the Turks call a remarkable ridge of precipices, four leagues
(ten miles) long, and even more rugged than the Djordjorah. On the top
is a large piece of level ground with only one narrow road leading up
to it, where the Ouled-Aica (children of Jesus) have their granaries.
Beyond this are the encampments of Ouled-In-anne, the principal Arabs
of the district of Tittery, which lies in the neighbourhood of this mountain.
Burg-Hamza, two leagues (five miles) south of the rich plain of that
name, and five (12£ miles) to the east of the Rock of Tittery, contained,
before the French conquest, a garrison of one svffralt, of Turks, consisting
of a table or twenty persons, Avith a lieutenant called an Oda-bashaw, re-

* Tableau de la Situation, pp. 344-3S6. f Ibid.

128 AUMALE.

seinbling the contubernium of the Romans, who had ten persons in one
pavilio, the Decanus corresponding to the Oda-bashaiv . Burg-Hamza
stands on the ruins of the ancient Auzia, called by the Arabs Sour, or
Sour-Guzlan (the walls of the Antelope). Auzia was an ancient city,
three quarters of a mile in circumference; and a great part of the walls,
fortified with small turrets, still remains. Tacitus has correctly described
it : " for Auzia was built upon a small piece of level ground, every where
surrounded with craggy rocks and gloomy forests.'"*

The French have established a new and rising colony on the site of
this Roman and Turkish city, to which they have given the historical name
of Aumale. Placed in a central and healthy situation, at no great dis-
tance from Bugia and Setif, and united to Algiers by a good military
road, Aumale is already one of the most important French settlements in
the province of Algiers.

From 1847 to 1849, 21,000 fr., or 840/., have been expended on the
improvement of the streets in the civil town, and 20,000 fr. (800/.) on
the military town. In the former, 574 metres (188272 feet) of street
are in a good state of repair; and 40 metres (131-20 feet) have been
recently opened. In the military town, 549 metres (1800-72 feet) are
in a state of repair, 1160 metres (3804-80 feet) have been opened, and
GOO trees planted. The length of the water-conduits and aqueducts is
2410 metres (7904*80 feet); and their daily supply of water consists of
290,000 litres (63,800 gallons).

The expenses of the military works erected between 1846 and 1848
amounted to 869,005 fr. (34,760/. is. 2d.) The fortification of the mili-
tary town was finished in 1849 up to the crown work; that of the civil
town for half its development and as high as the battlements. Magazines
for provisions; powder, &c, and other structures for the accommodation
of the troops, of cattle, and of other supplies, have been also completed.

The popidation of Aumale amounted in 1849 to 557 Europeans, ana-
lysed into 463 men, 55 women, and 39 children. The proportion of dif-
ferent nations amongst the inhabitants presented the following results :
French, 463; Spaniards, 36; Anglo-Maltese, 26; Italians, 21; Germans, 5;
Swiss, 3; and 2 of some other origin. The natives amounted in December
1849 to 124 men, 2 women, 8 children, of Mussulman race, 6 Negroes,
and 9 Jcws.t

A few miles south of Sour commences ancient Grctulia, corresponding
in many particulars to the modern Sahara ; and the first remarkable place
in this direction is Djcbel-Deera, where the river Jin-enne has its sources,
a stream which, after flowing thirty miles through a sandy soil, loses itself
gradually in the Chott. Most of the Gaetulian or Saharian Arabs dwell-
ing on its banks are Zaouia or Zouaia, as they call the children and de-

* Tacit,. Annul, lib. iv. f Tableau do la Situation, pp. 3-14 and 384.

ARAB TRIBES. 129

pendents of their marabouts, who enjoy great privileges. The Ouled-
Sidi-Aisa, the most northern of these communities, have the kouhbah or
sepulchre of their tutelar saint five leagues from Sour : near it, on one
side, stands a large rock, on which it is reported that Sidi-Aisa used daily
to offer up his devotions ; on the other side is the Ain-Kidran, or foun-
tain of tar, miraculously bestowed upon them, according to tradition, by
their progenitor. Six leagues (15 miles) farther are the Ouled-Sidi-Had-
jcras, so called from another marabout. Here the Jin-enne changes its
name into that of Ouad-el-Ham, that is, the river of carnage, from the
number of people who have been at different times drowned in fording it.
A little higher are the descendants of Sidi-Braham-Aslemmy, who spread
themselves to Hirman, a dashkrah in the way to Bousaadah, at which
place the palm brings forth its fruit to perfection.

Djebel Seilat lies about seven leagues (17^ miles) to the west of Sidi-
Braham ; and twelve leagues (30 miles) farther in the same direction are
the Theneate-el-Gannim (the sheep-cliffs). These are situated opposite
the Burg-Swaary and the Tittery Dosh, at a distance of thirteen leagues
(32|- miles).

A little way beyond the seven hills are the eminences and salt-pits of
Zaggos ; after which are the Saary and the Zakkar, two mountains, one
twelve and the other five leagues to the south of Zaggos. These, with
many other rugged and mountainous districts in the Sahara, constitute
what is called by Strabo the mountainous country of the Gaetulians.

Six leagues to the east of the Zakkar is Fythe-el-Bothmah; so called,
perhaps, from the broad or open turpentine-trees that grow upon the spot.
Seven leagues (17|- miles) from this place to the north you come to
Fythe-el-Botum, that is, the thick or shady turpentine-trees, as it is named,
probably in contradistinction to Fythe-el-Bothmah. At Herba, a heap of
ruins a little to the east of Fythe-el-Bothmah, are the sources of Ouad-el-
Shai-er, or the barley river, a considerable stream of this part of Gsetulia.
Its course from Herba to the dashkrah of Boufer-joone is ten leagues
(25 miles) in a N.N.E. direction. At a little distance from Boufer-joone
below a ridge of hills, there are some ancient ruins called Gahara. Besides
the palm, which grows in this parallel to perfection, Boufer-joone is also
celebrated for apricots, figs, and other fruit.

We are informed that to the north of Boufer-joone the Ouad-el-Shai-er
acquires the name of Mailah,* from the saltness of its water ; and passing
afterwards to the east of Ain-Difla, i. e. fountain of oleanders, it loses
itself in the Chott. Over this fountain towers the mountain Maiherga, a
celebrated haunt for serpents, leopards, and other wild animals. Six
leagues (15 miles') south of Fythe-el-Bothmah are Gumra and Amoura, two
dashkrahs, with their springs and fruit-trees. Beyond them, at a greater

* From r<:\yO salt.

130 BENI-MZAB.

distance to the south-west, is the Ain-Maithie, and then Deminidde,
which, with the dashkrahs of the Lowaate, nine leagues (22£ miles)
farther to the west, are the most considerable villages of this part of
Gaetulia, or the Sahara of the province of Algiers. They have also in
all these places large plantations of palms and other fruit-trees. Blofeld
informs us that the numerous families of the Maithie, Noile, and Mel-
licke, with their several subdivisions and dependents, reign all over this
country, from the Burg-Swaary and the river Jin-enne to the dashkrahs
of the Lowaate and Ammer, who spread themselves over a mountainous
district a great way to the west, the same probably with the Mons Phru-
raisus of the old geographers. The villages of the Beni-Mezzab are
situated thirty-five leagues (87|- miles) to the south of Lowaate and
Ammer,* which, having no rivulets, are supplied entirely with wells.
Gardeiah, the capital, is the farthest to the west ; Berg-gan, the next
considerable dashkrah, is nine leagues (22|- miles) to the east ; and Gra-
rah, the nearest of them to Ouaregla, is similarly situated in distance
and position with respect to Berg-gan. The Beni-Mzab, or Mezzab,
or Mozabites, as they are sometimes styled, though they never paid any
tribute to the Algerines, and though, being of the sect of the Maleki, they
were not permitted to enter the mosques, yet have been from time im-
memorial the only persons who are employed in their slaughter-houses, and
who have furnished their shambles with provisions. Blofeld describes
these sons of Mezzab as being of a more swarthy complexion-j- than the
Gsetulians or Sabarians to the northward of them • and as they are
separated from them by a wide desert, without even the footsteps of any
living creature, if this description of them is correct, they may possibly
be the most westerly branch of the Melano-Gaetuli.

It is well to remark in this place, that throughout the Algerian Sahara,
and even far into the heart of the Great Desert, the most usual Arabic
name for small towns, especially if surrounded with walls, is Jcsour or

kessour ,, jd «. a word probably connected with the Alcazar, or palace

and castle of the Moors, whose faded splendours still remain at Seville in
Spain.

The numbers and organisation of the Bedouin tribes of the Sahara
throughout the three provinces of Algeria being fully treated of in the
chapter on the Arabs, we shall simply state on the present occasion, that
their numbers in the province of Algiers amount to 290 tribes, containing
1)00,000 individuals, inhabiting a territory of 113,000 square kilometres

* Few subjects arc involved in greater mystery and attended with greater difficulty
than the correct nomenclature and localising of the Saharian tribes; every traveller
thinking it proper to spell Arabic names after 1 1 is own fashion, and the Bedouins being as
much addicted to an alias and an alibias the most accomplished vagrants in St. Giles's.

+■ Castollane and Blofeld are at direct variance on this point. Sec pp. 26, 74 ct seqq.
of Blof., and 268 of Castel.

HIOVINCE OF ALGIERS TRIBES. 131

(43,505 square miles). The native authorities are, 1. Khalifas, 2. Bach-
aghas, 3. Aghas or Kaids, 4. Sheicks. The 290 trihes of this province have
three khalifas, five hach-aghas, and twenty aghas; and the territory is
divided accordingly into khalifats and aghaliks.*

Most of the posts that had heen occupied hy Abd-el-Kader on the
borders of the Tell and of the Sahara have been rebuilt and permanently
occupied by French troops since 1844. These posts include Boghar;
Teniet-el-Had, near Taza ; and Laghouat, to the south of Boghar and to
the east of the Djebel Amour. -j-

Dellys, Bugia, and most of Great Kabylia, are included by some writers
in the present province of Algiers ; but we prefer giving a separate
chapter to the Highlands of Algeria, as we have previously observed.

* Tableau cle la Situation, 1849-50. t Ibid.

CHAPTER VIII.

EXCURSIONS THE ORANGE-GROVES OF BLIDAH COLEAH, ITS DELIGHTFUL NEIGH-
BOURHOOD AND MOORISH POPULATION THE COL DE MOUZAIA M. LAMPING's

EXPEDITION TO THE SOUTH THE ATLAS THE ARABS THE LITTLE DESERT

SERGEANT BLANDAN MERE GASPARD MILIANAH EXPEDITION TO THE

OUARSENIS UNDER CHANGARNDZR THE MARCH THE BIVOUAC THE BLOCKADE

TENIET-EL-HAD.

WE propose now to make divers longer excursions throughout the pro-
vince of Algiers, of which the broad features must by this time be
familiar to the reader; and we shall commence by accompanying Marshal
Count de Castellane on his journey from the capital to Blidah.

"The road from Algiers to Blidah in 1842-3 went along the Bab-el-
Ouad Street, turned to the left near the tomb of Omar Pasha, and sloping
up the side of the mountain ascended as far as Tagarin (another road has
been made since). The first object at the feet of the traveller, looking
down from this elevation, was the little village of Mustapha, — its extensive
cavalry barracks, the entire bay, the Kabyle mountains, and different ver-
dant oases, dotting the sandy margin of the sea. Proceeding further in-
land, this view was soon shut out, and the traveller saw nothing but the
mammelons or undulations of the Sahel covered with dwarf palms. At
length the heights of Ouad-Mandil were reached, where the eye took in
the whole of Mitidja. This plain is about five leagues (12J miles) in
breadth, and stretches to the foot of a ridge of mountains running parallel
from east to west, or from the bay of Algiers to the upper extremity
of the level. The declivities of this ridge are covered with lentisks and
wild olives; and grey rocks tower on their summits, sprinkled with pines
and evergreen oaks.

"To the eastward, near the sea, you distinguish theFoudouk; straight
before you, in the plain, appear the shady groves of Bouffarik; to the
right, at the foot of the mountains, Blidah and its orange-woods; beyond
it the cutting of the Chifi'a and the Col de Mouzaia, spots famous in
French military history ; further on the Oued-Gcr, the Bou-Boumi, where
much French blood has been shed; to the centre you see Oued-Laleg, the
tomb of one of the regular battalions of the Emir (Abd-el-Kadcr); lastly,

BLIDAII. 133

the hike Alloula, the valley leading to Scherschell; and to the westward, on
the most distant horizon, near the territory of those famous Hadjoutcs,
once the terror of the whole district of Algiers, appears the Chanouan,
projecting its vast ridge towards the sky, near the tomh of the Christian
(Koubber-Rorneah)."*

Another traveller (Count St. Marie) made an excursion from Algiers
into the interior, passing through Lower Mustapha, Birmandreis, and
Birkadem, after which they came to a plateau which commands the Sahel.
Turning to the right from the Model Farm, after proceeding along a nar-
row road for the space of eight leagues (20 miles), they saw the Little
Atlas before them. At last they came to Bouffarik, which has been pre-
viously described; and continuing their journey they reached Blidah, which
looks now like a little European town, and is by far the most agreeable
and healthy place in Algeria. It contains a large square, surrounded with
houses having arcades as at Algiers, and adorned with plantations of
plane-trees. Looking along the wide and straight streets, you see at one
end of the town the Bab-el-Sets gate, and at the other that of Bab-
el- Rahba. The town is walled; and one of its old mosques has been con-
verted into a Catholic church, while the two other mosques have been
turned into barracks. Some defensive works have been constructed in
that part of the town called the Citadel; and the engineers enjoy ele-
vated and healthy quarters, which were at that time occupied by Zouaves
(native infantry)-]- (1845). At the other end of Blidah stands the hos-
pital, which is large, but built of wood, and was at that time used as the
quarters of the first regiment of Spahis (native cavalry).! Outside the
town, on a detached eminence, stands the Mimiche Fort.

Blidah is a cpiiet town, containing few Arabs, and peopled chiefly by
Frenchmen; and during the early years of the French invasion it was
taken three times, after very obstinate engagements. The Moors of Blidah
were a very dissolute race, and were threatened with destruction by an
old marabout named Mohamed- el -Blidah many years ago. Singularly
enough, his warning was justified shortly after by the great earthquake of
1825, when nearly the whole town was ruined. Their first wish was to
erect the new town at some distance; but the remembrance of its former
delights acted so powerfully on them, that they rebuilt it on the same site.

St. Marie and his party left Blidah by the citadel-gate, and found their
horses waiting for them outside. To the left was a gorge of the Little
Atlas, and nearer at hand a water-mill on the banks of the Ouad-Kebir.
Straight before them appeared the white stones of a European cemetery,
and on the right the ridge of the Sahel. § Advancing to the right, along
the walls of Blidah, they came to a perfect forest of orange and lemon
trees, intersected by beautiful walks. The margins of little streams formed

* Castellane, p. 4. f See the chapter on the French Army, Part II.

J Ibid. § Incorrectly styled pla in by St. Marie, p. 98.

134 THE CHIFFA.

by outlets from the river were bordered by thick bushes of the laurel-
rose in full flower, and the shady trees surrounding them gave out a most
delicious perfume.

This fragrant aroma is so strong that, if we may believe some writers,
those who have lain down to sleep in these groves have been known to
be suffocated. A large part of these forests has been cut down to clear
the approaches to Blidah; and we can only form a very imperfect idea of
the paradise once surrounding this second Damascus. These delicious
groves are, even in their present state, superior to those of the Governor
of Malta and those near Toulon, which are justly celebrated. The orange-
woods near Blidah form vast gardens with little fosses between them,
and enclosed on the side next the road by impenetrable hedges of aloes
and Barbary figs, present beautiful contrasts in the different shades of
green.

Our friends next proceeded to the westward, along the banks of the
Ouad-Kebir, to gain the gigantic precipices of the Chiffa. A sloping road
led them to the foot of the Atlas, having on its right a gently declining
plain bounded by the entrance of the gorges. A winding streamlet
crossed this valley, flowing over a bed of pebbles, with here and there
bushes of laurel- roses growing on its banks. After advancing a little
more in a sloping direction, they came to the banks of the Chiffa, a tor-
rent which rises in the mountains.

The newly-constructed road through the celebrated pass of the Chiffa
is broad, and here and there spaces are allotted for the erection of tents.
At intervals of about six leagues from one another are little camps, each
of six tents, occupied by disciplinaires, whose duty it is to keep the road
in good repair and to guard it. Many wooden crosses are seen in the
pass, erected to soldiers who have been killed by the Arabs, or in making
the road. The pass is very cool, there being only a few places for the
sun to penetrate, the intervening parts being constantly shaded. About
half way a little wooden house has been erected, which is occupied by an
engineer's guard and his family. As they advanced beyond the southern
outlet of the pass, they found a great abundance of vegetation, consisting
principally of oak, cork-trees, and wild olives, growing on the hills. On
the opposite side of the plain they saw the camp of Nad or, occupied by
an Arab tribe. The water there is thought to be injurious, owing to its
passing through copper ore.

On turning the hill our party found themselves surrounded by vines
growing in great luxuriance; and the country displayed a highly verdant
aspect, presenting here and there groves of palm, fig, and orange trees,
which gave one the idea of the scenery of a vast theatre. Amidst all this
rich foliage they saw before them the walls of Medcah and a few white
minarets; whilst on the right an immense aqueduct of Roman construction,
winding like a serpent along the plain, conveys to the town the water of

MEDEAH. 135

the mountain springs. The arches of this aqueduct are completely lined
exteriorly with creeping plants.

The gate of Medeah through which they passed into the town was an
ogive arch of masonry, consisting of small pehhles embedded in cement.
It opened into a tolerably large square, with young orange-trees in its
centre; a fine mosque to the left, which has now become a hospital; and
some ruinous houses on the right ; whilst at the farther end stands a white
marble fountain, backed by low moresque arcades,* beneath which some
Moors and Arabs had assembled to smoke and drink coffee. On the op-
posite side of the square was another small gate, through which it was
also necessary to pass in order to enter the town.

Storks are very common on the houses of Medeah, where they are
highly venerated, and not without cause, as they destroy a large number
of rats, mice, and serpents.

Medeah was at that time commanded by General Marrey, who was the
proprietor of a noble tame lion named Bello. This town has also a Casbah,
situated on the most elevated spot in its precincts, and contains only GOO
houses. But its garrison was strong, and many soldiers were encamped
without the town in tents.

An immense plain surrounds Medeah, intersected by a stream, whose
course can be traced by the reeds and other plants that grow along its
banks : wild boars and other game are said to be plentiful in this district.
The shops in the town are narrow and few in number, nor do they com-
municate with the houses to which they belong ; consisting of little more
than mere niches in the wall, all of which had a sort of portico projecting
into the street, where the shopkeeper sits cross-legged, smoking and
drinking coffee.

Half a league from the town is the old country-house of the Bey of
Tittery, situated in the midst of gardens, and presenting a pretty appear-
ance : it commands an extensive view over an open country and hills
covered with brushwood, whilst to the southward appear some huts and
patches of cultivation. At the distance of five miles on the plateau of
Aouarah, are the vestiges of a Roman citadel, with two Roman roads
leading from it, whose traces, however, are soon lost in brambles.

St. Marie and his party returned to Algiers from Medeah through the
Bibans, or iron gates, and Coleah. Proceeding north-west through forests
of old olives and winding paths amongst brushwood, they passed several
deep ravines, which contain raging torrents in winter. Having reached
the summit of a steep declivity, the pathway only gave room for one horse;
and in the evening they came to a large valley on the northern declivity
of the Little Atlas, while before them was the passage of the Bibans, or
iron gates. Here they stopped at a Bedouin douar (village of tents) for
the night, where the patriarchal hospitality and manners of their hosts

* St. Marie, p. 9S.

136 COLE AH.

reminded the count of the early and sacred records of our race. Con-
tinuing their journey the next morning, the paths became more difficult,
and they only saw a few desolate huts, but no inhabitants. At 4 p.m.
they emerged from a long winding road bordered by rows of thick trees,
and beheld immediately before them Coleah, situated in a deep valley
surrounded by orchards and groves of palm-trees. The wall which sur-
rounded the town was at that time almost in a ruinous condition ; and a
cemetery containing two marabouts is situated outside it, running in a
direction from east to west. The streets of Coleah are regularly built ; and
in the centre of the town is a square planted with orange-trees, and
having at one corner a mosque, which has been converted into a church,
while facing it stands a clean and neat hotel.

Our party proceeded hence to Algiers by Pointe Pescade, which is
two leagues from the capital.* The adjacent country is exceedingly pic-
turesque, presenting on all sides pretty country houses, surrounded with
blooming gardens and orchards. The mountains in the vicinity of Pointe
Pescade are very steep, and the shore is covered with brushwood as far as
Cape Sidi-Ferruch, where a pyramid has been erected to commemorate
the landing of the French in 1830. Passing some groups of Druidical-
shaped tombs, they took the main road to Algiers, and arrived about noon
at the gate of Bab-el-Ouad.+

We shall next give ear to M. Lamping, who visited all these spots fre-
quently while serving in the Foreign Legion, and was quartered in the
camp at Coleah, towards the end of 1841. He states that " Coleah was at
that time a true Arab town, standing on the south-east declivity of the
Sahel range of mountains, in a charming little nook, and well supplied
with water. It is only twelve leagues (30 miles) distant from Algiers,
and three (7-| miles) from the sea; the proximity of the latter making the
air extremely healthy, and the constant sea-breezes rendering the heat
even then (Sept. 1841) quite tolerable. From their quarters in the camp
they viewed, stretched at their feet, the vast plain of the Mitidja, bounded
by the blue hills of the Lesser Atlas range. They were quartered in a
fortified camp outside the town, on a small eminence which commands it.

The Mussulman inhabitants of Coleah are pure descendants of the
Moors ; and M. Lamping states that he had never seen the Arab so
polished and attractive as at Coleah, not even at Algiers and Oran : in
those towns their intercourse with the Franks having called forth all their
rapacity, and spoiled the simplicity of their manners.

A corrupt Spanish, called Unyua franca, is spoken in all the towns of

* St. Marie, p. 98 ot seqq.

t Three forts are built on the Pointe Pescade, the west limit of the Bay of Algiers.
The first at which you arrive from the capital consists of a semicircular battery ; the
second forms a large tower ; and the third, to the east of the latter, consist* of a rectan-
gular battery. St. Mario (1845).

THE COL OF MOUSSAIA. 137

Algeria near the sea, including Coleah, which is held in great reverence
by the Arabs, as it contains the vault of Abd-el-Kader, in which are de-
posited the bodies of several members of his family. The French, to
their credit, have spared this tomb. The Hadjutes inhabiting the Sahel
mountains, to the westward of Coleah, were the most thievish set of fel-
lows in Africa at the time of Lamping' s residence, and long kept the
baulleiie or precincts of Algiers in agitation and terror, kidnapping and
violating unprotected females, and ripping up or decapitating stray sol-
diers and colonists. The country is now, of course, as safe as the
Boulevards or the Elysian Fields.

Coleah lies iu a gorge ;* and as there is no lack of water there, the
most abundant vegetation prevails on all hands, and the soldiers were
delighted and astonished at the extreme richness of the scene. The
luxuriant aloe sends up its blossoms to a height of twenty feet, and a
species of sedgy rush grows as high as a house of moderate size.

The chief wealth of the inhabitants consists in large herds of cattle,
and in fruit-trees and gardens ; it is surrounded by the most magnificent
fruit-trees as far as the eye can reach, including fig-trees and pomegranates,
which were then ripe, and on which the soldiers of the Foreign Legion
feasted sumptuously, though somewhat adventurously, as the figs in par-
ticular are apt to beget dysentery.

The wild laurel grows in great quantities near the town, and attains
a very considei*able height ; and M. Lamping adds, " I can boast of
having tasted the fruit of the laurel as well as the leaf." All the Arabs
of any education or wealth used at that time to assemble in the coffee-
house, to whom it supplied the place of theatres, concerts, balls, and tea-
parties.

On another occasion M. Lamping paid a visit to the interior of the
province, when the battalion to which he belonged was ordered to march
towards Blidah across the plain at the foot of the Sahel mountains. This
ridge of the chain is low at that point ; it is highest near Algiers : but
it contained most beautiful and fruitful valleys, in which were forsaken
gardens and villas which once belonged to the Moors. The heights are
covered with dwarf oaks and other shrubs, which shelter great numbers of
wild boars, smaller and less fierce than those of Europe. The natives
assert, that the Spaniards brought these unclean animals into the country
out of spite ; and as swine are an abomination to the Mahometan and may
not be eaten, the breed increased rapidly. t

The sharp and broken outline of the mountains, and the dark foliage
of the olives, pines, and cedars which clothe their sides, give a singularly
wild and sombre character to the Atlas ran^e.

At the time of Lamping's visit the road through the Chiffa pass

* The French in Algiers, &c. p. 9. t Ibid. p. 7

138 EXPEDITION TO THE SOUTH.

had not been made ; and his battalion hatl to cross the Col de Mous-
saia, or Mouzaia, a much more fatiguing and lengthy way : from the foot
of the Col de Moussaia up to its highest point is fully seven hours' march.
The Fountain de la Croix, which you meet on the Col, takes its name from
a huge cross cut into the living rock, probably by the Spaniards as a pious
memorial of their conquest.* A large olive-grove grows at the foot of the
Col on the southern side.

M edeah is one of the oldest cities of Africa, standing on a plateau which
terminates on two sides in an abrupt precipice, and is therefore easily de-
fended. The town is surrounded by the most splendid fruit-gardens ; and
a Roman aqueduct, still in good preservation, conveys water to it from a
neighbouring mountain, and proves the high antiquity of the place. It
is inhabited by Jews and Arabs, who seem devoted to the French. "We
pitched our tents," says M. Lamping, " close to the town, beside a brook,
where exquisite oranges out of a garden close by offered us some compen-
sation for the fatigue we had undergone."

Leaving Medeah, they continued their route due south, and marched
several days, their road always lying up or down hill. The heat was ex-
cessive, and their marches were at the rate of from four to six leagues
(10 to 15 miles) per day. They found the valleys extensively Cultivated
with large crops of corn and rice, but no inhabitants ; and they only per-
ceived a few miserable hovels of rushes and skins of beasts ; yet in former
years this tract of country must have been thickly peopled, from the ceme-
teries of enormous extent appearing in many places. The Bedouins in
this part of the country are, however, now too poor to buy tents, and
hence they build the wretched hovels previously described.

They were now in the old province of Tittery, among the mountains
of the second Atlas range, which at this point is not divided by any con-
siderable rivers or valleys from the Lesser Atlas. It is, in fact, impossible
to tell where the one ceases and the other begins ; all is mountain. Far-
ther west, on the contrary, the extensive plain watered by the Shellif
forms the natural division between the chains. After several days' march,
the mountains, which had hitherto been covered with mere brushwood, be-
came more wooded and romantic in appearance. They passed through
immense forests of olives, firs, and junipers, the latter of which grew to a
considerable height. It is remarkable, that on the very highest point of
all these mountains there stands a marabout. These buildings are, at the
same time, the temples and the mausoleums ofthe Bedouin priests. They
are usually small buildings, from thirty to forty feet square, surmounted
by a cupola, and commonly built of rough stone and whitewashed. t

Continuing their progress, they turned somewhat westward; and the

1 This conjecture is quite gratuitous on the part ofM Lamping. May not the cross
i monument of early Christianity and of the North African Church?
t Pp. 49, 50.

THE LITTLE DESERT. 139

column drew nigh to the Little Desert, or the Desert of Angad, as it is
sometimes named.

One fine morning, after a two hours' march, the Lesser Desert was he-
fore them ; and a most cheerless prospect did it afford. To the southward
nothing was to be seen but an undulating surface of shifting sand ; on the
east and west alone the Atlas range was still visible. The palm grows
better than any other tree in this scorching soil ; but it was only from
time to time that they found one, and then so stunted and withered was it
that it could afford no shelter to the weary wanderer. The palm is seldom
found in groups, — generally single, or in twos and threes ; hence the natives
call this tree the 'hermit.' To their great joy, they soon turned westward,
always following the track of a caravan. The heat was burning, and
they marched up to their ankles in sand • but towards evening they
reached a spot recently deserted by Bedouins, with several deep cisterns
of water, not good enough to drink, but sufficient for cooking, and refresh-
ing their cattle. These cisterns are filled during the rainy season, and some
water remains in them till far in the summer. The next day they turned
still more to the westward; and towards evening they reached the foot of
the mountains, and bivouacked beside a brook.

On their return from these burning regions of the south, the column
once more crossed the steeps of the Atlas chain, where they found the air
sharp and piercing, even in summer ; and while they could scarcely breathe
for the heat below, on the top of the ridge they buttoned up their capotes
(greatcoats) to their very chins. On these airy heights they appeared
to be in the land of vultures and eagles, which soared and screamed
around them by hundreds.

Marching back they followed another route ; and on leaving Medeah
they crossed the main ridge of the Lesser Atlas to the west of the Col de
Moussaia, through some defiles which took the whole day to pass. They
had not, however, to climb so great an elevation as at the Col, as they
followed the course of a mountain torrent which forms several consider-
able waterfalls, the heights on either side being covered with the finest
pine and olive trees, and the whole scene being wildly beautiful.

Immediately above Milianah is the highest point" of the Lesser Atlas;
and the town is built half-way up the mountain, ou a plateau which falls
abruptly on three sides. The town contained at that time few buildings
Avorth looking at, except the palace of the Emir; but the French had re-
paired and considerably strengthened the fortifications of the place.

Dropping M. Lamping, it is our present purpose to accompany the
Count de Castellane-j- in some of his rides in the interior of this province.

* This is not strictly correct, the Zakkar above Milianah being 1900 feet lower than
the Djorjora belonging to the same chain. See p. 38.

+ Souvenirs de la Vie Militaire en Afrique, par le Comte P. de Castellane (now Marshal),
1352.

140 SERGEANT BLANDAN.

An hour after leaving the heights of Ouled-Mandil on the Sahel, Count
cle Castellane entered Bouffarik. Built on an unhealthy spot, in a place
where, according to an Arab adage, not even the snails can live, Bouffarik,
notwithstanding its unhealthiness, which has several times devoured its
population, is indebted to its central position for a certain degree of pro-
sperity. Thanks to the works that have been begun, it is anticipated that
its terrible fevers will disappear. They only passed through this embryo
town, stopping a few minutes at the cafe of Mere Gaspard, a noted gipsy
ccmtiniere (canteen-keeper), who has erected a splendid hotel and cafe at
Bouffarik, adorned with engravings of Horace Vernet's best pictures, pre-
sented by the artist himself.

Before you arrive at Beni-Merecl, you see the column erected to Ser-
geant Blandan and his brave comrades. On the 11th April, 1840, the
mail started from Bouffarik for Algiers, under the escort of a brigadier
(non-commissioned officer) and four Chasseurs d'Afrique, who were accom-
panied by Sergeant Blandan and fifteen infantry soldiers who were going
to rejoin their regiments. They were advancing quickly, without having
seen a single Arab, wdien suddenly four hundred horsemen rushed upon
the little band from the ravine that precedes Beni-Merecl. The Arab chief
rode up to the sergeant, calling out to him to surrender. A shot was his
answer ; and forming a square, the French soldiers faced the enemy.
The bullets were bringing them down one after the other, but the sur-
vivors closed up without flinching. "Defend yourselves to the death !" ex-
claimed the sergeant as he was hit, " face the enemy !" and he fell at the
feet of his comrades. Only five men remained of the twenty-five, cover-
ing with their bodies the dispatches that had been confided to them,
when the sound of horses' hoofs, galloping up at full speed, gave them
new life and hopes. Presently from a cloud of dust there darted forth
a body of horse, who rushing on the Arabs sent them flying. The rescuer
was Joseph de Breteuil and his chasseurs. He w r as ordering the horses
to be watered at Bouffarik when he heard the firing. Immediately, only
giving time to his troopers to seize their swords, M. de Breteuil set off* full
speed, followed by his chasseurs, mounted at hazard. He plunged the first
into the tumult ; and thanks to his rapid energy, he was able to save these
martyrs to military honour. The rescuer received the same recompense
as the rescued, Breteuil and the survivors being all named members of
the Legion of Honour in the same ordonnance of the king.

The road to Blidah crosses the site of a wood of orange-trees cut
down by General Duvivier in the name of military engineering. During
two years did these trees serve to warm the troops ; and what remains
of them around the town is sufficiently beautiful to make a residence at
Blidah delightful.*

Having been presented to General Changarnier, they shortly left Bli-

* Castellane, pp. 5, 6.

THE ZACCAR. 141

dah, escorting him on the road to Milianah. They followed a westerly
direction, hugging the mountains that rise to the south of the plain. At
two leagues from Blidah they forded the Chiffa torrent, there 100 metres
(328 feet) in width, with a deep and rapid current ; and they soon after
reached Bou-Roumi, where they halted an hour, hefore climbing the hills
that separate the plain from the valley of the Ouad-Ger.

It was not usual to follow the valley of the Ouad-Ger when the com-
munications between Milianah and Blidah were not open ; its steep ac-
clivities, covered with lentisks and evergreen oaks, presenting too great
difficulties. The road of the columns, longer but more secure, used to
pass over the ridges and abut in like manner at the marabout of Sidi-
Abd-el-Kader, where they were to bivouac in the evening. Accordingly
at three o'clock, after having crossed the Ouad-Ger eighteen times, they
rejoined the troops that had started the night before, and their tents
were pitched under the aged olive-trees that were still respected by the
French axe. The next morning they crossed the valley of the Ouad-
Adelia, which consisted of heavy clay, following a southerly direction.
Two roads were now before them : one of which ascends towards Milianah
by the slopes of the Gontas and the valley of the Shellif ; whilst the other
passes by the country of the Righas, and reaches the town by winding
along the declivities of the Zaccar. The latter was the shorter, and was
selected by them ; and having reached the plateaux of the Righas, they
saw before them, on the other side of an immense woody ravine, Milianah,
built on the summit of a rock, surrounded by gardens and verdure.

An hour after leaving the fountain of the Trembles, they entered Mi-
lianah by its northern gate.

Zaccar signifies that which refuses or will not suffer itself to be ascended ;
and this name is given by the Arabs to the long rocky ridge which com-
mands Milianah on the north side. The town is built on a plateau at
the foot of the mountain, and advances like a promontory over the last
slopes which continue for the space of a league as far as the valley of the
Shellif. From the sides of the Zaccar, and from Milianah itself, gush forth
abundant rivulets, diffusing a delightful coolness on all sides ; and around
the town extend those gardens so celebrated throughout Algeria : lichens,
mosses of all kinds, a thousand plants with long stems, seem to encircle
the white houses and tile-roofs of Milianah with a belt of verdure. At a
distance the eye is deceived, and perceives nothing but a smiling scene ;
but if you draw near, you find nothing but waited sepulchres.

A main street designed by the French, containing a number of canteen-
shops, traverses half the town, and stops short at the Arab quarter, near
the minaret of a ruined mosque. The martial notes of the French clarions
have long succeeded the cry of the muezzin, calling the faithful to prayer
from its summit. This town had been a kind of advanced post down to
1811 ; but after that date it became, with Medeah, the basis of the French

142 THE LITTLE ROSE.

operations in Algeria. By ascending the minaret of the old mosque you
easily perceive the importance of the position, for you see all the country
that it commands : on one side the rolling mammelons or hills that
separate it from Medeah ; then the valley of the Shellif running east and
west ; and beyond that the rock of Ouar-Senis, commanding the Kabyle
mountains, whose conquest has cost so much blood and treasure. It is a
magnificent picture. The country that separates Medeah from Milianah
is called the Djendel*

On another occasion Count de Castellane inarched with his column from
Medeah to Blidah, on his return from the successful expedition undertaken
to put down the great insurrection of 1845. They passed through the
gorge of the Chiffa, which the Count describes as one of the wonders of
Africa, and one of the beauties of the world. Picture to yourself, through
a precipitous cutting five leagues in length, a splendid road twenty- five
feet in breadth, in some places opened through the rock by blasting, and in
other places encroaching on the torrent, which has been forced to yield up
part of its bed. Lichens and all manner of shrubs flourish in the crevices
of the rocks ; and in some favoured places, where the mould has not been
washed away, actual forests tower overhead. The river Chiffa has worn
a serpentine channel through these rocks, and receives in its bosom the
numerous cascades that come tinkling down the wall-like rocks. Suddenly,
as you advance, the horizon expands, you issue from prison, and your
dazzled eyes rest on the long range of hills that bound the Mitidja, — on the
sea, which appears through the cutting of Mazafran, — and on this immense
plain, so beautiful when seen at a distance.

In the course of an hour you reach Blidah. Mohamed-ben-Yousef, the
traveller, whose sayings have become popular in Algeria, pronounced of
Blidah, " You are styled a little town ; I call you a little rose." No de-
scription can be more exact. Blidah appears with indescribable grace
among woods of orange-trees, whose perfume announces your approach
while you are still far off. The French maintain that they have embel-
lished Blidah with all the excellences of French art ; yet notwithstanding
all their embellishments, it has managed to remain a very charming town,
— in short, the little rose of Mohamed-ben-Yousef. +

The country known by the name of the Ouar-Senis extends between
the valley of the Shellif to the north and the Little Desert to the south,
having a length of about 15 leagues (37£ miles). It is a vast assemblage
of mountains, which rise successively to the rocky ridge placed in the
centre, a regular knot binding together all this labyrinth of precipices, of
ravines, and of gigantic eminences. The rocky ridge in question has a
length of 1500 metres (4920 feet), rises above the plateau which forms its
base to the height of GOO feet, and is protected by precipitous sides. Its
summit is inaccc.-sible save by means of paths only fit for goats, and runs
* Castellane, p. 21. Ibid. p. 248.

THE MARCH.

143

in an east and west direction; and at the latter end, after presenting a
col or neck which answers for a pass, a rocky eminence protrudes in the
shape of a dome, towering ahove the rest of the l-idge. The reader may
imagine the difficult nature of a country where narrow footpaths, on all
sides commanded hy eminences and woody plateaux, wind along the flank
of the mountains, only leaving a free passage for one man. This dan-
gerous ground is inhabited hy wild and warlike Kahyles,* sprung from
that old Berber blood which has ever offered the material of resistance to
established authority. They consist of the Beni-Eyndel, the Beni-bou-
douan, the Beni-Rhalia, the Beni-bou-Atab, the Beni-bou-Kanous, the
Beni-bou-Chaib, &c. ; tribes with republican forms, only obeying «a djemaa
(assembly or commission) named by the whole people ; independent, ever-
lastingly quarrelling, yet united against the common enemy. These tribes
had already encountered the French soldiers before Castellane's campaign
(1813). The first occasion was at the Ouad-Foddha, of glorious memory ;
later, in November 1842, they were obliged to succumb to the French
columns that furrowed their territory anew ; but Abd-el-Kader excited
them to arms once more in 1843. Sicli-Embarek was then in the Ouar-
Senis with his regular battalions, and endeavoured to stimulate the moun-
taineers to revolt.

Three columns were destined to operate in that country, under the
supreme command of General Changarnier. Each of them had received
precise instructions, and the common rendez /ous was the Medina of the
Beni-bou-Deuan, a Kabyle village, or rather town, situated among those
mountains. Castellane's column, under the immediate command of Chan-
gamier, marched direct for the cathedral, as the soldiers had christened the
rocky ridge above mentioned. The 10th of May, under a bright sun and
with gay hearts, they issued from the gate of Milianah, descending the
narrow path which leads in a westerly direction to the valley of the Shellif.
They were accompanied by 150 horse, who were to attempt on the mor-
row to surprise a Kabyle village. Scarcely had they reached the valley,
ere the clarions sounded a halt to give the column time to close up ; then,
all in order, they started afresh. They were in a friendly and open coun-
try; and though their arms were loaded, they marched without precaution.
First came the general, followed by the cavalry ; then the infantry, pre-
ceded by a company of sappers with mules carrying implements. This
company was ordered to march on, without caring for the cavalry or the
general. Behind them came a part of the infantry ; then the mountain guns,
with their little pieces on the backs of mules with roughed shoes; the ambu-
lance or hospital apparatus, with its red flag, followed together with a con-
voy of provisions ; lastly the baggage of the corps, sumpter horses, mules,
or asses, under the surveillance of non-commissioned officers, and followed

* The native population is divided into two broad distinctions : 1st, the Arabs ; 2d,
the Kabyles or Berbers.

144 WILDS AND WASTES.

by a numerous infantry that closed the march, having at the extreme rear-
guard mules with cacolets* in case of accidents or diseases. From time to
time the general's aid-de-camps ascertained that the column advanced in
good order ; and at every hour the chief of the staff ordered a halt to be
sounded, to give ten minutes' rest to the foot-soldiers, with their heavy
load of eight days' provision. It is usual to give an hour and a half's rest
about half-way, for the soldiers to make and drink their coffee-soup, i. e.
biscuit broken up in coffee, all dipping into a common dish. Such is the
common order of the march in Africa.

"We were now marching in the valley of the Shellif," says Castellane,
" through magnificent corn-fields, smoking and talking, laughing and sing-
ing, or silent and thoughtful, as the mood might be ; but very happily, sad-
ness was not in fashion anions: us."

After a succession of halts, the column had arrived at the bivouacking
place, near the stone bridge built over the Shellif by Omar Pasha ; and,
as usual, the portable city was pitched with an admirable dispatch.

The next morning, at the diane,\ the band of the 58th played a gay
reveil ; and after coughing a little, and dispelling the morning fog by a
draught of brandy, they resumed their march, following, as the night be-
fore, the valley of the Shellif. In the evening they stopped at the Ouad-
Eouina. In the night the cavalry and two battalions started to surprise
the Kabyle village of the Berkanis; but being discovered, the affair ended
in a little peppering. The following evening they rejoined the bivouac ;
and the next morning the cavalry returned to Milianah, whilst the head of
their column entered the valley of the Ouad-Eouina. A few hours later
they encountered the bad roads of the Ouar-Senis. One by one, mules,
soldiers, and convoy advanced in file along these narrow paths, which con-
tinually ascend, winding up the flanks of the mountains among pines.
This was a hard time for the infantry ; for to the right and left of the
convoy some battalions were directed to protect it, cutting across the
country without any track ; at one time descending the ravines, at another
mounting the steeps, encountering terrible fatigues, rendered necessary
by war to insure the safety of all.

Though they had been in an enemy's country for two days, they had
not yet met any one ; every where they found nothing but the calm of
emptiness, — a kind of desert, — when suddenly, in front of them, they be-
held five or six hundred Arabs, excited and raising loud shouts, on an

* Portable chairs for the wounded, carried on the hacks of mules, of which St. Marie
(p. 22) gives the ensuing description : " Cacolets are a kind of pack-saddle of wood and
iron, carried <>n the backs of mules, and supportin • on each side chairs of iron, made to
up in a small compass, so that the mule may set out with expeditions carrying pro-
visions, and return with a load of wounded men, who must be so seated in the chair as to
form a counterpoise to each other. Some of these cacolets are so ingeniously constructed
.is to spread out like a bed."

+ The trumpet-call to rouse the troops.

THE RIDGE. 145

eminence that commanded the narrow path. The halt was sounded. The
general formed the Chasseurs d'Orleans in the vanguard; then he started,
himself at their head, to drive off the enemy. Under shelter of the figs
and other trees that clothed this knoll, the Chasseurs d'Orleans escaladed it
at a nin, notwithstanding the fire of the Kabyles, whom they soon drove
back with the bayonet. A considerable number of the natives bit the dust,
and the others sustained a vigorous chase; and the French returned with
a flock which they found in the wood, some killed and some wounded, — but
such is war. Meanwhile the convoy, having passed through the defile
after it had crossed a ravine, had established itself near the little town of
Beni-bou-Deuan. The houses of this town, which are built of wood and
plaster, have a great resemblance to the hovels of the French peasants in
Picardy. They are solid, defying rain and storms ; yet the soldiers had
soon gutted them, for the dry wood they afforded gave out less smoke, and
made better soup. Accordingly, in the space of two days, during which
they awaited the other columns, not a few of them were destroyed ; and all
would have been converted into fuel, had not Colonel Picouleau and his
troops soon arrived.

All the Arab accounts agreed in stating that there was a gathering of
the population in the direction of the Ouar-Senis. These accounts were
correct; and on the morning of the 18th of May, a few moments after
crossing the Ouad-Foddha and becoming implicated in a defile, they per-
ceived some Arab horsemen; and on debouching on the large plateau at
the base of the rocky ridge previously described, they saw the enemy.

The French arrived from the eastward, parallel to the south side of the
ridge. Before them stretched away a vast plateau covered with trees,
with verdure, vines, houses, and gardens. To the west the plateau termi-
nated in a high sugar-loaf mountain, separated from the rocky ridge by a
col answering the purpose of a pass. This plateau stopped short to the
south, at a ravine in which there flowed a river. The ridge might be
about 1500 metres (4920 feet) in length, and was surrounded by indented
rocks ; the precipices of the ridge rising sharp, like walls, from the last
slopes, to a considerable height. The whole mountain towered above
the plateau to a height of about 600 feet. Some pines and other trees
fringed the steep slopes, and stopped where the rock became vertical, but
climbed higher at two opposite spots, which seemed to. shew that there
existed two means of access to the summit. In other respects, nothing
could be more charming than this plateau; a real oasis, which on two sides
stood out in all its fresh verdure from amongst a rampart of greyish rocks,
whilst towards the left the eye wandered over a line of endless mammdons
(undulations) to the blue horizon of Tiaret. On their arrival they saw
the horsemen of Sidi-Embarek ride off to the southward, and numerous
Kabyles flying along the woody slopes; but from the top of the rock a
confused and muffled sound and agitation reached their ears, and some-

140 ATTEMPT AT STORMING.

times loud cries. At intervals some Kabyles appeared on the ridge; and
a singular effect was produced by scattered groups of horsemen, who, sus-
pended on some almost inaccessible heights, stood out in bold relief against
the azure sky.

The twenty-five horsemen, their only cavalry, were immediately thrown
out in the direction of the col ; and the Chasseurs d'Orleans, who that day
formed the vanguard, throwing off their knapsacks, ran in to support the
little knot of horsemen. Two other companies swept the slopes with the
bayonet, while the rest of the column established its bivouac in the gar-
dens. The attack was immediately planned. Lieutenant-Colonel Forey,
of the 58th of the line, with the Gth battalion of chasseurs and some com-
panies of his own regiment, Avas to attempt an escalade to the east. Two
battalions of the 58th and Colonel dTllens were to try and storm the
ridge by a ravine that ran two-thirds of the way up its sides. It was
about 1 p. in. ; a bright sun was reflected from the arms and the rocks.
The general was in the centre under some great trees, giving his orders
Avith his usual precision and clearness. Castellane and the staff were near
him, looking at this magnificent panorama, when some gun-shots and the
drums beating a charge startled them on the left. These sounds gave
birth to a neAV force, an unknown ardour in the sovd. A few seconds
later, the company of chasseurs whom they had seen exchanging shots Avith
the Kabyles in a fir-wood, and trying to avoid the masses of rock rolled
down upon them by the enemy, passed on to rejoin its battalion, Captain
Soumain at its head, all bruised by an ox that had been cast down upon
him. The firing became sharper to the east ; and a horseman soon rode
up to announce the capture of the smala of Sidi-Embarek by the Duke
of Aumale.

At this moment Castellane moved to the east, near the Chasseurs
d'Orleans. Arrived at the foot of the rock with a part of the battalion,
Lieutenant-Colonel Forey, an old chasseur officer, ordered the men to un-
filing their rifles. " We have to escalade the rocks, my lads, Avith spirit :
remember you are the Chasseurs d'Orleans." Immediately the charge
sounded, and on they dashed over the roots and rocks and broken ground,
climbing and leaping like apes, mastering all obstacles, despising the balls
that fell direct among them, and the rocks rolled down on their heads by
the Kabyles. Thus climbing up on all-fours, they reached a point beyond
which to advance Avas impossible. Every Kabyle who peeped over the
ridge was reached by their bullets, but many of their hands were crushed
by the rocks sent doAvn from above. Tt Avas a curious sight ; a scene of
the middle ages; you might have taken it for the assault of one of those
ancient castles built on the brink of some precipice.

As soon as the general came up, he ordered a retreat, to sav;e the lives
of the brave chasseurs. A Kabyle prisoner pointed out two narroAV paths
by which the enemy had reached the summit, Avhich they considered ini-

TENIET-EL-HAD. 147

pregnable, the tracks being so bad that the cattle had to be drawn up by
ropes. But as there was no water, a blockade of three days was sure to
enforce a surrender.

The 58th had bravely tried to mount, but had been balked by a rocky
ravine with a slight loss, including Colonel d'illens.

The column, divided into two corps, guarded the north and south-east
slopes; while the reserve and convoy were established in the midst of gar-
dens, where the pomegranate-trees, interlacing their red flowers with the
large vines that ran from tree to tree, afforded an agreeable shelter to the
weary troops. At night the bivouac fires sparkled like so many stars
along the slopes of the mountain ; and an enormous flame, no doubt some
signal, shone forth at the east end of the rock ; whilst overhead towered
the limpid vault of heaven, into whose depths the eye loved to wander.
A large fire of olive-wood gave a pleasant warmth to the staff-officers, who
passed the evening in smoking and chatting; while Captain Carayon-La-
tour, one of the best trumpet-players in France, woke up the magnificent
echoes of the mountains with his hunting airs.

The blockade continued till the 28th, when the thirst on the ridge
reached an extreme that forced the chiefs to demand aman (terms) from
the general about twelve o'clock. It was a wild sight to behold the flocks
rush like an avalanche down the dizzy steeps to the river; while from
the rock whole tribes of men poured down like a torrent, amidst shouts,
tumult, and dust. Sheep, goats, oxen, women, and children, altogether
ran down to the water, while the men, with fierce countenances, suffered in
sullen silence. The soldiers made a glorious supper that night on Kabyle
sheep.

Thus all the population of the southern part of the Ouar-Senis was
subdued at a blow ; but the northern tribes had still to be brought into
subjection. Accordingly on the 24th they started with ten thousand head
of cattle for Teniet-el-Had, a new post established at the watershed three
leagues from the plateaux of the Serssous. Two days afterwards they
passed through the magnificent cedar-forest, from which you get a sight
of Teniet-el-Had. The variety of views and of the scenery, its extent of
nearly five leagues, and the splendid size of the trees, make this forest
one of the most curious spots in Africa ; yet it is not safe to venture there
alone, as on all sides there may be seen traces in the shape of a hand-
grenade, which indicate the presence of lions. Colonel Korte, of the 1st
Chasseurs d'Afrique, was then the commandant superior of Teniet-el-Had;
a man of estimable character, of a daring heart, and a perfect horseman.
In July 1812, under Changarnier, he made a gallant razzia on Ain-Tesem-
sil, a plateau of the Serssous. With 200 chasseurs, supported by zouaves,
he made a dash at a post of flying Arabs guarded by 1500 horsemen. The
least hesitation would have been destruction ; but he knew his men and
his foe, and he cut off" the retreat of the fugitives, throwing them back on

148 TENIET-EL-HAD.

the French column. There was much firing, and many chasseurs bit the
dust; but Korte brought into camp two thousand camels, eighty thousand
head of cattle, an immense booty, and a great number of prisoners.

While this razzia, justly celebrated throughout the province of Algiers,
was related to them, the staff and column reached the new post. Teniet-
el-Had (the col or pass of Sunday), thus named from an Arab market that
is held there on that day, had only been occupied by the French since May
(1843). No building had at that time been erected, and a simple earthen
ditch protected the soldiers who were encamped under the great tents of
the administration ; but the climate was healthy, and the morale of the
troops excellent, hence there were but few sick. The column found pro-
visions prepared for them there by the foresight of the general, and after
a short stay they departed once more for the mountains of Ouar-Senis.
But the lesson they had received had quelled the insurrection of the moun-
taineers; they received the submission of numerous tribes, and were forced
to return to Milianah on the 7th of June through lack of provisions.*

* Castellane's Souvenirs, p. 59.

GATE OF ORAN.

CHAPTER IX.
$3robm« of ©ran. Cl)c Coast.

OUTLINE OF THE COAST MOSTAGANEM AKZED ORAN NEMOURS OKAN

MERS-EL-KEDIR THE GULF OF AKZED ANTIQUITIES — ST. MARIE — ORIGIN

OF MOSTAGANEM.

The next province tliat we shall describe and analyse is that of Oran,
following the series adopted by the Tableau and M. Berbrugger.
This land of the west, the cradle and home of Abd-el-Kader, has been the
nursery of the boldest spirits and the theatre of the most daring exploits
in Algeria.

The province contains 102,000 square kilometres (39,270 square
miles) ; and 275 tribes, including 000,000 souls, besides 35,2-16 Europeans
and 21,630 natives in the towns : total 656,870.

We shall, as usual, first give a broad survey of the province, beginning
with the sea-shore. Following the coast to the west of Tenes we come to the
Darha district, part of which belongs to the subdivision of Mostaganem, in
the province of Oran; and after passing the L>jebel Minis, or mountain of salt,
and the Zour-el-Hummam, we come to the mouth of the river Shellif, the

150 ARZEU.

largest and most celebrated stream in Algeria.* It flows during the greater
part of its course in the province of Algeria, and has been already noticed
in detail. A short distance to the west of the Shellif we come to Mosta-
ganem, so called, according to Blofeld, from the sweetness of the mutton
fed in its neighbourhood. This town is built in the form of an amphi-
theatre, with a free prospect of the sea ; but in every other direction it is
enclosed by a circuit of hills which overhang it. The inhabitants have a
tradition, confirmed by some vacant spaces, that the present town is com-
posed of several contiguous villages. In the middle of it, and near one of
these vacancies, are the remains of an old Moorish castle, erected, as it
appears from its construction, before the invention of fire-arms. The
north-west corner of the town, which overlooks part of the port and the
ditch, is surrounded by a strong wall of hewn stone, where there is another
castle built in a more regular manner. But Mostaganem being too much
exposed to every troop of Arabs who can take possession of the hills be-
hind it, its chief strength lies in a citadel situated upon one of these
eminences, which has a full command of the city and of the surrounding
country. The population in 1843 consisted of 2500 persons, exclusive of
the French garrison. Passing through a fine country, sheltered by a chain
of hills which bounds it to the south and south-east, the traveller comes to
Mazagran, a small mud-walled town situated on the western declivity of a
chain of hills, within a furlong of the sea. This is the place where, a few
years ago, it was stated by the French Government that 123 French sol-
diers had successfully resisted 7000 Arabs for three days. After calling
forth the powers of poetry and painting, Colonel Lievre's exploit turned
out to be a fabrication, if we may believe Mr. Blofeld. t

A short distance beyond this place is the river Sigg. The Habrah,
another considerable stream, falls into the former, whose mouth is called
El-Mockdah, the Ford, which, save in the rainy season, is entirely occu-
pied by the sand, leaving the passage without water. Not far hence, under
some steep rocky cliffs, are two small ports, one of Avhich opens towards
Mostaganem, the other towards the port of Arzeu, five miles heyond.

Arzeu, called by the Moors the port of Beni-Zeian, from the Kabyles
living near it, was formerly a large community. The land many miles
behind it presents a rich landscape ; but towards the sea rises a range
of steep rocks, forming a breakwater to the country. The water used
now by the people of Arzeu is brackish, being drawn from spots much
lower than the sea ; but the whole city was once built on cisterns, which

* Lieutenant Do France, who was taken captive by the Arabs at Arzeu in 1837, de-
scribes the Shellif as the principal river of the country, rising in the mountains south of
Miliana, running east and west, and falling into the sea near Cape Ivi, between the
Cape of Tenes and tho Gulf of Arzeu: The French in Algiers, translated by Lady Duff
Gordon, p. 124.

+ Berbruyyor records it as a fact, part i.

NEMOURS. 101

still remain ; and numerous ruins of aqueducts, temples (one in particular
in very good preservation), and other large buildings which lie scattered
along the coast, prove that formerly a very considerable city existed on
this spot. Leaving Arzeu we come to Cape Ferrat, remarkable for a high
rock which stands out to sea. At a short distauce from this cape is Gran.

Orau is an important fortified city, about a mile and a half in circum-
ference, built upon the declivity and near the foot of a high mountain. It
is naturally a place of great strength, and has been made much stronger by
art ; yet it is commanded by the neighbouring hills. Oran was taken by
the Spaniards in 1509, retaken by the Algerians in 1708, and taken once
more by the Spaniards in 1732, who left it finally in 1792, having adorned
it with several beautiful churches and other edifices in the Roman style
during their occupation.

With a fair wind, the passage hence to Carthagena in Spain takes fif-
teen hours.

The country surrounding Oran presents a variety of pleasing prospects
and cool retreats, numerous plantations of olives, picturesque rocky pre-
cipices, and rills of water trickling or rushing down them. Five miles
beyond Oran is Mers-el-Kebir, the Portus Magnus of the Romans, so called
by Pliny from its great size. This harbour is formed by a neck of land
which advances almost a furlong into the bay, sheltering it from the north
and north-east winds. Two leagues to the west is Cape Falcon, beyond
which are the isles of Ha-beeba ; and farther on is Figalo, not far from the
Sinan, the last of the brooks which fall into the Ouad-el-Mailah, " the salt
river," whose sources are situated at the southern confines of the plain of
Zeidoure, through which the stream glides in a variety of beautiful wind-
ings. It may not improbably be near this river, which might occasionally
be swollen by the rains, that the elder Barbarossa, after flying from Tlem-
sen, scattered about his treasure when he was pursued by the victorious
Spaniards, his last though ineffectual effort to retard the pursuit of his
enemies. The Ouad-el-Mailah, a little after its union with the Sinan, dis-
charges itself into the Harshgoun.

To the west of the latter are several ancient ruins called Tackumbreet,
where the city of Siga or Sigeum, once the metropolis of Sypliax and
other Mauritanian kings, was situated. Opposite Tackumbreet is a small
island, the Acra (A/vpa) of the ancient geographers, forming the port of
Harshgoun,* where ships of the greatest burden may lie in safety. Tack-
umbreet is on the western banks, near the mouth of the Tafna, the ancient
Siga, whose volume is formed by the Isser (Assanus), the Barbata, and
other tributaries.-]-

A short distance beyond the Tafna stands Djama-Ghazouat, which has
been named Nemours by the French, and constitutes their last post towards

• Rasbgoun, according to the Tableau. t Blofeld, p. 83.

152 MERS-EL-KEBIR.

the frontiers of Morocco on the sea-board. This little town contained in
December 1847, 503 Europeans; in December 1848, 429; and in De-
cember 1849, 405. The number of natives in 1849 was 42. In De-
cember 1848, 950 metres (3116 feet) of water-conduits, and 250 (820
feet) of sewerage, had been opened, for 13,431 fr. [5371. 5s.) ; and
2492 fr. 4(3 ct. (991. lis. 2-kZ.) had been devoted to the improvement of
the fortifications. A debar cadcr e , or landing-place, has been also built
(1847), 44 metres (144-32 feet) in length, at an expense of 10,421 fr.
Analysing the fortifications, we find that the town wall, or enceinte, begun
in 1845, has been finished; that the curtain G-7 has been organised to-
gether with the interior communications ; that a cavalier has been built
on the terre-plein of bastion 3 ; and that a mule's road has been opened
from the town to the heights of Touent. The expense of the works has
amounted- to 32,720 fr. (1308Z. 16s. 8c/.), and it is calculated that their
completion will cost 200,000 fr. (8000/.)."'

As Nemours may almost be reckoned a new French colony, seeing the
small infusion of natives in its population, we shall revert to the state of
its agricultural and commercial industry in the chapter on Colonisation.

Six leagues to the west of the Tafna is Cape Hone, the foreland pro-
truding from the ridge of the Trara mountains, and corresponding to the
Great Promontory of Ptolemy. This cape nearly coincides with the 1° 40'
W. long, of Greenwich. A short distance to the west of Cape Hone is the
river Twunt, which with the Trara mountains has been commonly regarded
as the western limit of the province of Oran and of Algeria generally.

Before we pass to the survey of the interior, we shall linger a little
longer about the coast, and dwell more minutely on its individual features,
beginning with its capital.

The voyage from Algiers to Oran is usually performed in thirty hours,
touching at Scherschell, Tenes, Mostaganem, and Arzeu. Let us now
accompany Baron Baude and his disciple St. Marie to Mers-el-Kebir,
which they represent as a better port of refuge than Gibraltar, where the
sea is sometimes tremendous, the action of the winds terrible, and the
anchorage bad.f In December 1825, fifteen ships were cast away on its
shores ; but nothing of this kind is found at Mers-el-Kebir, where the sea
is not dangerous, and the anchorage might easily be made unassailable.
The possession of the fort of Mers-el-Kebir used to be regarded as the key
of Africa. It is of considerable extent, and the fire of its batteries sweeps
the bay, at the farther end of which is the city of Oran, unapproachable
by large ships on account of reefs and shallows. Mers-el-Kebir is a good
refuge for vessels in storms, situated at the eastern entrance of the channel
between Spain and Africa; and the currents of the shore, together with
Mie westerly winds which prevail during two-thirds of the year, drive into

* Tableau, &c. p. 43. f Baron Baude, vol. ii. c. x. p. 119.

OR AX. 153

the bay vessels coming out of the Straits of Gibraltar, and check the
course of those seeking to enter the Atlantic.'"' Hence this would be a
good place to intercept the communication between the Mediterranean
and the Atlantic; and the correspondence of the Peninsula and Paris
through Perpignan might pass directly through Carthagena and the
richest part of Spain. f The most prominent part of the fort is sur-
mounted with a lighthouse. A broad well-made road leads hence to Oran ;
and when arrived half-way, St. Marie descended to a cavern forming two
grottoes, in the centre of each of which is a basin of water three feet below
the ground-level. The water is brown, cool, and brackish, the tempera-
ture 40 o of the centigrade thermometer, and is said to be useful in curing
cutaneous diseases. +

The position of Oran is delightful, forming an amphitheatre along two
banks of a shady ravine, commanded by the solid and lofty walls of the
Casbah. The appearance of the place shews its former importance ; and
the inhabitants are not in the miserable condition of the other towns of
Algeria. The men look strong and vigorous ; and naturally remembering
that the Spaniards, who once held the place for a long time, thought it
best at length to withdraw, probably anticipate the same result with the
French. Hence they are animated by an innate feeling of pride and in-
dependence, which nothing can subdue.

"Having crossed the ravine," proceeds St. Marie, "we entered a broad
well-paved street, planted with old trees, and leading by a gently winding
declivity to the highest point of the city. Here we came to the gates of
a barracked camp, adapted for infantry and cavalry, and at that time
(1845) occupied by the Foreign Legion."

When St. Marie reached this point, he entered on an extensive plain
beyond the city, where G700 Arab Gooms (irregulars) of the division of
Oran were being reviewed by General Thierry. The French possessions
in the province of Oran covered in 1845, according to St. Marie, a super-
ficies of 200 square leagues, the produce of which does not supply even
the city.§ Five leagues (12£ miles) to the north of the city is a bar-
ren plain, called by the Spaniards Telamina, the soil of which is mixed
with salt ; and to the south, masses of ruins shew the sites of Roman
settlements, probably abandoned on account of insalubrity. There an;
.some plantations of cotton and madder in this direction ; and prior to the
French occupation in 1832, the country about Oran presented a nourish-
ing aspect, but in 1845 there was nothing but ruins.

The city of Oran is built on two long plateaux, having a deep ravine
between them, containing a river which turns several mills and supplies

* Baron Baude, c. x. p. 119 ; St. Mario, p. 167, et seqq.

t Baron Baude, uhi supra. X St. Marie, p. 107.

§ The Count must have made another grievous mistake here.

154 ORAN.

the city with water. It was given up to the dey in 1791 by the Spaniards,
after an earthquake had destroyed every thing except the fort. Mount
Bammra rises 500 metres (1640 feet) above the sea, and commands the
city to the west, being surmounted by a fort called the Bastion of Santa
Cruz. At the outlet of the road from Mers-el-Kebir stands Fort St. Gre-
gory ; and to the south, on the sea-shore, is the Fort of Moune Point. The
western part of the city is terminated inland by the old Casbah, which is
used as barracks for infantry, the fortifications being in ruins. In the
opposite part of the city, on an eminence overlooking the sea, rise the fine
ramparts of the new Casbah : begun by the Spaniards, it was finished by
the bey,* who made it his residence. At the south end of this part of the
city stands the fort of St. Andrew.

In 1845 the houses at Oran were all in the Morisco style, with flat
terraced roofs; the streets were broad and straight; and it was remarkable
for the beauty of its chief mosque, ornamented with exquisite open-work
sculpture. The ravine between the two parts of the city is chiefly occupied
by gardens and orchards, in which the pale green of the banana contrasts
finely with the rich tints of the citron and pomegranate trees. But
European houses are already beginning to be built in this valley, so
that these blooming gardens will doubtless disappear by degrees.

We will next take a survey of Mers-el-Kebir and Oran, in the company
of our respected friend M. Berbrugger.t

Travellers seeking to reach Oran by water are commonly forced to
land a little to the westward, as merchant-vessels seldom, and ships of
war hai'dly ever, anchor before the town. The usual landing-place is
Mers-el-Kebir, or the great port, which you reach passing to the westward
of Oran, and leaving to the left the fort of Mouna, or rather Mona ; the
name being probably of Spanish origin, and bestowed on the place on
account of its being frequented by monkeys. Above Mona rises Fort
San Gregorio, itself commanded by that of Santa Cruz, which placed on
the culminating point of the mountain was held to be impregnable. The
little rocky summit on which it is built forms, with the extremity of a
neighbouring ridge, a very remarkahle embrasure, answering the purpose
of a landmark to seamen at some distance out at sea.

After passing Point Mona you enter the roads of Mers-el-Kebir, the
best shelter on the coast of Algeria, and the only spot where great ships
can hibernate. This bay is encompassed by very high land, save at its
extremity, where a decided sinking of the hills creates the embrasure pre-
viously noticed. Violent squalls are apt to sally forth from this gully,
even in summer ; and the Spaniards used to call these gusts of wind pol-
vorista (dust-bearing).

* St. Marie says ' dey ;' which is clearly an error, as the dey always resided at Algiers,
leaving Oran and Constautiua to the tender mercies of his beys; p. 175.
f Algcrie, part ii.

ORAN. 155

The usual anchoring place is near the fort, a fine and solid Spanish
structure, built by the convicts of the presidios (garrison). It is partly
cut out of the rock on which its foundations stand, has an oblong form,
and occupies almost the whole of the little peninsula that forms the
northern point of the bay, and whose neck is closed by a bastion covered
by a little demi-lune.

This part of the fortification is formidable ; the ditches, which are
entirely dug in the rock, having a mean depth of at least 40 feet. Broad
platforms of paving-stones solidly cemented together can receive nu-
merous pieces of ordnance, which would be protected on the sea and
land sides by traverses in masonry of unusual strength and great fre-
quency. When M. de Bourmont ordered the evacuation of Oran in 1830,
they blew up part of the sea-batteries ; but the mischief has since been
repaired. The fort of Mers-el-Kebir, when the Freneh took possession in
1830, had 44 guns, 24 to 3-6 pounders : they were of Spanish origin.

At the east end of the fort stands the pharos, a little tower painted
white, whose summit only rises 28 metres (1)1 84 feet) above the sea. It
was for a long time only furnished with a tin lantern and a long candle :
it was provided in 1843 with a fixed light, raised 26 metres (85-28 feet),
and discernible a leajme off".

There are two ways of reaching Oran, one by sea and the other by
land. Though the distance by water is only three miles, the passage is
often retarded, especially during east and north-east winds. The road by
land follows the maritime declivity of the mountains that form the bay.

The new road, that has supplanted the old footpath, doubles Point
Mona under Fort St. Gregory, and passes over a vast grotto hollowed in
the mountain, into which the sea enters by an artificial opening, and
where vessels are sheltered by artificial means that are placed there in
stormy weather. In the same locality are great excavations, that answer
the purpose of warehouses, that have been made in the rock itself, which
is easy to work. Yet these vast underground passages, which have been
too much extended, do not possess all the solidity that is desirable, and
since the year 1831 they have been injured by several landslips.

Immediately after having passed the point of Mona, Oran is before
you. This town is situated at the bottom of a vast inlet to the west of
Cape Ferrat, between two strands of sand, and on the two ridges of a
ravine (llas-el-Ain, the source of a stream), in which flows an abundant
stream. That part which stands on the left bank is badly built, and ruined
in many places in consequence of the earthquake of 1790 ; this is the old
town, which was inhabited by the Spaniards. On the right bank is the
new town, crowned by the new castle or (Jasbah.

The position of Oran is highly picturesque ; and -when the traveller
descries from the deck of his vessel the two groups of white houses (the
old and new towns), bisected by a ravine dotted with veiy pretty gardens,

156 on ax.

in the form of an amphitheatre, cut by tongues of laud, whence a number
of streams come gushing down, setting several mills in motion by the
way, the eye dwells with pleasure on the charming features of the scene.

But as soon as you land, and crossing the beach, you enter the quarter
of the Marine, which precedes the two others, the illusion ceases, and you
experience a feeling of disappointment, not uncommon on entering African
towns. After having crossed this quarter, you reach, at length, the gate
of the town itself, for the Marine quarter is only a kind of European appen-
dix to Oran. The first thing that meets your eye at the gate is the pretty
minaret, giving one of the most favourable specimens of Moorish architecture
in the town, these being but very few in number. (See Cut, p. 149.)

Standing in front of the gates, you have the old town to the right.
When seen close at hand, the whole deformity of this mass of crumbled
buildings is exposed to view; their ugliness being increased by the loss
of the usual coat of plaster that gives some degree of decoration to the
commonest structure in Africa. To the left of the elegant minaret of the
great mosque you see the Casbah. This castle extends above a lofty and
solid rampart raised by the Spaniards, the only modern people whose
massive erections call to mind the time-defying structures of the Romans.

The great artery of the town is called the Rue Philippe, adorned with
sturdy and luxuriant trees, which give it at first the appearance of one
of the boulevards of Paris. But on a more minute inspection of the
houses bordering this avenue, and of the population circulating in the
artery under this canopy of verdure, the traveller soon discovers that he
is in Africa. The low houses surmounted with terraces, the white walls,
and especially the men, of lofty stature, with bronzed features set off in
a characteristic relief by the capuchon or hood of their black bournous
or cloaks, some of them pacing along with Mussulman gravity, whilst
others, gathered up near the shop of some Moor, preserve such an im-
movable attitude that you might take them to be the signs of the shops ; —
all these features stamp a special character ou the locality, and very quickly
dissipate all idea of analogy to European cities.

The Rue Philippe abuts in the square, and thence it continues, under
the name of Rue Napoleon, to the south gate. This artery traverses the
whole town, and constitutes the principal feature of the place; for the
whole trade and circulation of Oran is centered there ; and if the pedes-
trian ventures into the side streets, he finds the bustle diminish in pro-
portion as be leaves the main street, and at their upper extremity he
encounters only ruins and solitude.

The reader must not imagine that the Colosseum of Hassan Pasha,
represented in the adjoining cat, is an old Roman ruin, as its name, ap-
plied by Europeans, would seem to imply. The building, now converted
into barracks, was built by Hassan, the last hey of the western province,
to accommodate his harem. Its general character is bold and elegant,

pi!
O

o
o

1IIBH

ORAN. 1.j7

and it is a matter of regret that it has not been employed for a more con-
genial purpose.

We have already described a Moorish house ; and as this only differs
from others in being larger, we shall not enumerate its compartments ;
and we shall take a future opportunity to speak of an interesting phase
of Eastern life, we mean the institution of harems.

The following description of the entrance to the port of Oran is from
the graceful pencil of Marshal Castellane :

" Entering the bay of Mers-el-Kebir at dawn, the traveller is greeted
with a magical spectacle. First appear the houses of Mers-el-Kebir, cling-
in 1 ;- to the walls of the old Spanish fortress ; next, the dismantled towers
of St. Michael and the line of mountains, which for the space of one league
borders the bay, separating the port from the town of Oran ; lastly, the
Fort of St. Gregory, proudly perched half-way up to the right, at the foot
of Santa Cruz, an eagle's nest built at the summit of an arid ridge, com-
manding the town and the country. Beneath the fire of the batteries of
St. Gregory, the houses of the town wind along the sides of the hill, and
stop at the walls of the Chateau Neuf, a vast structure raised, facing St.
Gregory, by the soldiers of Philip V. To the east, along the line of cliffs
that frown upon the ocean, the eye discovers the mosque, which has been
converted into the quarters of the Chasseurs d'Afrique, and was built by
their labour ten years ago ; farther on, along the shore facing Mers-el-
Kebir, rise the naked slopes of the mountain of the Lions, and, in the
horizon, the rocks of the Iron Cape (Cap de Fer). Not a shrub is to be
seen on the whole of these hills and mountains, though a little verdure
may be perceived at the entrance of the ravine of Oran, which is almost
concealed by the angle of the mountain of Santa Cruz. A neat village,
with its white houses, peeps out of the middle of gardens at the foot of
the mountain of the Lions, on the sea-shore ; and a slight haze often con-
trihutes in softening the harsh features and outline of the land, from which
the breeze wafts a sweet perfume over the sea.

"The distance from Mers-el-Kebir to Oran is a drive of an hour and a
half; and during the first years of the French occupation you were obliged
to follow a narrow and steep footpath, which led by the fort of St. Gregory,
and ascended 400 feet above the houses of Oran. Whenever your horse
or your mule stumbled, you ran the risk of being thrown down into the
sea. All these clangers are now removed. The soldiers of the garrison of
Oran laid down their muskets on returning from an expedition, and took
up the spade, which they wielded so efficiently under the directions of
engineer officers, that they cut in the side of the mountain a wide and con-
venient road, in which various descriptions of vehicles may now run with
ease and expedition between the town and the port."*

* Castellane, p. 295.

158 ORAN.

We are informed by Baron Baude that the Spaniards invaded and cap-
tured Oran in 1505, under Cardinal Ximenes; and that they lost it in
1708, at the time of the troubles occasioned by the war of the succession.
Their administration was clever, and they managed to subdue the Arabs
in a radius of 15 to 20 leagues (38 to 50 miles), destroying the ports of
Hone and Haresgot; whilst Tlemsen and Mostaganem paid them tribute
down to 1551, and the tribes of the Habra, of Canastel, of Agobel, and of
the Beni Amer, made common cause with them.*

On the 15th of June, 1730, the Count of Montemar, with 27,000 men,
landed again at Oran ; and they retained it with a nominal garrison of
3000 men, often reduced to half that number, till the earthquake of 1791.
General Damremont took the place in 1830, and the French were well
received by the natives ; but the Bey Hassan, califa of Sidi-Ahmed, a
chief of Tunis, to whom the province was yielded by General Clauzel,
alienated their minds, in consequence of which the French government
would not acknowledge his acts, and he resigned. Since then the pro-
vince has been under a French governor, who is almost independent and
absolute.-)* Lamoriciere filled the post many years with credit.

The surface of Oran, within the walls, is 75 hectares (187 acres); and
the population shews that there are 331 individuals per hectare (2|- acres).
At this rate, if it had the density of that of

Sedan .

. 181

per

hectare (2 - 47 acres), it would reach

. 13,575

Metz

. 241

>> a

. 18,075

Paris

. 264

;> >!

. 19,800

Bayonne

. 415

a >>

. 31,875

Toulon .

. 524

it a

. 39,300

In 1839 the French formed one-seventh of the total population; whilst the
Spaniards composed one-fourth, the Jews one-half, and the Mussulmans,
Avho before the French occupation were the dominant body, are losing
daily their relative importance.

In 1S33

The Europeans amounted to ... 1042

Mussulmans ,, .... 440

Israelites ,, .... 2372

Total 3854

in is::: i

The Europeans amounted to . . 4837

Mussulmans ,, .... 1003

Israelites ,, .... 3364

Total 9204

In December 1847 the European population amounted to 15,191, in Dec.

* Baron Baude, vol. ii. p. 137.

f Ibid. c. x. p. 115. Rozet, Voyage, vol hi. £ II id.

ORAN. 159

1848 to 15,324, .ind in Dec. 1849 to 17,281; the native population at the
latter date numbering 7564. Hence the total population of Oran in Dec.

1849 was 24,888.*

In the twelfth century, when the coasts of the kingdom of Tlemsen
and those of Andalusia were united under the sceptre of the caliphs, there
were found at Oran vast bazaars and flourishing manufactures, and its
port was full of Spanish ships, f In 1373 the Pisans formed great es-
tablishments in these seas by a treaty of commerce, whose precision and
equity could hardly be surpassed by the diplomatists of the present day.|

Oran stands in 35° 45' 57" N. hit., and 2° 40' 52" W. long, of
Paris ; 66 leagues (1G5 miles) west from Algiers. The harbour has from
four to six fathoms of water, and is defended from the north-west by the
point of Fort Mouna. The landing is situated between Fort Mouna and
the town. Foi-t Mers-el-Kebir advances like a mole into the sea ; and the
best anchorage is found in this place, as it is the most sheltered part of the
bay. The port of Mers-el-Kebir is about five miles by sea from Oran, and
the intermediary intercourse is carried on by boats called alleges (lighters),
owing to which circumstance it recpiires sometimes fourteen days to un-
load a vessel. §

According to Lieutenant Gamier, of the French navy, six line-of-battle
ships, six frigates, and fifty smaller craft, can anchor at Mers-el-Kebir, if
some of them employ four anchors. || The trade of Oran is still con-
siderable, consisting of grain, cattle, leather, &c; and there are also
manufactures of burnouses at this town. The street of St. Philippe joins
the two parts of the city, which is built on very diversified grounds, and
possesses six gates. Shortly after the French took Oran, redoubts and
blockhouses were constructed around it, and the garrison was raised
to 4350 men. In 1837, a military colony of Spahis (native cavalry) was
established at Messerguin, near Oran ; and the forts of St. Andre and St.
Philippe have been re-established by the French. ^j

The land surrounding Oran consists chiefly of pastures, but to the east
some arable land occurs.

We shall now lay before the reader the latest improvements effected at
Oran, consulting the French official documents for our facts.

The basin of refuge of Oran, undertaken in 1849, intended to contain
4 hectares (10 acres), is destined for the reception of ships bound to Oran,
but which are almost always obliged to moor at Mers-el-Kebir. The docks

* Tableau de la Situation, pp. 96, 113.

t Marmol's Africa, b. v. Edrisi, p. 230.

Z This painfully interesting specimen of unhappy Italy's palmier days under the sun of
liberty exists in mss. in the archives of Pisa. "Mantissa veterum diplomatum populi
Pisani a nobili viro Navaretti rccollectorum qua; apud equitem J. Sehippisiuru diligentcr
asservantur."

§ Rozet, vol. iii. p. 274. II Tableau de la Situation, 1839.

^] Baron Baude, vol. ii.

100 OR AX.

had been established in 1850. Thirty metres (98-40 feet) of jetty, aud
150 metres (492 feet) of quays, built in 1847-48; occasioned an expense
of 388,000 fr. (15,520/.) ; and the quays and dry dock at Mers-el-Kebir
cost 248,000 fr. (9960/.) From 1833 to 1849, 3000 metres (9840 feet)
of principal streets, and 1100 metres (3608 feet) of branch streets, have
been opened, costing 280,000 fr. (11,200/.) ; eight squares have been cleared
and planted with 150 trees, besides a promenade planted with trees.

The aqueduct of Ras-el-Ain has been made (1841-42) 3100 metres
(10,168 feet) in length, supplying 4,500,000 litres (99,000 imperial gal-
ons) daily, and costing 70,000 fr. (2800/) ; and the aqueduct of the Ravin
Blanc, 1300 metres (4264 feet) in length, supplying 350,000 litres (77,000
gallons) daily, and costing 25,00 ) fr. (1000/.), was finished in 1845. Three
water-conduits have also been built, — one at Oran, the second on the road
to, and thethird at Mers-el-Kebir, —at a cost of 244,000 fr. (9,760/.) : the
second is 900, the third 5000 metres long (16,400 feet). 410 metres
(1344-8 feet) of sewers have been opened in the ravine of Ras-el-Ain
(1844-48), at an expense of 114,000 fr. (4560/.); and 700 metres of
other sewers (2296 feet) in the streets of Oran were finished between
1837-39, for 30,000 fr. (1200/.) Oran possesses a palace of justice, built
in 1837 for 10,500 fr. (420/.); and a civil prison, built in 1841-42 for
13,000 fr. (520/.); a school-house, costing 37,000 fr. (1480/.); and two
churches, costing 149,997 fr. (5999/. 18s. Id.), of which that of St. Louis
was finished in 1850, holding 1200 worshippers; two cemeteries, es-
tablished in 1841-43, cost 19,000 fr. (760/.); and a douane in 1845,
181,157 fr. 53 cents. (7246/. 6s. 3d.) A hospice des femmes was erected
in 1847-48 for 7300 fr. (292/.); and a caravanserai, afterwards turned
into a hospital, was built at the same date for 163,270 fr. 56 cents.
(6530/. 17s. Id.).

As regards the fortifications of Oran, between 1832 and 1849 the de-
fences of the coast cost 417,510 fr. 23 cents. (16,700/. 8s. 6c?.) ; and the
land-defences cost 1,083,000 fr. (43,320/.) The chief works consist in
repairing and improving the town-wall and the detached forts ; in re-
pairing the sea-face of the fort of Mers-el-Kebir; in beginning the coast
batteries, save that of the Spanish jetty now in progress; in making
cavalry and artillery quarters, barracks at the Chateau Neuf, the old
Casbah and the Colisee, magazine-, hospitals, etc.*

We have now completed our survey of Oran, and shall take a ride
along the coast to Mostaganem, in company with Count St. Marie and the
former excellent Bishop of Algiers, M. Dupuch.

"After breakfast they mounted their horses, the bishop wearing a
violet-coloured robe with a gold cross on his bosom, and a three-cornered
hat with two gold tassels. Over his robe he had thrown a white burnouse,

* Tableau, p. 3S7 (1S4C-50).

ARZEU. 1G1

which was merely fixed round his neck • hut the two vicars who accom-
panied him were in hlack ; and they had two men besides, as escort and
guides. They took the road to Arzeu, ten leagues (25 miles) from Oram,
crossing a plain intersected hy difficult ravines ; the soil presenting a mix-
ture of clay and sand, whose fertility was ohvious from the healthiness and
vigour of the vegetation, growing in patches. They observed some thistles
and other plants six feet high ; but the country looks uncultivated and
desolate, and some fine olive-trees which they passed still bore traces of
bivouac-fires.

Advancing, they passed through a village whose Arab name is Kergu-
enta, containing the ruins of a monument called the Medersa, consh-ucted
by the first bey who occupied Oran after the Spaniards retired. Within
the building was a small mosque, containing two beautiful tombs of white
marble. This mosque was surrounded by pillars, and surmounted by a
dome, open at top ; in the centre was a large palm, which reared its
stately head above the ruins, and overshadowed them with its massive
foliage. After passing through the village they saw the ruins of an aque-
duct, almost hid beneath thick acanthus-plants, with water issuing from
the midst of the ruins. They came soon again into the plain, where all
vegetation, save dwarf palms, became more and more rare as they ad-
vanced ; and at 4 p.m. they arrived at Arzeu, where they were obliged to
go to a miserable hotel by the sea. St. Marie and Baron Baude, as usual,
agree in pronouncing the little port much better sheltered than that of
Mers-el-Kebir, and the surrounding locality has been prepared by nature
for commerce and shipping. The water is unfortunately only deep enough
for third-class vessels; and the indolence of the natives has left an evidence
of the great quantity of corn once exported, at the time when the Spa-
niards forbade the natives to traffic in the port of Oran. The vessels which
came to Arzeu for cargoes of grain threw their ballast into the sea, which
has left an accumulation that obstructs the anchorage nearest the coast."*

The town is commanded by a fort guarded by veterans ; and a little
islet situated in front of the poi-t serves as a jetty, at the end of which a
large lantern used to be fixed up (1845) as a lighthouse. Very extensive
ruins, and numerous Boman medals scattered about the plain at Arzeu,
shew it to have been the site of an important city, and have occasioned
some archaeological discussion. The Spaniards built at this place vast
magazines for barley, wheat, and salt, besides a quay of freestone; but
after the abandonment of the province, it fell once more into the posses-
sion of the Arabs, who have suffered the buildings to decay, and ruined the
port.t

* Captain Despointes, in his survey of the bay, states precisely the same fact.

+ St. Marie treads on the heels of Baron Baude in his description of Arzeu. Captain
Despointes' survey of the bay (1S33-4), published in the Appendix of Baron Baude's
Alge"rie, contains the same expressions as those employed by the Count. Thus the Captain

162 GULF OF ARZEU.

The country around is rich in salt-mines; the salt they yield being
better than that obtained in Spain and Portugal, and only requiring that
kind of labour for -which the Arabs are adapted, namely, that of collecting
and transporting. Arzeu was once the port of the kingdom of Tlemsen,
which comprised all the valleys of the Shellif.

Next day they left for Mostaganem, which is about fifteen miles dis-
tant. It is wonderful that in this undisturbed district the French had not
constructed good lines of road in 1845, communicating between Mosta-
ganem, Mazagran, Arzeu, and Oran. Yet the works would be easy and
highly advantageous to those towns. The Arabs in this part of the
country are industrious, and the women of Mostaganem make the most
approved haicks and burnouses. A Spanish merchant, M. Canapa, has
established a house of business at Mostaganem, which appeared likely to
answer.

The importance of the port of Arzeu, the .largest on the coast of Al-
geria, induces us to extract a description of its hydrography by Captain
Despointes, who was stationed there in the corvette Alcyone from May
1833 to March 1834:

" Between Cape Ferrat and Cape Yvi you see a great inlet, to which
the name of Gulf of Arzeu has been given. Almost all along the shore
which forms this coast you find anchorage, in general open and offering
little security in winter ; one alone appearing to me to unite all that con-
stitutes an excellent shelter ; it is that which is named Arzeu.

During the winter that the Alcyone passed in these roads, it was ob-
served that in strong gales, those blowing from the sea or north and north-
east did not enter much into the bay ; only the swell became very high,
and gave a rise of almost five feet, so much the more inconvenient because
the broken sea occasioned by this swell often lays the ship on its broad-
side. The bottom, consisting of white sand mixed with plants, only di-
minishes insensibly in depth, which renders the holding ground excellent.

Save in storms, the prevailing winds come from the eastward, passing
by the north to the west ; those that blow most violently come from the
north-west arid west. The sea is almost calm during the prevalence of
land-winds ; and, however strong the land or sea winds may have been,
during a six months' stay the Alcyone was always able to communicate
with the shore, and a merchant-ship would never have been obliged to
interrupt its loading.

A stone quay was formerly carried out at Arzeu for a considerable

ays: " The numerous ruins, &c. on shore prove thai formerly a considerable city occu-
pied tlii.s sput Sumo I'miimn medals found at a slight depth, \c . . . Tin Spaniards

I 1 built at Arzeu vast warehouses, sheltered by their solidity from the attacks of the
Arabs. These warehouses were destined to house wheat, barley, and salt. It a])pears
proved thai the Spaniards not only carried on in that country the corn-trade, but that
of feathers, of carpets, ko. ; and caravans even came there." It is almost too delightful
,;il witnesses agree so closely. St. Marie, p. 186; Baude, App,

ARZEU. 1G3

distance seaward, and must have allowed ships to come in themselves and
take up their cargoes. The old warehouses arc still in good condition ;
but the quay would require many repairs.

To give the port its ancient depth, and permit even large ships to
anchor further in, sheltered from all winds, several dredging machines,
etc. would be required, and very great care on the part of the officer com-
manding the station.

The Roman road that led to Mascara abutted near the port.
Continuing to follow the coast, at the distance of four miles, and
almost S.S.E. of the point of Arzeu, on the height you see an Arab vil-
lage, improperly called the village of Arzeu. The neighbouring country
is very well cultivated, and shews a good vegetation ; and the village con-
tains many Roman remains. Ships wishing to take in their cargoes to
the village must come and anchor at a cable's length from the coast, with
a depth of seven fathoms ; and their communication with the shore would
be often interrupted by the swell.

From this point to the bay of the Macta, which takes its name from
the river that falls into it, you reckon three miles from west to east, and
some degrees south. You may cast anchor all along this coast in sixteen
fathoms ; still, though the bottom is good, consisting of mud and sand, it
would not be prudent to trust it except in the fine season.

At the east of the point that forms the cove of the Macta, the an-
chorage is better, from the nature of the bottom, which is soft mud.
Large vessels cannot enter inside the point ; they anchor in nine or ten
fathoms, and are exposed to the N.W. and N.N. W. winds, which sweep
the coast and give rise to a very heavy swell. Boats and small craft can
find easy shelter in some species of basins, the works of man, and which
probably served formerly as receptacles for the galleys. It would he very
easy to fortify the cape, which forms almost an island near the dry land ;
but the river which is found at the bottom of this cove is barred at its
mouth.

The whole of this part of the gulf presents charming views.

Behind the bar, and for a mile up the river, you find four metres
(13-12 feet) of water ; and it would be easy to make this river accessible
for barges of thirty or forty tons.* The whole shore of this bay is
also scattered with vestiges of Roman edifices, including a very perfect
temple.

Leaving the Macta, you proceed along the east coast; and after having
taken cognisance of the village of Mazagraii, inhabited by Arabs, and only
defended by low walls, you see Mostaganem, a rather considerable town,
surrouuded with walls and provided with a casbah. The least bad an-

See the Reconnoissance hydrographi'iue de M. Garuior, lieutenant de vaisseau.

1G4 MOSTAGANEM.

chorage (for none are good) off this place is at six cable-lengths from the
shore, in twelve or fourteen fathom, muddy bottom. You open the citadel
then, to the east, 40° south. In these moorings you are exposed to the
N.N.W. winds, circling round to the west, which reign rather frequently
on this coast during the winter. Save in this locality, the bottom is
every where scattered with rocks, rendering chain-cables indispensable.
The N.N.E. and E. winds that come down in squalls from the moun-
tains need not occasion any anxiety ; they can, however, be felt in the
bay, and enable ships to make out to sea. In winter it is especially
necessary to guard against the N.N. W. and N. winds ; and it is prudent
to set sail when the swell rises from this side, and the weather seems
uncertain. When once the breeze has begun, it soon freshens, and you
would be overtaken by bad weather at your moorings. The communica-
tion with the land is bad enough, on account of the almost continual swell
that exists on this shore ; and the Moorish boats that come from Oran
to seek for vegetables and poultry, and other slight goods, are forced to
draw up on land ; accordingly, they often come and anchor at Arzeu, to
wait for the wind permitting them to make this manoeuvre."

M. Despointes did not examine the coast of the bay beyond Mos-
taganem ; but M. Jules Tessier, commissary of the king in that town, has
signalised at three miles to the eastward, a creek surrounded by rocks,
where, according to him, you might, with an expense of 100 fr. (4^.), pro-
cure an excellent shelter for small trading vessels.*

M. Lamping, who was quartered at Mostaganem in 1841 with the
Foreign Legion, states that it contained at that time from 4000 to 5000
inhabitants, consisting of Arabs, Spaniards, and Jews, besides the French
regiment in garrison there. The town must have been formerly much
larger, as is shewn by the number of ruins scattered without the walls ;
but with the exception of a few mosques, there is no building of any impor-
tance. The former citadel, called the Casbah, was then in ruins, and only
garrisoned by some fifty or sixty pairs of storks, who have founded a
colony on the extensive walls.

Almost as much Spanish is spoken there as French or Arabic; nearly
all the natives speaking a corrupt Spanish, a kind of lingua franca. The
younger generation, however, i. e. boys from ten to fourteen, converse in
French with tolerable fluency, but somewhat marred by their deep guttural
tone. The ease with which the settled Arabs and Bedouins continue to imi-
tate whatever they have but once seen or heard is very remarkable. The
district south of Mostaganem may be called the home of the Bedouins, — if,
indeed, these wanderers have a home. There the richest and most pow-
erful tribes fix their tents, sow and reap their corn, and feed their flocks ;

* Sec Baron Baudc, vol. iii. Appendix.

MOSTAGANEM. 165

purposes for which the country is well adapted. The large plains between
Mostaganem, Mascara, and Oran, and the fertile valleys of the Shellif* and
Mina, afford these nomades excellent pastures for their numerous herds,
and an unlimited room for their horses and camels. During the whole
winter, and till the month of June, which is their harvest-time, the Be-
douins camp in these places; but when the heat has burnt up whatever
pasture was left, they retreat into the valleys and defiles of the Atlas,
where food of some sort, though scanty, is still to be found for their
flocks and herds.

In October, a few days are sufficient, after the parching heat of summer,
to call into existence, as it were by magic, the most luxuriant vegetation :
the richest verdure has sprung up beneath the withered grass, the leaves
of the trees have lost their sickly, yellow hue, the buds have begun to
burst, and the birds to sing their vernal songs; in short, this is the African
spring. The burst of vegetation was the strongest in the vale of Matamor,
which divides the fort of that name from the town, and which is watered
by a stream. Every inch of ground there is turned to the profit of man.
Magnificent fruit-trees, pomegranates, figs, and oranges, and the most
various vegetables, cover the ground; and Spaniards, Arabs, Jews, and
French are diligently employed in cultivating the fruitful soil.t

Baron Baude supplies us with the following important statistical and
general facts relating to Mostaganem. At the end of 1839 the popula-
tion of Mostaganem consisted of 1428 Mussulmans, 406 Jews, and 282
Christians. The Mussulmans are very industrious, and their women work
hard, manufacturing haicks, burnouses, and all sorts of clothing. The
markets of the town are greatly frequented, especially since the merchants
PuggimondOj Bigarelas, and Canapa, a Jew from Gibi'altar, have established
themselves there to export grain to Spain. The Koulouglis,^ who are those
amongst the natives that are most inclined to make common cause with
the French, were the particular objects 6f Abd-el-Kader's animadversion.
Those of Mazouna and El Callah having shewn their inclination to place
themselves under the protection of the French, the Emir caused their
dwellings to be sacked, and part of the inhabitants to be carried off to
people his new town of Tagadempt, The Koulouglis formed the chief

* Lieutenant de France describes bis visit to the plain of the Shellif in these terms :
" On the 234 August, at five A.M., we again left Kaala, and marched northwards ; and after
a march of seven hours, we encamped on the very edge of the plain of Mostaganem, near
the river Shellif. Our camp stood in a grove of ilexes and gum-trees, on the top of a
mountain commanding the plain ; just such a spot as was selected by knights of old to
build their castles on, for the better convenience of robbing travellers, &c ... I am too
poor a hand at my pen to attempt a description of the beautiful and fertile plain which
lay at our feet, covered with crops of various kinds, fruit-trees, herds, flocks, and tents."
P* 120.

t The Foreign Legion, p. 87.

I Offspring of Turkish Janissaries and Moorish women.

1G6 MOSTAGANEM.

part of the Mussulman battalion kept by the French at Fort Matamor in
1841. Many Arab tribes find an opening for their produce at Mosta-
ganem. First come the Achems and the Aribs : the latter liviug near the
Shellif, have flocks yielding fine wool, oxen and horses of a large size;
the Achems, whose territory is adjacent on the south to that of Mos-
taganem. have likewise an extensive cultivated district.

Turning to our friend M. de Castellane, we find that " an Arab tale
relates that two children were once playing during the Ehamadan (fast)
on the banks of a stream that flowed on to the sea after running a league.
In the midst of their play, the youngest, gathering a reed, carried it to
his mouth ; and after giving it to his companion, said, ' Muce-kranem'
(suck the sweet piece of cane)."* Hammud-el-Alid, the powerful chief of
the tribe of Mehal, was at that moment debouching on the hills, and heard
the words of the children. Wishing to found a town on that spot, Ham-
mud had been puzzled as to what name he should give it ; the two
children freed him from his difficulty, for he called his city (in A.D. 1300)
by this name, according to the legend. However widely spread this
legend may be, the warrior has left more durable traces of his doings.
The fort of Mehal still exists ; and the works executed by the care of his
three daughters have made his memory dear to all the inhabitants : for
they owe aqueducts to the beautiful Seffouana ; their gardens to Melloula
the graceful ; whilst Mansoura, a woman of great piety, drew down the
blessing of Heaven on the town by building a mosque that became her
tomb. It is no doubt to her prayers that Mostaganem owes its prosperity,
which it always enjoyed, even under the Christians. A ravine watered
by a stream separates the town from a little hill called Matamore ; the
numerous silos (underground granaries) that the Turks had dug in it,
enclosed by a wall with loopholes, having given it its name.

The principal military establishments occupy the crest of this hill,
whence you discover a magnificent view. At your feet the town, its
houses, its gardens ; in front the sea, with its mighty surges, incessantly
moved by the west winds ; on the right, at a league's distance, high
mountains ; towards the left the eye follows the woody slopes of the hills
that fringe the sea in the vast bay of the Macta, that rise up to the point
of the Cap de Fer, and shoot up the naked ribs of their grey rocks to the
blue sky ; whilst at a distance, in the mist, the eye distinguishes the moun-
tain of the Lions (Oran). The horizon is immense, yet the eye discovers,
without difficulty, all its details ; but if the air is humid, if no air agitates
it, as often happens when dirty weather is at hand, by- a singular optical
effect, distances become nearer; and it would appear that a few strokes
of the oar would sutliee to bring you to the harbour of Arzcu, which you

* Compare this account of the origin of the name with that given by Blofuld, p. 150,
i. e. ' sweet mutton/ ct puis rcvenons a nos moutons.

MOSTAGANEM. 107

perceive, with its white houses, on the opposite shore, at a league from the
cape. Four thousand natives, colonists from all countries, and a numerous
garrison, live together in a friendly way at Mostaganem, passing every-
day without cares or grief. The Mussulman says, " it was written ;" the
Christian, " never mind;" and the result is the same, for they know that
the French commandant watches over all.*

* Souvenirs, p. 347. The Talleau gives Mostaganem 1300 metres (4264 feet) of street,
and 1700 of water-conduits, supplying 700,000 litres (154,000 gallons) per day: the town
is surrounded with an embattled wall, 10 to 13 feet high, 10,640 feet in circumference, and
flanked with towers; the coast-battery has 5 guns, and the powder-magazine contains
55,000 lbs. Pp. 344, 354, 387.

CHAPTER X.
$robmcc of (©ran. interior.

OUTLINE TLEMSEN MASCARA TAGADEMPT — MAZOUNAH — A TOUR THROUGH

THE PROVINCE ST. DENIS MASCARA SIDI BEL ABBESS TLEMSEN

NEMOURS THE FAR SOUTH TIARET.

Let us now proceed with a broad survey of the interior of the pro-
vince of Oran, after which we will analyse it more minutely.

Returning eastward from the river Twunt, and five leagues (\2\ miles)
south of the mouth of the Tafna, is Tlemsen (according to Arabic pro-
nunciation, Telemsen or Tlemsan), almost surrounded with trees, and
situated upon a rising ground, beneath a range of rocky precipices, the
Sa-rhatain of Edrisi. These are part of the Middle Atlas chain ; and upon
their first ridge (for there is a much higher one to the south) is a large
strip of level ground, from which a great number of fountains gush forth.
These, after uniting gradually into small brooks, and turning some mills,
fall in a variety of cascades as they approach Tlemsen, which they supply
with an abundance of water.

In the western part of the city there is a large squai-e basin, of
Moorish construction, 200 yards long and 100 broad. The inhabitants
have a tradition that formerly the kings of Tlemsen entertained them-
selves upon this water, whilst their subjects were here taught the art of
rowing and navigation. But the water of the Sacratain, as Leo informs
us, being easily turned from its ordinary course, this basin may have
been employed as a reservoir in case of siege, being used at all other
times to supply the beautiful gardens and plantations situated beneath it.
Edrisi notices a structure of this kind, into which the fountain of Om-Yahia
discharged itself. Most of the walls of Tlemsen have been moulded in
frames; a method of building, according to Pliny, used by the Africans
and Spaniards in his time. The mortar is composed of sand, lime, and
gravel, well tempered and mixed, and as solid as stone. The several
stages and removes of these frames are still observable, some of which
are !<)() yards long and two in height and thickness, by which the im-
mense quantity used at one time may be seen. About 1G70, Hassan, dey
of Algiers, laid most of this city in ruins to punish its rebellious character,
and only about one-sixth of old Tlemsen now remains. When entire it

TLEMSEN. 1G9

might be about four miles in circuit. Tlemsen contains many vestiges
of ancient times ; and its houses are like the others in the province, low
and mean in appearance, forming a great contrast to the ruins. It con-
tains a fort capable of holding 5000 soldiers, with walls 40 feet high,
circular in shape, like most Moorish forts in the inside. The population
of Tlemsen was reduced in 1843 to about 20,000 souls, of which 1000
were Israelites. A few yeai's ago a cannon-foundry was established there
by Abd-el-Kader.

At the distance of half a mile from the present city is an immense
enclosure, with Avails surrounding it, and the remains of a half tower,
about 60 feet high by 20 square. Half a league farther on towards the
Tafna exists half of a similar tower ; and the Arab legend relates that
these two halves once formed one, but that agreeing in a separation, the
latter one fine morning walked away from its better half; but some say
that being built by an Arab and a Jew, they quarrelled about their claims,
and the Jew's half took wing one night and perched on its present site.

On the banks of the Isser, the east branch of the Tafna, are the baths
of Sidi-Ebly ; and after you have passed them commence the rich plains
of Zeidoure, which extend through a beautiful Interchange of hills and
valleys to the banks of the Ouad-el-Mailah, for a distance of thirty
miles. About the centre of them is the Shurph-el-Graab, or " pinnacle
of the ravens," a high pointed precipice, with a branch of the Sinan run-
ning by it. The Ouled-Halfa and Zeir are the principal Arab tribes in
this neighbourhood.

Six leagues south of the Sinan is Djebel Karkar, a high range of rocky
mountains bending to the south ; and beyond them are the mountains of
the Beni-Smeal, with the Arab tribe of Harars living a short distance
south of them in the Sahara. Bevond these as;ain, and at the distance of
five days' journey to the S.S.W., are the villages of Figig, renowned for
their plantations of palm-trees, and whence the western parts of the pro-
vince are supplied with figs. Beyond the river Mailah, as far as Oran,
is the Shilka, as they call a very extensive plain of sandy, saltish ground,
which is dry yi summer, but covered with water in winter. The Am-
meers have their encampments in this neighbourhood ; a tribe which, from
its intercourse with the Spaniards when the latter held Oran, have adopted
some of their manners, To the south of the Shilka are the mountains of
Soi if- el -Tell and TafFarowy, which form a part of the Atlas chain ; the
extensive ruins of Arbaal lie on one side of them, and those of Tessailah
on the other. The latter, which, from their name, may be the remains of
the ancient Astacitus, are situated on some of the most fertile plains of
the country, cultivated by the Ouled-Ali, the enemies of the Ouled-Zeir
and Haifa.

Crossing afterwards, almost in the same parallel, the rivers Makerra
and Hamaite, both of which fall into the Sig, we come to Mascara, a col-

170 MASCAHA.

lection of mud-walled houses, built in the midst of extensive plains, ten
leagues (25 miles) from Mostaganem, with a small fort to defend it from
the neighbouring Arabs. The Hachems, who are the Bedouins of this
part of the country, are called joivaite, or gentlemen ; before, the French
conquest they were exempt from taxes, and served only as volunteers
when required by the government of Algiers. Mascara is built on some
table-land, between two small hills, commanding a view of the immense
plain running north-east and south-west for several leagues. Its popula-
tion in 1843 consisted of about 15,000 persons, including 500 or GOO
Jews.* Five leagues north-east of Mascara is El-Callah, the largest market
of this country for carpets and burnouses, and which, though much larger
than Mascara, is a dirty, ill-built town, without drains, pavement, or
causeways, being built, as the name implies, upon an eminence among
other mountains. Several villages are scattered around it, all of them pro-
fitably engaged in the same sort of manufacture. El-Callah possesses a
citadel in which the Turks kept a garrison ; and from the large stone and
marble fragments found there, it may have been a Roman city, perhaps
the Gitlui or Apfar of Ptolemy. Some leagues farther is the river Mina,t
which falls into the Shellif at El-Had, near the plain of El-Mildegah, where
the Swidde have their principal place of abode. El-Had may mean a
mountain, by way of eminence, such as those of the Benizer-ouall deserve
^o be called, forming a ridge which runs here parallel with the Shellif.
This part of the Atlas is famous for the quantity and delicacy of its figs,
resembling those that the elder Cato praised when he threw them down in
'he senate, saying, " The country where this fine fruit grows is only three
days' voyage from Rome ;" and history adds, that from that day he never
concluded a speech without introducing the words, " mihi quoque videtur
Oarthaginem delendam esse." Sidi-Abid, a noted sanctuary, is situated
.'our leagues farther, near the influx of the Arheu into the Shellif. On
*he opposite bank of the latter stream is Mazounah or Mezounah, a dirty,
mud built village, that contains no traces of the fine temples mentioned
by Dapper and Marmol. It is, however, as remarkable for its woollen
manufactures as Mascara and El-Callah, and it stands in a beautiful situa-
tion, under the side of the Little Atlas. The Ouled-Solyma are the
neighbouring Bedouins.

Almost under the same meridian as Mazounah, and at the distance of

* Blofcld, p. 83 et seq. Mascara has 3,960 metres (13,018 feet) of street, and two squares.
Tableau, pp. 345, 354.

t Lieutenant do France describes the country traversed by the Oued Mina in the fol-
lowing terms: " Soon after midday we saw the village of El-Bordj, but we made a detour
to avoid it , ns it was market-day. Towards night, after travelling over various hills, many
rocks, and much brushwood, through a savage and uncultivated country, we reached a
little village at a few leagues from the falls of the Oued-Mina, The situation of this village,
at the foot of a mountain, near several streams, is delicious; rhododendrons, poplars,
almond, fig, peach, and apricot trees, cover the whole plain; and the gardens aro kept
hand 1,'recn by a plentiful supply of water." F. 105.

THE GREAT PLAIN OP BONA. 171

eighteen leagues (4-"» miles), is Tagadcmpt, consisting of the extensive
ruins of one of the oldest cities in Africa, which was governed by the an-
cestors of Abd-efe-Kader, who tried to restore it, and made it for some
time the capital of his dominions. In 1841 it contained 5000 inhabitants,
including 200 or 300 Jews ; one straight street, thirty feet wide, built in
the European style ; with two cafes, and also a manufacture for guns,
which was able to make eight per day. On the advance of the French
he destroyed the town, and forced all the inhabitants to desert it; and
lions are now the principal inhabitants in this vicinity.

Returning to the Shellif, four leagues (10 miles) from Sidi-Abid, is
Memunturroy, a large, old, square tower, being probably a Roman monu-
ment, and so called by the Ouled-Spahi, who live near it. Five miles
farther from the banks of the Shellif are the ruins of Memon and Sinaab,
two contiguous cities, the latter about three miles in circumference, and
much the larger of the two ; but nothing now remains of either of them,
save some lar^e fragments of wall and some lanje cisterns.

The most important French post in this part of the province is Tiaret,
a little south of the Ouanseris district, in the province of Algiers.

To fill up our picture of this province, we have still to notice a few
remarkable features in its eastern part, and especially the great plain of
Mina. Starting from Touiza,* the valley widens to the last hills which
sink down gradually at the distance of two leagues into the great plain
of the Mina. This plain takes its name from a river which has its source
on the high plateaux of the Serssous, crosses the country of the Sdamas,
borders the Flittas district, and debouches at the south-west of this great
plain ; flowing in an almost straight line for the space of three leagues
and a half (71 miles), till it reaches the mountain of Bel-Assel. Then taking
an oblique direction, it follows for three leagues (7^ miles) this new course,
till it falls into the Shellif, which comes from the opposite quarter, i. e. the
east; and the united waters fall into the sea at the distance of fifteen leagues
(38 miles) from the confluence. Not a tree or any kind of shelter is to
be found in this immense plain ; here and there are scattered a few bushes
of wild Barbary figs (jujubiers), slight undulations in the soil, and a salt
lake. This dismal stretch of land has a framework of naked and misty
hills ; several parts of the plain deeply channelled by the rains are im-
practicable in winter. The Mina itself flows in a chasm twenty-five feet
deep, that has been hollowed out by the winter floods. The fertility of
this part of the plain, which is called the Lower Mina, is proverbial. The

* " Scarcely have you left the plain of Mina," says Castellane, " before you enter the
valley of Touiza. This valley precedes the mountains of the Flittas, parallel to the sea
and to the east, forming a large basin amongst these mountains, covered with lentisks,
with here and there clearances sown with corn. To the south, and facing Touiza, is the
defile of Tifour ; to the west, two leagues off, opens the passage of Zamora ; to the east,
in this natural basin, winds a road leading to the Oued Melah, in the direction of Guer-
boussa. This road abuts at the kharnis or magazine-post of Beni Ouragh." P. 226.

172 A TOUR THROUGH THE PROVINCE.

soil, formed in part of alluvial earth, can be partially irrigated, thanks to
the embankments that the Turks erected at Relizann, and which the
French have restored. Some day this African Bceotia will be covered
with fine cultivation; but in 18-td it resounded with the dropping shots
of the Arabs.*

" At length," says Castellane, " in December 184G, the order was given
to prepare for departure ; but it was not for a very perilous expedition.
The general treated us something like children to whom you give a little
plaything to engage their attention ; he was going to take us a peaceful
trip through the districts, where we were only to meet friendly Arabs con-
gregated to salute the head of the province. Our little troop had soon
finished all preparations for departure. By an invitation from the general,
a companion joined us in the shape of a M. de Laussat, concessionary of
the fine property of Akbeil, ten leagues from Oran. We all loved his
merry yet serious mind, and his benevolence full of delicacy ; we there-
fore shook him cordially by the hand, when, punctuality itself, he arrived
at 8 a.m. in the court of the Chateau Neuf. He was mounted on a bay
horse, the only one that could be procured in haste ; but its transparent
skin, and its thinness savouring of famine, caused the poor beast to be
christened Apocalypse from the outset, amidst shouts of laughter. Not-
withstanding the bad weather, the reader will perceive that blue devils
were not our portion when we took the road to Mascara.

" At the moment of our departure, a violent west wind was sweeping
the clouds before it; and so soon as we had cleared the first league, nothing
met our eyes in the long distance but naked land, extending from Fort
Sainte-Croix, and the arid ridges which terminate to the west of Miser-
ghin, as far as the great salt lake, which we left to the right, and to the
mountains of Tessalh, rearing themselves up in front of us in a line
parallel with the sea. All was bare and leafless, for from the Basin of
Oran the olive-forest of Muley-Ismael cannot be seen. To the eastward,
near the sea, we saw mountains, hills, and these large stretches of country,
— every where desolation. Still as we advanced, the tents of the tribe of
Douairs seemed to thicken; and we shortly entered the fertile plain of Melata,
where the Arab husbandmen were tracing shallow furrows with a plough
similar to that which we see in the drawings of the first ages of Rome."

Proceeding they found an auberge (or countiy inn), built of boards,
and a petit verre d 'eau-de-vie (glass of brandy) to dispel the damp, on the
desert hanks of the Tlelat, where the industrious Martin, Lamoriciere's
well-known maitre d'hotel, was ahle to get up a kind of cross between
French and Arab cookery. "Whilst we were breakfasting, the rain was
n -olved to share in the banquet and we were ohliged to mount our
horses, the hoods of our cabans (light woollen greatcoat*) drawn over our

* Souvenirs, p. 219.

TILLAGE OF SIG. 173

faces to ward off those sheets of water that fall in all their glory in Africa.
Happily the road crossed the forest of Muley-Ismael, and the stony ground
resisted the hoofs of our steeds, joyful at having at last quitted the slimy
and muddy soil of the Melata plain. In time of war crossiug the wood
is dangerous, and many engagements have taken place there. A little to
the right we passed the mound where Colonel Oudinot, of the 2d Chasseurs,
was killed in 1835 in a brilliant charge at the head of his regiment.
Near the water-trough which General Lamoriciere had established in the
middle of the wood, in order to quench the thirst of the columns on their
Tray, an old wild olive-tree is pointed out, covered with little hits of cloth,
and piled round with stones. It is the tree under which the Cherif of
Morocco, Muley-Ismael, stopped, when, 140 years ago, at the head of a
numerous cavalry (of which the Douairs and Abids formed a part), he
advanced to attempt the conquest of the country. This forest has taken
its name from his defeat. Every woman whose husband is at the wars,
faithful to the popular belief, throws a stone in passing at the foot of the
olive, and attaches to it a bit of her clothing to preserve him from evil.
At three o'clock p.m. we crossed the wooden bridge, and the drummer of
the station saluted the entrance of the general into the village of Sig,
composed of wooden huts and one stone house. As to the other build-
ings, they were either half finished or on paper ; and those of the colonists
whom the fever had not driven to the hospital, passed their time in dis-
puting. The previous year, when they built the enclosure of the village,
all believed in its rapid prosperity. This part of the plain was healthy,
the land proverbially fertile, the cannon resounded through the valley,
the Arab horsemen were galloping full-tilt along the channels made for
irrigation, discharging their muskets to salute the arrival of water in the
plain. In fact, it was a great day ; for, under the skilful direction of the
captain of engineers, M. Chapelain, the old Turkish dam had just been
restored. Nothing could be more beautiful than this piece of masonry,
100 feet wide, raised with large blocks of stone, almost all taken from
Roman remains, which covered the ground within a radius of 4000 metres
(13,120 feet). Stopped between two rocks by this dam, the waters
spread over the two banks by two principal channels, carrying into all
the fields abundance and fertility. When, standing on the little bridge
of the sluices, you turn towards the plain, whilst at your feet you hear
the redundant waters leaping over the barrier, and rolling as they roar
into the ancient bed, your eyes discover an immense horizon, a verdant
and fertile plain, hills lost in the mist ; and on your right, eight leagues
from the Sig, the marshes of the Macta and a series of sanddiills spread-
ing out like the meshes of a net.

The general wished to ascertain the causes which prevented the de-
velopment of a village placed in the best conditions for prosperity ; he,
therefore caused it to be announced that after five P.M. he would receive

174 MASCARA.

all the colonists who wished to speak with him. This interview and its
results will be described in the chapter on Colonisation. Suffice it to say
here, that owing to the active measures adopted by the governor, a few
months later, any one crossing the Sig would no longer have recognised
St. Denis, so greatly was that village transformed.

" A little beyond St. Denis," proceeds Castellane, " you enter the
gorges of the mountains which separate the valley of the Sig and the
Habra from Mascara and the valley of Eghris. The night was dark
when we crossed these defiles to arrive at the bridge of Ouad-el-Hammam
(the river of the bath), where we were to bivouac. The next niorning
we had to start forthwith : we left behind us the little redoubt, where, in
the revolt of 1845, a canteen-keeper, an old non-commissioned officer of
some regiment, having been shut up in the blockhouse with two stout
companions, held his post against the Kabyles, and was relieved by a
detachment going to Mascara. The rain began again to pour down with
still greater violence as we left the road usually followed by the prolonges
or baggage-waggons, and we climbed the cross-road at the risk of falling
into the ravines ; but at length we cleared the famous ascent christened
by the soldiers creve-coeur (break heart), and we soon after met General
Renaud, who came to meet General Lamoriciere, with a great number of
officers, of Arab chiefs, and with the commandant of the city, M. Bastoul,
who was regarded as the Solomon of the place. We had reached Mascara.
The history of Mascara is connected with the most glorious recollections
of the people of the province of Oram In 1804 Bou Kedach, the dey of
Algiers, confided the command of the west to one of his favourites, a young
man twenty-four years of age, named Bou-Chelagrham (the father of the
mustachio). Ambitious, active, and intelligent, Bou-Chelagrham had sworn
to avenge the death of his predecessor, the Bey of Chaban, killed by the
Christians of Oran ; but before he turned his arms against the infidel, he
wished to reduce the whole province under his authority.

Until then the town of Mazouna, situated in the Dahra, between the
Shellif and the sea, had been the residence of the beys ; but being too dis-
tant from the centre of the province, they had seen a great number of
tribes escape from their authority. The first act of the new bey was to
quit Mazouna, and to transport the seat of the Turkish power to the other
side of the first chain of mountains, to a spot called the country of the
Querth, from the name of a Berber tribe which inhabited it. This posi-
tion, which permitted the cavalry of Bou-Chelagrham to flank the tribes
of the plains, of the Mina, of the Illil, of the Habra and the Sig, placed
them equally within reach of the southern trihes, which up to that time
had dared to defy the orders of the beys. The Turkish chiefs posted at
Mascara had, moreover, an easy communication with Tlemsen by the lofty
table-land near Sidi-Bel-Abb< ■.

The town of Mascara (Ma-askeur, the mother of soldiers) was built

MASCARA. 175

upon the last slopes of the ehain commanding the fertile plain of
Eghris. This place became the residence of the beys up to the time
when they drove -the Christians fromOran; it soon prospered, and con-
tained a numerous but not a very moral population, if we may believe
the traveller Mohainmed-Ben-Yousef, who says : " I had conducted the
rascals to the walls of Mascara \ they found shelter in the houses of
that town." Its inhabitants might be sad scoundrels, but it is quite
certain that their military position was excellent. Accordingly at all
times Mascara was considered by all military men as the key of the
country ; and when General Bugeaud, having formed a strong column at
Mostaganem, was uncertain whether he should march upon Tegedempt,
the new post founded by Abd-el-Kader on the borders of the Tell, or upon
Mascara, to establish his forces there, as General Lamoriciere had advised
him ; General Mustaphadjen-Ismael, being asked his opinion, gave this
answer : "At the time of the insurrection of Ben-Sheriff (ltflU), there
was a great council of greybeards of Turks and of Arabs. They discussed
what it was best to do, — to go to Mascara, or to make war on the tribes by
razzia. The men who were cunning in couucil, and all who were firm in
their stirrups, were unanimously of opinion that they should go to Mas-
cara. I have not the presumption to think that I know more than they,
and that which they then said, I say now : ' Go to Mascara, and remain
there."' The army, nevertheless, marched for Tegedempt ; but they were
soon obliged to return to the advice of old Mustapha and General Lamo-
riciere. Established in this town during the winter of 1841-42, without
provisions and without resources, General Lamoriciere was commissioned
to undertake, and successfully concluded a campaign, which secured the
peace of the province, and struck the hardest blow at the power of the
emir (Abd-el-Kader) ; whilst General Changarnier, the mountaineer, as
old Bugeaud called him, by his daring energy forced the populations of
the province of Algiers to sue for quarter.

Twice ruined, Mascara has now only a few Arab inhabitants ; on the
other hand, its European population is numerous; and houses, barracks,
and sundry military establishments have been erected on all sides, giving
the place the appearance of a French town. Built upon two hills sepa-
rated by a stream, whose waters turn a mill, surrounded by gardens ami
orchards, containing olives, figs, and other fruit-trees, — this ancient capital
of the emir commands the fertile plain of the Eghris, the territory of the
Hachems, which extends at its feet ten miles in breadth and twenty-five
in length. Here and there large orchards of fig-trees break the mono-
tony of this plain, the eye rests on the long ranges of hills, and to the
westward on the lofty mountains which appear on the distant horizon,
where their summits seem always floating above the mist. The Arab
traveller Mohammed ben-Yousef has said : " If thou shouldst chance to
meet a proud, dirty, and fat man, make sure he is an inhabitant of Mas-

176 MASCARA.

cara." " See if the saying of Mohammed-ben-Yousef is not true," added
Caddour Myloud, the Douair officer, pointing out to us with his finger
the first Arab whom we met at the gate of Mascara ; and he began to
laugh with that silent laugh which the habit of ambush-fighting gives a
man. We were compelled to join in the opinion of Caddour Myloud, for
in the midst of that motley crowd which pressed forward to salute the
general, the native of Mascara could be easily recognised. Yet, Heaven
knows there was a goodly show of Arabs and Kabyles with patched
haicks. As for the Europeans, each man had the costume of his own
country, of the north or south, of Spain as well as of Italy ; there were
specimens of all lands ; and at the moment when our horses could hardly
make way through the crowd, our travelling companion M. de Laussat,
who was at my side, suddenly heard himself called by his name and ad-
dressed in the purest patois of the Pyrenees. Astonished, he turned his
head ; it was a Bearnais (native of Beam) who had spoken to him, a
man with a bold and manly face, quite delighted to have met Monsieur
there. As soon as he had recognised his countryman, a stroke of the
spurs "obliged Apocalypse to cross the road, and the hand of M. de Laus-
sat squeezed with emotion that of the native of his paternal village. Merry
and contented, this Bearnais had a pretty government grant among the
gardens of Mascara ; all went well with him, and he made M, de Laussat
promise to come to his house and taste the wine of his own vintage. The
halting place was in the square or place, situate in the centre of the town,
near a large and carefully preserved mulberry-tree. Scarcely was he dis-
mounted, when the general began to hold a full court for the expedition of
business, whilst the band of the regiment played its flourishes ; for it was
Friday, and on that day the twelve ivomen of Mascara dress themselves
in all their finery, under pretext of going to hear the music, and coquet
with their looks with those of the garrison who are off duty, and who,
when their service is ended, come to walk away their ennui, smoke their
cigars, and take their glass of comfort at Vives, an illustrious confectioner.
Vives, who had arrived with the first column that occupied the town, and
at first could only boast of a canvas tent, had afterwards a wood hut ; at last,
a stall in the street ; and his fortune progressed on a par with the town.*
We spent two days at Mascara ; then, all affairs being finished, and the
Bearnais wine having been tasted by M. de Laussat, we set out for Mos-
taganem; but, instead of striking off in a line to the right, by the road
which follows the ravine of the Beni-Chougran, we took the route of the

* Lieu tenant do France says, their " camp was pitched at the foot of the mountain
which bounds the plain of Mascara on the north, and a little stream, whose banks were
eiivcred with oleanders, ran through the midst of it. Mascara stands in the centre of a
mountain gorge, on a steep and precipitous hill ; the white and cheerful-looking houses
are surrounded by a perfect grove of fig-trees, ami a few graceful poplars and slender
minarets rise like lances amongst them." P. 144. Its walls are completed, and its powder-
magazine contains 66,000 Lbs. Tableau, p. !J87.

EL-BORDJ. 177

prolonges (baggage-train), and marched to the west, in order to visit El-
Bordj (the fort), whose outer wall had been erected by the soldiers. We
were to breakfast and bivouac there, at the foot of the mountain, by the
fountain whose waters are lost in the plain of the Habra. "Whilst chatting,
we arrived on the little table-land of El-Bordj, where we were to receive
the hospitality of Caddour-ben-Murphi. The great tents of the bivouac,
all of white canvas, were pitched at the gate of the enclosure, which caused
this spot to be named the Fort (El-Bordj). A detachment of soldiers of
the garrison of Mascara were occupied at this moment in raising the wall,
and building in the interior (at the expense of the Arabs) stone houses for
the asrha and his horsemen. The general was enchanted with these works,
which he justly regarded as very important : for the Arab will not be
actually reduced under our sway till the day when, through all the coun-
try, the stone fixing him to the soil, he will not be held, as now, to the
earth merely by the stake of his tent. He encouraged by his praises those
brave soldiers who; as soon as peace is restored, dropping the musket,
shoulder the pickaxe, and give their sweat, as an instant before they
would have shed their blood, for the grandeur of France. It was past noon
before the general had finished looking at every thing ; and after having
been on horseback since five in the morning, our stomachs cried hunger.
Our pleasure was great, therefore, when we found ourselves seated with legs
across on the carpets of the great tents, and saw the large dishes of cous-
coussou,* the ragouts with piment, and roast mutton, marching in on the
heads of the Arabs. t Advancing farther, the west wind had brought up
clouds, and the clouds, after their confounded fashion, the rain in large
drops, which soon made our horses slip in the muddy declivities of the
mountain ; very fortunately, rain and wind ceased an hour before we
arrived at the fountain, where Ave passed the night. The next day, at an
early hour, the country sparkled under a beautiful sun, and 'we traversed the
fields, which Avere adorned with their first verdure ; saluted by the sharp
cries of the women of the Douairs, uttered, according to the custom of the
Arabs, to do honour to the chief of the province. The spectacle which
surrounded us was truly singular. Animated by the ride, every one
looked brilliant and joyous. On all sides was heard the sound of arms and
spurs, all the noises which are the precursors of combat ; one might have
said, indeed, that we were preparing to run to danger, whilst Ave had
only one hour's march before meeting General Pelissier, commanding the
subdivision of Mostasranem, who aAvaited us at the three marabouts with
the 4th Chasseurs-a-cheval : bronze faces, with long moustachios ; tall
men, proudly seated on their little horses. This regiment was worthy
of the cavalry whose name alone carried terror into the enemy's ranks.
Colonel Dupuch then commanded that valiant troop, Avhose flourishes

* A kind of porridge and soup combined. t Castcllane, pp. 341-2.

178 BEL-ABBES.

animated the march as we crossed the valley of the gardens which precede
Mostaganem. This valley, covered with fruit-trees and figs, is sheltered
from the sea-winds by the hills along the coast : it is the usual promenade
of the inhabitants of the town of Mostaganem.*

After this trip Lamoriciere and his staff returned to Oran, where they
made a short stay, before undertaking another promenade pacifique to
T.lemsen, &c, which Castellane describes in the following terms : " After
the departure of the Mareschal and the deputies, nothing more detained
the General de Lamoriciere at Oran. He gave orders, therefore, to pre-
pare to depart. We were going to traverse the west of the province, as
we had a short time before run through the circles of Mascara and Mos-
taganem. The following day at twelve, after having been accompanied on
our journey by a companion of joyous temper, a beautiful sun which made
the moistened grass sparkle, so that it seemed just sprung as by enchant-
ment from the earth through the early rains, we arrived at the Roman
ruins of Agkbiel. These ruins, which extend to the south of the hills of
Tessalah, belonged to M. de St. Maur, who came to receive us at the
limit of his domains, followed by two harriers, his only subjects. The
impression which you retain of these places is very singular. If the
traveller climbs the highest ruin and allows his eye to wander over the
immense plain, he is seized with one of those sensations which issue in
Africa from the very bowels of the earth, and which the scenery of France
has never begotten. Before him, at his feet, the great salt lakes, whose
crystallisations shine like diamonds in the sun ; to the right are the undu-
lating lines of the earth, which unite with the mirage of the air, and seem
to float and disappear in the mist ; on the left you behold verdant and
woody hills, whose semicircle closes at Miserghin, to shoot up again in a
rocky ridge, and whose slope gradually rising, attains the summit of Santa
Cruz, — a rocky bluff on which the Spaniards chose to found a fortress,
whence the eye wanders over all the country. More distant, blending
with the blue sky, the spectator discovers a dark line; — it is the sea,
whose waves bathe the shores of Provence ; but on the right, the wild
aspect of the Mountain of the Lions reminds him that he is very far from
France. At some distance from the Roman ruins, our neighbours of Bel-
Abbes, the Goumsof this post, were waiting for us. As the rain continued
to fall in torrents, so soon as the ground permitted us, we set off at a round
trot, and at five o'clock our horses were fastened to the cord in the camp
formed by two battalions of the Foreign Legion, which was bivouacking
in, u- Bel-Abbes. Situated behind tbc first chain of mountains, eighteen
leagues (45 miles) to the south, upon the meridian of Oran, the post of
Bel-Abbes commanded the flanks, and assured the security of the plain of
the Melata, presenting to our columns a prompt means of drawing supplies

* Castellane's Souvenirs, p. 34G.

THE ISSER. 179

when they had to carry on operations at the extreme edge of the Tell and
Serssoua. Founded in 1843, under the name of Biscuitville, by General
Bedeau, the establishment of Bel-Abbes belonged to the series of magazine-
posts which every twenty leagues — i. e. every three marches of the infantry,
and every two marches of the cavalry — were raised upon two parallel lines
running from the seashore to the interior, throughout the whole extent of
the province of Oram When the war took a decided turn," continues
Castellane, " we owed a great part of our success to two different causes, —
the creation of magazine-posts, and that of the Arab bureaux, or offices.
The magazine-posts indeed multiplied our forces, by approximating re-
sources ; and the Arab bureaux, by securing a proper employment of them.*
The following day we took the route to Tlemsen, under the escort of two
fine squadrons of African chasseurs ; for since the Beni-Hamer had been
led to Morocco by the Emir in 1845, the year of the great revolt, all the
country from Bel-Abbes to the Isser was empty and delivered up to high-
waymen. The sole inhabitants now of these fertile hills were some lions,
whose traces we often saw in the shape of large footprints majestically
engraven on the earth, some hyenas, and wild boars.

We disturbed their repose by giving them a vigorous chase ; and this
did very well as regards the wild boars and hyenas, but the lion was gene-
rally respected. This chase is not without danger; not on account of the
boar, — with a little skill and coolness one can always avoid the strokes of
his tusks, — but these cursed Arabs who accompanied us, without troubling
themselves as to whether we were in front of them, did not cease firing,
at the risk of missing the beast and sending the ball through us. It was
far from Bel- Abbes to the Isser, where we were to bivouac; and it was
quite dark when the little column arrived at the bank of the river : with-
out moon or stars, we did not know where to set foot ; and it was neces-
sary to find out the ford, for the river is rapid and wide in this spot.
The first who attempted the passage tumbled over, a second was not
more fortunate, but a third gained the opposite side. Then lighting some
branches of the wild jujube-tree, torn from amongst the neighbouring
bushes, we stuck these torches on the top of our sabres, and the whole
troop passed without difficulty. At daybreak the trumpets of the chas-
seurs sounded the reveil. The air was sharp and animating ; a few clouds
were floating over the blue sky and the tops of the mountains, forming to
the east and south a kind of horse-shoe, that marked out the basin in
which Tlemsen is built. The Mansourah and its admirable waters, which
spread fertility through the environs of the town, was in front of us ; on
our left, a little behind, we perceived the hills of Eddis, where, about the
end of December in the year 1841, the solemn interview was held which
decided the subjection of the greatest part of the country. J

* Castellane, p. 3G7. t Ibid. p. 360.

J 80 TLEMSEN.

This country of Tlemsen is not, however, easy to govern ; at all times
it has been the theatre of great struggles : and many centuries ago, Si-
Mohamed-el-Medjeboud (mouth of gold) said, " Tlemsen is the stony
ground in which the hook of the reaper breaks. How many times have
women, children, and old men been abandoned in its walls !" The his-
tory of this town is only a long description of war, since that famous siege
of Tlemsen, in 1286, by Abi-Said, brother of Abou-Yakoub, the Sultan of
Fez, — who during seven years kept the Beni-Zian in a state of siege, and
caused a tower to be constructed within his camp, the ruins of which still
exist, — to a blockade which the Commandant Cavaignac sustained behind
the walls in 1837, with the volunteer battalion (bataillon franc). We
arrived at the bridge which had been thrown over the Safsaf by the
Turks, and before us extended the large olive-trees which shaded the
entire country, and spread themselves out like a green carpet at the foot
of the town. Nothing could be more beautiful, more graceful, or more
charming than this city, whose white houses rested, on one side, against
the slopes of a rocky mountain, which poured forth in majestic cascades
its spouting waters, irrigating at their feet a rich enclosure of fragrant
gardens ; whilst in the distance, hills succeeded hills, and mountains were
piled beyond mountains, blending with the blue line of the sky."*

M. Berbrugger gives the following description of General Clauzel's
march to Tlemsen in 1836 :

"It was on the 8th of January, 1836, that the French army left Oran,
under the command of Marshal Clauzel, and took the road to Tlemsen.
There was an urgent necessity for this expedition, as the French auxiliary
chief, Mustafa-ben-Ismail, and the garrison of Turks and Koulouglis whom
he commanded, had just experienced a somewhat serious check ; they were
closely besieged by Abd-el-Kader in the citadel named Mechouar, and pro-
visions as well as ammunition were on the point of failing them. Now,
after having encouraged them to resist the Emir with energy, it was out
of the question to desert them in misfortune.

The first day's march took the army by Meserguin to the Ouad-Bridia,
on the northern shore of the great Sebkhah (salt lake), which at that time
contained, instead of water, a kind of yellow mud or deposit. On the
second day they halted for the night on the banks of the Ouad-el-Malahh,
which is also called Rio-Salado, the Spanish translation of the Arabic ap-
pellation. By the way they discovered two emissaries of Mustafa-ben-
Ismail in the brushwood. This chief announced that Abd-el-Kader was
in Tlemsen, and that he was arranging to carry off the inhabitants the
moment that the French appeared. He added that their arrival was
anxiously expected by the Koulouglis.

On the third day they encamped in a pretty circular valley formed by

* Castcllane, p. 375.

TLEMSEN.

181

the Ouad Senan and another small river. They observed at this spot
the ruins of a fortress built with blackish stones of a volcanic appearance,
and forming the remains of the citadel called Qasr*-ebn-Senan in Nubian

MEETING OF MARSHAL CLAUZEL AND MUSTAPHA.

geography. Edrisi even asserts that there was a considerable town on
this spot in his time.

The following day, at Ain-el-Bridje (the fountain of the little fort),
they arrived at the remains of some Roman structure, situated near a
fountain, where a stone belonging to an ancient sepulchre has been dis-
covered. This spot appears to have been the site of a kind of fortress ;
but the expedition only brought to light a single tumular inscription void
of interest.

On the 12th of January they had reached the Ouad-Amiguera, and
were only separated by five leagues from the end of the expedition. They
shortly learnt from Mustapha that Abd-el-Kader had departed, taking away
2000 inhabitants ; and on the 13th the expedition approached Tlemsen in
two columns ; the main body, under Marshal Clauzel, advancing along the
high-road to the town, reached Ouzidan, a truly delightful spot, Avhose
beauty was increased by its contrast to the barren country that they had
just ti'aversed. The marshal was soon after met by Mustapha-ben-Ismail,

* Qasr or Ksour, the same word as Alcazar.

182 TLEMSEN.

and after a short interview entered Tlemsen with his army, amidst the
salutes and cheers of the Koulouglis."

The antiquities of Tlemsen are descrihed in another chapter, and we
shall here simply state that it is a very ancient Moorish town, built near
the site of a Roman city. We cannot thread the mazy web of Moorish
dynasties that have held sway in Tlemsen, which was once the capital of a
great kingdom. Omitting many details in its history, we proceed to observe,
that the dynasty of the Beni-Zian falling into disgrace through the abuse
of despotism, saw its vast empire dismembered. Mostaganem, Mazagran,
Tunis, and many other towns, had chosen individual sovereigns when the
Spaniards conquered Oran ; and the Turks, masters of Algiers, strove to
extend their authority westward. The dissensions that arose in the family
of Beni-Zian favoured the general tendency to dismemberment that mani-
fested itself in the kingdom of Tlemsen. The usurpation of Bou-Hamou,
who seized the reins of government to the detriment of his nephew Abou-
Zian, increased the confusion. Baba-Aroudj, or Barbarossa, the lucky
Turkish corsair, who had just founded an empire at Algiers, was then
engaged in reducing Tunis ; and learning the events at Tlemsen, he re-
solved to profit by them. He advanced with his army as the supporter
of Abou-Zian, and the gates were opened without a blow being struck,
on his promising on the Koran to restore the legitimate sovereign, Abou-
Zian, whom, however, he at once strangled, exterminating all the other
members of the family on whom he could lay his hands. The Spaniards
Avere annoyed at his neighbourhood, and sent an expedition from Oran to
dispossess him, under Don Martin de Argote. Barbarossa, shut up in the
Mechouar, was soon reduced to great straits for want of provisions, which
induced him to attempt a flight by an underground passage ; and though
he scattered gold and silver on his path to delay the pursuit of the Spa-
niards, he was overtaken on the banks of the Ouad-el-Malahh, or Bio-
Salado. After a desperate fight, Garcia de Tineo, a Spanish officer, killed
Baba-Aroudj, and cut off his head; which being sent to the governor of
Oran, was forwarded to the monastery of St. Jerome at Cordova. To
this trophy was added his vest of red velvet embroidered with gold, which
the monks used as a priest's vestment (chape).

Bou-Hamou was replaced on the throne by the Spaniards ; but Khair-
eddin, brother of Barharossa, soon re-established the Turkish power by
becoming the patron of Messaoud, who disputed the throne of Tlemsen
Avith his brother Moussa-abd-Allah, both being sons of Bou-Hamou. At
length, under the rule of Salah-Bais, pasha of Algiers, the Turks became
complete masters of Tlemsen, driving away Mouley-Hha§an, the last prince
of the Reni Zian dynasty, under the pretext of his holding relations with
the Spaniards at Oran.

Henceforth the annals of Tlemsen became blended with those of Al-

TLEMSEN. 183

giers, the last event of note in its history being its siege and partial
destruction by Pasha Baba-Hhacan, in 1081" of the Hegira (a.d. 11676)-.*

The territory of the town of Tlemsen, backed by the mountain of
Tyerm, is contracted between the river Ouad Safsaf, — which lower down,
before falling into the Isser, is called the Sikak, — and the Ouad-Hermava,
one of the tributaries of the Tafna. Numerous brooks of fresh water,
some of which are employed as water-power for mills, irrigate this fertile
soil, whose powerful vegetation presents in a small compass the trees of
Europe and Africa combined. To the west and north the outskirts of the
town are decorated by a complete forest of magnificent olive-trees, regu-
larly planted, and yielding a considerable return.

The old enclosure of Tlemsen, which has a development of five thou-
sand metres (16,400 feet), consists of walls composed of a mortar of sand,
lime, and small stones that have been cast into moulds. This structure,
remarkable for solidity, has suffered much less from the ravages of time
than more recent edifices raised in the same place. The modern enclosure,
scarcely a third of the ancient, is an earth-wall (en pise) flanked with
towers. It is often broken, is without ditch, and surmounted with ter-
races on the east and south sides, having on the former side an angle with
a demi-lune before it.

The interior of the city exceeds even most Arab towns in the irregu-
larity of its thoroughfares. It contains such complication, and is such an
inextricable web of confusion, that the stranger once involved in its labv-
rinths can scarcely find out his starting-place. As a compensation, it used
to enjoy the luxury (in hot climates) of streets covered with trellis-work,
but civilisation has of course banished them ; and the houses, which con-
sist of one story only, are not whitewashed outside, as at Algiers, which
gives the town externally a dull appearance.

The mosques of Tlemsen are numerous, but of little importance, save
the Great Mosque, whose minaret is not deficient in elegance, but unhap-
pily intestinal wars between the Koulouglis and Arabs have much in-
jured it.

The most remarkable monument of Tlemsen is the Jfecftottar, a citadel
situated south of the town, which it touches, but which it only imperfectly
commands. This fort, which has no ditches, contains a hundred houses
and a mosque. The garrison maintained there by the Turks used some-
times to amount to 3000 men, from which the size of the mechouar may
be inferred. The French have built handsome barracks in it.t

Outside the town, at the distance of about one mile to the west, you
meet a vast enclosure of earthen walls (en j)ise) called Ma/nsowrah, It is
stated that a town used to stand there, though not a vestige of a house re-

* Berbruofger, part ii.

t Castellane, p. 377 ; Tableau, p. 387.

184

TLEMSEN.

mains. The minaret of a destroyed mosque is the only ruin on the spot ;
and this monument, which is built in rather a bold style, is ornamented
with arabesques in very good taste.

MOSQUE, ETC. AT MAXSOU RAH.

The outskirts of Tlemsen are tolerably well cultivated, and present
several villages of considerable size : including Ouzidan, near the interior
bridge of the Ouad-Safsaf ; El-Abhad, better known by the name of Sidi-
Bou-Medin or Medina, a marabout who is interred there in a splendid
koubbah, which has been sadly injured since the French occupation; Ain-
el-Hhadjar, at six kilometres (3f miles) to the north-west of Tlemsen;
Ain-el-Hhout, at four kilometres (2'4 miles) to the north; El-Hannaya-
Tralemt and Melitia. You rind, moreover, some genuine villages of
Troglodytes, whose inhabitants are called Rbaranizah (people of caverns),
at Qalaaly, Chelebi, <fcc. It is supposed that their dwellings are excava-
tions made at a remote period in quarrying.*

From Tlemsen Lamoriciere and Castellane journeyed west to the post
of Lela-Marghnia, on the frontier of Morocco, -j- by a road much in-

* Bcrbrugger, part ii.

t Souvenirs, p. 379.

p. 184.

TOMB OF SIDI-BOV -MEDINA.

NEMOURS. 185

fested by lions. They halted the first day by some hot springs, in one
of the strangest situations imaginable. Around them was a dark stony
ground, red sandstone soil, with sombre olives clothing the hills. Suddenly,
at the turn of the road, a magician's wand conjures up a fairy-scene, a
garden of Armida. Enormous palm-trees shoot up, bound together by
the creepers of vines and parasitical plants ; and under this dome *of ver-
dure the boiling waters bathe the foot of the gigantic trees. The scene
exceeds the wildest dream of Oriental poet. It seems like the enchanted
shades where a mysterious genius makes his abode; and it has its wild
legend.*

In the evening they reached the French post of Lela-Marghnia, a quarter
of a league from the frontier, and separated by a plain of six leagues (15
miles) from the Morocco town of Ouchda. This immense plain is watered
by the Oued-Isly, and is the scene of the great victory gained by Marshal
Bugeaud over the hordes of Morocco in 1844. After crossing the scene
of the battle, Castellane's party reached, at two hundred paces from Djema,
the funeral column raised to the fallen French, under the shade of large
carob-trees, in the midst of a meadow; and five minutes after they entered
Djema. This mazazine is built on the sea-shore, at the mouth of a little
river, between two steep cliffs, where you perceive the ruins of villages for-
merly the nests of pirates. Barracks in planks, a loop-holed wall, large
magazines, some cabarets; on the shore some fishermen's barks, and small
craft belonging to the French navy; and in the roads some transport-
brigs, or at times a war- steamer ; and, amidst all this, busy soldiers,
cantinieres, and tradesmen; — such was Djema, or Nemours, in 184G.

It is a dull place of residence, the chase and study being the only
resources of the officers. Their mess-room and cafe was a hut of deal
planks, and their fare blue wine ; instead of the elegant saloon of the
Freres Provencaux, its gilded panels, mirrors, and nectar. But then they
were jolly companions every one.

The next morning nothing detained them at Djeina-Ghazaout, — or Bug-
town, as it was then christened. This sobri cruet will explain their anxiety
to leave it. The road back to Oran passed through Nedroma, a cool
and shady town surrounded by good solid walls, with rich and industrious
inhabitants, where, according to the report of evil tongues, it is said that
money is so beloved, that nobody inquires about its source. +

Leaving Nedroma, they began to ascend the Kabyle mountains; and
they found on the road a population furious at being obliged to submit,
but paying their dues without daring to say a word, for the sight of a
regiment that escorted the governor made them as gentle as lambs.
Passing on, they chased a hare under a brilliant sun, after regaining the
plain, and before crossing the col that brought them to Ain-Temouchen,

* See Part II., Chapter on the Arabs.

+ Is not this the character of places nearer home?

ISO EXPEDITION TO THE OASIS.

on the road from Tlemsen to Oran. In the heavy soil of Sidour, a kind
of dismal swamp of the province of Oran, the rain pouring down in
torrents, their horses kept floundering and sliding, and the officers in-
dulged in a cross-fire of oaths.

At Ain-Temouchen, in the revolt of 1845, the post had but very little
ammuhition. Colonel Walther Esterhazy attempted a relief with 500
Arab goums ; and ordering the march, a caid made some observation and
refused to obey. The colonel blew out the caid's brains, and two others
shared the same fate. This act of energy overawed the wavering, and
the post was relieved. This spot, called Chabat-el-Lhame (the flesh-defile),
is also noted for the heroism of 1000 Spaniards, who fell almost to a man,
facing the enemy, overwhelmed by numbers.* Twenty alone escaped to
Oran, which was reached the same evening by Lamoriciere and the staff.

We shall next accompany Castellane in an expedition to the oases, un-
veiling some of the wonders of that region of the sun. While serving in the
west, a servant of the Rhomsit rejoined Castellane's party, bringing a
letter from the commandant of their little column, giving them order to
return as soon as possible, because their squadrons were leaving for Sai'da.

" We took in much haste the direction of our bivouac ; and we learned
on arriving that we were destined to form a part of the column of General
Renaud, which was to leave on the 1st of April for a long excursion in the
oases of the south. This was, to our minds, a rare piece of good fortune ;
and when, a few days after, the column with its long convoy quitted Sai'da,
we were all delighted to penetrate at length into those regions, of which so
many strange things are related. A train of mules carried a supply of water,
as whole days would pass without our finding any ; two thousand camels
belonging to the Hamians and the Harars were loaded with provisions,
and extended in single file, descending the slight elevations, and mounting
the little hills, to the monotonous songs of their conductors. The hares
fled by hundreds before these new rabatteurs (men who beat up the game
in battues); and the camel-drivers, frightening them by their cries, and
throwing their knotted sticks at them, soon got the best of it, and those
which escaped them fell under the teeth of our greyhounds. At night
our bivouac resembled a vast market. The Arabs carried the game they
had got in the day from fire to fire. Upon the table-land of the Serssous,
political economy might for once have justified one of her axioms; for it
was with much difficulty, whilst offering a hare in one hand and holding
out the other, saying, 'Donar soldi,' that the Arabs succeeded in getting
rid of their merchandise, so terrible had been the massacre of the morning.
Two days after, we bivouacked upon the border of the Chotts. These im-
mense salt lakes, dried up in summer, arc only passable in April in a very

• Castellane. p. 392.

t A tribe of Arabs in the province of Oran.

EXPEDITION TO THE OASIS. 187

few places. The day after, at the reveil, every one was ready ; alas !
we had been awakened long before by the lowing of the camels, which their
conductors were loading in order to be in time. These cries are one of
the punishments of an expedition in the south, on the other side of the
Chotts. We were going to seek the Bled-el-Ehela (the country of void) ;
but at the dawn, before we planted our foot upon the other side, the
long file of camels appeared to assume the most grotesque forms in its
narrow passage. One seemed to have only an immense head, others
swelled out like sails, many appeared to send out flames and to float
in the air ; again, several walked with their legs uppermost, and in per-
petual motion. This was one of the singular effects of mirage, so com-
mon in the Chotts,. and which are considered fabulous by those who have
not seen them. Our guide was an Arab cle proie — a man of the Hamians ;
a freebooter of the high lands, an adventurer, with the hooked nose of a
vulture, eyes black and liquid, with a thin, bronzed, calm, and impassible
physiognomy, a true type of a Saharian. He now directed us to the
wells, where, under the branches which covered them, we found an abun-
dance of pure water. At our departure the branches which protected them
were religiously replaced ; for a well in the Sahara is a sacred spot, which
demands the care and protection of every traveller. Our march then con-
tinued in this country of void, whose wastes have not the grandeur of
other wastes. They oppress the heart instead of elevating it. It seems
as if a heavy curse lies on all around ; and we advanced into these naked
plains, seeing right and left, and as far as the horizon, ai'id mountains
without vegetation, offering nothing on which the eye could rest. In fact,
that part of the Sahara we were then crossing was of sad celebrity, and it
is never more than a passage for the nomadic inhabitants of these countries.
A small body of western Hamians (Garabas), not subjected to France, were
with their flocks at about, twenty leagues (50 miles) from us. The general
heard this from his scouts; and as for several days we bivouacked only in
the hollows, and during the day the mirage prevented the dust raised by
our column from being seen, we were certain that we were unobserved.
Therefore, at 3 o'clock p.m., a picked body of six hundred infantry, with
the cavalry and the general, left in the hope of effecting a bold stroke.
The rest of the infantry and the convoy directed their inarch towards the
wells of Nama, where Ave were to meet them the next day.

" The heat was overpowering; but these men, inured to fatigues, feared
neither the burning sun nor the chilling rain. At six in the morning the
column halted ; the Arab scouts returned, announcing that the camels of
the Hamians were crazing at a distance of three hours' march from us.
This was an evident sign of their security. The infantry had already
marched fifteen hours ; and from the spot on which we halted to the wells
of Nama, we were four hours' further march. If the attack proved a
failure, that would make nearly thirty hours of active duty. The general

188 CIIELLALA.

dared not send off the cavalry alone, and to the extreme regret of the
Arabs, who reckoned on the booty, the order was given to take the
direction of Nama. At one o'clock, after having crossed these sandy
downs under a burning sun, without having found a drop of water since
the day before to refresh our parched lips, we arrived at the place of
bivouac with only five men on the cacolets (or sick-list), and that caused
by accident. The cavalry had gone on before ; and when on the summit
of one of these sandy undulations, our squadron perceived an immense
sheet of water, whose banks were reflected in the transparent waves as in
a Swiss lake, there was a universal shout of pleasure, and we hastened to
unbridle our horses to water them ; but as we advanced we saw the water
recede before us at a distance of about six feet, so that we soon discovered
our error. We were again the dupes of a mirage. However, we found
water in the sand-hills at seventy paces on our right. It was neces-
sary to draw the water from the wells, in order to pour it into the troughs
which surround them. The next day the baggage and the rest of the
column had rejoined us a few hours' before, when a most frightful hurri-
cane swept over us. In ten minutes the whole sky became a curtain of
clouds ; the thermometer fell of a sudden, and whirlwinds of snow suc-
ceeded the most overpowering heat. Happily we were all together, other-
wise it would have been all over with us. At three paces off we could
not see each other ; and for fear of straying, we were obliged to gather,
to the sound of the trumpet, the broom which covered the downs, — this
being the only aliment we could find to feed our fires. The day after the
ground was covered with snow. Imagine what the sufferings of that
night and the two following days were, for this darkness continued during
that period. At the first returning rays of the sun, the sands of the stony
ground in the plain absorbed the melted snow. The air, however, con-
tinued icy cold; but we were advancing south, approaching the mountains,
of which we soon reached the highest passes.

" We met occasionally a pistachio-tree of meagre foliage, or the violet-
flowering broom, growing amongst the limestone rocks and the reddish
soil. Our men, marching in open column, descended a steep slope in the
direction of Chellala. The same sullen, desolate, melancholy aspect per-
vaded the whole district ; and our horses trod on nothing but the alpha,
a sort of little round rush, or those small shrubs whose salt-flavoured
leaves are so much liked by the camels. When the eyes have been un-
rHVeshed for many days with the sight of verdure, it is scarcely possible
to imagine the delight with which pure running water, foliage, large
leaves, and trees whose shade shelters him from the sun, is welcomed by
the weary traveller. For several days the heat of the sun had been in-
supportable ; therefore, when we arrived at the oasis of Chellala, our pre-
vious sufferings were enough to make us find its sickly fig-trees and scat-
tered palm-trees very delicious.

TIIE OASES. 189

" The general received the homage and the tribute of the town (if an
assemblage of mud-built houses deserves the name), whose narrow miry-
streets displayed a wretched sickly population. There, as every where
else, the grasping Jew has taken up his habitation, and meddles in all
the transactions of the place. This was the first ksour or town that we
had passed in our journey ; but our stay was only short, as our destination
was now towards Bou-Semroun, an oasis situated more to the south, whose
inhabitants had refused to pay tribute.

" A rather broad and sandy valley has to be crossed in order to reach
Bou-Semroun. On either side rise arid mountains; and parallel with them
towers aloft a rocky eminence, in the form of an inverted shell, leaving a
space between the foot of the mountain and the base of the rock. A minaret
gives notice of the proximity of the town, which is only hidden from view
by a small eminence. From the summit of this sand-hill, its gardens of
palm-trees, enclosed in a narrow ravine of two leagues (five miles) in
length, appeared like a stream of verdure between two banks of sand.
The inhabitants had fled ; but gun-barrels glittered on the minaret, from
whence several fanatics, wishing to die in the sacred cause, fired upon the
infantry sent to occupy the ksour.'"' The column bivouacked south of the
town, between it and a marabout of elegant architecture. Who could
have constructed it in this remote country 1 Without doubt, some Chris-
tian prisoner. The Greek crosses introduced in the ornaments made us as-
sume this. The ksour resembles a citadel, surrounded by a broad ditch and
good mud walls, having but two outlets. Bou-Semroun could defy mere
plunderers; and in these narrow alleys, and in these houses of two stories,
the merchandise, the corn, and the riches of the nomadic tribes, are in
safety. Happily the unsubdued inhabitants had not thought of defending
themselves; otherwise it would have been necessary both to sap and mine,
to have taken their fortress. Open doors enabled us to enter their houses,
amongst which several ovei'looking the ravine had a certain degree of
elegance about them ; they were no doubt the dwellings of the chiefs.
Our bivouac, with its movable houses, had been established close to the
gardens. After descending the arid dry declivity, the scene suddenly
changed into one of freshness, of calm, and of repose, cooled by the
abundant waters of a pure limpid stream. Here every field is sur-
rounded by an earthen wall (enjnse), very solidly constructed ; and a wooden
lock protects the barley and grass, the pomegranate and the fig trees of
the inhabitants of the ksour. Enormous tufts of palm-trees shoot towards
the sky, their lofty crowns meeting above. It was a magnificent park in
which to repose after our fatigue. The gardens supplied us with fresh
vegetables, green barley for our horses, besides the cane of the palm-tree,
which each foot-soldier cut as a remembrance of this expedition to the

* The name given to the Sahaiian towns and villages.

190 SIDI-CHIRQ.

south. To our great joy, we remained in this lovely spot for a whole
week ; and we occupied ourselves during the halt in inventing fresh
pleasures and amusements.

" Inaction was a fatigue, and motion a necessity to us. Thus one even-
ing, to the sound of the trumpet, as on a village -green, a grand steeple-
chase was announced for the next day in the gardens of Bou-Semroun.
The general, as umpire and mayor of the place, was invited, according to
ancient custom, to preside at the fete. Every body flocked to it; the
excmisites on horsehack, and the humble trooper with cane in hand. A
canthiiere, nominated Queen of Beauty, Avas to present the winner with
a beautiful pair of pistols offered by General Renaud. The stake was
worthy of the peril ; for never did the Croix de Berny offer, in its most
prosperous days, greater difficulties : 2400 metres there and back ; walls,
gates, impediments of every kind ; tufts of palm-trees, of which we had
to keep out of the way.; and to sum up our difficulties, after one stone
wall came another of earth. The horse had to jump, at a height of three
feet, through an opening just large enough to admit his body; whilst the
rider had to throw his legs on to the neck of the horse in order to escape
injury. Such was our race-course.

" All things came off according to rule. A member of the Jockey
Club, a real member, gave us the starting word in English, and the gal-
loping avalanche cleared gates and impediments. But, alas ! there was
more than one fall ; and I assure you that it is no joke, when on the point
of reaching the goal, to find yourself under your horse's hind-legs, with
every chance of having your jaw smashed at his slightest movement,
were it not that the poor beast itself is half dead ; then to see the hoofs of
all the other horses levelled at your head, as they drop close to it, before
they can clear the unexpected obstacle which you present to them. The
sensation of all this is singular and rapid, and has at least the charm of
surprisal. Without broken bones, or even a scratch, we were all well,
and each of us laughed at his mischances to keep up the general hilarity.

'■ Thus the time flew rapidly away. Without care, without discpuiet,
without sickness, the column was in condition to have supported the
severest fatigues. The onions of Egypt were regretted by the Hebrews
in the desert. Our soldiers may be pardoned, therefore, for having sighed
more than once at the remembrance of the small tender onions of Bou-
Semroun, when the time came for returning northwards; our course
being first to the cast, then towards the south, in order to reach lAbiot-
Sidi-Chirq, a celebrated marabout village in that country. The descent
in the road was very steep. At length, after passing the last defile, an
immense extent of horizon opened before us. On our right, high crests
of mountains formed a half horse-shoe; and the chain extended eastward
on our left. At the foot of the mountain, sand-hills crossed and recrossed
each other like a network ; and these yellow sandy billows mingled with

THE GREAT DESERT. 191

the distant outline of the horizon. In front of us a flinty plain, two
leagues in length, separated us from the four villages of the Ouled-Sidi-
Chirq, encompassed by their fresh shady gardens.

"The depression which this desolate country had wrought in our minds
disappeared on seeing these vast distances, leaving in its place an inex-
pressible sentiment of elevation and grandeur. A mosque, held in venera-
tion by tbe faithful, occupied the centre of these villages. Tbc chiefs of
this important tribe, whose religious influence extends over all the Sahara,
and even over a portion of the Tell, came to meet the general, to offer
their homage and the expected tax. It was the 30th of April, and for a
month there had been no news of France. More than 120 leagues (300
miles) of sandy desert separated us from the coast ; and here, at the gates
of these mysterious countries, we were going to celebrate the fete du roi
(king's birthday).* The evening before, the small howitzers that we use in
the mountains announced the fete to the people of the south ; and the mor-
row each soldier exercised his skill to obtain the prizes offered .by the
general. Horse-racing, racing in sacks, sheep-shooting, games of all
kinds as in a village fete, took place, accompanied by gay sallies and
laughter. Each man forgot his fatigue, and scarcely thought of the dis-
tance which separated him from his family and from France. Two little
negroes, with some ostriches and haiiks (Arab cloaks), presents to the
general, reminded us, however, that we touched upon unknown lands ; as
well as the rumbling of thunder, which is heard every day at the hour of
prayer (three o'clock). (By a singular phenomenon, every day in summer,
towards this hour, gusts of wind and a storm arise in Abiot, and continue
about two hours.) These distant peals seem echoes of those far-off lands
of which so many wonders are told.

" Indeed it seems that this mountain-chain, whose base forbids the
farther extension of this vast sea of sand, is a barrier placed by the hand
of God to stay the northman if he attempt to penetrate into these
unknown regions. From the summit of these arid peaks, broken only
here and there by narrow passes, the traveller can contemplate these
solitudes and these sands, to which the voice of the Lord has said, as to
the waves of the ocean, ' So far shalt thou go, and no farther.' But if
the Christian must for a time abstain from travelling over them, the Arab,
under the protection of his Moslem creed, knows not these obstacles ; and
every year, attracted by the allurement of gain, numerous caravans furrow
the desert, following the same routes of which Herodotus gives an itinerary.

" The generally impassible Arab experiences that sensation of uneasi-
ness which every man feels before embarking on a long sea-voyage, when
on the point of hazarding an expedition in the desert : in fact, these long
journeys are much the same thing, since the same organisation and dis-

* This was in the reign of Louis Philippe.

192 THE FLITTAS.

cipline as on board a vessel are requisite to overcome similar dangers.
Here, as at sea, when the passage is more than usually dangerous from
robbers, one caravan awaits another to double its strength, and then they
emerge together from the sheltering oasis, and advance without fear.
The respect winch is paid to the adventurous traveller on his return is a
proof of the fatigues and dangers he incurs."*

Castellane gives the following description of the district of the Flittas,
between the plain of Mina and the Ouanseris : " One day that we had set
off hunting after the natives, very early in the morning, we had penetrated
into a frightful ravine extending to the west of the watershed as far as the
Mina. The road that we were following was two feet in width, and ad-
vanced along the steep slopes of a hill, abutting at the bottom of a ravine,
whose left side it had previously followed. Evergreen oaks, lentisks, and
other shrubs covered this dangerous ground. In the centre of the basin,
the waters had worn a wide ditch through the rich mould, forming a ravine
in a ravine. During the winter the unbridled waters rush furiously,
forcing a passage, dragging trees along with them, and boring under-
ground passages to arrive the quicker at this great central artery, 50 feet
wide and 30 deep." But in summer and its five months' drought these
caverns are accessible, serving as catacombs to conceal the persons and
property of the rebellious Flittas, who were smoked out* by the French,
disgorging a torrent of men, women, chikh-en, and goats.

The reader will here remember the terrible tragedy of 1845, when
Colonel (now General) Pelissier suffocated 1600 Arabs, or Kabyles, in a
cave in the Darha, not far hence. Advancing with Castellane farther
inland by the territory of the Kerraich, Temda, and the Ouacl-Teguiguess,
we approach Tiaret.

" The country changes completely on approaching Tiaret. Woods of
evergreen oaks, some cedars, large prairies, and springs of water, take the
place of the grey and naked shadows of the hills. A troop of gazelles fled
before our horses, sometimes bounding through the trees, at others stop-
ping as if to provoke us, but quickly vanishing if they perceived that they
were seriously pursued. Occasionally the sun shone out from the clouds,
. . . throwing its pale light (it was winter) on a part of the wood, whilst
the long mountain of Tiaret prolonged the shadow of its wall-like preci-
pices. At length we reached the pass of Guertoufa ; and then there opened
before us, at the height of 200 feet, the crevice through which we had to
penetrate. To reach it you have to traverse a stone avalanche or slip, and
to climb the side of the mountain by a zigzag path. Eagles were ma-
jestically sailing over our heads. Nothing was heard but the ringing of
our horses' hoofs, or of our sabres against the rocks. Amidst these ob-
stacles, the soul is roused, and the sublimity of the view fills it with noble

* Castellane, p. GG7-

TIARET. 193

thoughts. Then after we had reached the summit, what an imposing and
magnificent sight met our eyes ! At our feet was unrolled, immense and
luminous, the cascade of rocks that we had just passed, over which the
bayonets of our infantry were glancing and flashing ; beyond these were
woods, verdure, and meadows ; further still an endless succession of hills,
undulating like a sea to the horizon. At the extreme limit of the Guer-
toufa, rose, lighted up by the sun and amidst bluish vapours, the lofty
mountains of Bel-Assel. A little to the right, the two peaks of Tegui-
guess stood out, after the fashion of a promontory ; and this sea of moun-
tains was prolonged for 20 leagues (50 miles), till it met the foot of the
Ouar-senis, whose long solitary ridge commands the country in a radius
of 60 leagues (150 miles). Its form, resembling a fluted obelisk, gives
it the appearance of an ancient cathedral topped by a majestic dome. The
scenery breathed a sublimity and calm that carried back the thoughts to
primitive times.

The defile, which extends 500 metres (1640 feet), brings you to Tiaret.
This post, built of fine masonry, on the limit of the Tell and of the Little
Desert, is renowned for the sweetness of its water. The Tell, the foster-
mother of Africa, produces corn, just as the Serssous nourishes numberless
flocks. It seems as though God wished to establish a barrier between
these two countries, whereof one is the slave of the other, being mutually
separated by a rampart of mountains. The mountains of Tiaret are the
highest of all this chain, and can only be crossed by three passes. From
Tiaret you discover a part of the Serssous. Beneath your eye stretches a
plain of little rocky hillocks, and between each hillock or mamelon
gushes forth a spring; and, thanks to the kindly waters, a thick and sub-
stantial growth of grass shoots up, nourishing immense flocks of sheep.*

According to the Tableau de la Situation for 1850, the European civil
population of Tiaret amounted in December 1847 to 85, in December
1848 to 65, and in December 1849 to 81 persons. The natives at the
latter date amounted in all to 63 individuals.

In connexion with its military works, it appears that from 1845 to
1849, the expenses amounted to 311,074 fr., appropriated chiefly to the
construction of two barracks, a hospital, and a cattle-fold or stockade.

* CasteUane, p. 23S.

CHAPTER XL
$iobtn« of ConStauttna. Coast.

THE COAST — DJIDJELLI COLLO PHILIPPEVTLLE BONA THE PORT THE

TOWN THE BUILDINGS THE POPULATION SANITARY CONDITION MOUNT

EDOUGH TRIP TO LA CALLE AN ARAB TRIBE LA CALLE BASTION DE

FRANCE.

The existing province of Constantina, or the eastern province of Algeria,
has a surface of 175,900 kilometres (67,721*5 square miles), con-
taining a population of 1,300,000 inhabitants, and 580 tribes.

This province lies between the meridians of the Djidjelli and Zaine ;
but the old beylik used to extend westward to the Booberak, thus em-
bracing the whole of that remarkable district known by the name of Great
Kabylia, to which we shall devote a special notice. According to the
older division, this province was nearly equal to the other two in extent,
being upwards of 230 miles long and more than 100 broad. The sea-coast
all the way from the Booberak nearly to Bona is mountainous, whence
it obtained from Abulfeda the name of El-Adwah, or the lofty.

The present eastern limit of the province on the sea-shore is half-way
between Dellys and Bugia, in the aghalik of Sebaou. From hence to the
kaidat of Ferdjiounah, you follow the coast of Great Kabylia, passing the
toAvn of Bugia. As we shall devote a special notice to that portion of Great
Kabylia which is comprised in the province of Constantiua, and also to
the portion now embraced in the province of Algiers, we shall siniply
state on the present occasion that it presents a wild, mountainous region,
watered by several rivers, of which the principal is the Summam, falling
into the sea near Bugia ; Avhile the highest summits belong to the great
range of the Djordjora, chiefly in the province of Algiers, overhanging
the Mitidja plain, and peopled by the Kabyles of the Zouaona tribe, who
are thought to be descendants of the Vandals.

Passing to the east of Great Kabylia, we shall first follow the coast-
line of this province, which brings us to Djidjelli (Igilgilis), situated near
the eastern extremity of the Bay of Bugia.

M. Lamping, who was quartered some time at Djidjelli, or Dschidgeli,
in 1841, with the Foreign Legion, has given the following description of
the place : " Dschidgeli lias only a small roadstead, and is built on a rock

DJIDJELLI. 195

rising out of the sea. Tt belongs to the province of Constantina, and lies
between Budschia and Philippeville : it is inhabited by Turks and Arabs,
who formerly drove a thriving trade in piracy. Although the town looks
like a mere heap of stones, it is said still to contain much hidden treasure.
Notwithstanding that Dschidgeli lies nearly under the same latitude as
Algiers, its climate is far hotter and more unhealthy; and the oppressive
heat has a very remarkable effect upon all new-comers, whose strength
deserts them from day to day, so that men who were previously as strong
as lions creep about with yellow, pale faces, and with voices as small as
those of children."

Fort Duquesne stands upon the sea, and defends the south-east side
of the town. This fort is built upon a rock rising so abruptly from the
sea, that a few half bastions towards the land are sufficient for its defence.*
The latest official accounts state, that from 1844 to 1849 the sum of
20,000 fr. (800/.) has been expended on improving the streets of Djidjelli.
From 1843 to 1848 a channel was made to bring water to the town,
whose depth is 20 centimetres (7 - 80 inches); that of the siphons is
95 millimetres (3-795 inches). The chateau d'eau, or reservoir, can re-
ceive 15,000 cubic metres (17,640 cubic yards). The expense of this work
was 107,100 fr. (4284/.); and 640 metres (20D9 feet) of sewerage have been
made, at au expense of 2500 fr. (100/.) Tliey have also built a civil prison
at Djidjelli, from 1843 to 49, for 6500 fr. (260/.); besides a school, erected
also between 1S43 and 49, at a cost of 3500 fr. (140/.)

Independently of these structures, a church and a mosque have been
built at Djidjelli between 1843 and 49; the first of which cost 3000 francs,
and the last 7300 francs (292/.).

A market-house and slaughter-house were built at this town between
1843 and 1849, for 21,300 francs (8-~>2L); and it has been provided during
the same time with a cemetery, for 7100 francs (284/.).

The greater part of the military works at Djidjelli have been com-
pleted very recently; amongst others, the new Porte Constantine lately
finished.

The new wall enclosing the town has been continued; and steps have
been adopted to defend its approaches on the sea side. A permanent bat-
tery for nine cannon has been built in front of the hospital; and a provisional
battery for seven guns has been established at Fort Duquesne. The total
expenditure on these works has amounted to 83,000 francs (3320/.).

The remaining works that were required in 1850 were, the completion
of the town wall (encehUe), and the construction of the permanent batteries
on the coast.-|-

Baron Baude, who visited Djidjelli in 1849, states that it stands 13
leagues (32|- miles) east of Bugia; that the port is defended to the west-
ward by the peninsula on which the town stands; and a chain of rocks
* The Foreign Legion, p. 22. + Tableau de la Situation.

196 DJIDJELLI.

breaks the sea in front of the harbour. It is one of the best maritime
stations on the coast; standing on a headland, instead of at the extre-
mity of a bay, and having moreover a good harbour. The building
slips of Djidjelli were once in high repute; and the town contained in
1839 about 200 sailors.

Djidjelli, or Gigel, was once a bishopric during the sway of the North
African Church; and Roman roads led hence to Bugia, Setif, Constantina,
and Hippo Regius. The town was encompassed for many years after the
French occupation by numerous blockhouses, placed in a semicircle on
the surrounding heights. Fort Duquesne stands on the sea-shore, defends
the S.E. side of the town, and rises abruptly from the water.

St. Marie* gives the following account of Djidjelli, which he visited in
1845 : " Left Bugia at 11 at night, and next morning at sunrise we were
off Gigelly. The port is defended on the west by a peninsula stretching
towards the north, on which the fort is built. Towards the offing it is
imperfectly defended by a chain of rocky islets, between which the sea
rushes with great violence in strong weather. This chain, which joins the
end of the peninsula, and runs east parallel with the coast, is more than
200 metres long (656 feet).

" Ancient Igilgilis was intersected by some Roman roads leading to
Bugia, Setif, Constantina, and Hippo. The French, Genoese, Venetians,
and Flemings had commercial houses at this place, which traded in leather
and wax. " On the 22d July, 1664, the Duke of Beaufort took possession
of it; and in a small fort commanding the town, which still exists, he left
400 men, who, dispersing afterwards, were massacred by the Arabs. A few
Maltese now carry on the coral fishery, and the French garrison is of no
importance. Leo Africanus gave Djidjelli or Gigel 600 hearths or fires at
the beginning of the 16th century; and Aroudj (Barbarossa) took the name
of Sultan of Gigel in 1574; but in 1725 Peyssonel only found 60 houses

there, "f

The Ouad-el-Kebir, or great river (Ampsaga), falls into the sea 10
leagues (25 miles) east of Djidjelli; beyond it are the Sebba-Rous, or seven
capes, where the Sinus Numidicus of the Romans may be supposed to
begin, and where also the river Zhoora has its influx. The Ouled Attyah
and the Beni Friquanah, two principal clans of the Sebba-Rous, use the
water of this river; and, unlike other Kabylcs, they live in caves scooped
out of the rock, or found ready-made. When a ship comes near the shore,
they run in crowds to the coast, and pray to God to give it up into their
hands; reminding one of the Cornish clergyman, who, hearing of a wreck
in church, desired his congregation to give a fair start, that he might have
a chance.

* Every particular recorder! hy Baron Baudc is naturally chronicled by Count St. Marie
au pied de la leltre, including the wax and leather exports, and the Duke of Beaufort,
t St. Marie, p. 201. Baron Baude, vol. i. p. 155.

COLLO. 197

Baron Baude informs us that the rocks of the Sebba-Bous consist of
limestone; and that the crests are fringed with pines and carobs, and
sprinkled with a few patches of cultivation.*

The Ras-el-Kebir is formed of basaltic prisms of pale green, which are
found as far as Collo. You may discover the same formation, through a
glass from a ship, on the top of the lofty peak of Coudia, where it answers
the purposes of a landmark to point out the anchorage. Turning a rock,
you now discover the masts of some sandals ;f then the end of a quay, and
a kind of warehouse built of rough unhewn stones; some fine trees,
planted without symmetry; a mosque; and behind, on the slope, some
houses of a miserable appearance, covered with hollow tiles. This is all
that you see of Collo; yet it fills the whole of the little space intervening
between the extremities of two hills washed by the sea, and behind which
is a pretty plain. It was reported to have 2000 inhabitants in 1840; but
it did not appear to Baron Baude to contain so many.J

Leo Africanus calls it the most opulent and the safest place on the
coast. This may not be strictly correct; but its vicinity possesses forests
of oak, where the Algerian navy obtained its timber; and specimens of
copper ore have been found there. The inhabitants manufacture a coarse
stuff, and carry on a coasting trade with Algiers and Tunis. The anchor-
age before Collo is excellent, and quite sheltered from N.W. winds. Fri-
gates can anchor at 500 metres (1G40 feet) from the coast; and near the
land you find 5 metres (1G-40 feet) of water. At 3 leagues (7£ miles) to
the south of Collo, the small lake which, according to tradition, confirmed
by numerous ruins, formed the old port, has retained all its depth. It
is only separated from the sea by a tongue of land of 100 metres (328 feet)
in breadth; and the Oued-Zeamah is navigable 3 leagues up the country,
and has its influx here.

Collo, sometimes written Cull, or in Latin Cullu, stands in a pictur-
esque situation under the most eastern of the seven capes; but, like Igil-
gillis or Jigel, its present condition is very poor; and it contains but few
antiquities. Its harbour is small, though larger than that of Jigel; and
the neighbouring waters and coast are said to contain many beds of coral;
but the wild tribes of the vicinity have hitherto, in a great measure, neu-
tralised this advantage.

Baron Baude, who touched at Collo on his passage from Algiers to
Bona, was visited by many natives in boats, bringing fowls, apes, &c, and
what they called little tigers. Many of the men have blue eyes, clear skin,
and light hair. The same features are found among the Spain Kabyles of
Youssouf at Bona; and they must be the descendants of the Vandals.
Collo is a very likely place for these children of the north to have retired
to when Gelimer fled to Mount Edough (Fappua Mons). Frocopius says,§

* Baron Baude, vol. i. p. 159. + Native boats. J Baron Baude, vol. i. p. 159.

§ Belisarius Gelimerum perseuuens usque munitam venit civitatem, juxta mare sitam,

198 STORA.

" Belisarius following Gelimer, came to a fortified city situated near the
sea, which they call Hippo the Royal. He heard there that Gelimer had
fled into the Pappuan Mount, and that it would not be easy to capture
him there. This mountain, which is situated at the extreme limit of
Numidia, is steep and difficult of access; being surrounded on all sides
by very lofty precipices, Avhere the barbarous Mamusii are friends and
military allies of Gelimer." According to the opinion of Baron Baude,
Collo stands on the site of the ancient Cullu. The anchorage he repre-
sents as good and sheltered, so that frigates can moor at the distance of
500 metres (1640 feet) from the shore; and 30 fathoms are found in
many places close in shore. The neighbourhood of Collo has many na-
tural advantages; forests of oak clothe the land in its vicinity, which is
also said to possess copper veins.""'

Advancing eastward, at the distance of 8 leagues (20 miles) you reach
Stora, at the bottom of a cove formed by abrupt mountains. It was com-
pletely deserted in 1840, when visited by Baron Baude; but it contains
more vestiges of antiquity than Philippeville. It stands on the site of Rusi-
cada; and some paces from the sea are the ruins of some reservoirs, fed by
a neighbouring source: the waves also bathe the foot of some old walls of
rough stones and brick, which may not improbably have contained a fort
for troops; but the hills surrounding it are too steep to have allowed of a
large establishment. To the east the slope is wooded, and capable of
culture; but the vale of the Oued-el-Kebir is very open, and turns in the
direction of Cirta. Ancient Rusicada stood on a height that commands
its mouth, and the ground on that spot is covered with its ruins. At an
equal distance from Cirta and Hippo, it was united to both by a Roman
road; and the country seems very easy to cut through by turnpike or
rail roads. The anchorage of Stora is only preferable to that of Collo for
small craft; it could not conveniently hold more than two corvettes: and,
according to Baron Baude, it is not well adapted for a port.

The Tableau cle la Situation observes, that the port of Stora, at a short
distance from the new colony, is safer than the port of Philippeville. t

Stora is chiefly remarkable as the port of Philippeville, which we must
now proceed to notice.

quam Hipponem regiam vocant. Ibi Gelimerum audivit in Pappuam montem confugisse,
ncc facilem a Romanis captu esse. Hie enim mens in Numidise finibus extremis, valde
quidem abruptus, adituque diffieilis, petris undique altisMinis enmmunitus, in quo Mamusii
barbari habitantos Gelimeri amici ac bello socii. — lie !•> II. Vand. c. i.

; The ( 'ompany of La (,'allc had an agent at Collo, and procured there honey, grain, a
little cotton, oil, and 31 or 400 metrical quintals (NS.oun ll, s . avoirdupois) of wax at the
fixed price of 180 francs, besides 30,000 raw hides. Those of oxen and milch cows were
assessed at 4 francs 50 centimes, and at 2 francs 80 centimes. These relations, long inter-
rupted, were renewed in 1816 ; and in 1820 tho people of Collo drove out the Turkish
irrison, and pronounced themselves independent ; but they soon retailed it, in order to
recover the French trade which they had lost thereby. — Baron Jiatulc, vol. i. p. 162.

i Tableau, 1839.

PIIILIPPEVILLE. 199

Madame Prus, one of the latest visitors to Algeria, gives the following
description of this French colony, which was founded in 1838 on the site
of Rusicada, and at the distance of half a league (1^ mile) from the gulf
of that name :

" The town of Philippeville, which was built by the French on the site
of ancient Rusicada, has the appearance of a fine provincial town thinly
inhabited. The walls which surround it defend it from the attacks of
the Kabyles, who, notwithstanding this, succeeded in setting the town on
fire a few years ago. Speedy measures, however, were adopted, and the
flames were prevented from spreading ; but from that time the Bedouins
of the country were forbidden to remain in the town after sunset.

" At every step vestiges of the old Roman city meet the eye, but it is
impossible to obtain any account of them. The town is peopled almost
exclusively by emigrants from Provence, Marseilles, and Corsica, as is the
case with all the principal towns of Algeria. It presents a sombre aspect,
as many of the houses are shut up ; and the number of bills for lodging
visible in every window are a sufficient proof of the depopulation of the
city. The hospital and barracks, however, are fine large buildings.

" The general impression conveyed by Philippeville is, that there exists
a necessity of filling much ground, without that of accommodating many
inhabitants."*

The line of coast that we have been now describing was passed in
1845 by Count St. Marie, who has left the following account of it. After
his description of Djidjelli, he proceeds : " We soon arrived on the north
of Mers-el-Zeitoun, with Cape Bougaroni on the east. The mountains,
whose bases are washed by the sea, are like those to the west of Bugia,
wild and rugged, but without the picturesque. They have a grandeur of
effect, owing to their stupendous masses ; but though verdant, they do
not present any of those pleasing spots on which the eye of the traveller
loves to dwell. These shores are said to abound in coral ; but, unfor-
tunately, the ferocity of the neigbouring tribes does not permit the fishers
to approach the coast.

" Beyond Cape Bougaroni the coast becomes deeply indented ; and it
is indebted to this configuration for its appellation of Djebel Saba Rous
(the mountain of seven heads).

" This mountain, which is of calcareous formation, is crowned with
pines and carob-trees, the brightness and freshness of the verdure de-
noting the vicinity of springs. Near each of these sources appear a
cluster of huts, as i-ude as the nuipals of the Numidians, and almost
buried amongst the trees. -j~

" The Ras-el-Kebir consists of pale -grey basaltic prisms, which re-
appear beyond Philippeville. At length, on turning a rock, we entered

* Madame Prus, Residence in Algeria, 1850.

f Sallust. Jug. cap. 18. Baron Baude, vol. i. p. 159.

200 PHILIPPEVILLE.

a pleasant little hollow, at the end of which was situated the European
town of Philippeville, distant two days' journey from Constantina, to which
it answers the purpose of a port, serving as the chief point of communi-
cation with that interesting part of the province. All the houses of Phi-
lippeville are new and well-built; and the European inhabitants seem happy
in having established themselves on a fertile soil surrrounded by a good
air, with plenty of sweet water."* The count proceeds to make the same
remarks, almost verbatim, as Baron Baude, on the Ouad-Zeamah, the vale
of the Oued-el-Kebir, and the woody and fertile slopes around the town.

It appears from the latest official documents, that the French have
undertaken, since 1847, civil improvements at Philippeville at an expense
of about 231,000 fr. (9240/.); including 1023 metres (3454-4 feet) of new
streets on a large scale, and 5305 (16,400-40 feet) on a small scale, making
a total of 6328 metres (20,755-84 feet). The Bue Nationale, uniting the
Grande Place and the landing-place at Philippeville with the road to Con-
stantina, and comprising in itself alone a length of 1023 metres of street-
age on a large scale, has a paved road, six metres (19-68 feet) in width,
for a distance of 511 metres (1676 - 8 feet) on the slope towards the sea.
The slope towards the gate of Constantina had been macadamised, in
1850, for a length of 512 metres 80 centimetres (168P98 feet), with a
width of 6 metres.

Fountains and Drains.~\- — It appears that the Boman cisterns have
been restored, consisting of eight great basins, which had to be emptied.
The walls, which were in a dilapidated state, have been renewed. The
conduit between the cisterns and the walls has been restored, and 3752
metres (12,306-56 feet) have been cleared for a channel to bring the waters
of the Beni-Melek to them. Another plan is in agitation for bringing the
waters of the Filfila to them ; the expense of this undertaking being esti-
mated at 500,000 fr. (20,000/.). As regards drainage, sewers have been com-
pleted in the Bue Nationale ; that part of it between the sea and the Bue
du Cirque being on a large scale, as well as that of the Bue des Citernes.
These two drains answer the purpose of main-sewers. The expense of
the sewers in the Bue Nationale was 38,395 fr. 25 c. (1535/. 16s. 9±d.)

Branch drains have been made in the Bues de Stora, Vallee, Marie-
Amelie, Joinville, Nemours, &c, costing 133,854 fr. 58 c, and executed
between 1842 and 1848. The new church of Philippeville was not com-
pleted in 1850, though it had then cost 154,643 fr. (6185/. 15s.)

Philippeville being a sub-prefecture of the province, it has been found
necessary to erect a building for that purpose, which was completed in
1847, at a cost of 2097 fr. 77 c. (83/. 18s. id.) Among other recent
civil works completed or in course of erection at this new colonial city,
we may specify a police-station and a cemetery ; a douane has also been
partially built, at an expense of 111,000 fr. (4440/.)

* St. Marie. t Tableau do la Situation, p. 356.

PHILIPPEYILLE. 201

Under the head of military erections, we find that the arsenal of
Philippeville has cost 110,108 fr., and that the wall and ramparts have
been repaired; magazines have been built at the expense of 308,000 fr.
(12,320/.), a hospital at 551,000 fr. ; and the general fortifications for
the defence of the place have cost 1,915,118 fr. (76,604/. 15s.): con-
sisting chiefly of three provisional batteries to command the anchorage
of Stora and Philippeville, and to be superseded by permanent ones ; of
the arsenal, containing a well in its precincts ; barracks, especially that
of the Numides ; the city wall (mv/r d 1 enceinte), quarters of cavalry, and
the hotel of the commandant, &c.

As regards the population of Philippeville, the European inhabitants
amounted in 1847 to 5499, analysed as follows : French, 3354; Maltese,
1088; Spaniards, 223; Italian, 625; German, 82; Swiss, 46; divers, 81.
Men, 2885; women, 1496; children, 1118.

In 1848 (Dec. 31) it amounted to 4501 :— French, 2756 ; Maltese, 1320 ;
Spaniards, 162; Italian, 138; German, 15; Swiss, 26; divers, 84. Men,
2260; women, 990; children, 1251.

In Dec. 1849 it amounted to 6653 :— French, 2142; Maltese, 2408;
Spaniards, 120; Italian, 1426; German, 330; Swiss, 13; divers, 175.
Men, 2796 ; women, 1749, children, 2108.*

The statistics of births and deaths at Philippeville from 1840 to 1850
present the following figures : In 1840 the births amounted to 16 ; in
1845 to 149; in the first six months of 1850 to 97; the maximum being
in 1848, 262. The deaths were, in 1839, 1 ; in 1845, 244; in 1849, 657.f
We shall simply enumerate the colonial villages surrounding Philippe-
ville, as they will be minutely analysed in another place.

Vallee, Damremont, and St. Antoine, are the oldest of these centres of
population in the territory annexed to Philippeville. Several more recent
colonial establishments have been formed on the road to Bona and Con-
stantina. Of these, more in another place. The port of Stora, now one
of the chief stations of intercourse with France, and the fine road uniting
Philippeville to Constantina, Biskara, and the Sahara, must shortly make
it a place of considerable commercial and general importance. J

Philippeville was founded by Marshal Vallee in 1838, on the bay of
Stora, and has, according to the Tableau, a good sheltered harbour. The
citadel at Philippeville is called the Fort de France, and the fort to the
west is Fort Royal. At the opposite extremity is Fort d'Orleans ; and
eastward, on a height in the plain, is Fort Vallee. Detached forts have
also been erected on the heights surrounding the valley in which Philippe-
ville is situated. The land surrounding this rising town is rich and good ;
and its distance from Constantina is twenty-two leagues (55 miles), the

* Tableau de la Situation, 1850.

t For further particulars see the statistical tables.

J Near Philippeville, St. Marie saw some tine plantations of tobacco.

202 PORT OF BONA.

road passing first through an open plain, and then through the defiles of
the Little Atlas. The population of Philippeville amounted in 1839 to
290 French and 221 foreigners, 97 women, and 108 children; total, 716.*

East of Philippeville is the small port of Gavetta ; and after doubling
Pias Hadeed and proceeding four leagues (10 miles), you come to the
eastern boundary of the Sinus Numidicus and an island called Tackeesh,
with a village of the same name on the opposite continent. Proceeding
eastward, you pass CVpe Hamrah (or red), the ffippi Promontoriwm, ; and
after doubling this you reach the Fort Genois, beyond which you arrive
at Bona.f But we must dwell a little longer on its approaches. Numidia
was more favoured than any other part of Africa by the Eomans ; and the
best part of Numidia is the plain enclosed between the slopes of the Atlas
and the outliers that detach themselves from it to form to the east Cape
Rose, to the west the abrupt shore of Stora. The sea bathes it to the
north by the two indentures called Gulf of Bona and Gulf of Numidia or
Stora. Mount Edough, whose long and narrow mass rises like a rampart,
separates this plain from the sea, running between the two gulfs for
fifteen leagues (37 miles); and passing behind the mountain, you proceed
in a straight line from Bona to Stora by a road parallel to it. The Sey-
bouse falls into the sea at the gates of Bona, and the Mafrag at five
leagues (12£ miles) to the east; both are navigable from their mouth to
the entrance of the valleys of the Atlas.

This plain, by which the French possessions touch the regency of
Tunis and approach the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, being 180 leagues
(450 miles) in extent, is better adapted than any other part of Africa for
colonisation, but has been less resorted to than any other part of Algeria
hitherto, chiefly owing to the want of drainage in the surrounding marshes,
and the want of a good port at Bona. X

What is called the port of Bona is only a shallow anchorage with bad
holding-ground, weakly defended from the sea by the point of the Lion,
and lower down by that of the Stork (Cigogne), which advances GO
metres (196-80 feet) into the sea. The anchorage consists of a bed of
sand stretched over the rock, stirred up and moved in bad weather by the
surf, and offering no resistance to anchors. A year seldom passes with-
out shipwreck in the bay of Bona; and on the 25th January, 1835, four-
teen vessels, including one brig of war, perished there ; eighteen days
after, six other ships experienced the same fate, being the last vessels
left in the roadstead. But to the north of this dangerous station, a high
coast, which ends in the Cap de Garde, runs for two leagues (5 miles)
in a northerly direction, and presents in its indentures the anchorages of
Caroubiers and of Fort Genois.

The first is at the distance of two miles, the other three from the town.

* Tableau de la Situation for 1839, and Baron Baude. + Blofcld, p. 43.

J Baron Baude, vol. ii. \>. 1.

BONA.

203

BONA.

When Bona was more frequented, marine assurances only applied, in case
of accidents, to ships anchored in those two harbours, from the 15th of May
to the 15th September; and during the remaining eight months of the year,
they were only given to vessels mooring under the Fort (!enois. Since
the year 1835, the largest ships of the French navy, such as the Jupiter,
the Suffren, and the Montebello, remain all the winter in the anchorage of
Fort Genois, whence, however, there Avas no road to Bona in 1841. In
the time of the Romans, the quiet and deep waters of the Seybouse gave
them a good port ; but for thirteen centuries the alluvial deposits have
gained on the sea, and the regular bottom of the river is behind a bar,
alternately open or shut, according to the predominance of the fluvial
current and the winds in the high sea.

According to Baron Baude, the only place near the town fit for a port
is the creek bordered by rocks, before the Stork Fort and the Point of the
Lazaretto; the sea at this spot being deep, the approach easy, and the
accumulation of sand impossible.*

Having brought the reader to the gates of Bona, we shall enter the
town in the society of some select friends, prefacing a hroad outline of its
most prominent features.

Bona is the Frank name of this city, and is thought to be a corrup-

* Baron Baude, vol. ii. p. 10.

204 BONA.

tion of the Latin Hippo Regius, a Roman town situated at the distance
of one mile on the Seybouse, and from whose materials it was originally
built by the Saracens. The Arabs call Bona Blaid-el-Aneb, or Anaba,

<L Uc tne city °f j u J uoes ', or simply Anaba, from the quantity of those

fruit-trees growing near it ; and Leo Africanus informs us that Blaid-el-
Aneb was built out of the ruins of Hippona.*

St. Marie says that the town stands on a flat space of ground, formiug
a pentagon of fourteen hectares (35 acres) in extent, surrounded with
wretched walls. He adds that its population is not numerous, and that it
has no trade.-j-

Baron Baude assigned it a population of 5338 Europeans in 1840,
adding, that a bad wall shuts in this population in a pentagon of fourteen
hectares (35 acres), and separates it from the sea. In 1850, Madame Prus
gave it a population of 12,000, of whom 4000 were French, chiefly Pro-
ven9aux (natives of Provence). J

St. Marie, who landed at Bona in 1845, informs us that at the Quay
they observed in the harbour many barks about to start for the coral
fishery. On landing, they saw before them a great Morisco Gate, like
that of Medeah (in 1845) ; and on one side was a pretty broad street,
which, after some turning, led to a square surrounded by houses in the
European style, as at Algiers.

Bona is situated low down on the south side of the coast. § On a
summit, only remarkable for a rapid ascent, is the Casbah, whose guns
command the anchorage of the Cassarins. Open on all sides, the sur-
rounding ground offers no shelter for the advance of an enemy, who would
find it impossible to mask himself by entrenchments, because, throughout
nearly the whole line of approach, the pickaxe, at the first stroke, comes
in contact with the solid rock. The Casbah, built by Peter de Navarre, is
inferior to nothing in modern art. The trifling trade of Bona is, accord-
ing to St. Marie, in the hands of the Jews. Madame Prus, who had the
advantage of a longer and more recent residence at Bona (1 850), gives us
the following particulars : " The Rue Constantine, which is a kind of
suburb to the town, is composed both of Arab and French houses. The
Rue Damremont and the Place d'Armes are built entirely in the French
style; but the roofs are surrounded with terraces, where linen tents are
pitched, under which the inhabitants spend a great part of their time,
breathing the cool evening air.

" A beautiful church was commenced three or four years ago on the out-
skirts of Bona, near the Porte Damremont; but the want of funds, the
great obstacle to all undertakings of this nature, prevented its further pro-
gress in 1850. The wits of the town compare the building of this edifice

* Blofeld, p. 43. f Page 209. % Mad. Prus, pp. 3(3-38.

% Jioua stands in 36° 52' N. lat. and 7° 45' E. long, of Greenwich.

BONA. 205

to that of the triumphal arch at Paris near the Barriere de l'Etoile : it
would be unfortunate, were the same result to take place in both cases.

" I must not forget to add, that Bona is more backward in civilisation
than any other town occupied by the French in this country. Its finest
habitations, like that of Karesi, offer a strange mixture of modern luxury
and ancient barbarism. Bona, the distant, the uncivilised Bona, presented
but few attractions, either to the philosopher or the traveller. The in-
terest of all has ever been centered in Algiers : thither were dispatched
the first specimens of Parisian commerce ; there the first French settlers
formed their establishment ; and, thanks to twenty-one years of civil and
military occupation, this chief of Algerian cities has lost much of its pri-
mitive character."

The 4000 French inhabitants of Bona flocked in after the army, and
the Maltese had even forestalled them. The latter have a monopoly of
provisions and of household goods; and the French stand no chance in
competing with them, as they are very sharp in business. The Maltese
lend out on interest, the ordinary rate of usury being 10 per cent, whilst
in urgent cases it is raised to 25, 30, and even 40 per cent. They lay
claim to the office of street-porter; are a very strong, laborious, and in-
dustrious race, sleeping on the floor of their warehouses, without taking
off their clothes ; they are, moreover, possessed of great muscular strength,
four of them being able to cany easily a great cask of wine, suspended
by ropes to the tops of wooden poles, which they place on their shoulders.
Their treatment of the Arabs, like that of the colonists generally, is very
bad and insulting ; a circumstance resulting, in a great measure, from the
inefficient state of the police, and the charities of Christendom.

Madame Prus was particularly struck with the singular appearance of
a Maltese wedding, which presents a greater likeness to our notions of a
funeral. On the bridal procession the women go together, their heads
covered with black aprons, including the bride, and followed by the men,
dressed in a uniform costume, not unlike that of English sailors. The
catalogue of Maltese charms is crowned by Madame Prus pronouncing
them perfidious, cunning, and superstitious, with all the vices of Italians
and without any of their virtues.* It is truly gratifying to find that these
excellent and honest people are classed by the French official documents
as Anglais. Verily, the Union Jack covers a multitude of sins.

We propose to enter somewhat minutely into the statistics of Bona,
and the causes of its unhealthiness, which has become proverbial. In
1841, Baron Baude remarked that at that time there were fewer women
in proportion to men in Bona than in any other town in Algeria. The
French scarcely composed one-third of the number, being much less nume-
rous than the Maltese, who had not, however, brought their women with
them. The proportion of women to men was, in 1839,

* Residence, &c. 1850, pp. 36-38.

206

BONA.

Europeans .
Mussulmans
Israelites .

Total

Men.

Women.

Children.

Total.

1975

552

158

3095

699

679

582

1966

140

283

2812

1311

803

5338

The Europeans were analysed thus : French, 1114; Maltese, 1206; Italians,
115; Spaniards, 550; German, &c. 110. The proportion of women to men
in this number is 28 per cent. There die in France 1 in 39-5, at Bona
1 in 13 - 2, though the colonists are not old people. The following table
contains the statistics of births and deaths from 1833 to 1838 :

Years.

Births.

Deaths.

Years.

Births.

Deaths

1833

l.SHi

140

1834

108

1837

170

1835

136

1S38

110

209

So much for the Baron's statistics.* The French official documents
from 1847 to 1849 present us with the following tables :

1847. French, 2387 ; Anglo-Maltese, 2268 ; Spaniards, 144 ; Italians,
1344 ; Germans, 352 ; Swiss, 18 ; divers, 122. Men, 2998 ; women,
1659 ; children, 1978. Total, 6635.

1848. French, 3152; Anglo-Maltese, 1541 ; Spaniards, 195; Italians,
1510; Germans, 152; Swiss, 49; clivers, 113. Men, 3194; women,
1981 ; children, 1537. Total, 6712.

1849. French, 3229 ; Anglo-Maltese, 1047; Spaniards, 230 ; Italians,
489 ; Germans, 101; Swiss, 72; divers, 82. Men, 2802; women, 1387;
children, 1061. Total, 5250.t

The unhealthiness of Bona is proved by the hospital returns. The
garrison has seldom exceeded 4500 men ; and, independently of nume-
rous invalids in the regimental infirmaries, the hospital contains habitually
one-tenth, and occasionally one-third, of the troops. The hospital returns
from 1833 to 1839 are as follow :

Years.

Mean.

Deo. 31st;

Dci'i

1832

312

452

459

1833

442

331

1526

1834

534

762

466

1835

383

391

376

1836

344

765

369

1838

I.-.D

717

651

1839

445

804

640:

The garrison on the 8th of April, 1832, consisted at first of 100 men
of the 4th regiment of the line, and rose till October of the same year to
3500 men. As every soldier enters about twice every year, the above

* Ah'-eVio, vol. ii. p. 33.

J Baron Baudo, vol. ii. p, 10.

f Tableau de la Situation, 1850, pp. 94-96.

bona. 207

hospital returns do not really give a sufficient list of sufferers. It is some-
what remarkable that the district of Bona was once very healthy ; hut the
cause of the present infectious fevers that prevail there is well known.
The space between old Hippo and the modern town was in remote times
a cove of the gulf. Earth brought down by the Seybouse, and driven up
by the sea, has converted this cove into a plain, many parts of which are
hardly on a level with the sea. The sand-hills raised by the wind alon r <-
the coast have made a number of reservoirs in the low places, into which
the waters of Mount Edough, of the vale of Kharezas, and sometimes of
the surf, now ; these waters not being able to flow oft* again, stagnate and
give birth to miasmas under the action of a hot sun. There are four chief
depots of marshes near the town, the most remote being about 1500
metres distant (4920 feet).

.M. Carette in 1833-4 estimated the amount of land to be drained at
15-27 hectai'es (38-17 acres), and the amount of matter recpiired to fill
them up 100,000 cubic metres (109,200 cubic yards).

St. Marie describes the pestilential exhalations as occasioned by the
Herbeyra marsh, adjoining the Constantina gate.

Two thousand metres (6500 feet) from Bona, to the right of the mouth
of the Seybouse, is a piece of low and wet ground called the cuve (pit or
hollow) Herbeyra, whose exhalations reach the town. It consists of about
70 hectares (175 acres), and might be easily filled up with the sand of the
neighbouring sand-hills, or planted over. The marshy meadows of Vale
Kharezas ought also to be drained.*

Another cause of the unhealthiness of Bona may be traced to the
filthy state of many of its streets ; dirt having accumulated in them since
time immemorial, and having raised the soil considerably in some places.
Many of the houses, according to St. Marie, are buried 2 metres (6-56
feet) in ruins. t

An additional cause of insalubrity is presented by the scarcity of water,
the aqueducts having been destroyed in 1832, when Bona was taken by the
French, who have only lately attempted to remedy the evil. Baron Baude
states, that it used to have seven fountains carefully kept up under the
Turks; but in 1841 there was only one; and every household had to go
half a quarter of a league from the ramparts every day to get theirs. The
fact is, that in 1832 Achmet-Bey wished to destroy Bona, and cut all
the water-conduits.:}:

In 1834 Baron Baude states, that the 14 hectares (35 acres) embraced
within the walls contained 674 houses, of which 288 belonged to the au-
thorities (the Domaine), 266 had been appropriated to barracks, and 22 to
the civil service, §

The latest particulars respecting the sanitary condition of Bona, and

* Baron Baude, vol. ii. p. 21. f St. Marie.

+ Baron Baude, vol. ii. p. 18. § Ibid.

208 BONA.

the statistics of its public and private buildings, which are now presented
to the reader, are obtained from official documents.

From 1834 to 1848, 1233 metres (4044-24 feet) of principal streets
were opened, of which 608 metres (1994-24 feet) were paved, and 625
metres (2050 feet) macadamised; 3540 metres (11,611 feet) of smaller
streets have been paved, and may be considered in a good state of repair.
Seven squares have been macadamised and planted with 338 trees. These
works have cost 306,000 francs (12,240?.).

Several important works have been undertaken to supply Bona with
water ; e. g. 7750 metres (25,420 feet) of water-conduits, and 5670 metres
(18,597-60 feet) of sewerage, have been opened from 1833 to 1847.
Sixty-four regards, or watermen, look after the works. The great conduit
which brings the water from Mount Edough to Bona forms two siphons ;
the first of which has a length of 3157 metres (10,354-96 feet), and the
second of 793 metres (2601-04 feet). Out of the 5676 metres (18,617-28
feet) of drainage, 350 metres (1148 feet) are vaulted, and can be entered
and examined from within. The expenses incurred in forming these con-
duits and drains have amounted to 597,500 francs (23,900/.).

A civil prison and tribunal of justice have been erected at Bona
since 1845, costing 25,000 francs (1000/.) ; and a school- house was built
in 1845-6, at an expense of 27,000 francs (1080/.).

The church of Bona, which had already cost 180,000 francs (7200/.)
in 1850, was not at that time completed.

The house of the sub-prefecture of Bona, begun in 1846, was not
finished in 1849 for want of funds, having cost 79,000 francs (3160/.).
A market-place was built there in 1846-47, costing 1200 francs (48/.);
and a cemetery at the same date, estimated at 24,000 francs (960/).

The Douane of Bona, built in 1844, cost 109,000 francs (4360/.); and
a caravanserai, afterwards converted into a native market, was built there
in 1843, at a cost of 70,000 francs (2800/.).

The military works erected at Bona by the French government within
the last few years have cost 1,991,800 francs (79,672/.), from 1832 to
1849 inclusive. A battery for ten pieces of ordnance has been built at
the Fort Cigogne, with magazines, &c. ; and a battery for twelve pieces has
been begun on the rock of the Lion. The town wall and the Casbah have
been improved ; barracks for 1100 men and 360 horses have been estab-
lished ; a workshop for 300 convicts has been formed, and a residence for
the commandant built, besides a powder-magazine at the Casbah for
30,000 kilogrammes (66,000 lbs.).* M. Bcrbruggcr gives the following
graphic description of Bona :

" Before reaching the anchoi'age of Cazerain, you pass the Cap de Garde,
or Cap llouge. The last name is the literal translation of Ras-el-Hamrah,
the appellation applied to it by the natives : the ancients called it Hippi
* Tableau do la Situation, 1850, pp. 313-381. (Travaux Publics.)

MOUNT EDOUGII. 209

promontorium. Roman marble-quarries, whence they obtained the mate-
rials for the construction of Hippo Regius and of Aphrodisiuni, are still
seen there, together with fresh traces of their quarrying labours ; and a
great number of fossil shells, some of large size, are found incrusted in the
schistous rock of the cape.

A little beyond the cape, towards the town, stands forth the Fort
Genois; a building of a shining white colour, built on a rock lashed by the
waves. When Bona was subject to the kings of Tunis, they granted the
monopoly of the coral fishery, reaching from the mouth of the Seybouse
to Cape Rosa, to the Genoese. The fishermen, whose industry was inter-
rupted by pirates, obtained permission to build a fort on a rock in the
bay; and though opposed by the inhabitants, they succeeded; hence the
Fort Genois.

After the anchorage of Fort Genois comes that of the Caroubiers ; then,
underneath the Casbah, the Ras-el-H'mama (Cape of Pigeons), whose ex-
treme point has, when seen afar off, a considerable resemblance to a lion
couchant, — hence the Europeans have christened it the Lion's Rock. Be-
yond this point you come to the anchorage of Cazerain, whence you
behold the town of Bona, and the ruins of Hippo Regius, or more pro-
perly the woody hillock where they lie hid under the olive, jujube, and
Barbary fig-trees.

To the west the eye rests with admiration on the imposing mass of the
Djebel Edough. From its summit, which rises above the clouds, two
strongly-marked ridges descend to the sea, where, spreading out, they
form the Cape of Garde and that of the Pigeons. Mount Edough is an
infallible barometer to the good people of Bona; and when, on a winter's
day, the clouds are seen trooping up and shrouding its grey sides with a
misty belt, you may reckon that you will soon be soaked by one of those
deluges of rain characteristic of Africa. This mountain, whose access is
very difficult, is inhabited by Kabyles. The Romans, who called it Pap-
pua, found it very difficult to penetrate into its recesses, when they wished
to pursue certain contumacious native princes who had fled thither. When
Belisarius recovered Africa from the Vandals in 532, Gelimer, who could
find no security in the towns which had been dismantled by Genseric,
sought refuge in the Pappua. The people of that mountain, who had re-
mained in primitive barbarism, though so near the splendid growth of
Roman civilisation, are reported to have viewed with wonder the effemi-
nate character of the fugitive Vandals. So completely had they been
enervated by the abuse of the luxuries that success had showered into
their laps, that they had sunk far beneath even Roman degeneracy and
corruption.

At the foot of Mount Edough, and a little in front of the point of rocks
overhanging the Stork's Fort (de la Cigogne), is situated the Coral Fishers'
Bay (des Corailleurs), which on fete-days is encumbered with the coral-

210 BONA.

fishers' boats, whose crews come to the chapel built on that spot to thank
God for a successful season, or to supplicate His favour if they have failed.
The next object is the Lazaretto, and then the Stork's Fort; and after
passing the latter spot, you face Bona, whose appearance is not at all im-
posing. It stands on the site of Aphrodisium, so called from Aphrodite,
or Venus, to whom the inhabitants had raised a handsome temple, and
whom they had chosen as their patroness. Bona is built of the remains
of that little city, and of those of Hippo Regius. The natives call it

Llxc J\ Jklj Blad-el-Anabe (the town of jujubes), or more commonly

Anabah, on account of the number of jujube-trees that grew around it
formerly, but which were cut down by the French soon after their occu-
pation, in order to free the approaches of the town, and to remove all
shelter for the Kabyles, who used to practise at picking off the French
soldiers with their loner smns.

Bona was founded soon after the destruction of Hippo by the Arabs
(a. D. 087). Its inhabitants lived always independent till the time of the
Turks, regarding the kings placed over them rather as patrons than as
sovereigns; and when the latter sought to tighten the reins, they threat-
ened to surrender to the Christians. The latter took possession of it
under Charles the Fifth, at the time of his expedition to Tunis, Alvar
Gomez Zagal being left there with 1000 foot and 25 horse. He kept
(he town and plundered the country with this weak force; but on Zagal's
death, the emperor ordered the town to be abandoned, and the fortifi-
cations to be razed. The Turks took it afterwards from the kings of
Tunis, who were too weak to hold it; but it changed masters several times
subsequently.

Beyond Bona you perceive a river, the Boudjema (the Armua of the
ancients), which, after having watered the vale of Khai'esas, passes under
the bridge of Hippo Regius, and reaches the bay by trickling through the
sands that obstruct its mouth. A little beyond is the Seybouse, a rather
broad and deep river, once the port of the Romans; but its entrance is
now barred by a shifting sand-bank. The brig Ruse, which was wrecked
there in January 1835, altered the bar considerably; and this fact may
lead the way to clearing the mouth of the river eventually, by suggesting
some mode of deepening the channel.

Between these two streams rises a green hillock, terminating on the
sea-side the chain of hills that limit the vale of Kharesas on the S.E. On
this spot once stood Hippo Regius, a very important city, of which more
anon.

On the left bank of the Seybouse begins a vast plain extending beyond
the Mafrag (the Rubricatus). The splendid pastures that it presented
afforded to Ahmed Bey of this province the means of paying the annual
tribute to the Dey of Algiers, and of pocketing a balance of 100,000 fr.

ARAB MARKET. 211

(4000/.) Being once in difficulties from immediate want of money, the
plain of Bona alone gave him 500,000 francs (20,000/.) in the space of a
few days.*

" We entered Bona," says Madame Prus, "by the Porte Constantine.
It was most curious to see the Arab market, which was held outside the
gates, but within the fortifications. Imagine a number of white figures,
of the same colour as the walls which surround them, moving busily
to and fro among the stores of provisions laid out for sale. These are the
Arabs of the district, wrapped in their white burnouses, or sheepskins.
Their wares consist of different kinds of fruits, which grow abundantly in
this country, curdled milk in earthen vessels, butter, <fec. A certain de-
gree of courage is necessary to penetrate through this crowd and gather
in one's stock of provisions, as the want of cleanliness, both in the articles
of food and in the persons of those that sell them, is most revolting.
They use no ablutions, except those prescribed by the Koran, which are
limited to the hands and feet. Their clothes actually swarm with vermin,
and a visit to the Arab market can never be made without disastrous con-
sequences; but the inconvenience being unavoidable, the best way is to
bear it with stoical firmness, and to overcome the disgust which the scene
described causes to our more refined feelings.

" Nothing can be more picturesque than the view from the market-
place. The old Arab town, half concealed by its high embattled walls, is
built in the form of an amphitheatre; and about a hundred steps farther
you see the terraces belonging to the more modern parts of the city. The
military hospital, and the minaret with its pointed roof, are imposing
edifices, situated in the Place d'Armes. On the left is the lofty chain of
Mount Edough, at the base of which is a lovely valley; and on the right
the blue waters of the Mediterranean. On the sea-shore are to be seen
the tents of the Bedouin salt-merchants, with their camels lying on the
sand, and their small lean horses picketed to the ground. In the dis-
tance the Twin mountains appear in bold relief against the blue sky; on
these were erected the sumptuous edifices of ancient Hippona, several im-
posing remains of which are still to be seen. Reservoirs of enormous
size, and the beautiful ruins of the Church of Peace, of which St. Augustin
was the first bishop, attest the grandeur of the ancient city.

"The higher classes of the Moors, though they do not conform to all
our customs, have adopted many of them from the mere impulse of imita-
tion. They speak French; which, indeed, they find indispensable, from
their frequent contact with French society. But this accomplishment is
practised by the men only. A Moorish lady has never been known to
accompany her husband on any visit, or to make the least change in tra-
ditional usages. "+

" Here Ave are," observes M. Berbrugger, " in the interior of Bona, in
* Berbrugger, part iii. + Madame Prus.

212 INTERIOR OF BONA.

the Place Rovigo, where the principal streets meet, leading to the gates of
the Marine, Constantine, Zikhan, and of the Casbah. To the left is the
house of Youssouf, and at the end you see the taper minaret of the
mosque. To the right you see a tree whose trunk is surrounded with
hoards, on which are commonly pasted up the proclamations, notices, and
other official publications. This place is also the seat of a kind of perma-
nent fair, which took a remarkable development after the return of the
second Constantina expedition. The arms, the carpets, and even the
dresses of the conquered were exposed there for sale. The Jews and Mal-
tese, who had followed the army with views somewhat foreign to glory,
let the French soldiers reap the laurels ; and, after gathering in a more
lucrative and less honourable harvest, they came back from Constantina
with the fruits of their industry, which they displayed at Bona. There
was a complete fever at the time for what were called the souvenirs de
Constantine.

" The interior of Bona is like that of most towns in Algeria. Seen from
a distance, almost all appear pretty ; but when you enter them, it is soon
discovered how remote the reality is from the appearance. But in Bona
the streets appeared, even in 1843, less narrow and obscure than those of
Algiers, which proceeds merely from the circumstance that the houses are
not so high. Save this difference, the nature of the dwellings is about
the same. In the business-streets appear little shops without any commu-
nication with the building to which they belong, and which seem so many
niches raised four feet from the ground. Every where else in the Arab
streets you see only completely bare walls, in which you find nothing but
some openings through which a child's head would pass with difficulty ;
within, a court surrounded by a gallery supported on columns ; two or three
long and narrow chambers opening into this gallery, and only receiving
the daylight through it ; above is the terrace, an almost universal appen-
dage at Bona.

" The other side of the square is built in the European style, like
the Bue de Bivoli at Paris, but in much more modest proportions. This
kind of building is onerous to the landlords, but it is very agreeable to
pedestrians, who find under the galleries a refuge from carriages, horses,
and other cattle, and a shelter against the sun and the rain. In 1843
this square Avas almost the only part of the town where French architec-
ture had appeared, all the other parts remaining in their ancient state,
save some demolitions rendered necessary to clear the roads for the
French wagon-train, which gave a ruinous aspect to many streets at that
time."*

The chief mosque of Bona contains some .splendid Corinthian capitals
and beautiful fluted columns, which appear to be the relics of some Roman
temple. They may possibly have belonged to the famous Basilica of

* Bcrbruggcr, part iii. p. 8.

MOSQUE OP BONA. 213

Peace, existing at Hippo in St. Augustin's time j or they may perhaps
he the remains of the temple of Venus at Aphrodisium. The first Chris-
tians built their churches with the materials of Pagan temples ; afterwards
came the Arabs, who built their mosques with the ruins of the two pre-
ceding worships. The same stones and marbles have been devoted by
succeeding races to form the House of God; as immortal as religious ideas,
they have only changed in form and arrangement.

The great mosque of Bona resembles all buildings of this kind. Its
three parallel galleries call to mind the nave and collateral aisles of our
churches. At the bottom is a niche turned to Gobla, or Mecca : there
stands the priest {imam), or the person commissioned to direct public
prayer. A modern staircase terminated by a platform (inombeur) is seen
to the left ; it is a kind of pulpit, which the imam mouuts every Friday,
before mid-day prayers (el-eulem), to preach to the people. The ground is
covered with mats, with carpets on the top of them, where the slipperless
worshippers kneel. When the crowd is great, those who fear unpleasant
exchanges take their slippers with them, instead of leaving them at the
door.

Lamps with several jets hang from vaults by iron chains ; but they are
never lighted except during the Kamahdan, when the exterior of the
mosque is also illuminated. An elegant minaret (smd) shoots up over the
mosque, and is crowned by a gallery whence the mouedden calls the faith-
ful to prayers five times a day. Further particulars respecting Mussulman
worship will be found in another place.*

With the reader's kind permission, we shall now take a stroll to Mount
Edough ; and we doubt not that he will gladly exchange the miasmas of
the marshes for the fresh mountain-breezes.

Mount Edough offers limestone all along this coast, a formation of
Avhich it is deprived for 80 leagues (200 miles) from Bugia to Cape Eoux.
The eastern slope of Mount Edough is uninhabited ; and at the foot of the
mountain are the remains of the immense plantations of olives funned in
the 17th century by Mustapha de Cordenas, a rich Moorish refugee from
Spain, which Peysonnel found in all their vigour in 1725. On the other
side of the cape there has been established from time immemorial the
poor and inoffensive tribe of Ali, which was visited by Baron Baude.
He found the solitary slopes of Mount Edough carpeted on that side up
to the highest summits, with that humble arborial vegetation which in
Africa issues from the struggle between the vegetative force of the soil
and the devastating teeth of the cattle. Some fruit-trees, vines, little
fields of maize and corn, and sheds built of unhewn stones, are signs of
the tendency existing in the Ouled-Ali to plant and build on a larger
scale, if they possessed the means ; but the tribe is so limited, that it only
constitutes a small family.

* Berbrugger, part iii. p. 7.

214 PLAIN OF BONA.

The only reproach that St. Augustin could make to the Kabyles of
Mount Edough, during his residence of thirty-six years at Bona, Avas, that
they spoke Punic, and did not understand Latin, in which the word of
God was preached.

Four leagues and a half south-west of Bona (11 ~ miles), the Lake
Efzara occupies 10 square leagues (62^ square miles) at the foot of Mount
Edough. The valley of Kharezas opens in a direct line from Bona to
Lake Efzara, between the foot of Mount Edough and the hills of Belelida ;
and, according to Desfontaines, whenever the waters of the Lake Efzara are
swollen by winter rains, they flow by this valley into the Mediterranean.

Bona is represented by Baron Baude as a better military station than
the ancient Hippo, from which it is separated by an interval of 1000
metres (3820 feet). The north-west angle of the plain, which extends on
the left of the Seybouse, is closed between the head of the Edough and
the sea by a hillock of 108 metres (354-24 feet) in height, separated
from the mountains by a narrow valley. Bona is situated at the bottom
and on the south side of this hill ; and the summit, which is reached by
steep slopes, is crowned by the Casbah, whose cannon, as previously
stated, sweep the anchorage of Cassarins.

There are 70 square leagues (437i square miles) of plain between the
Efzara lake and the river Mafra2\ This surface is divided into two almost
equal parts by the river Seybouse. The eastern part is a rectangle, and
touches the walls of Bona by its north-west angle ; the sea and two navi-
gable rivers defend three sides of it, and on the fourth the Atlas is not
practicable. The cultivation of these 110,000 hectares (275,000 acres) of
land can be always safely carried on. The river Mafrag, the west limit of
this plain, crosses it at five leagues (12^ miles) from Bona, about parallel
to the Seybouse, is as broad and as deep, and the navigable part of its
course appears to extend as far as that of the Seybouse, amongst the
branches of the Atlas range. Like the latter stream, the Mafrag is also
barred up with sand at its mouth most of the year.

The ruins of Hippo Regius, which will be circumstantially described in
another place,* are situated 1000 metres (3280 feet) from Bona, near the
mouth of the Seybouse ; and it appears that the city was grouped at the
foot of two mamelons, one 80 metres (2G2'40 feet), the other 38 metres
(124-64 feet) in height, and called in Arabic Bounah and ( iharf-el-Antram.t
The agricultural and other colonies surrounding Bona, and on the
road to riiilippeville, of which a doleful account has been given by Ma-
dame Prus, whilst the Tableau de la Situation speaks of them in favour-
able terms, will he fully described in the chapter on Colonisation. It
will suffice here to mention the name and situation of the most important,
which are Penthievre, Mondovi, and Barral.

* Chapter on Archaeology, Part IT.

t These particulars are obtained from Baron Baude, vol. ii. c. 8.

mrro regius. 215

Mr. Dawson Borrer, who sailed along the line of coast from Algiers
to Buna in 1846, gives the following description of the scenery that it
presented. " The night wind blew cold from the snow-clad heights of the
Djorjora, as, bidding adieu to Bugia, onward we glided, cleaving the glit-
tering waters of the gulf. Gigantic rocks jutting forth from the rugged
shores increased in grandeur as the shadows of darkness fell upon them.
Here and there, among the wild recesses of the mountain heights, the
glimmering of Kabyle watchfires might be seen. Then, as we turned Cape
Cavallo, a new scene burst upon us. A vast tract of mountain-side pre-
sented one glowing sheet of flame. Towering heights were clothed with
fire; chased by the reflection, the silver rays of the pale moon no longer
danced upon the rippling surface around us. Thus does the Kabyle clear
a space upon his brushwood-clad mountains, that he may cast in his grain,
the sowing season being at hand. After touching at Djidjelli, where the
French inhabitants are annually decimated by the malaria, and at Philippe-
ville, we turned Ras-el-Hamrah (the Hippi Promontorium of the ancients)
about 5 p.m., the third day of our voyage, and soon dropped anchor in
the bay of Bona. I like Bona. Its wood-clad heights overlooking the
wide blue sea, and its rich plains watered by the Seybouse, the Boojeemah,
and the Ruisseau d'Or, please me. So do also its gardens, in the fertile
soil of which luxuriate flowers and vegetables of all sorts, skilfully irrigated
by that most industrious class of colonists, the refuse of Spain and Malta,
who, never idle, cultivate the land by day, and rob and cut throats by
night.

" Again, how interesting are the moss-clad ruins of ancient Hippona,
shadowed by groves of olives, jujubes, and carobs ! The wind sighs through
those now-deserted courts, from which the venerable St. Augustin so
nobly combated the ruinous march of Roman luxury, and those various
heresies which then tore the Christian church in Africa. And was it not
within those walls that, borne down by the evils which assailed the em-
pire and the church, he died 1 ? — Vandal shouts ringing in his ears, as, in
pursuit of the unhappy Boniface, they filled the courts of Hippona with
their Arian hordes."*

Having surveyed the sea-board of this province from Djidjelli to Bona
and Hippo, we shall finish our description of the coast-line before we
analyse the inland parts.

The Seybouse and the Mafrag, the principal rivers between Bona and
Tabarca, seem to be the Ubus and Bubricatus of the ancients. Beyond
Cape Rose, five leagues from the Mafrag, is the Bastion, where there is a
small creek, and the ruins of a fort that gave rise to the name. The
factory of the French African Company had formerly their settlement at
this place; but the unwholesomeness of the situation, occasioned by the
neighbouring ponds and marshes, obliged them to remove to La Calle,

* Dawson Borrer, p. 326.

21G THE OUAD MERDES.

another inlet, three leagues (7|- miles) more to the east. About two miles
to the E. of La Calle is the little river Zaine (Tusca), which has served
for centuries as the limit of the two regencies of Algeria and Tunis.

There is a little island at the mouth of the Zaine, which continued
many years in the possession of a noble Genoese family, from the time of
Andrea Doria, to whom the Tunisians gave it, with the consent of the
Sublime Porte, as ransom for a prince taken prisoner by Doria. This
place was defended by a good castle, and protected the coral fishery in
those seas; but in 1740 the Bey of Tunis took it by treachery from the
Genoese, put some of them to the sword, and the remaining three or
four hundred were made prisoners.*

Having taken this rapid survey of the ground, we shall accompany
Baron Baude in a trip that he made to La Calle from Bona, in the com-
pany of M. Prosper de Chasseloup, going by the foot of the Atlas, and re-
turning along the coast. They went with letters of recommendation to
the Sheikh of the Merdes, Sidi-Mahnioud, and returned to Merdes on the
23d of Sej^tember.

From Draan, a station in the plain 12^ miles from Bona, to the
douar of the Merdes, you travel seven leagues (17^ miles) all in the plain.
To the south lies a high mountain, and to the north you leave the isolated
hills of Sidi-Denden and of Kennader. The soil consists of a clay mixed
with sand, of which the fecundity is attested by the vigour and perfection
of the thistles and other large plants that cover it, which sometimes rise
higher than a man even on horseback : there was, however, no cultivation,
and they only saw a dozen scattered trees on the road. They had crossed,
by the fords of Sidi-Denden and Sidi-Abdelaziz, the Seybouse and the
Mafrag, which, on issuing from the mountains, offer a narrow bed, which
is, however, as navigable as that of the Saone at Lyons. They were now
in the true Arab country ; and ascending, for half an hour, the right bank
of the Mafrag, they reached the top of a mountain, whence their Arab
escort dashed on to the douar, and Sidi-Mahmoud came forth to meet
them, pressing his hand to his heart in the oriental fashion. Two poor
sources of water, and some plantations of maize and tobacco, are the chief
merit of the valley. At a short distance arc the remains of a Roman
dwelling; and from the neighbouring summits the eye roves E.S.E. along
the extensive valley by which the Mafrag descends from the Atlas. At
this point the Arabs call it the Ouad Merdes, from the name of the
tribes on its banks : that of Mafrag, which is given to it lower down, comes
from the bar of sand raised by the wind at its mouth; for the rivers and
brooks of Barbary frequently change name as they pass from one tribe to
another. The rock of the mountain at this spot consists of red sand-
stone, which is a very extensive formation in this vicinity; and no other
rock is seen from Draan to La Calle, and from La Calle to Bona. These

* Blofeld, p. 4.3 ct soi[<(.

THE CORK FORESTS. 217

first degrees or steps of the Atlas have the same character as the Boud-
jarcah. near Algiers. The rich clay of the plains ascends to the foot of
the rocks, a luxuriant verdure clothes their sides ; and the reason why the
trees do not grow higher is, notwithstanding Sallust's opinion, the destruc-
tion of the inhabitants. Such is the Baron's view of the case, to which
we do not pledge ourselves.

At midnight they started with Sheikh Hafsi, of the tribe of the Beni
Urdjiu, with sixty horsemen, by a fine moonlight. During the first hour
they marched over a heavy land ; then they came to .marshy ground, dried
up by the sun and covered with great reeds. This district is called Bas-
Mafrag, or the head of the Mafrag, and is the parent of unhealthy miasmas.
After passing it you come to a strong and stiff soil, watered by many
brooks, where they halted for three hours. The neighbouring woods, which
had been ignited by the Arabs, presented the appearance of a vast confla-
gration. At the morning dawn all the Arabs of the party threw them-
selves prostrate in prayer, presenting a striking and patriarchal scene ; and
after performing their devotions, they proceeded, and at 8 a.m. they were
received with Semitic and scriptural hospitality by the principal douar of
the Ouled-Djeb, at which spot the plain ends, woody mountains enclosing
its rich pastures.

There are no palms, agaves, or cactuses in this neighbourhood, which
give an African character to the country around Algiers. The forest by
which the douar stood clothed the two faces of a mountain, whose foot
was bathed by the lake El-Malah. Bed sandstone here and there
pierces the sand of which the soil is composed, which, however, is often
very moist. Cork-trees (chene liege) are almost the only timber in these
woods ; but no use is made of them, though they might be turned to such
a useful account. The Arabs burn down large tracts of these celebrated
forests, which extend northwards to the sea, westward to Cape Bose, and
eastward to the frontier of Tunis, embracing a surface of no less than
20,000 hectares (50,000 acres), and all forming what are called projnietes
domau'xu'c, or government property. Baron Baude represents in strong
language the folly of neglecting such a valuable possession, not only for
its intrinsic value, but also because if the country were stripped, it would
speedily become a desert.

When our party had arrived at the end of lake El-Calah, it was not
far to La Calle; and they found the country delightful, though rather
marshy. They observed that the Arabs in that vicinity had learnt many
expressions of the Provencal dialect from the old French mariners and
merchants who were wont to frequent La Calle. Strange that these
primeval cork -forests should witness the marriage of the gate sciewe and
the Prophet's sacred tongue, and that troubadours and marabouts should
shake hands on the ruins of Carthage !

On the 25th they were on horseback at daybreak, and soon ar-

218 LA CALLE.

rived on the banks of the lake El-Garah, where the scenery reminded
them of that of Scotland ; and two hours after starting, they beheld La
Calle at their feet. This town, which was burnt to the ground on the
27th of June 1827, was taken by M. Albert Bertier on the 22d July
1836 with only fifty zouaves (native troops).

The port* is commanded to the south by the post of the windmill.
On the plage du fond (or beach) at the bottom of the harbour, besides a
well and an excellent spring, are the ruins of a lazaretto and a moscpie.
The town is built on the peninsula of rocks, three hectares in extent
(7y acres), which encloses the port ; and over the land-gate is inscribed
the date of 1677. The only remains left of the old buildings consist of
a few vaulted warehouses and walls ; and the rock is, unfortunately, a
sandstone (ares) of a loose texture, iu which the sea makes inroads,
undermining the pavement. The French establishment at La Calle is
of the same date (1520) as the first occupation of Bona and Constantina
by the Turks. Francis I., Henry II., and Charles IX., were allies of the
Turks and Selim II. against the house of Austria, the old hereditary foe
of France. Between 15G0 and 1604 was the period of the greatest con-
cessions and power enjoyed by the French at La Calle ; and from the
time of Francis I. to Louis XIV., the whole secret of this anomalous
coalition between the very Christian king and the head of Islam may
be traced to the ecreat contest between France and Austria.

After the decline of the latter power, the concessions came to be only
commercial; and in 1694 was concluded the traite de Pierre Hely, which
was the basis of the French relations with Algeria down to the conquest.
Its chief enactments were repeated almost verbatim in the conventions
of 1714, 1731, 1768, and 1790. Pierre Hely and his company enjoyed
the monopoly of the whole trade of La Calle. Cap Negre, Bona, Bastion de
France and its dependencies, for 34,000 gold roubies (105,000 fr.; 4200/.).
In 1719 it passed to the Freneh India Company; in 1741 to the African
Company and to Marseilles, with a capital of 1,200,000 livres (48,000/.).
Six per cent was always obtained by the shareholders ; and from 1772 to
1777 each shareholder received 300,000 fr. (12,000/.) every year as his
dividend. The African Company was in a particularly flourishing state
under Director Martin ; but it was suppressed, with all other monopolies,
in 1794.

The garrison used only to consist of fifty veterans with a captain. We
have already referred to the prevalence of Provencal among the tribes sur-
rounding La Calle, whose population in 1794 amounted to 600 persons,
amongst whom, no women being allowed, it is reported that most de-
plorable immorality prevailed. -\

* Baude, 70I. i. p. 182.

f See Abbe" Poiret'a Lettrcs (jeritcs do l'ancionne Numidie pendant les amines 1785-6,
2 vols. Paris, 1789.

LA CALLE. 219

A mean exportation of 90,000 hectolitres (247,010 bushels) of wheat
used to be annually effected by the Company. The price of the local load
(153 kilogrammes; 5'0G bushels) varied from 7 fr. 50 c. (Gs. 3d.) to la fr.
(12s. 6d.) per load; thus making 5 fr. 51 c. (4s. 7d.) per hectolitre,
or 3 bushels 40 lbs.

The Company used also to export considerable quantities of barley,
maize, and beans.

At the present time there are fine plantations of tobacco around lake
El-Hout, and among the Ouled-Djeb, the Djeballah, and the Seybas ; and
M. Pasquier, director of the administration of tobacco, pronounced the
specimens that he saw equal to those of America, which fetch 100 fr. (41.)
per metrical quintal (220 lbs. avoirdupois, or ±\d. per lb.). The cork-
forests in the vicinity of La Calle might also be the source of a flourishing
trade, and provide abundance of wood for the army.

The lofty hills that border the coast of La Calle are covered' with
shrubs, and above the post stands a very fine group of mulberry-trees. A
beautiful panorama is unfolded to view on the top of these hills ; the land
gently dips to the lake El-Garah to the southward, and to the east to lake
El-Hout, whose waters bathe the feet of the green slopes. Bach valleys .
extend between woody hills, whose varied summits project in one place
into the azure sky, and in other places stand out from the dark sides of
the Djebel Koumir.*

The lakes, whose Arabic appellations are mercilessly disfigured by the
French, have also long enjoyed European sobriquets, applied by the
Provencal traders to La Calle. Thus, the Guilta-el-Malah was the Etang,
or pond, of the Bastion; the Guilta-el-Garah, the Etang de Jkavnairchand;
and the Guilta-el-Hout, VEtmig de Tonegue. " The plain near the latter,"
says Baron Baude, " when we visited the douar of Moussa, was the Elaine de
Terraillane" The territory of La Calle is shut in by three lakes, two of
which, those of Tonegue and of the Bastion, flow into the sea, the third
of which almost shuts in the space between the other two. The Etang de
Beaumarehand is at the distance of 1000 metres (3280 feet) from that of
the Bastion, and at 2000 metres (65G0 feet) from that of Tonegue ; and
you might thus enclose by 3000 metres (9840 feet) of ditch an extent of
three or four square leagues (25 square miles), embracing some very good
land. The centre pond is thought to be the cause of the fevers that pre-
vail there from June to September, which are, moreover, aggravated by
the frequency of the southerly winds. This pond is shallow, and might
be drained.

All property belongs to the crown at La Calle, and the carcasses of
the houses that cover its surface are gratuitously granted for five years if
the tenants make them habitable ; but when buyers congregate and capital
pours in there, they will be sold.

* Baude, vol. i. p. 20o.

220 BASTION DE PRANCE.

Leaving La Calle, the baron's party proceeded along the heights to
Bona ; and after advancing two hours, they saw, on the banks of a cove
of white sand to the right, the ruins of the old Bastion de France. All
the rivalries of empires and the passions of human nature have contended
on this little spot, which is now nothing but a ruinous tower.

There is a lake to the south of the bastion; and a channel, 600 or 800
metres (2624 feet) long, leading to it, is almost dry at times, the waters of
the lake being frequently very low. The variations in the level amount
to two metres (6-56 feet). This lake used at one time to be a port for
coral boats and for the bastion; its depth at the lowest water- mark is
two or three metres (0-84 feet) ; it penetrates two leagues (5 miles) in-
land, and it contains an area of about 2500 hectares (6250 acres). Its
navigation would be useful, from the nature of the woods and land sur-
rounding it ; and it is said to be well supplied with fish.

The cork -forests continue to Cape Rose ; but they are interrupted by
the delicious valley of Djeballah, whose soil, defended from the south and
sea winds by the elevation of the surrounding hills, consists of a rich
and light loam, made still richer by irrigation. There is a good landing-
place in the stream that waters it, and this little harbour is called
by the Italian coral-fishers Porto delle Cannelle — in French, Port Canier
(Heed Harbour). It is a port of refuge for small ships from westerly
gales.

Almost all the land of the Djeballah is divided into cultivated fields,
and produces an abundance of tobacco, maize, wheat, &c. ; and the oxen
and horses show in their forms the goodness of the vegetation. The tribe
of the Djeballah has about fifty tents, almost all of which are scattered,
and not congregated into douars, these Arabs not being nomadic, but
settled. A range of cliffs is detached from Cape Rose, and runs gently
down to the mouth of the Mafrag. The land slopes back from it to the
south ; and the water from this range flows back into the Mafrag in an
opposite direction from the sea. A large sandy zone, furnished with
shrubs, extends along the gulf of Bona ; but as soon as you come to the
first village of the Seybas, you find all the fertility of the plain. Here
and there appear fine fields of tobacco and corn ; and the tribe of the
Seybas, though ravaged by the plague, has 100 tents, and is one of the
richest in the plain.

" Towards half-past four in the morning," proceeds Baron Baude, " we
left our friends the Seybas, and at 7 a.m. we entered the large gully that
forms the mouth of the Mafrag in the sea through the sand-hills : it was
completely choked by a bar about twenty-eight metres (91-84 feet) in thick-
ness, composed of sands heaped up by the waves of the sea; — we passed
over dry-shod. To our left the river was at least 200 metres (656 feet)
wide, and seemed very deep ; in its rise it forces the bar, and nothing is
more variable than its entrance. The sambhills that border the sea to

LA CALLE TO BONA. 221

the right and left of the mouth of the Mafrag are of pure sand; but by the
effect of filtering, the bottom of the soil is almost moist there, consequently
they are covered with the richest verdure ; they are crowded with the
olive, the carob, and the cork-tree, whilst the vine entwines them in its
festoons. The douar of Sheikh Hafsi was at a short distance from the
Mafrag, on the banks of the lake Beida ; but notwithstanding his hospi-
tal tie entreaties for us to remain, Ave went on. The territory comprised
between the Mafrag and the Seybouse is occupied, under our protection,
by the tribe of the Beni-Urdjesi, whom General Uzer wisely established
there, when it fled the persecutions of Ahmed, bey of Constantina. It
touches the gate of Bona, and has become rich by trade. From the
Mafrag to the Seybouse you follow the whole of a valley which runs be-
tween two parallel lines composed of sand-hills formed by the sea ; at
high water the two rivers sometimes communicate through it. An excel-
lent ferry-boat has taken the place of the floating isle of rushes on which
the Arabs used to cross the Seybouse."

From La Calle to Bona is a march of thirteen hours and a half. They
met no lions on the road, though these quadrupeds are reported to be
common there.*

Having now taken the traveller along the coast of the province, we
shall give first a broad outline, and secondly an analysis of the interior.

* Baron Baude, vol. i. p. 213. The Tableau gives La Calle a population of 400 in-
habitants in 1849, and states that the town-walls have been improved, and a battery
established to defend the port. Tableau, 1S50, pp. 96, 113, 345.

^JkS^-t-

CHAPTER XII.
Iholmicc of Constanttna. Interior.

INTERIOR OF THE PROVINCE — BROAD OUTLINE ANALYSIS BARON BAUDE — NA-
TURAL FEATURES OF NUMIDIA — ST. MARIE CONSTANTINA MADAME PRUS

BORRER GUELMA GERARD, THE LION-KING CONSTANTINA BETNA

AOURESS EL-GANTRA BISKRA— THE OASES.

The whole of this province, between its old limits, the rivers Booberak
and Zhoore, from the sea-coast to the parallels of Setif and Constan-
tina, is mostly a continued chain of very high mountains. Near the above
parallels it is diversified with a beautiful variety of hills and plains, with
a greater or less adaptation for cultivation, till it ends up the Sahara in a
long range of mountains, probably the Buzara of the ancients. The dis-
trict of Zaab is immediately under these mountains; and beyond Zaab, at
a great distance in the Sahara, is Ouadreay, another collection of villages.
This part of the east province, including the parallel of Zaab, answers to
Mauritania Sitifensis; or the first Mauritania, as it was called in the
middle ages.

The mountainous region between the rivers Zhoore and Seybouse is of
no great extent, seldom reaching more than G leagues (15 miles) within
the continent. From the Seybouse to the Zaine, except near Tabarca,
where it begins again to be very mountainous, the country is mostly plain,
though sometimes diversified by hills and forests. The same variations
are found below Tuckush, along the encampments of the Hareishah, Gra-
rah, and other Bedouins, as far as Constantina, where may be occasionally
seen a small species of red deer not met with in other parts of the colony.
Beyond this parallel is a range of high mountains, the Thambes of Ptolemy,
extending as far as Tabarca, behind which you find pasture and arable
land, ending in the Sahara, as Mauritania Sitifensis did before in a ridge
of mountains, — the Mampsarus, probably, of the ancients.

Part of the Africa Proper of Mela and Ptolemy, the Numidia Massy-
lorum, the Metagonitis terra of the classical authors, was comprehended in
this part of the province.

Leaving that portion of the province which belongs to Great Kabylia*

* Consisting- of the two great basins of the Ouad-Summam and the Ouad-Adjeb, or
Bousellam ; the first draining the high lands above and around Aumale, and the latter
trig down from Setif, ami joining tlio former a little abovo Bugia, where they both
full into tho sea.

SETIF. 223

for another occasion, we proceed to remark that Mount Atlas, throughout
the province of Algiers (formerly Tittery), as far as Mount Jurjurah, runs
parallel to the sea; but, after passing that point, diverges to the S.E.
In the same direction rise the lofty mountains of Ouan-nougla and J'aite;
succeeded afterwards, but in a direction more parallel with the sea, by
those of Oulad-Selim, Mustewah, Aouress, and Tipasa, which run into the
Regency of Tunis. Three or four leagues south of Mount J'aite is Mes-
seilah, the frontier town of the province to the west. It is built on the
southern skirts of the plains of El-Huthna, 9 leagues (22£ miles) to the
S.S.W. of Sidi-Embarak-Es-mati, and 16 leagues (40 miles) S.W. of Setif.
Messeilah is a dirty place, like all villages in this country; the houses
being built with reeds daubed with mud, or tiles baked in the sun. The
air is too cold for dates in this spot, and other places on the skirts of the
Sah'ra; and the gardens surrounding it only contain peaches, apricots, and
the fruits of North Africa. Messeilah means a situation, like that of this
town, on the banks of a running stream. At the same distance on the
other side, i.e. north of the Djebel J'aite, commences the plain of Medjana,
shaded to the northward by the Dra-el-Hammar, and to the west by the
mountains of Ouan-nougla. These plains are large and fertile ; but
numerous pools of foul water, as the name denotes, filled in the rainy
season, and stagnating in the spring, give . birth to agues and fevers, &c.
Several heaps of ruins are scattered about, of which the Turks have built
a fort. The country presents nothing remarkable till, passing by the vil-
lage of Zammora, i. e. of olive-trees, we come to Setif (Sitipha or Sitifi),
the ancient metropolis of this part of Mauritania, which made a brave
resistance to the invading Saracens. This city may have been per-
haps a league in circumference, and was built on rising ground facing the
south; but it scarcely contains a fragment of Roman remains, the few
structures that are now seen beino- the. work of later inhabitants. The
fountains, which continue to flow very plentifully near the centre of the
town, are equally convenient and delightful.* The town contains four
good streets, and is well fortified.

Setif is situated to the west of Constantina, and at the distance of
about 20 leagues (50 miles) south from Bugia, and contained in 1849, 646
Europeans and 436 natives.

The ancient Sitifis colonia, after being the capital of a fine province
during the Roman sway, presented in 1839 nothing but a heap of ruins,
near which the Arabs held a market every Sunday. This town is situated
on an immense table-land, whereof the elevation above the level of the sea
is represented to be 1400 metres (4592 feet); accordingly it is exposed to
severe cold, and snow is seen there during almost six months of the year;
the wind, moreover, sweeps over this high land with extreme violence,
driving vast clouds of dust before it.

* Blofekl, p. 43 et seqq.

224 MEDRASHEM.

Setif is perhaps the healthiest spot occupied by the French in the whole
of Algeria; and it is supplied with excellent water.

The distance from Constantina to Setif is about 30 leagues (75 miles),
and is traversed by two roads. The shortest passes through the territory
of the Abd-el-Nour, presenting a rich country entirely stripped of trees, and
without the vestige of a town or camp; the only traces of human struc-
tures consisting of a great number of ruined Roman monuments, which
offer, however, little interest. The other road passes by Milan, Ma-Allad,
and Djemilah. Both roads are impassable for carriages.

The plains and rich pastures of Cassir-Attyre lie a little to the south
of Setif, and are cultivated by the Raigah, a clan of Arabs famous for
breeding cattle, especially horses, which are considered the best in the
country. Near the Raigah are the Ammers, a powerful tribe. Eight leagues
(20 miles) S.E. of Setif are the ruins of Taiggah and Zainah, situated half
a league from each other, in a fruitful champaign country, under Djebel-
Mustewab, the principal abode of the Ouled Abdenore, a very numerous
and powerful clan. Taiggah and Zainah are rarely mentioned apart, but
from their contiguity are conjointly called Tagou-Zainah. A small brook
runs between them; and at Zainah, among other ruins, is a triumphal
arch, supported by two large Corinthian pillars. Five leagues to the east
of Tagou-Zainah, on the northern skirts of the Djebel-Aouress, is situated
the sepulchral monument of Medrashem, or Mail-Cashan, which is similar
to, though not larger than, the Koubber Romeah,* and has a cornice sup-
ported by pillars like the Tuscan order. The district near this spot is
named Ain-yac-coute, probably from the Ain-yac-coute, or diamond (i.e.
transparent) fountain, situated near the centre of it. Fragments of
Roman highways and other ruins are scattered all over it; among which
the principal are those of Om-oley, and Smaab, a league or more to the
west of Medrashem, on the road to Zainah. Tattubt, bordering on the
Ain-yac-coute to the N.E., is about four leagues (10 miles) from Om-oley
and Sinaab, and about eight leagues (20 miles) to the S.S.W. of Constan-
tina. It has been formerly a considerable city ; but at present is almost
entirely covered by earth and rubbish. Tattubt seems to be the same
place as the Tadutti of the Itinerary ; and lying between Lambese and
Cemella', as the ancients called Tezzonte and Jimmeilah, may justly lay
claim to this situation. Ten leagues (25 miles) to the south of Tagou-
Zainah, and 12 leagues (30 miles) from Medrashem, are the remains of
ancient Thubana, now Tubnah, situated in a fine plain near Bareekah and
Boomazooze. Seven leagues (17i- miles) S.S.W. of Tubnah, and 16
(40 miles) S.E. of Messeilah, is the village of Em-dhou-Khal, surrounded
by mountains; and at tliis spot you meet with the first plantation of date-
trees; but the fruit does not ripen so well as in the Zaab district, which is
at no great distance from this spot. The Shott is a large valley or plain,

* See Chapter on Archaeology, Part II.

DJEBEL AOURESS. 225

which runs, with few interruptions, between two chains of mountains, from
the neighbourhood of Em-dhou-Khal to the west of the meridian of Mes-
seilah. The word commonly means the sea-shore, or the banks of some
lake, &c.; but the meaning in this case is, the borders or area of such a
plain as, according to the season, will be covered witli salt or water.
Several parts consist of a light oozy soil; and after inundations, its quick-
sands are very dangerous."

Crossing the Bou-rna- zooze, opposite Tubnah is a large mountain of
very good freestone. It is called Muckat-el-Hadjar, i. e. the quarry; and
the Arabs have a tradition that the stones employed in building Setif
(and doubtless other neighbouring cities) were brought from this place.
Four leagues to the north of this quarry is Boo-muggar, a fruitful little
district, with some traces of ancient buildings. Between it and Kas-el-
Aiounne is the village of Nic-Kowse, or Ben-Couse as it is called by the
Turks. The inhabitants are chiefly Zaouia (or members of a religious col-
lege and confraternity) ; and the village is situated in a valley, with a circle
of mountains at a moderate distance from it. A rivulet runs by the vil-
lage to the west; but being impregnated with nitrous particles, which are
numerous in this neighbourhood, the water is seldom used for drink.
Nic-Kowse contains vestiges of an ancient city; and the inhabitants pretend
to show the tombs of the Seven Sleepers, asserting that they were Maho-
metans, and that they slept at this place, and not at Mount Ochlon, near
Ephesus, from a.d. 258 to 408.

The powerful clans of Lakhader, Coussoure, and Hirkawse inhabit the
mountainous district to the east of Tubnah and Nic-Kowse, as far as
Djebel Aouress. The latter is the Mons Aurasius of the middle ages,
and the Mons Audus of Ptolemy : it does not consist of one mountain
merely, but forms a large knot of lofty eminences, with several beautiful
valleys and glens between them. Both the higher and lower parts of
Djebel Aouress are very fertile, and form the garden of the province.
This group or knot of mountains is reckoned to be about 120 miles in
circuit. The northern part is possessed by numerous clans, such as the
Bou-zenah, Lashash, Maifah, and Bou-aref ; and the district is so fortified
by nature, and defended by so brave a people, that the Turks could never
subdue it. A high pointed rock, on which their dashkrah is situated, is
probably the Petra Geminiani, or the Tumar of Procopius. Numerous
ruins are scattered over the hills and valleys of this district, including the
remains of Lambese or Lambasa. The Kabyles of these mountains of
Aouress are quite different to their neighbours in appearance, their com-
plexion not being dark, but fair, and their hair of a deep yellow. Though
Mahometans, and speaking the Berber tongue, yet their physical charac-
teristics make it probable, that if they are not of the tribe mentioned by
Procopius, yet they must be a remnant of the Vandals, who, though dis-

* Blofeld, p. 55.
P

226 CONSTANTINA.

possessed at the time of their strongholds, and dispersed among African
families, may have collected together afterwards. Between Djebel Aouress
and Constantina is the high mountain of Ziganeah, at the foot of which is
Physgeah, formerly a city of the Romans, where there is a plentiful foun-
tain and reservoir, according to the name, the water being formerly con-
ducted by aqueduct to Constantina.

This city, the capital of the province, was called Cirta (Sittianorum)
previous to the time of Constantine the Great. It is situated beyond the
Little Atlas, 48 miles from the sea ; and in history it appears as one of
the principal cities of Numidia, which is proved by the extent of its ruins.
Its position was, and is, very strong, the greater part of the city standing
on a high peninsular promontory, inaccessible on all sides except the S.W.,
where it joins the continent.* This promontory is a mile in circumference,
somewhat inclined to the south; but to the north it ends in a perpen-
dicular precipice of 600 feet ; hence it commands a beautiful view over
valleys, mountains, and rivers, the prospect being bounded to the east-
ward by an adjacent ridge of rocks much higher than the city. But to
the S.E. the country is more open, with a distant view of the mountains
of Sidi-Rougeese and Ziganeah. In these directions the peninsular pro-
montory is separated from the continent by a deep narrow valley, with
perpendicular cliffs on both sides, where the Hummel, or Ampsaga, conveys
its stream. On the most elevated point of the city, at the Naugh, is the
Casbah, an old edifice now used as French barracks, and commanding
Constantina. Below it are corn-mills, turned by the Ouad-Rummel ; and
there are many gardens on the banks of this river, in the part called El-
Hamma. The streets of Constantina are paved, but narrow and winding ;
whilst almost all of them are steep, the houses being generally two stories
hisjfh, the most beautiful beinp- built of Roman remains. The street of
the Jews is remarkably singular, overhung with vines richly laden with
fruit, and very shady ; and at one end is a minaret with a glittering cres-
cent. A pleasing calm prevails, not found in European cities. The ap-
pearance of the buildings, the gravity of the customs, the imposing step,
the faces of the Moors and Arabs in the silent shops, compose a pleasant
scene.-f- The ancient palace of the Bey is a remarkable monument. Ahmed
Bey, before the French conquest, had employed in its decoration the
columns and materials, &c. of the finest buildings in the province. Hence
Constantina is rich in antiquities. The chief gate of the four in this
town is on the neck of land facing S.W., about half a furlong broad. All
this spot down to the river, with a strip of plain ground parallel with
the deep valley already described, is covered with ruins. Ancient Cirta
stretched as far as this ; but modern Constantina is not so large, but con-

• Blofeld, p. 50. Dr. Shaw.

+ Blofeld, p. 59. E. Carotto, Exploration Scicntifiquc. Ixeeherches sur la Geographic-
et le Commerce, &c. E. Carette, p. 243. Madame Prus, p. 159.

MEELAII. 227

fined to the peninsular promontory. The gate to the S.W., and that facing
the S.E., are both splendid monuments of Roman architecture.*

Constantina has thirteen principal mosques, besides a great many in-
ferior places of worship. The inhabitants are industrious, many of them
being tradesmen and artisans. Saddlery and shoemaking give occupation
to very many persons ; but the principal riches of the country arise from
the cultivation surrounding the city. Horned cattle and sheep are nume-
rous ; and from the wool of the latter the natives fabricate coarse cloth,
which meets with a quick sale. The women spin and weave capital bur-
nouses. The climate of the country, and city in particular, is very healthy,
but cold, though the plains near it are generally very hot.t lluiued in
311, in the wars of Maxentius against Alexander, a Pannonian peasant
who had assumed the purple in Africa, it was re-established under Con-
stantine, who gave it his name. Its population, which consisted before the
French conquest (1837) of Moors, Turks, Kabyles, and Jews, is reported
by the natives to have amounted to 40,000. The Kabyles formed one-
half, the Moors a quarter, the Jews and Turks the remainder.^

Constantina, fortified as it is by nature, and by the works which are in
process of ei-ectiononits precipitous front, would defy the most powerful force.

Below the bridge the Rummel turns north, and runs nearly half a mile
through underground passages, with openings for the natives to get at the
water. Were it not for this outlet, the river would form a vast lake, and
lay a great part of the neighbouring country under water. A quarter of
a mile to the east of Sidi-Meemon, the Rummel falls from its subterranean
channel in a large waterfall ; and the highest part of the city lies above it,
whence, till lately, criminals were cast into the river. A little beyond
the falls is Kabat-bir-a-haal, a neat transparent fountain full of land-tor-
toises. These animals, which are devoured by the natives, are thought to
be demons; a mythos containing, as usual, an ingredient of truth, since
their flesh is the occasion of fevers and other maladies.

Five leagues north of Constantina is the city of Mcelah (Milevum,
Mileu), built among beautiful mountains and valleys. The surrounding
gardens are full of fountains, one of which has a Roman basin ; and this
place chiefly supplies Constantina with herbs and fruits, the pomegranates
of Meelah being, in particular, very large and fine, and held in high re-
pute. Leo and Marmol speak of the excellence of its apples, and assert
that the city Mileu took its name from them.

Proceeding eastward from Constantina, you pass by Alligah and An-
nounah, containing ruins, and arrive at Hammam Meskoutin, i. e. the hot
or enchanted baths, situated on low grounds, and surrounded by high
mountains. It consists of several very hot fountains, which afterwards
flow into the Zenati ; and not far from them are other springs which are

* See Archeology, Part II. f Blofeld, p. 59.

J Ibid. Pananti gives it 100,000 inhabitants : Aventure, vol. ii, p. 11.

228 OUAREGLA.

intensely cold, — an instance of the sharp contrasts so clear to nature. A
few ruined houses stand near the springs. All this part of the country,
from Constantina to the Zenati, consists of fruitful hills and valleys, mixed
with some beautiful plantations of olives and forests. The district of
Boukawan is eastward of the Hammam Meskoutin, on the north of the
river Seybouse; and on the other side of the district of Mounah are the
possessions of the Beni-Salah, a warlike clan, with the ruins of Ghelma, or
Kalma as the Turks pronounce it. A modern town has arisen on this
spot, out of the ruins of the Calama of antiquity ; and it promises, under
French protection and patronage, to match, and even outstrip, its ancient
prosperity. Behind Mounah is Tiffesh (Theveste or Thebse), the only
city in the district of Hen-neishah, and a place which has retained its
ancient name, though the walls have been destroyed by the Arabs. It
stands in a fine plain containing a brook, and is nineteen leagues E.S.E.
of Constantina. Near Tiffesh is the country of the Hen-neishah, not only
a powerful and warlike, but a graceful and pleasing tribe. This district is
the most fertile and extensive of Numidia, comprised between the rivers
Hameese and Myskianah, the latter the most southern, the former the
most northern branch of the Me-jer-dah; almost every acre of the territory
is watered by a brook ; and there are but few of these without a city on
them or near their banks, though most of them are now in ruins. To the
south of Hen-neishah, near the banks of the Melagge, is Tipsa (Tebessa,
Tipata), now a frontier city, standing in a fine situation, not far from
mountains, and containing an ancient gate and some part of the old walls.
This was formerly a place of importance, and a large underground quarry
is situated in the mountains near it. The river Melagge, a little to the
north of Tipasa, is a continuation of the Myskianah, and has its sources at
Ain-Thyllah, the western confines of Hen-neishah. A little farther the
Melagge, flowing to the N.E., takes the jiauie of Serrat, aud forms the
east boundary of Algeria. This stream, when joined at a little distance
by the Sugerass coming from Millah by Hameese, and Tiffesh to the west,
assumes the name of Megerda (Bagradas). Near the western banks of the
Serrat, ten leagues from Tiffesh, is Collah, Gellah, or Gellah-ad-Snaan, a
good-sized village built on a high pointed mountain, Avith only one narrow
road leading up to it. This place, which could only be reduced by famine
Or taken by surprise, was formerly a convenient sanctuary for criminals
from Tunis and Algeria.*

.That part of this province which belongs to the Sahara contains, ex-
clusively of the distant city of Ouerghela or Ouaregla, and village of
Engousah, the two considerable districts of Zaab and Ouadreay, with their
numerous ksours. and villages. These places arc commonly a collection
of, dirty huts, built entirely of mud walls, with rafters of palm-tiinber ;
! i"l all their inhabitants are employed in the cultivation of the date.

* Blofeld, p. 69.

BISCARA'. 229

The district of Zaab (the Zebe or Zabc of the ancients), once a part of
Mauritania Sitifensis, and also of Gsetulia, is a narrow tract of laud lying
immediately under the mountains of the Greater Atlas, and displays a
chain of villages, with few intermissions, from the meridian of Messeilah to
that of Constantina. Dousan, Toodah, Sidi-Occ'ba, Biscara, and Ouniil-
hennah receive their rivulets from the Tell; hut the fountains and brooks
that contribute to the others rise within the Sahara, or else ooze from the
southern skirts of Mount Atlas. The Ducd-Adje-dee, or Djedi (that is,
the river of the kid), receives these streams ; and after running to the souths
ward looses itself in the Melrir, an extensive tract of the Sahara, of the same
saline and absorbent quality as the Shott above described. This river is
probably the Garrar or Jirad of Abulfeda. There are no other great streams
on this side of the Niger, and it may possibly be the Gir of Ptolemy, though
placed by him much more east or south-east, among the Garamantes.

Biscara, the capital of Zaab, was' once the residence of a Turkish
governor and garrison, and contains a small castle built by the Bey of
Constantina. Its chief strength consisted in six small cannon. Surrounded
by a brick wall, this city has much trade in slaves, &c. and other produc-
tions of Nigritia. Many of its inhabitants migrate to Algiers, where they
work as porters, <fcc., and form a corporation. The village of Sidi-Occ'ba
is famous for the tomb of the Arab general of that name, who is its tute-
lary saint. The tower of Sidi-Occ'ba is reported to tremble when you call
out, Sizza bil ras Sidi-Occba (' Shake for the head of Sidi-Occ'ba'). This
wonderful tradition may, like others, be founded on fact, resulting from one
of the mysterious miracula of gravity and acoustics. Nor would it be the
first stumbling-block to shake the faith of the sceptic ; — a tower at Rheims
exhibits somewhat of a similar phenomenon when you ring one of its bells.
Roman remains are scattered throughout the district, with traces of the
care they bestowed on the channels of irrigation.

The eating of dog's flesh is said still to be a common practice in Zaab,
as among the Carthaginians and the Guanches of the Canary islands, which
thence received their name. It is also well attested that there are human
puppies in the Sahara, where they present the same phenomena and cha-
racteristics as in the Elysees and Regent Street, with a slight difference
in their exoteric development.

Ouad-reay is another collection of villages like those of Zaab, twenty-
five in number, running in a north-east and south-west direction, their
capital, Tuggurt, standing on a plain without a river. There are no foum
tains in this country, but they obtain water by digging 600 or 1200 feet,
at which depth they invariably reach it ; the ground being perforated by
innumerable subterranean streams called Rahar-tahfcel-Erd (the under-
ground sea), a phenomenon noticed by Dr. Shaw. They dig through
several layers of sand and gravel till they reach a flaky stone like slate,
known always to lie above the Bahar. This layer is easily broken through,

230 EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINA.

and the water rushes up so quickly that the man who digs through it is
sometimes drowned.

Thirty miles south-west of Tuggurt is Engousah, the only village of
several in this situation which existed in the time of Leo. After Engousah,
at five leagues distance to the west, is the noted and populous city of
Ouaregla, the most remote community of auy size and importance this side
the Niger. These several cities and villages, together with those of Figig
and of Beni-Alezzab, are justly compared by the ancients to so many ver-
dant spots in a great expanse of desert, and belong probably to the country
of the Melano-G&tuli.

After describing Gsetulia, Ptolemy reckons the nations to the south-
ward, among which the Melano-Gsetuli and the Garamantes were the
principal. These nations certainly extended behind the greatest part of
Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli ; or from the meridian of Siga, near Tlemsen,
to the Cyrenaica, 35 deg. more to the east. And as, inclusive of the
Bedouias, there are no nations in this direction besides the Figigians, the
Beni-Mezzab, the inhabitants of Ouad-reay and Ouaregla to the west, and
those of Gaddeniz, Fezzan, and Oujelah to the east, it is probable that the
Melano-Gsetuli must have been the predecessors of these western Libyans,
as the others to the east were, for the same reason, the successors of the
Garamantes.*

The country of the Beni-Mezzab is very fertile ; and besides a consider-
able commerce with Gadamis, Bornou, Timbuctou, and the whole of Soudan,
it disposes of the produce which it draws from those countries to the in-
habitants of Tunis and Tripoli. In short, it has to a considerable extent
a monopoly of the roulage or carrier-trade of north-west Africa, -j-

Proceeding to analyse the ways and by-ways of this province, we shall
join several parties of travellers, some of whom are old friends. And first
we shall follow the expeditionary column under Marshal Clauzel, that
marched from Bona to Constantina in the autumn of 1836. Baron BaudeJ
and M. Berbrugger,§ who both accompanied the column, have left a minute
diary and description of their adventures.

Marshal Clauzel, who was then governor of Algiers, commanded the
expedition, which was accompanied by the Duke of Nemours, who had
with him General Edward Colbert, Colonel Boyer, and Lieutenant-Colonel
Chabanne. The marshal was himself escorted by nine aides-de-camp ;
Colonel Duverger was chief of the staff, and had eleven officers under his
orders. Colonels Tourneniine and Lemercier commanded the artillery and
engineers; and each etat major or staff reckoned six officers. The adminis-
tration was confided to M. Malain d'Arc, military intendant of the army
of Africa ; and the chief surgeon was Dr. Guyon.

The army, consisting of 8760 men (7410 French and 1356 Turks, &c.)

* Blofeld, p. 73. f Ibid. J Baudo's Algclrie, vol. ii. oh. ix. p. 44.

§ L'AlgeYie, hi.storiquo, etc. part iii.

NEC1IMEYA.

231

started on the 13th of November from Bona, when the marshal, with the
main body, reached at 7 p.m. the right bank of the stream of Bouinfra.
On the 14th they ascended towards the ancient Ascurus, and the marshal
stopped on the banks of the rivulet of Nechmeya, two leagues (five miles)
from the bivouac of the previous night. On the 15th they started early,
the weather being fine, and reached the Seybouse. From the camp of
Draan to the Bouinfra the country is very broken ; mountains clothed with

BIVOUAC ON THE BANKS OF TUE NECHMEYA.

shrubs, isolated from the Atlas chain, and only to be compared to truncated
volcanic peaks, rise like islands from the middle of the plain. For part of
the journey the soil is meagre and light ; but it became excelleut again on
approaching the Bouinfra. After passing this stream, you enter, not to
leave it again till beyond Constantina, a country of jura limestone forma-
tion : you have before you a branch of the Atlas, that encloses on the north
side the valley of the Seybouse ; a narrow hill is detached perpendicularly
from it, and advances like a spur into the plain. The road begins by
following its back, and passes near the ruins of Ascurus, traversing a his-
torical country scattered with ruins. About the Bouinfra the ground is
well wooded, and crossed by several limpid streams. From the Col you
descend along a pretty valley to the thermal waters of Hammam-Berda,
which are probably the Aqua? Tibilitanae of the Itinerary of Antoninus.

232 RAS-EL-AKBA.

They flow into a basin of masonry, and are abundant, clear, insipid, and in-
odorous ; their temperature is that of ordinary baths, i. e. from 25 to 30°.*
The site is agreeable, the soil fertile ; and the vigour of the rose-laurels
announces that the streams, whose courses are marked by festoons of
flowers and foliage, are rarely dry. The Roman establishment on this
spot must have been considerable, but the foundations alone remain. The
attention devoted by the ancients and the Orientals to multiply baths
depends on hygienic causes, which cannot be neglected with impunity.
The vale of Hammam-Berda debouches into that of the Seybouse, opposite
Guelma : the river has at this place a width of 60 metres (196 80 feet),
and its current is very rapid ; its left bank is covered with marshes.
Guelma, or rather the heap of ruins which bears that name, is on the
other side of the Seybouse, 1500 metres (4920 feet) from the river, on the
even but rather steep slope of a hill. The ancient enclosure of Guelma
(Calama) contains a space of from seven to eight hectares (20 acres).

On the 16th the troops ascended the vale of the Seybouse, finding but
little cultivated ground on the road, but numerous flocks of sheep within
reach. At 2 p.m. they halted at Mjez-Amar, at the foot of the Ras-el-
Akba, where the Seybouse receives the Oued-Cherff, which takes its source
15 leagues to the south-west, not far from the ruins of ancient Tigisis. It
makes a curve to the north to turn the Ras-el-Akba, by the deep cutting
at the entrance of which are the famous thermal springs of Hammam-
Meskoutin. The little plain in which it debouches is raised from 20 to
30 metres (98-40 feet) above its bed, the banks being rocky and almost
vertical. The road followed this day was the scene of Jugurtha's triumphs
over the Roman Aulus, of which more anon. On the 17th of November,
crossing the Seybouse, they began to climb the Ras-el-Akba. The Arabs
relate wonderful stories of the altitude and marvels of this mighty natural
pile, which may be compared to the Col de Tarare in France, save that
the forms of the rocks at the Ras are much sharper, and the Col is com-
manded on two sides by lofty rocks. The mind is almost filled with a
feeling of oppression and discouragement at the aspect of this country.
You see, as far as the eye can reach, mountains swelling up in gigantic
masses, between which you can perceive no way to steer ; all around is
naked ; and in this immense horizon you seek in vain for a tree or a little
brushwood. Halting at the foot of the Ras-el-Akba on the 18th, some of
the party drew nigh to the ruins of Announah, which are still considerable,
and are situated in a singular inaccessible position half-way up the cliffs.
On the 19th the column, after having crossed, marching westward, two
offshoots from the Ras-el-Akba, came about 10 a.m. to the banks of the
Seybouse, not far from the marabout of Sicli-Tamtam. The Seybouse is
here called the Oued-Zenati, from the name of the tribe whose territory it
crosses : it has only a small stream of water ; hence the great volume of

* Reaumur.

TIIE BEYBOUSE.

233

water that the army crossed the day hefore must have come from the valley
of Alliga.

The llas-el-Akba forms a kind of promontory, round which the Seybouse
doubles. The distance from Mjez-Amar to Sidi-Tamtam is 22 kilometres
(13-G6 miles) by the mountain, and 36 kilometres (2249 miles) by the
banks of the river. Following the gorges of the Hammam Meskoutin,
you meet, at 20 kilometres (1242 miles) from Mjez-Amar, the vale of
Alliga, which takes the direction of Constantina, and where you find the
traces of the Roman road from Sicca Veneris (Keff) in Tunis to Cirta.

PASSING THE SEYBOUSE.

By this road the distance to Constantina is only 46 kilometres (28 58
miles) ; while continuing to ascend the valley of the Seybouse, in order to
descend that of the Bou-Merzoug, you make a circuit of 74 kilometres
(45-98 miles).

On the 20th of November the army marched from 8 a.m. to 5 P.M.,
a cold wintry wind sweeping across their path. On quitting the basin of
the Seybouse, it enters a rich well-cultivated plateau, on which are many
douars. The column turned to the south of a group of rugged mountains,
and descended by the vale of the Oued-Berda into that of Bou-Merzoug,
which throws itself into the Bummel above Constantina. At last they
arrived at the clayey table-land of Soumah, whilst the winter's sun shone
on a group of white houses 3 leagues (7§ miles) N.N.W., half masked
by the plateau of Mansourah. This was Constantina. The army halted

234 CHANGARNIER.

around a Roman monument, of which a further description will be given
elsewhere.

On the 21st the army reached with difficulty the banks of the Bou-
Merzoug, a torrent which, swollen by the recent rains, rolled its furious
waves over the slippery rock in its channel. The column met with less
delay in traversing the lesser tributaries, and about 2 to 3 p.m. they
arrived together on the plateau of Mansourah, when they beheld the
whole of Constantina, from which they were only separated by the deep
ravine, at the bottom of which rages and roars the Rummel.

The depth of the channel of the Rummel beneath the highest part of
Constantina is 100 metres (328 feet) ; and the towers of Notre Dame
at Paris, if you seek an object of comparison, are only GO metres (21648
feet) high. The river traces a cincture of 1500 metres (4920 feet) at the
foot of the town ; it has a fall of 75 metres (246 feet), and the precipices
on all hands are vertical. The frame is worthy of the picture. " Moun-
tains covered with snow surrounded us," says Baron Baude, " on all sides,
whilst the damp clay was the only bed of the soldiers. The plateau of
Mansourah alone is formed of alternate beds of rock and of marl." With-
out dwelling on the hardships and sufferings of this brave army, or cri-
ticising the errors of the government or commanders, who have been
respectively blamed for exposing it with insufficient means at a most
inclement season, — it will suffice to say, that the attempts at storming
failed; and provisions also fading on the 24th, the army began its retreat,
after destroying its tents, baggage, etc.

The distress of the column on the retreat was very great, and many
veterans of the Russian campaign (1812) declared that its horrors and
sufferings were exceeded ; yet all was borne with heroism and a British
patience by the French troops. The retreat is also remarkable for a dis-
play of coolness by which Changarnier made himself conspicuous for the
first time. The circumstance was as follows. On the 24th the French army
marched slowly, amidst the continual fire of the Arabs of Achmet Bey; it
held them in check by its tirailleurs, and the foe fled as soon as the French
soldiers faced about. However, half-way to the monument of Soumab, the
battalion of the 2d closing the march, the enemy, reckoning on their supe-
riority of numbers that the victory would be secure, decided to charge.

Commandant Changarnier rallied his men, running in to form square,
and awaited the enemy at twenty-five paces. "They are 6000, and we
are 250," he said to the soldiers: "you see very well that there is nothing
to fear 1" The volley, directed with the steadiness of parade, dispersed the
Arabs in two minutes. There were thirty-four killed or wounded in the
square; but it stood firm, and saluted with the cry of " Long live the
King!"(Fn>e le En) the flight of the enemy, and some tirailleurs detached
in pursuit killed the dismounted men.* This warm reception prevented

* Boron Baude, vol. ii. c. 9.

THE RETREAT. 235

a repetition of any attacks on the part of the enemy during the retreat,
in the course of which the troops ransacked the silos, or corn-holes, of
the natives must successfully. Caesar has given an exact description of
these silos, which must have hecn identically the same then.*

On the 25th and 26th of November the army continued its retreat,
and on the 27th arrived at the broken plain of Sidi-Tamtam, which
stretches on the left bank of the Seybouse, whilst on the right bank the
first slopes of the Ras-el-Akba embrace in their concavity the bend that
the river describes in this place. The French army drew up on the moun-
tain at 7 a.m., and beheld the same spectacle that Caesar recorded 1881
years before, when 30 Gaulish horsemen, on his retreat to lluspina, drove
back into the walls of Adrumetum 2000 Moors who pursued them.
" We were on the slope," says Baron Baude, " as on the steps of a
theatre ; the 3d Chasseurs d'Afrique alone remained in the plain, drawn
up iu line perpendicularly to the river, and separated from the Arabs of
Achmet by the bivouac we had just left. Suddenly a savage cry arose,
and the Arabs rushed like famished jackals on the abandoned camp. Like
sheep before the dogs, the Arabs ran away amidst the laughter of the
spectators, scattered by the charge of Captain Morris." (Compare Caesar
Be Bello Afr. c. G.)f

From Constantina to the Ras-el-Akba the country is very fertile, but
very melancholy in its character, though picturesque. The soil consists of a
bed of tenacious clay, without any mixture of pebbles : it is well fitted for
the cultivation of corn, almost every where grassed over, and pierced at
intervals by banks of limestone. " For 20 leagues (50 miles) we only saw
one little copse of half an acre at some distance from the road, and one
shrub on the plateau of Oued-Berda. At the gates of Constantina alone
some vegetation reappears, without the soil having in appearance changed
nature. The thickness of the turf; the beauty of the corn, of the barley,
and of the beans found in the Arab silos ; the excellency of the chopped
straw for the horses, — announce a very great productive energy in the soil.
A numerous population existed here under the Romans, and you meet
with ruins every where : not of rustic structure, like those of Hippo ; ma-
sonry is every where employed, and there must have been plenty of wood
in the country at that time for the use of such cities. "J

The wooded vales of Mjez-Amar and of Calama appeared the more
beautiful from their contrast to the naked declivities of the Ras-el-Akba.
On the 28th of November the staff passed the Seybouse to go to Guelma.
The surrounding country is rich, graceful, and woody, like the left bank.

* " Est in Africa consuetude- incolarum, ut in agris et in omnibus fere villis sub terra
specus, condendi frurnenti gratia, clam habeant, atque id propter bella maxime hostium-
que subitum adventum prseparent. Qua de re Caesar certior per indiccm factus," &c. —
De Bello Africano, c. t)5.

t " Accidit res incredibilis, ut equites minus xxx Galli Maurorum equitum duo millia
loco pellcrent, urgerentque in oppidum." + Baron Baude, ibid.

23C ST. MARIE.

We shall here take leave of our brave column, which lost many men
in hospital at Bona from the hardships incurred in the expedition, who
were, however, amply avenged next year, 1837, on the fall of Con-
stantina.*

As regards the plain of Bona, Baron Baude remarks further, that much
is said of its fertility, and that it is the only point on which all testi-
monies are agreed. " I ran over it in many directions ; and notwithstand-
ing some thin and marshy ground, I know in no department in France
a similar extent of land so good. The soil is a mixture of sand, clay, and
marl ; the banks of clay are almost every where adapted for making bricks,
and in many places for pottery; they preserve the freshness of the ground,
preventing it from absorbing too quickly the rain ; and most probably, by
sinking wells, you could obtain good water there, such a stratification
giving good hopes for the success of Artesian wells.

" A great advantage is also found in a vast bed of hydraulic limestone
4 leagues (10 miles) from the Seybouse, and 9 from Bona, on the road to
Guelma."

So much for Baron Baude. We shall now accompany our old friend
Count St. Marie, who travelled from Draan to Constantina, in 1845, with
two squadrons of the Chasseurs d'Afrique. " The French post of Draan
is five leagues (12| miles) east of Bona, and stands on a height which rises
with gentle acclivities like an island in the midst of an immense plain,
on which nothing is to be seen but thistles parched by the sun. After
leaving the camp of Draan, we found the country before us scattered with
little hillocks, as if they were detached masses from the chain of the
Atlas." Every object on the road is noticed almost in the same words as
those of Baron Baude ; yet it were, perhaps, uncharitable to hint at pla-
giarism, the country being bald, and its characteristics few. The volcanic
hills, the light soil, the rich banks of the Bouinfra, the detached spur of
the Atlas, the ruins of Ascurus, the springs of Hammam-Berda, the foliage
of the laurel-rose, Guelma and its ruins, the Seybouse and its breadth and
velocity, which they broke by making some of the cavalry stand higher
up the stream, — all these features are chronicled almost in Baude's words,
as likewise the dreary view from the Bas-el-Akba, the ruins of Announa,
and the unfortunate Cornelia, who only vixit annos xix. We shall spare
the reader a verbatim repetition of the Baron's description, merely adding,
that precisely the same features are noticed by St. Marie as those pre-
viously noticed by the Baron, and in the same words; and after passing
Sidi-Tamtam, Bou-Mcrzoug, and Soumah,t we are delivered at the gates
of Constantina. We have purposely confined ourselves to the tenderest
criticism on the Count; but it must be admitted that it is somewhat un-
fortunate that he shews such a close affinity to the Baron. Arrived at
Constantina, however, we may safely trust him, as the Baron never even
* Baron Baude, ibid. t St. Marie, pp. 232-237.

h3
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CONSTANTINA. 237

peeped over the walls ; and Ave can check any of the Count's disposition
to build castles in the air by posterior authorities whom he could not
copy.

" Constautina," says the Count, " is encircled by the river Buniniel, and
conimantled by the heights of Mansourah and of Sidi-MecM. The last is the
Jewish burial-place, and its summit is 3J0 metres (1148 feet) above the city.
On the south-west the heights of Condiat-Atz, fronted by a little hill covered
with Mussulman tombs, also commands the approaches to the city. The
table-laud on which the city is built overlooks extensive and fertile plains.
The Ouad-Rurnmel leaves the city at Sidi-Rachet, where it forms a cascade
falling into a great ravine, which extends along the south-east and north-
east sides. At the northern extremity of the city stands the Casbah.
Here the Rummel forms a new cascade, the Tortoise-fall, and then leaves
Constautina, continuing its course to the north. At the point of El-
Kant'ra, the river for a little distance takes a subterranean course ; and
after flowing once more a short distance over ground, it again disappears.
In this manner it is lost sight of four times, being concealed beneath a
natural bridge of from 50 to 100 metres (1G4 feet to 328 feet) in width.
The three gates, Bab-el-Jedid, Bab-el-Ouad, and Bab-el-Ghabia, are united
by an ancient wall 30 feet high ; but there are no moats. Outside the
Bab-el-Ouad (Water-gate) you fiud a little suburb inhabited by artisans.
At this place are also situated the leather, wax, and wool markets. A
mosque, in good preservation, stands next to the old building once used
as stables of the Bey, and capable at that time of containing 800 horses.
The walls, however, are not very solid, and have no proper foundation.
The bridge of El-lvant'ra is broad, rests on three tiers of arches, the
lowest of which is Eoman, and crosses the river at the great chasm inter-
vening between the city and the mountain. At the highest part of the
city rises the Casbah, which contains now nothing but barracks, and is
only mounted with a few guns. Lower down are some corn-mills, set in
motion by the Eummel. Gardens and orchards line the banks of the river
on the north side of the city, in the quarter called El-Gemma. The form
of the city of Constautina is compared by the Arabs to .that of a burnouse
spread out at full width, the Casbah representing the hood."*

The city contains three squares, to which the French have given a
look of regularity, by pulling down many old buildings, and planting
trees; thus converting them into pleasant promenades. The palace of the
late Bey Ahmed is remarkable for the fine columns of marble that adorn
its front.

" The chief branches of industry at Constautina are the manufacture

of saddles, boots, shoes, and a sort of gaiters worn by some of the Arabs.

There are also some forges, in which iron brought from Tunis is wrought

into agricultural implements, bridle-bits, spurs, and horse-shoes. The

"" - * St. Marie, p. 237.

238 GUELMA.

burnouses and halcks made by tbe people of Constantina are the best in
Algeria."*

Madame Prus soon ari'ived at Guelma, whicb town is situated on the
summit of the mountain Serdj-el-Aonda, and must have been a place of
considerable extent and importance in the time of the Romans. This town
abounds in antiquities; for the examination and correct valuation of which,
a scientific commission has just been appointed by the government.

All the towns of Algeria resemble each other. The houses are square,
whitewashed with chalk, surmounted with a terrace; and the walls de-
prived of all ornament in the shape of windows, and only provided with
small apertures to admit air.

Guelma must have been very difficult of access in times of siege; de-
fended on one side by the steep mountain on which it is situated, and on
the other by a lake formed by continual showers on the marshy plain, it
afforded but little chance of success to a besieging force. The Seybouse,
in its frequent inundations, overflows the road, which prevents all commu-
nication; thus, during six months out of twelve, it is necessary to use
horses, mules, or camels to go the short distance between Guelma and
the neighbouring towns. Guelma was the ancient Calama of the Romans
(it is often spelled Ghelma).f

Passing to Constantina, Madame Prus remarks that several houses in
the town have tiled roofs instead of terraces; the interior arrangement is
generally the same as at Bona, and the other towns of Algeria. The as-
pect of the town is gloomy, and the streets are narrow and dirty in the
extreme, although the greater number of them have been recently paved. J

Vaulting into the saddle, we shall next accompany Mr. Borrer in his
tour from Bona through Constantina to Biscara.

" Oct. 19th, 1847, at 4 a.m. we left Bonaby the Porte de Constantine,
with guns slung at our backs, pistols in our holsters, and muffled in a
thick burnouse, which did not, however, keep out the cold. With a spahi
for escort, we galloped over in three hours to the camp of Drean, the first
military post on the road; having traversed an open naked country, which
was, however, well adapted for the growth of corn. You pass an ancient
Roman bridge over the Bou-jeema, or a branch of that river about two
hours from Bona on this route. Drean is a mere collection of barracks
formed of planks, with an earthen rampart, and a slight foss surrounding

* St. Marie, p. 237. + Madame Prus, p. 159.

X Madame Prus (p. 192) describes Constantina as situated on a high mountain, level at
the top, ami surrounded on three sides by the Ouad-Rummcl, a deep ravine with precipitous
I Miiks. To the south this plain joins the hills on the left of the Rummel by the isthmus of
Condiat At/., while at its north-east angle a gigantic bridge is thrown over the ravine,
consisting of two rows of arches, one above the other. This bridge was constructed by the
Romans, ami restored by the Spanish engineers, and s'crves as a moans of communication
between the town and the table-land of Mansourah, over which lay the route of the
French army before it arrived at the fortilications of Constantina.

GUELMA. 239

it, situated on a naked mamelon, and containing at that time a troop of
spahis. Leaving Drean, they soon reached the next military post, Nech-
maya, a stone building and some huts of planks serving as stables, can-
teen, tfce. Soon after leaving Nechmaya, we traversed a district covered
with brushwood, wild hills ami massive isolated rocks varying the scenery.
The road from Bona thus far is good enough; but here in winter the traf-
fic is sometimes quite stopped by the swelling of the streams. Soon after
we came to a fountain of clear water, both warm and mineral, and con-
taining the remains of Roman brickwork, which shew that they were not
neglected in antiquity. This spot is called by the Arabs Hammam-Berda.
Oleanders and other shrubs luxuriate upon the margin of this ancient
spring; numerous mocking-birds find covert in their branches, and fill the
air with sweet music. There is fine pasture-land around Hammam-Berda;
the soil being irrigated, besides the bath-stream, by another brook, whose
rapid and plentiful current turns the mill of some French speculator.
Farther down, before it joins the Seybouse, this stream waters many beds
of water-melons belonging to the gardens of Arab and French colonists.
A wooden bridge has been erected over the ford of the Seybouse, at which
we now arrived, close to Guelma. This town (once Calama) is situated
on the S.E. bank of the Seybouse, about a quarter of a mile above the
bridge, and on the slope of a hill of gentle inclination.* As the traveller
slowly wends his way up the winding road to this French post, and be-
holds strewn around him vast blocks of fine stone, skilfully squared by
the Roman chisel, mingled with fragments of marble columns, he can but
meditate on the instability of human power, and how the might of nations
is entombed by time. Draw back the veil of ages, and the double-peaked
summit of the wooded Maouna overlooks a noble city; her towers, her
temples, and her palaces radiant with Parian marbles. Forty thousand
inhabitants within her walls bow to learning, art, and luxury; beyond her
gate extends a richly-cultivated plain, its teeming slopes watered by the
winding Armua, which, leaving its tribute here, then hastens on its rapid
course to refresh the delightful gardens of the royal Hippo; skips freighted
with Oriental luxuries are borne upon its bosom, before it mingles its
waters with the sea. Tempora mutmitur ! The Mare's Saddle, as the Arabs
name Mount Maouna, which forms the background of Guelma, now over-
looks some few score French houses, garrisoned by about 800 men, chiefly
spahis and the Foreign Legion."

The amount of the civil population of Guelma in December 1849
was 1399 souls. -j-

It contains one street of considerable length; the houses built chiefly

* The reader will have noticed that two gentlemen, Baron Baude and Mr. Borrer, de-
scribe Guelma as seated on a slope, while Madame Prus says that it stands on the top of a
hill. We leave it to the gentle reader's gallantry to determine if the opinion of one
lady should outweigh that of two gentlemen.

f Tableau de la Situation, p. 96.

240 GUELMA.

of massive Roman remains turned up on the spot, and therefore not quite
so likely to be tumbled down by the first slight earthquake or violent
rains, as most of the pasteboard settlements of the colonists. Building-
was actively going on there (1847), notwithstanding the financial crisis of
the colony, money fetching 20 and even 30 per cent at Guelma in 1846.
The original plan drawn for this French post is based on a population of
7000 souls. In 1842 there were 92 inhabitants; in 1843, 108; and at the
end of 1844, 317.* There is one French regulation much to be admired,
that of allotting gardens to their soldiers. At Guelma a fine piece of
ground has been cultivated by them, and those industriously inclined
spend their leisure-hours there. There is also at Guelma a pepiniere to
supply the colonists with seeds, trees, and other vegetable products: "it
was shown me," says Borrer, " with much boasting of its beauty and pro-
mising natui-e; yet rank weeds and little else luxuriated in it. The circle
of Guelma, as far as I have visited it, is, I should say (barring its distance
from a sea-port, viz. 26 leagues, and that not to be traversed by mer-
chandise in the rainy season), a promising point of colonisation; for its
plains and its valleys are rich, and watered by numerous streams. The
chief of these are the Seybouse, the Oued-Scherf, the Ouad-Bou-Hamdou,
and the Oued-Zenati. Tobacco, mulberries, and corn would undoubtedly
flourish here together; and it is reported that cotton and indigo have suc-
ceeded in the pepiniere, — which one would have scarcely expected at such
an elevation. There is as yet very little land brought into cultivation in
the vicinity of the town; but the soil is good; and to the west of the town
is a delightful little valley, with a fine- stream, where there are gardens suf-
ficiently extensive to supply their owners with vegetables. The climate is
much the same as that of Constantina, though not quite so cold in winter.
Dysentery and intermittent fevers are the prevailing diseases, as in most
colonies; but every thing considered, it is a healthy position. Guelma is
rather a desirable spot for the sportsman. Hares, red-legged partridges,
quails, and at the present moment (autumn) the little African quail, re-
markable for having only three toes, abound there. As for lions, the lion-
king, as the Arabs have christened that renowned Nhnrod, Spain Gerard,
has made them rather shy in the neighbourhood. He is incorrectly reported

* The last Tableau or Blue-book, gives tho following account of the statistics of
Guelma: — Population in December 1847, 730; in December 1S48, 1102; in December
1849, 1399. As regards strectage, 810 metres of large, and 2853 of small streets, have
been opened from 1845-9 for 18,100 fr. ; and 400 metres of drains have been opened for
35,700 fr. A school has been built for 10/200 fr., and also a church and presbytery, costing
69,875 fr. A cemetery was also opened in 1M7, at an expense of 5000 fr.

Under tho head of fortifications, it appears that they have finished the curtains of tho
reduit between towers 1 and 18, 3 and 0, and tho tower 18. They had likewise finished in
1850 the little bastions of tho city-wall, and a part of the ditch. Barracks have also been
completed to hold 400 infantry and 170 horse, besides a hospital and magazines. Tho
i itol expenditure from 1813 to 1819 was 231,510 fr. 4 cents. (92602. 8a. 8d.) Tableau, 1850,
§ Travaux publics.

THE LION KING. 241

to have been decorated for his courageous feats in lion-slaying. No less
incorrect was the late report of his death. It is a curious fact enough,
however, that he owes his life to a lion; and thus it was. lie was one of
the unfortunate battalion which was a short time hack leaving Guelma for
Tebessa, a French post lately established on the confines of Tunis; and
who. deceived by the apparent friendship of an Arab sheikh, fell a prey
to Numidian treachery, every father's son of them being most barbarously
massacred, save Gerard. The spirit of Nimrod watched over our spahi.
A lordly lion, crossing the route -of the battalion, a short time before it fell
into the hands of the Philistines, was fired at and grievously wounded by
Gerard, who, dismounting, swore by his beard that he would have the
skin of the beast. Plunging into the thicket, he followed the lion all that
and the next day, when he at length reached the king of beasts, and slew
him. The chase over, our hero turned back to the route of the battalion;
but he wandered many days and found it not. During this time his com-
rades were all killed, and he was thought to be among the dead. Put one
fine morning he marched into the auberge at Guelma usually frequented
by him, with a fine lion's skin, and asked for breakfast from the landlord,
who, petrified, thought he saw a ghost. Put he ate so well, that they soon
found, to their joy, it was Gerard himself in the flesh. Even hostile tribes
often apply to him to slay lions; and so great is the license he has gained,
that his superior officers allow him to absent himself a discretion when thus
summoned to the chase. The darkest nights are those chosen by him for
his sport, the glare of the lion's eyes then offering the surest mark.*

Porrer spent three days at Guelma,-]- and walked one day with his gun
some distance up the banks of the Seybouse to the west of the city, where
they became wild and craggy. The Arabs of this part of Algeria struck
him as far superior in aspect and manners to those of the province of
Algiers. Many are handsome, with fine oval countenances, large black
eyes, small aquiline noses, and snowy teeth. The women wear large silver
rings in their ears, of great weight, and as large as anklets; besides nu-
merous other ornaments, such as little looking-glasses, and especially a
wooden hand attached to the breast; the fingers representing the number
5, to which they attach a special virtue.

The following day he left Guelma for Constantina, with an escort of two
spahis, and arrived in the evening on the borders of a wide plain called
Peni-Simsen. Here he found the Zenatia, a powerful tribe who drink the
waters of the Oued-Zeuati. "I had a letter for the caid of this tribe. It
was the hour when the flocks and herds were wending their way to the

* On Gerard, see Leaves from a Ladfs Dairy of her Travels in Barlary, vol. i. p. 271
(1850).

f Captain Kennedy, who passed through Guelrna in 1815, describes the garrison as
forming almost the whole population of the place. Algeria and Tunis, vol. ii. p. 221.
The only hotel at Guelma in 181S was a guinguette (pothouse), called Hotel des Voya-
geurs. Ladfs Diary, vol. i. p. 268.

242 ADVENTURES.

douar, there to seek, within the circle of tents, shelter during the night-
season from wild beasts and robbers. The caid with the elders of the
tribe were sitting in a ring upon the ground, withdrawn a slight space
from the douar, holding council. Immediately upon our approach he
arose, and proceeding to the douar, after the usual salute, salaam alikum,
showed us into a good tent spread with matting." A large carpet in the
centre, used as the seat of honour, was assigned to Borrer. A sheep was
then driven before him and slain, and an enormous dish of cous-coussou was
brought in about midnight. The mutton being rather tough, his spahis
kindly tore off the most fat and delicate morsels with their fingers, and
stuffed them into his mouth. This douar consisted of about 900 tents,
and the caid said that he could at any time lead forth 2000 horsemen
equipped for battle. The chief soon retired ; but the noisy conference of
the spahis and Arabs, and the rushing forth of the dogs to chase away
hyenas and jackals, effectually chased away all slumber from Borrer, who lay
on his saddle till 3 a.m. Mounting in the dai-k, and amidst much rain, they
forded the Oued-Zenati, and proceeded across the vast and naked plains of
the Beni-Simsen. In the act of crossing the Oued-Zenati, Borrer's saddle
turned round, and he found himself on his head in the mid-stream, with
one of his feet hanging in the stirrup. He released himself; but his steed
galloped off in the dark, and trouble enough they had to capture him. A
good ducking, and his gun-barrels full of water, were the fruits of this un-
expected evolution. " Day had long appeared, but still we were upon this
eternal plain, and the rain fell in torrents. At last we arrived at the base
of a vast range of mountains, of which Djebel Bahbara and Djebel Bougareb
are, I believe, the most lofty, the latter being about 1300 metres (4208
feet) in elevation. A furious wind assailed us in the gorges of the moun-
tains, howling among the savage rocks, and at times almost sweeping us
from our horses ; added to which, the rain had begun, and galled us so
severely, that we were several times compelled to halt and turn our backs
to it.

" It was now 4 p.m., and not an Arab tent had we seen ; not a morsel
of any thing except hail had entered our mouths since 8 o'clock the even-
ing before ; moreover, one of my spahis' horses broke down with fatigue."
They had passed numerous remains of ancient, apparently Roman, struc-
tures in the plain. About three leagues (7} miles) from Constantina
they met an Arab, from whom Borrer begged a handful of dates, and de-
voured them with gusto, though hard and full of worms. They saw to
their left the remains of a Roman post on a height named Soumah, and
forming a shoulder of the Djcbel-Oued-Msetas, the elevation of which is
about 1 183 metres (3880 24 feet). About 8 o'clock they descended into the
valley watered by the Bou-Marzeg, which has its confluence with the Oued-
Itummel (the Ampsaga of the ancients) about a mile south of Constan-
tina. Soon after, they reached the bridge of El-Gantra, suspended over the

CONSTANTINA. 243

fearful chasm in the rock, 700 feet in depth, which forms a natural moat
to this strangely perched city of Constantina.*

"I am just returned," writes Mr. Borrer, "from breakfast with General
Bedeau, the commander-in-chief of this province. He appeared to me a
man of profound understanding, united with great fluency in expressing
his ideas. He is, indeed, generally admitted to be one of the most able
men the French have in Africa. General Bedeau and Marshal Busfeaud
ran their course together; the former having distinguished himself as lieu-
tenant, under the command of the latter, at the siege of Saragossa (1809).

" The palace in which the general resided was built by Achmed, the
last bey of this city. It is a spacious and handsome specimen of Moorish

* Tho following are the latest official statistics of Constantina : — European population
in December 1847, 2013 ; December 1848, 2590 ; December 1849, 2050. Native population
in December 1849, 20,944 ; analysed into 16,835 Mussulmans, 673 negroes, and 3436 Jews.

In 1848, according to the Lady's Diary, there were 20,882 natives, and 1919 Europeans.
The town, according to the same authority, is divided into two parts, one native, and the
other European. No carts pass along the narrow streets ; camels, asses, &c. taking then-
place. 350,000 fr. are annually spent in providing the town with water (vol. i. p. 222)-
The Hotel de l'Europe is a dismal Moorish house.

As regards the civil works, in 1849 none of the larger streets of Constantina had been
opened in accordance with the plans and surveys made and levels taken, save 205 metres
(672 '40 feet). The old pavement of the bridge of El-Kan tara has been replaced by a
pavement of sandstone (en gres). They have planted 150 feet with trees, and cleared 800
metres (2624 feet) in the Place de la Breche from rubbish. In the 640 metres (2099-20
feet) of small streetage they have replaced the old limestone pavement by a causeway with
side-gutters, all built of . sandstone. All rubbish has been cleared away,. and they have
levelled the Places du Commerce, du Palais, and the Carrefmr d'Orleans. The expenses
for streetage from 1843 to 1849 amounted to 50,949 fr. 80 cents. (2038/.) In connexion
with waterworks, the conduit from Midi-Mabrouck to the cisterns was finished in 1848,
consisting of two tunnels, — one of 202 metres (662 - 56 feet) in the rock, the other of 764
metres (2505-92 feet) of niasoury, — a principal conduit of 2447 metres (7826-16 feet), and
secondary conduits of 1467 metres (4S11-76 feet). A siphon of a large size receives the
waters on the plateau of Mansourah, and brings them to the Casbah : expense, 438,000 fr.
Other waterworks were in contemplation. Four fountains have been also established ;
800 metres (2624 feet) of new sewerage, and 1200 (3936 feet) of old opened. The fountains
are those of El-Kantara, of the Pont d'Aumale, of La Pdphriere, and of Sidi-Mabrouk. A
canal is also being built from the Rummel, called canal de derivation, 2 metres (6'56
feet) broad, and 1 metre 4 centimetres deep. When finished, it will be 6751 metres
(22,143-38 feet) long, and cost 120,000 fr. (4800/.) The other hydraulic works have cost
536,100 fr. (21,440/.) They have installed provisionally a tribunal de premiere instance,
built a school for 18,000 fr., and opened a church and presbytery, by appropriating an
old mosque, for 19,570 fr. The fortifications from 1838 to 1846 have cost 2,739,520 fr
(105,588/. 16.?.) : consisting of the Port Vallee, and that part of the front belonging to it ;
the post of the Casbah ; and the greater part of the curtains 2 and 3, and half of bastion 4.
The infantry barracks can hold 2000, the cavalry, called Bardo, 920 men. A hospital on
the east side can hold 650 sick. Large bomb-proof magazines have been built near the
Port Valid, and under the barracks of the Casbah ; and two powder-magazines, holding
60,000 kilogrammes. An arsenal has also been constructed at a cost of 142,492 fr.
Tableau, pp. 345, 356-7, and SSS-S.

Captain Kenned}-, in vol. ii. chap. xii. of his Algeria and Tunis, gives a good descrip-
tion of Constantina in 1845. He pronounces the town to be an assemblage of densely
crowded houses, with tiled roofs. The Place Royale was in 184S a heap of rubbish, and
the Place Nemours consisted of miserable Moorish houses. Two streets run from it, Cara-
man Street and Ponand Street. Diary of a Lady, &c. vol. L p. 227.

244 PLAIN OF ISMOUL.

architecture, with its marble pavements and cloistered courts, surrounded
by extensive galleries, on which, as usual, the doors of the various apart-
ments open. The walls of the vestibule of this building are ornamented,
or rather disfigured, with Arabic frescoes, delineating, with great contempt
for perspective, Istamboul, Algiers, and numerous other seats of Islamism,
together with sea-fights and other designs."

Mr. Borrer left Constantina about 7 a.m. on the 28th of October, with
an escort of two spahis, en route for Biscara via Betna. Their first halt
took place at 10 a.m. at Ain-el-Bey, a source of sweet water; and you find
there steps and brickwork apparently of Turkish construction, and near
at hand are the remains of a Roman fort. About 4 p.m. they reached the
great plain of Ismoul or Bayla, rich in pasture, and containing innumerable
Arab herds. The country traversed this day before coming to the plain
was undulating, totally unwooded, but containing much corn ; and the
Arabs were busy ploughing it, as it was the season of the first rains, when
they sow wheat and beans. They are rather odd agriculturists, beginning
by running the plough round a given space, leaving a furrow ; they then
cast in the seed upon the rough space thus marked out, and then plough
it ; and mark out and plough several successive spots in the same manner.
Their ploughs are very light, have only one handle, and only serve to
scratch over the soil. The Arabs are too indolent to pull up the stumps
they meet, and run the plough round them. When one spot is much over-
grown, they go to another, as there are no landmarks or fences. The vast
plain of Ismoul is enclosed on the east, west, and south by lofty limestone
mountains, the summits of which are broken, presenting forms often bizarre
enough. Successive convulsions of nature have upheaved the rocks, the
rains and winds have removed the debris, and thus these natural turrets
stand alone on lofty pedestals. " Opposite our encampment to the east
rose the vast Guerioun, of about 1700 metres (5576 feet) in height, pre-
senting on this side one unbroken precipice. A great marsh between us
and the mountain was swarming with wild fowl, especially Egyptian geese,
which are beautiful birds, and whose representations are found sculptured
on the banks of the Nile; swans, spoonbills, &c. also .abounded."

The unhealthy spot where they were had been chosen for a settlement,
though very subject to malaria, probably because it presents fine pasture-
ground, plenty of water, and no dwarf palms. Hence this locality is better
adapted for poor colonists than the arid spots often chosen in the province
of Algiers, which are frequently at a distance from water, and produce
nothing but cat-weed. Much rain falling in the night, converted the
plain into a vast sheet of mud and water, full of deep holes, dangerous to
pass. 1 )rawing near a wretched douar, Borrer fell into a silo full of water ;
and in the douar his gun went off accidentally, singeing a greybeard, and
hitting a tent full of Arab women. Happily the natives, though astonished,
thought it a British Juntas /«.'"" Soon after they came to the foot of a
" A rib welcome, when tlioy dash up full tilt, and fire their guns under your horse's belly.

BETNA. 245

mountain called Bee de l'Aigle, in Arabic Djebel Nefensser. A large
cemetery met with here shows the unhealthiness of the spot. A neigh-
bouring mountain is called Djebel Hailouf, the hog's mountain : and when
Borrer asked some questions relating to it, an Arab, thinking that he called
him a hog, threw a cannon-ball at him; but Borrer fortunately rode him
down, avoiding the blow.

After passing two salt lakes, divided by a muddy isthmus,' and crossing
another great plain, where they drank at a noted spring, Ahi-yac-coute
(the diamond fount), they were preparing to bivouac on the plain in the
wet, when they saw the glimmer of Arab fires, and reached a wretched
douar of seven tents. Little sleep did Borrer get that night, as herds of
goats, which formed part of the family establishment, amused themselves
in dancing minuets upon his person. Near this douar is the fine monu-
ment called Medrashem by the Arabs, and by the French the tomb of
Syphax, of which a description is given elsewhere. An hour beyond;
Medrashem they came to a rich plain and numerous tents of the Haractas,
amounting to 300, divided into douars containing from 10 to 20 each.
The inquisitive, simple, and waggish sheikh of the tribe asked Borrer how
long the French sultan would live, believing Europeans to be omniscient.
He also gravely clipped the beards of the elders with Borrer's scissors, and
unceremoniously brushed them with his tooth-brush. At half-past four
they came to Betna, having traversed a hilly country, here and. there
slightly wooded, chiefly with stunted junipers. On the way he noticed
many Boman vestiges, particularly of the great via from Constantina to
Betna, and probably leading from Lambese to Sitifis.

The ruins of Lambese are very extensive, and above two leagues
(5 miles) east of Betna, in a nook at the north bar of the Djebel Aouress.
They will be noticed at a future place.

There were 2000 troops at Betna* in 184(1, partly cantoned in tents, and
partly in small barracks. The camp formed a square, enclosed by a slight
foss, or ditch, and an earthen rampart. A camp had been proposed in 184 ">
by the expeditionary column under the Due d'Aumale, near the base of
Djebel Soulthan to the west ; but the fierce attacks of the mountaineer-
made them recede farther into the plain.

The Kabyles of Djebel Aouress are a peculiar race, very fail-, and more
like Germans than Arabs ; they speak the Showiah dialect of the Berber,
and arc warlike and industrious. Those who are subdued pay more rcgu-

* The Tableau spells Betna " Batna," and gives it in 1847, 268 European inhabitants ;
in 1848, 385 ; and in 1849, 340. 400 metres of streetage were in good repair in 1S49, and
7500 feet of trees had been planted in the promenade along the Pepiuiere ; 1800 met res
(5904 feet) of large street, and 4500 (14,760 feet) of small voirie, were opened between
1845 and 1849. Expense of all these works, 12,500 fr. (500/.) A fountain, lavoir, &c.
have been established in the part of the town south-east of the military quarter, exp
15,100 fr. (604/. ) Drains and a water-conduit had to be made in 1850. The town wall,
and that of the military quarter, has been raised to a mean height of 2 metres 30 centi-
metres. Two infantry barracks are completed for 124S men, and officers' quarters, maga-
zines, and stables: expense, 760,000 fr. (30,100/.)

24G EL GAXTRA.

larly the taxes than the Arabs of the plains ; for the latter being vagabonds,
can cut and run when they list, whilst the dashkrahs of the Kabyles are
stationary. At present those within the circuit of Betna are quiet.

These Kabyles are living tokens of the Vandal hordes that came from
Spain in the fifth century. A forest of fine cedars is found on the Djebel
Soulthan ; and Djebel Aouress abounds in walnuts, Spanish chestnuts, and
other of the more hardy fruit-trees, on this its north aspect ; whilst its
southern valleys produce grapes, oranges, lemons, peaches, apricots, &c. in
great abundance, and of very good quality.*

Borrer left Betna November 5th, after waiting two or three days for the
sheikh El-Arib, who was on his way from Constantina to his winter resi-
dence in the neighbourhood of the Zaab of Biskra. The principality of this
noble Arab embraces three khalifats, extending over a portion of the Djebel
Aouress, as well as a vast tract of the Sahara. He is said to be the most
powerful sheikh in alliance with the French, and his riches are reported to
be enormous. Three days after leaving Betna, Borrer passed his smala
(household), consisting of numerous women and children, 1000 camels, and
many fine falcons and greyhounds. He could not wait for the sheikh at
Betna any longer, owing to the severe cold ; and at 11 a.m. he commenced
his journey, escorted by three spahis and six Arab goums (irregulars).
At 5 P.M. they found a little douar, after crossing an uninteresting naked
country. " We were now on the plain of Merdjet-el-Ksour, or plain of the
castle ; so called because of the ruins lying on it bearing the name of Ktar-
el-Louz, the fountain of the almond-tree. This plain is ten leagues
(25 miles) from Betna, and five (121 miles) from El-Gantra ; and the
douar where they stopped is called Ben-Juraba ; whilst a little river, a
quarter of a mile west of it, is named El-Ksour." Next morning they
crossed the remainder of the plain, and entered among some rugged and
sterile mountains. Here and there strata of limestone were exposed to
view ; and hills, whose profile was polished by the action of the weather,
lay in their course. This district was watered by numerous mountain
streams, the chief of which was the Ouad-Fdala. The waters of the rivers
this side of Betna flow towards the desert, the country forming an inclined
plane to the south ; whilst on the other side of Betna they flow northwards
to the sea. The Sahara is said to be on a level with the Mediterranean.

The approach to the oasis of El-Gantra is striking. After toiling for
two days across wide-spread plains, entirely without trees, and succeeded
by rugged mountains more arid than the plains themselves, suddenly the
traveller comes to the base of a tremendous wall of rocks, rising several
thousand feet into the air, and seeming to bar all progress. Presently a
file of camels, with dates from Zaab or Tuggurt, comes forth ; and turning
a sharp mountain cape, the wanderer beholds a narrow breach of perhaps
forty feet iii width, through which rushes a mountain torrent. This was
the Calceus Berculisf of the ancients, where the athletic demigod was
* Borrer, p. 3G9. t Kick of Hercules.

EL GANTRA. 247

reported to have kicked a gap in the mountain. It is, in fact, the gate of
the Sahara, or, as the Arabs call it, the mouth of the Sahara. Through this
gate the tribes of the east Sahara pass and repass to and from Constantina
with their long trains of camels laden with dates, haieks, and other pro-
duce of the desert and of its inhabitants. The precipice on the right-
hand of the gorge, as you come from Betua, is the abrupt west end of the
Djebel Aouress ; that on the left is the east face of Djebel Metlili. A
beautiful Roman bridge of one arch spans the Oued-el-Gantra, and the
road passes between beetling cliffs after crossing the bridge. Emerging
from it, suddenly rich groves of palm-trees, pomegranate, fig, and apricot
trees, meet the astonished gaze, and the murmuring Oued rushes into this
terrestrial paradise. The town of El-Gantra is shut in by mud walls, witli
chopped straw and palm-leaves mixed in it, the whole being baked in the
sun. Watch-towers are found at equal distances on the walls, strength-
ened by rafters of palm-timber, and built of the same materials as the wall.
The houses are all built in the same way, roofs of palm-trunks being laid
lengthways, the interstices filled up with mud, and overlaid with long
palm-branches. The whole oasis inside the walls is divided into innumer-
able small square enclosures, each of which is further confined within its
own mud wall. The only way to get into these gardens is through a hole
in the surrounding wall of each. A door is attached to these holes, made
of palm-branches, small palm-trunks, or a rough slab of stone, by pushing
which aside, and almost on hands and knees, you obtain entrance.*

The Ouled-Zaid inhabit this truly African town, of which tribe Sidi-
Mokaran was the old caid. The roof of his vestibule was supported on
square pillars of mud ; a raised platfonn at one end was covered with car-
pets and mats, whilst the horses occupied the other end. JBorrer and
escort were regaled with dates, cous-coussou, chickens peppered with chilis,
and pancakes swimming in honey. The old sheikh tore up the meat and
fed his guests with his greasy paws. The caidf was very tall, thin, and
pale, with a silvery beard and gentle manners. At night, a snoring chorus
of the old caid and his escort drove out poor Borrer into the night air,
where he was richly rewarded by a lovely moonlight scene in the oasis. J

Dates, capsicums, and chilis constitute the riches of this plain, which
is the most northerly point at which dates arrive at perfection. Passing
through rocky hills and rugged basins to the south, Borrer halted in two
hours at a hot spring, thirty feet square and from two to four feet deep,
surrounded by a marsh. Tradition says that El-Hammam was carved by
Hercules, and Roman steps may be discovered at the north-east corner of
the water. An hour hence they passed the base of a high mountain, called
the Salt mountain, consisting entirely of rock-salt ; and at 11 a.m. they

* Borrer, p. 369 et seqq.

f We presume the same individual in this case enjoyed the dignity of sheikh and caid.

J Borrer, ut supra.

248 BISKRA.

came into the plain of El-Outafa. Here is another city on the hanks of
the OWd-el-Gantra, now called Ouad-Outaia. Yon find corn, a little pas-
ture, and gazelles in the plain. A great many tents are pitched in the
plain, close to the town ; ahout an hour after passing which, to the south-
cast, they observed two lofty monticules and a Eoman station. At the
southern limit of the plain they saw the wide-spread Sahara, and in the
foreground the palm-hearing Zaah of Biskra.'"'

The Sahara was graphically compared by the ancients to a tiger-skin,
the oases answering to the dark spots.

Biskra is overlooked to the north and east by the range of the Djebel
Aouress and Djebel Nemenchia. To the north-west are those of Djebel-
bou-Ghezal, Djebel Matraf, and Djebel Silga, the southern face of which is
often white with the snow blown by the desert winds. The northern face
is that of dark limestone rocks ; but beyond Biskra, and to the south-
west, the eye roves over a vast unbroken expanse.

A few salt streams water the oasis of Zaab. The mud walls of Biskra
are overshadowed by fine palms; and the French citadel (1845) was made
entirely of a great number of palm -trunks, and of cedar-wood from Mount
Aouress. The fort is built on a mound in the centre of the oasis ; and they
are talking of building a new one on a rocky mound in the N.E. part of
the oasis, the present position being too much enbosomed in palm-groves.
In 1844 every officer of the garrison was massacred by the treachery of
the Ouled-Nail, who were admitted into the citadel. The garrison was
thought by Borrer to be too small, as Biskra is at the distance of four
days' forced march from Betna, and eight from Constantina. The citadel
had only three or four little guns, and would fall an easy prey to an
enemy. At that time there were many encampments of nomadic Arabs
around Biskra, there being a great exchange trade between the Sahara
and the Tell through Biskra, which obtains from the latter (Tell) grain,
cheeses, wool, figs, horses, asses, arms, &c.

The Ouad-Biskra, in the eastern part of the oasis, is a turbid and salt
stream ; but the French were engaged in making an artesian well. The
Bahar-taht-el-erd (underground rivers) is a common phenomenon here.

The inhabitants of this oasis still eat dog's flesh, but only in cases of
fever as a remedy. There are forty oases around Biskra, which contains
3000 native inhabitants, and 110,000 palm-trees in its precincts. t The
caid was in 18 IG a handsome man; and the governor, M. St. Germain,

* Borrer, p. 369 ot seqq.

f The European civil population of Biskra amounted in 1847 to 132; in December 3 8 ! S,
to 89 ; and in December 1849, to 98. '2000 trees have been planted around the new post,
and divers works of levelling have been effected. The outer wall of the Fort St. Germain
has been raised to its proper height on three faces ; the fourth fa< e had reached the battle-
tnenl . On mall bastion is quite finished, and the other three are raised to 3 metres
(!)-si feet) in height. Barracks for 400 men were being built, with subordinate buildings
connected with the military department. Tableau, p. 389, &c.

sidi occ'ba. 249

gave a soiree to him and the beauty and fashion of Biskra, while Borrer
was there. There is the minaret of an ancient mosque just outside the
S.W. w;i]ls of the citadel and some Roman columns stand near it; but there
are no other ancient remains. Some hot springs, known to the Romans,
exist near Biskra, which produce the finest petrifactions. The officers'
gardens are N.W. of the mosque, and at the foot of the citadel, consisting
of four or five acres, enclosed by a mud wall, and containing palms, chilis,
capsicums, millet, and water-melons.*

The climate of Biskra is very hot. The best dates come from Oued-Se-
ref, to the S.E. of Biskra, and are called by the Arabs de-gleb-m-nowr dates.
The harvest begins at the end of October. In planting palms, the young tree
is put into deep holes with manure, as much sand being cleared as possible.

Sidi Occ'ba is an oasis eight leagues (20 miles) S.E. of Biskra, taking
its name from the famous Arab general, contemporary with the Prophet,
who built Kairoan and worked miracles. This oasis is renowned because
of his tomb, and on account of a tower which trembles visibly if you shout
" Tizza-bil-ras-Sidi-Ok'ba." Borrer was unable to visit it, on account of
the revolt of some tribes ; but he went to Tolga, an oasis twelve leagues
(30 miles) S.W. of Biskra, visiting en route the oases of Bouchayroun,
Lichana, Za'dch'a, and Farfar, all very similar to Biskra, and containing
little mud-built towns. The caid of Tolga was a noble-looking man of
forty, mounted on a fine black marc, who gave Borrer a grand enter-
tainment of dates, pilau, fricaseed chicken, stewed cucumber, cakes in
honey, and a grand dish of cous-coussou. All these dishes were made
very hot with chilis and capsicums. Afterwards came coffee and pipes.
He here beheld the largest scorpion that he had ever seen, adventurously
kilied by an Arab with his bare foot.

Tolga, which was almost laid in ruins by Abd-el-Kader in 1844, is an
oasis comprising three mud-built towns and extensive date-gardens. -j-

It is with regret that we here take leave of Mr. Borrer for the present,
while we proceed to give a description of the most recent condition of
some points that we have not visited in the interior of this proviuce and
of that of Algiers, constituting the wild mountainous region known by
the name of Kabylia, or Great Kabylia, which, from the remarkable
features of the territory, and the singular character of its population, the
av7u\0ov(n of Algeria, has appeared to us deserving of a separate notice.
The antiquities and colonies of the province of Constantina will be de-
scribed in special chapters. %

* Borrer, pp. 331-^70. f Ibid. p. '■''">■> et soqq. to the end of the chapter.

X The reader will trad many additional particulars relating to Bona in Captain Ken-
nedy's Algeria and Tunis, vol. L chap, xiv., and vol. ii. chap. ii. ; and also in the Lady's
Diary, vol. i. p. 24-4 et seqq., and vol. ii. pp. 1 to 38. Both authorities agree in praising its
theatre, and in condemning its port and its Maltese population. The Lion d'Or was a
good inn in 1815, near the Grand Square ; and the Lady's Diary pronounces Bona the
pkasantest town in all Algeria.

CHAPTER XIII.
threat I&abnlta.

AUTHORITIES BROAD OUTLINE THE DIFFERENT KABYLTAS GREAT KABYLIA

ETYMOLOGY — HISTORY ANALYSIS OF ITS TOPOGRAPHY BUGIA — ITS ROAD-
STEAD ITS TRIBES EXPEDITION OF MARSHAL BUGEAUD THE ZAOUIAS OF

SID1-BEN-ALI-CHERIF — ICUELAA — DELLYS.

The following description of this singular region of Algeria is derived
from three principal sources : 1st. The Exploration Sriertiifique, by
Captain E. Carette ; 2d. La Grande Kabylie, by General Daumas and
Captain Fabar ; 3d. Dawson Borrer's Campaign in the KabyUe*

Algeria has, like France, its north and south poles, its langue d'oc and
its langue d'oil, its industrial genius and its poetic genius : in a word,
Kabylia, the focus and home of workmen ; and its Sahara, the nursery
of speculators and adventurers.

All the mountaineers of Algeria come under the appellation of Kabails,
Kabyles, or Djebalis : the former term being hypothctically derived from
the Arabic kabail, a tribe ; and the latter proceeding more certainly from
the Arabic word djebel, a mountain. But Kabylia par excellence, — Kabylia
properly so called, as M. Carette styles it; or Great Kabylia, as it is named
by Colonel Daumas — is that large mountainous district which forms a stern
barrier between the provinces of Algiers and Constantina, and that frowns
to the eastward over the Mitidja plain; being, in fact, a ramification of the
Little Atlas, which, after running parallel with the sea-coast throughout
Algeria, inclines about thirty leagues (75 miles) S.E. of Algiers, more to
the 8.8.E., throwing out at the same point a series of exceedingly lofty
mountains, the most elevated of which is the ridge of the Jurjura, or
Djorjora (the Mons Ferratus of the ancients), which gives its name to the
greater part of the mountainous district above referred to. The northern
extremity of this almost inaccessible region, laved by the Mediterranean,
presents, according to Borrer, a sea-face of about sixty or seventy leagues
(150 or 1 75 miles), commencing seventeen leagues (42^ miles) cast of
Algiers. Its depth inland is from twenty to forty leagues (50 to 100

* Captain Kennedy, veil. i. chap. xiii. gives a generally corroet account of Kabylia,
interspersed with occasional errors.

POPULATION OF KABYLIA. 251

miles) ; and its breadth extends from the eastern limit of the Mitidja
to Pbilippeville. Its limits are, however, in reality very undefined ; and
a great part of the territory was, even in 1848, independent, thouyh the
most exposed tribes have for some years been nominally subject to the
French. Its population is considerable, and it is estimated that it can
muster 80,000 fighting men.*

The surface of Great Kabylia, according to M. Carette, embraces 7800
square kilometres (3003 square miles), with a population of 370,000;
which would give 47 inhabitants to each square kilometre (122 per square
mile), and 5'24 acres to every inhabitant. In France the proportion of
the population to the territory is 60'288 per square kilometre, -60288
individuals per hectare, or 244 per acre, or about 1 65 hectares, making
about four acres to every inhabitant. Therefore the proportion of the
population of Great Kabylia is four-fifths of that of France ; or, taking
the population of France as unity, it stands as 77942.

The specific population of Great Kabylia is four and a half times
greater than that of the rest of Algeria, which only contains, at a mean
estimate, 767 inhabitants per square kilometre (247 acres).

We have already stated that the population of Great Kabylia amounts
to 370,000 persons; and the number of villages being 1533, each village
has a mean of 245 inhabitants, and a maximum of 3000. The whole sur-
face of Great Kabylia being 780,000 hectares (1,926,600 acres), and the
number of villages 1533, each centre of population occupies a mean space
of 500 hectares (or 1235 acres). -j-

Great Kabylia is distinguished from the other parts of Algeria by
three special features : 1st, the exercise of professional arts ; 2d, the taste
for, and custom of work ; 3d, the stability of the dwellings.

Kabylia properly so called occupies, according to M Carette, on the
sea-shore an extent of 146 kilometres (9071 miles), comprised between
the mouth of the Ouad-Nessa to the west, and that of the Oued-Aguerioun
to the east ; the former stream flowing near Dellys, the latter towards the
extremity of the Gulf of Bugia.

* These remarks are from Dawson Borrer's Campaign in t7te Eabylie, p. 1 et seqq.
+ The foregoing calculations are mainly derived from E. Carette's Eabylie proprement
dite, vol. i. 1. ii. p. 113, in the Exploration seientifique. We have found it necessary, how-
ever, to rectify a serious error of that author, or his printer, by which ho estimates the
population of Kabylia at 4s persons per hectare, and that of France at 6 individuals per
hectare. Now, as he gives the surface of Kabylia at 780,000 hectares, and its population
at 370,000; as, moreover, 780,000 hectares make 7S00 square kilometres, and he gives Ka-
bylia 47 souls, and France 60, per square kilometre,— it is evident that M. Carette or his
printer has made the proportion per hectare ten times too great. To verify our con-
clusion, and accustom the reader to decimal calculation, we give the comparative French
and English measures of surfaces again :

100 square kilometres = 1 square myriametrc = 3S5 square miles.

100 hectares = 1 square kilometre 247 acres.

10,000 square metres = 1 hectare = 12 47 acres.

252 SURFACE OF KABYLIA.

On the laud side it is circumscribed by various groups of tribes ; and
the approximative surface of the whole region is nearly 800,000 hectares
(about 2,000,000 acres) ; that of the island of Corsica being 980,510
(2,451,275 acres).

The general idea which has been held respecting the continent of
Africa, and the false inferences drawn from partial information, have long
given currency to serious errors as regards Algeria, which is considered
as a country of plains and marshes ; while the accidents and the dryness
of the soil, on the contrary, are its characteristic features. The shore of
Algeria is almost always mountainous. Between the frontier of Morocco
and the Tafna exists the chain of the Traras ; and Oran, like Algiers, has
its undulating Sahel.

From the mouth of the Shellif as far as that of the Mazafran, that is,
for a length of sixty leagues (150 miles), with a depth of from ten to
twelve leagues (30 miles), rises and branches out the chain of Dahra.
That of the Little Atlas is connected with it by the Zaccar, and shuts in
the semicircle of the Mitidja. Having reached this point, the mountain-
system rises to a greater elevation, widens, becomes mox-e complicated in
its character, and decorates the whole extent of the coast as far as the
neighbourhood of Bona. This is not all : we must reckon, moreover, in
the interior, the Ouarenseris, which faces the Dahra, commands it in ele-
vation, and exceeds it in extent ; besides other great masses parallel with
the preceding ones, and which separate the Tell from the Sahara in the
same way that they have cut it off from the Mediterranean. Such are the
Djebel Amour, the Aouress, &c, of which we have already treated.

These mountainous regions embrace nearly the half of the Algerian
territory, and nearly all of them are inhabited by Kabyles, a race, or mix-
ture of races, quite distinct from the Arabs. The various Kabylias have
no political tie between them : each of them constitutes merely a sort of
nominal federation, in which exist so many independent unities — of weak
or powerful, religious or warlike tribes, subdivided in their form into frac-
tions and villages, all equally free. Although they present a striking
analogy in manners, origin, and history, the proper analysis of facts
requires that they shonld be considered separately. All these Kabylias
constitute so many detached pages ; such as those of the Traras, of the
Ouarenseris, of the Dahra, of the Little Atia&j ofHhe Jurjura, and many
others. It is with the latter alone that we are at present concerned, the
Kabylia of the Jurjura, which by many writers has been emphatically
styled ///'• Kabylia, and which we shall call, on account of its relative im-
portance, Great Kabylia.*

This region embraces all the surface of the vast square comprised
between Dellys, Aumale, Setif, and Bugia. These limits may be brought
under the foregoing distinct heads ; and though they are fictitious limits,
* La Grande Kabylie, General Daumas, p. 3.

KABTLB ETYMOLOGY. 253

inasmuch as they do not result from geographical configuration, they are
rational limits in a political and historical point of view.

lit ■ Kabylia, which is ahout to occupy us, has engaged the popular
attention in France more than any other. Many causes have contributed
to this effect. Its extent, riches, and population; its proximity to Algiers,
which has naturally become the source of some commercial relations ; its
ancient renown for independence ; and its inaccessibility, owing to the
great mountains that cover it, — have combined to fix the public attention
on this important region : and during some years there has been much
uncertainty about what policy should be followed with regard to it. Im-
portant events have lately settled this question, at the same time that they
have thrown much light on all its phases.

The learned are not agreed upon the etymology of the word Kahijlc.
Some assign a Phoenician origin to it. Baal is a generic name of Syrian
divinities, and 3 in the Hebrew language serves to unite the two terms of
a comparison (K-JJaal, h>3 3, as the worshippers of Baal). In support of
this hypothesis, which would also determine the primary cradle of the Ka-
byles, the partisans of this derivation cite analogies of proper names, such
as Philistines and Plittas (Kabyles), or Flissas ; Mohabites and Beni-
Mczzab, or Mozabttes ; besides some others. But Colonel Daumas rejects
this etymology, because it is not supported by the writers of antiquity.
In Herodotus we find the name Kabal applied to some of the Cyrenaic
tribes, but we find it nowhere else among the classical authors ; and no
trace of it exists amongst the numerous authors of the Roman epoch, his-
torians or geographers, who have left so many documents concerning the
two Mauritania^.

It was only after the invasion of the Arabs that these mountaineers
began to be called Kabyles ; hence the origin of the name is more pro-
bably Arabic, and ought to be derived from one of the three following-
roots :

Kuebila = Tribe.
JKabel = He has accepted.
' Kobel = Before.*

The first would result from the national organisation of these highlanders
in clans. The second, from their conversion to Islam. Compulsion, here
as elsewhere, would have enforced at least an exoteric profession of the
new creed ; and they would bow to the crescent to escape taxation or the
sword. They would accept the Koran. The third derivation i6 not less
plausible. In calling these mountaineers Before, they would have pub-
lished a fact in harmony with all tradition, history, and experience ; i. e.
that the abroydovoi are invariably driven to the mountains, the last

* Q'byla, tribe ^jplu: q'bayl iL»*i JjUS- 1. Q'bal, he has accepted J-J. 3. Q'bel,
before <J^.

254 OUTLINE OF KABYLIA.

strongholds of independence, by the succeeding tides of invasion-
Amongst the Kabyles, the mixture of the German blood left by the con-
quest of the Vandals is still betrayed by physical traits ; and etymo-
logists endeavour to add to this some additional evidence derived from the
approximations of names, such as Suevi and Zouaouas, Huns and Ouled-
Aouan.*

We shall lay no great stress on these apparent linguistic affinities,
which are subject to much uncertainty. t

For the history and language of Great Kabylia we refer the reader to
the chapters on those subjects. It will not, however, be inapposite to
make a few remarks on the names of Gouraya and Jorjora. Above the
town of Bugia, the chef lieu of Kabylia, rises a vast mountain mass
called Mount Gouraya, and inhabited by a Kabyle tribe, the Beni-Labeos,
that is undoubtedly of Vandal origin. The term Gora in the Sclavonic
language signifies mountain ; and there can be little doubt respecting
the derivation of this name. Gourgoura appears also to be the Berber
name of the culminating peak of Kabylia, which has been altered by
the Arabs into Jorjora. There can also be little doubt respecting the
origin of this term, as it is pure Russian for the mountain of mountains
(Gorgora), and is evidently a northern importation. The Prince of Mir,
a Polish refugee who, as before stated, occupied the Eassautah, a villa
near Algiers, in 1841, informed Baron Baude that a considerable number
of Sclavonic words occur in the Kabyle tongue, or rather special dialects
thereof.;):

We have described Great Kabylia as a vast square, whereof the
corners extend to Aumale, Dellys, Bugia, and Setif. The sides of this
square are formed, by more or less broken lines, as follows :

West face. Between Aumale and Dellys, the new road from Algiers ;
the Oued-ben-Ahmoud as far as its confluence with the Isser, at the bridge
of Ben-Hioi ; the Isser as far as Bordj-Menaiel; the Oued-Sebaou, from
the Bordj of the same name to its mouth.

North face. From Dellys to Bugia, the strand of the sea.
East face. From Bugia to Setif, nearly a straight line.
South face. From Setif to Aumale, the road of the Bibans, followed
in 1838 by the column coming from Constantina ; and afterwards the
Oued-Lekal, after leaving Kaf-Badjala.

The country within these limits covers a surface of about 500 square
leagues. § Colonel Daumas gives it 250,000 inhabitants, disseminated in
the proportion of 500 persons per square league. || This fact does not

* Ouled signifies child, descendant.

t La Grande Kabylic, General Daumas, p 6. J Baron Baude, pp. 131 and 69.

£ 500 square leagues would give about 3279 square miles ; somewhat more than the
estimate of M . ( larette.

| 1 square 1 1 ague = 6 square miles, at 24 miles to the league. This gives 85$ persons
per square mile, an estimate differing from that of M. Carette by oiic-third.

THE DJORJORA. 255

correspond with the appearance of the valleys of the Summam, the Se-
baou, and the Adjeh, which are as populous as most French departments ;
but we must bear in mind the solitary character and barrenness of the
numerous rocky ridges.

It would exceed our purpose to enter into all the details of the phy-
sical and political geography of Great Kabylia. The reader would be
wearied by a minute enumeration of names and localities that could leave
no definite impression on his mind. On the other hand, a bold outline
of the broad features of this curious land and people cannot be unaccept-
able to the intelligent reader.

There exists a strong analogy between the moral and material phy-
siognomy of the country. The territory exhibits a number of little val-
leys separated by the chief and presiding chains, and constituting real
arteries in which the principal vitality of the country circulates. On
examining these primary basins more closely, a number of secondary
valleys are discovered opening into them, their sides being formed by
elbows of the principal ridge, and carrying off its waters. These little
rivers in their turn receive torrents, and these torrents are fed by rivulets
or waterfalls ; thus you ascend by a chain of perpendicular systems, from
the basins to valleys, from valleys to dells, from dells to ravines ; and each
of these geographical elements has its proper name and details, and would
admit a particular description. But to simplify the features of this region
and make them comprehensible, we shall confine ourselves to the three
great valleys : that of the Oued-Adjed, which is, however, properly only
a branch stream ; and the two principal basins of the Sebaou and of the
Summam, having their issue in the sea.

The first of these water-courses descends from the vicinity of Setif,
where it bears the name of Bou-Sellam : and meeting Mount Guenrour,
it pierces a narrow passage through rocky masses. But this cutting is
almost every where inaccessible ; consequently the road from Setif to
Bugia can only reach the course of the river lower down. The latter con-
tinues traversing a broken country as far as the Summam, running along
the side of mountains of a middling height, but irregular, chaotic, and
impracticable. This broken ground is nevertheless covered with good
vegetable mould, and conceals many mines in its bosom.

The chain of the Djorjora, which is the highest ridge in the country,
determines the existence and the form of the two other almost concentric
basins, which are those of the Summam and of the Sebaou. The chain in
question runs parallel to the shore comprised hetween Bugia and Dellys.
Its rocky pinnacles rise more than 2000 metres (6560 feet) above the level
of the sea. Save in the case of some naked ridges, pathless hollows, and
accidental rents, the soil is generally covered with a thick bed of vegetable
mould, a rich and productive soil : wanting neither wood nor water, it
seldom presents insurmountable obstacles, and in every respect is much

2Z6 BUGIA.

better adapted for travelling and intercourse than any of the other Ka-
bylias.

The watershed becomes naturally a geographical and political frontier,
between the northern waters flowing into the Mediterranean, and the
southern slopes, whence the eye descries an endless succession of moun-
tains and valleys, and embraces as it were a sea of solid waves. Not only
do the basins of the Summam and of the Sebaou describe on opposite sides
of the Jurjura two concentric rings, but their very topography presents,
moreover, a symmetrical contrast : their slopes follow an opposite deve-
lopment ; the Sebaou flows from the east to the west, and falls into the
sea after having encircled Dellys ; whilst, farther on, the Summam de-
scends in an inverse direction from the west to the cast, but similarly en-
circles Bugia before it empties itself into the sea.*

The principal town of this remarkable region is Bugia. Let the reader
imagine a narrow and rocky beach on the sea-shore, then a very steep
declivity about twenty metres (G5'G0 feet) in height; afterwards a gentle
slope, forming a kind of plateau, which runs up to the precipitous sides of
the Gouraya ; and towering above all, that mountain itself, spread out like
a curtain behind the town, raising its indented crest to about 700 metres
(2150 feet) above the level of the sea.

Such is the situation of Buo;ia. One essential feature fixes the atten-
tion at this spot; namely, the ravine of Sidi-Touati, which divides the
town in two, and carries off the waters from the Gouraya, below the Gate
of the Marine, almost down to the landing-place. Seen from the sea,
this cutting leaves to the right the hill and quarter of Bridja, one of
the extreme points of which closes in the anchorage of the town, and
commands it by the guns of Fort Abd-el-Kader, built on its sides. To
the left of the ravine you see the hill and quarter of Moussa, commanding
the opposite declivity, and embracing two forts in a respectable condition
for defence : — first, the Casbah, almost at the edge of the shelving beach ;
and Moussa, facing the mountain, t Historical associat on, as well as the
romantic position of this town, perched upon the rocks at the foot of
Mount Gouraya, the base of which is laved by the waters of the noble bay,
renders it interesting to the wanderer. The population of this frontier
town of Kabylia, which figured before the French invasion in 1833 at
several thousands, is now diminished to about 500 Europeans and to a
very few natives, and is almost wholly composed of vendors of such neces-
saries of life as are required by the garrison, by which they are attracted,
and from which they gain their subsistence..}. Bugia thus ranks third in
population, compared to the other points occupied by the French on the
coast of Algiers; Bona and Philippeville containing a superior population,

• For this excellent sketch of the physical geography of Great Kabylia, I am indebted
to Colonel Daumas and Captain Fabar. See La Grandi Kahylie, chap. iv. \>. 133.
•j- La Grande Kabylie, pp. bl-o. + Dawson Borrer, p. 101.

BUGIA. 257

and Djidjelli, Dollys, and La Calle an inferior." This statement of Mr.
Borrer cannot include the province of Oran.

The distance from Bugia to Algiers by sea is thirty-five leagues (87^-
miles) j* and it is situated thirty leagues (75 miles), rather N.W., from
Constantina; twenty leagues (50 miles) from Setif (Sitifis) ; and fifty (125
miles) from Bona (Hippona), the ancient episcopacy of the venerable St.
Augustine.

St. Marie thus describes the approach to Bugia by water : " After
doubling Bouae Point, we came in sight of the Monkey Valley and of the
Marine Garden, the verdure of the latter presenting a fine contrast to the
gloomy rocks surrounding it. Then passing Fort Abd-el-Kader, after
having nearly doubled the great jetty formed by the Gouraya, we descried
Bugia, situated on some rapid declivities fronting the south. Notwith-
standing the forts, and the large extent of the ground it covers, Bugia is
only a mass of huts, not a town ; and its streets are, in point of fact,
nothing but rough footpaths, running, without any order, between rows of
irregularly-built houses. The ruined deburcadere, or landing-place, had
been complained of by Baron Baude in 1841, and was still a national dis-
grace to the French in 1845. 1 '-)- Two thousand men then occupied a bar-
racked camp on a point suited for the defence of the place, but deficient in
water, the stream that used to supply the town being lost among ruins.
The French might recover this, if they had the intelligence and zeal of the
Romans and old Arabs. From the camp to the summit of the Gouraya
there is a road opened, under the direction of General Duvivier, in the
rear of the great walls. This road extends to the length of 4000 metres
(13,120 feet), over a calcareous rock, covered by a stratum of argillaceous
earth.

The lentisk, the mastic, the vine, and the wild olive, grow here luxu-
riantly, and would flourish vigorously if the cattle were prevented from
ranging among them. The summit of the Gouraya is 682 metres (2230-96
feet) above the sea ; but St. Marie is mistaken in stating that on the
northern side the elevation is 700 metres (2296 feet), and on the southern
2000 (6560 feet). The effect of this prodigious mountain-pile is quite
magical.

The marabout of Sidi-Bosgri, on the top of the Gouraya, was thought
as efficacious a pilgrimage for the infirm as that to Mecca ; but being
taken, after a hard fight, in 1833, by the French, a fort has been built on
its site, which commands the mountain. Colonel Larochette has improved
its defences by making a path from the fort, following the crest of the
Gouraya, and descending to the plain, passing by the precipice of the
Dent. This road is so constructed, that you can always see the move-

* Borrer, p. 161. Mr. Borrer says in another place, that Bugia is 45 leagues to th«
east of Algiers, —which must mean by land.
f St. Marie, chap. vi. pp. 197-200.

258 SIDI-BOSGRI.

ments of your assailants and mask your own, whatever they may be.
Still, when you wish to go along it, even at present, it is necessary to
have an escort of about thirty tirailleurs to clear the borders. This road
leads down to the blockhouse of Doriac.

Five advanced posts complete the defence on the land side.* St. Marie
states that the marabout of Sidi-Bosgri was heroically defended by the
Kabyles in 1833; and that the blockhouse was nobly defended, at a later
date, by ten Frenchmen for three days against a host of Kabyles. The
walls riddled with shot attest the heat of the combat, in which the
French, with the chivalry for which they were once famous, refused to fire
on a sheikh's widow, who urged on the assailing Kabyles with the greatest
energy. The cattle and the soldiers of the garrison did not venture for
many years beyond the five advanced posts before alluded to, for fear of
being captured or slaughtered by the Kabyles. The cattle, when sent
out to graze, used to be accompanied by dogs to beat about the bushes, as
in a hunt, and drive off the Kabyles. t Baron Baude, who appears to be
copied by Count St. Marie, gives the following description of the country
beyond the Gouraya : " In the midst of the chaos at your feet, as you stand
on the top of that lofty pile, a deep hollow opens, which becomes bifur-
cated at the distance of three leagues (7% miles) from Bugia. This is the
vale of Soumah, and beyond it lie the beautiful plains of Zamoura and
Setif." The dingles in this neighbourhood show traces of cultivation; but
the villages of Dharmassar and Sumnia had been burnt at the time of St.
Marie's visit. $ The bottom of the cistern, which forms the plain of
Bugia, may contain about 6000 hectares (15,000 acres); but it is only
cultivated on the right bank of the Sunmiam.

The Gouraya towers to the east and north of the town, is connected in
the interior with Mount Tondja, and being prolonged into the sea, gives
birth to Cape Carbon. To the southward, a pretty bay entered the laud
to receive the waters of the Ouad-Summam.§

On the sides of Djebel Gouraya was once situated the famous koubba,
or domed tomb, of the fair Kabyle saint, Lella-Gouraya, which is now
replaced by a French fort commanding Bugia. Upon the right is the

* Baron Baude, vol. i. p. 133. In November 1833, the year of the conquest of Bugia,
four blockhouses had been constructed: i.e. those of Bou-Ali, covering the plateau of
Moussa ; and those of Salem, Rouman, and Khalifa, situated on the western plateaux. At
the same time Colonel Lemercier was also laying the foundation of a very fine work, in
erecting Fort Gouraya. In the beginning of 1834, Commandant Duviviur built another
outwork, the blockhaus c/e laplaine; and in 1830-7 were erected the Fort Lemercier and
tho towers of Doriac and Salomon. La Grande Kabylie, pp. 93-96 and 125. We learn
from the Tableau that the defences and tho landing havo been improved, and a lighthouse
erected at Bugia.

t St. Marie, p. 200. Z Ibid. p. 201. Baron Baude, vol. i. p. 133.

§ Col. I >aumas, Grande Kabylie, p. 93. Tho bay of Bugia is described by E. Caretto as
a large bight or indenture, comprised between Capo Carbon to tho westward, and Cape
Cavallo to the cast. La Kabylie propromout dito.

BUGIA. 259

Ouad Messaoud or Summam, forming here the east boundary of the plain ;
the opposite shores being covered with massive groves of olive-trees, and
overlooked by wild mountains clothed with wood, and held by the fierce
Beni-Bou-Mcssaoud, who, with the Mezaya, an equally warlike tribe, long
kept the people of Bugia cooped up in their walls, rendering it, even down
to the visit of Dawson Borrer (1847), a mere military post held by the
French.

Two entrenched camps have been made near Bugia, one higher and
the other lower, constructed on the Gouraya range ; and a road has been
made from the camps to the summit, 4000 metres (13,120 feet) in length,
at an inclination of one-tenth. The lower camp, which is 120 metres
(393-60 feet) above the sea, is calculated to contain 2000 men. There
is every probability that Bugia, under an enlightened government, would
recover much of its ancient pulitical and commercial importance; * its
position being central and convenient, and the district of Great Kabylia
containing the most industrious race in Algeria. According to the ob-
servations followed in the Cabinet Atlas, Bugia is situated in 30° 49' N.
lat., and in 5° 28' E. long, of Greenwich. f General Daumas, in the map
accompanying his work on Great Kabylia, places it in 36° 45' N. lat., and
in 2° 46' east of Paris. J

The country surrounding Bugia is very fertile. The river Bou-Mes-
saoud is here of great depth and of considerable width, with a muddy
bed ; and in winter its channel is much subject to overflow, through the
operation of the mountain torrents. The Summam closes its career flow-
ing through an agreeable plain of moderate extent, surrounded on all
sides of the horizon by a framework of picturesque mountains.

Bugia, suspended amongst rocks that seem ready to swallow it up, and
the waves that eat away their base, only communicates with the smiling
valley, descried from its walls, by a somewhat narrow tongue of land.
Hence the mountaineers form its nearest and most formidable neighbours,
owing to the nature of the locality and other accidental circumstances. It
so happens, moreover, that the tribe of the Mzaias, which is in possession
of those heights, is reported to be one of the most warlike, poor, and
savage of all. Its territory is carefully cultivated, but the spots of good
mould are not sufficiently abundant to support the inhabitants. Accord-
ingly a certain number go forth to work elsewhere; and those who remain
are never backward in any thievish or warlike enterprise. They can
muster 800 foot-soldiers. The plain belongs to two tribes — the Beni-Bou-
Messaoud and the Beni-Menioun; which can each of them bring from 500 to
600 firelocks into the field, with a small body of horsemen. Their district

* Great quantities of wax used to be exported from Bugia ; whence came the French
name for wax-candle, lougie. Kennedy, vol. i. p. 261.

+ Universal Gazetteer, in the Royal Cabinet Atlas, p. 20.
J Seo the Chart, p. 488, of La Grande Kabylie.

2G0 MOUNT GOURAYA.

is more thriving; for instance, they can boast of fine flocks, of corn, flax,
a great many bee-hives, olive-trees, and some tolerably flourishing vil-
lages.

Still, neither of these three tribes is so powerful as those more in the
centre of Great Kabylia.*

The roads of Bugia are the best in Algeria. They are, it is true, some-
what exposed to squalls and to a heavy swell; but these evils are remedied
by their excellent anchoring-ground. To seaward of a space of about 60
hectares (150 acres) situated before the town, and suited for merchant-
ships, the anchorage of Sidi-Yahia can receive, from Pointe de Bouac to
Fort Abd-el-Kader, four line-of-battle ships, six frigates, and a consi-
derable number of smaller craft. The Turks were in the habit of putting
up their fleet in Bugia roads in the winter. Recent travellers agree that
the famous inlet at Cape Carbon, into which, according to ancient geo-
graphers, ships could enter under full sail, would now scarcely admit
a boat.-f-

Behind Bugia rises Mount Gouraya, 670 metres in height,^ whose
rocks consist of limestone, and are covered to the top with argillaceous
earth, whose fecundity counteracts the usual effects of exposure to the
south. The lentisks, carobs, vines, and wild olives which clothe its sides
and summit, only require protection from the cattle, to supply the base
of the mountain with abundant sources, by attracting and retaining the
rain. The great rents of the Simplon, St. Gothard, and Splugen offer
nothing comparable to this prodigious up-heaving of mountains. The
view from the Righi is more extensive, but less imposing, than that of the
Atlas from the Gouraya, which reminds one of the imperfect work of the
Titans, described in Virgil :

Ter sunt conati imponere Pelio Ossam
Scilicet, atquo Ossse'frondosum involvere
Olympian. Georg. lib. i.

Approaching Bugia by water from the south-east, the rocky mass of
the Gouraya seems detached from the shore; and the deep gorge inter-
vening between it and the mainland indicates at once the position of the
city of Bugia, and the course of the Roman road which led from Rusgunias
and Rusucurrum, and descended to Saldaj (Bugia) on the south reverse
of the mountain.

The Arab and Mussulman population generally appears to have almost
entirely deserted Bugia; and the European population, which at one period
since the conquest amounted to 7-iO persons, scarcely numbered 100 in
1841. It has been, in fact, merely a military hospital; and all travellers
agree in condemning the folly of the French government in not improving

* L.i (iramlc Kabylio, p. ( Ji. t Baron 13audo, vol. i. p. 139.

J Borrer, p. 161.

TIIE INTERIOR. 261

the port, which affords such fine natural advantages. There are many
channels for commerce in the neighbourhood of Bugia : to the south-west,
the valley of the Adouse ascends, following the base of the Djorjora to the
plain of Hamza, whence you descend towards Algiers; to the south, the
Adjelly pierces in a direct line the chain of the Atlas; and its valley opens
at 20 leagues (50 miles) from the sea on the fertile plains of Medjana. It
cannot be expected that the French will derive any benefit from the con-
quest of Bugia, till by force of arms or arts they can prevail on the fierce
hi-hlanders, by whom they are encircled, to allay the bitterness of hos-
tility with which they regard the invading Christians. As for any colonist
who may be tempted by visions of hecatomboian cattle reared upon the
fertile shores of the river Bou-Messaoud, his lot will be but an unhappy
one in the present state of affairs at this point; for Bugia is, in fact, a
mere military post, the very sentinels upon the walls being ever and anon
hailed by the whistle of a Kabyle bullet. A certain. Scherif Mohammed,
who has annoyed the French considerably from time to time, lives at pi*e-
sent in the neighbourhood, encouraging the spirit of revolt; but from
the checks he has lately received, he is now compelled to content himself
by sending out occasional marauding parties; keeping up a kind of guerilla
warfare, which holds in a state of harass and alarm both the garrison of the
town, and the few allied Arabs in the neighbourhood.

" A night or two before my arrival at Bugia," writes Mr. Borrer in
1S47, "a band of this mountain-chiefs foragers were outwitted by an am-
buscade of indigenous cavaliers in the French service, and sadly mauled.
In fact, there is a continual sparring going on between these sturdy sons
of the Mons Ferratus (Gouraya) and the present tenants of Bugia. No
sooner are the French flocks, or those of the allied Arabs, led forth to revel
in the fat pastures of the Oued-Messaoud, than hungry eyes gloat upon
them from the thicket-clad heights around, and a sudden swoop carries oft'
shepherds and sheep. If, on the other hand, the hostile mountaineers are
tempted to descend with their own herds, the same fate awaits them; so
that a system of aggression and retaliation keeps both parties in a delight-
ful state of qui vive."

"ft e shall now give the reader a peep into the wilds and recesses of this
Alpine region, ere we pass on to consider its ethnology.

Our old friend Mr. Dawson Borrer accompanied the French expedition
under Marshal Bugeaud in the spring of 1817, which penetrated into the
heart of Great Kabylia and subdued all parts of it, except its most retired
and rugged fastnesses. We shall present the reader with an outline of his
progress, to break the monotony of dry details.

After leaving Algiers they marched to Arba in the Mitidja, a district
which we have already described. The column, consisting of eleven bat-
talions, two squadrons, and two sections of mountain guns, advanced

262 SIDI-BEN-ALI-CHEMF.

thence to the foot of the Little Atlas, which they reached about half an
hour after quitting Arba. The slopes of the mountains are there clothed
with brushwood, chiefly lentisk, stunted bellotas, and myrtle, intermingled
with the bright-flowered coronilla and the dwarf gum-cistus. A road has
been cut along the face of the Djebel Moussa, leading to a newly-established
French post named Aumale (the Sour-Guzlan of the Arabs, and the Au-
zia of the ancients), which lies about four days' march S.E. of Algiers.

The mountains they were now traversing are intersected by very deep
and beautiful valleys, up the steep slopes of which were clustered numerous
gourbies, or huts forming villages, or dashkrahs as the mountaineers name
them. These huts are constructed of rough stones or masses of turf, the
interstices filled up with mud and cattle- dung. The roofs are thatched
with coarse straw or reeds and branches of trees. The extreme lowness of
these dwellings is remarkable, the walls of few being more than three feet
in height, so that the branches covering the roofs often touch the ground
at the eaves. One large apartment alone is found in each hut, a portion of
which is enjoyed by the family, and the rest by their live-stock. It is only
in the centre that you can in general stand upright, immediately under the
ridge of the roof. In the neighbourhood of these villages the land is well
cultivated, and crops of remarkably fine bearded wheat were at that season
(May) shooting up from the ground.*

Without accompanying the column all the way in its victorious course
down the valley of the Summam, whence, after subduing most of the tribes
by violence or terror, and after forming its junction with General Bedeau's
column from Setif, it marched on to Bugia, having subdued the greater
portion of the lowlands of Great Kabylia, — -we shall dwell on some of the
most striking features of the region.

Marshal Bugeaud encamped with his troops on the 15th at Sidi-
Moussa, on the banks of the Summam. On the opposite bank the rich
but strong country of the Beni-Abbas rose in the form of an amphi-
theatre. Their numerous villages, clustering together, are perched on a
series of steep summits, the most inaccessible and populous being Azrou,
which Avas stormed, sacked, and burnt by the French. This example
struck such terror into the neighbouring tribes, that most of them sub-
mitted, especially the confederation surrounding the zaouia of Sidi-ben-
Ali-Cherif, forming a little theocratic state. This sacred college and kind
of monastery is situated near Chellala, on the opposite or left bank of the
Summam, and is the nursery of numerous tolbas (savants) and of won-
derful legends. It contains three venerated tombs : those of Sidi-Mo-
hammcd-ben-Ali-Cherif the founder, of Sidi-Said, and of a famous mara-
bout Milah. The family of Sidi-Said holds the chief authority, and all his
descendants are reputed to have been blessed with one male child and

* Campaign, &c, by Dawson Borror, p. 29 ct scqq. Compare chap. xiv. p. 282.

KUELAA. 2G3

heir. But these unlucky chiefs, like the Abyssinian olive-branches, are
bound never to leave the territory of the confederation. One daring fellow
who peeped over was struck blind, like our peeping Tom. Near the
founder's tomb are two colossal walnut-trees, which must not be touched
without the permission of the tolbas, or before the fatah has been said
over them. A sly taleb venturing to pocket a nut, a leech falling from
heaven bit out his eye. This zaouia, pre-eminent for strict morals, is
served by the villages of Chellala and Ighit-ou-Mered, whose inhabitants
are forbidden to have any education, that they may not aspire to become
masters instead of servants.* This zaouia possesses vast property, and is
supported by ready donations. f

Leaving the column, we shall proceed to analyse the unsubdued district
of the Zouaouas, the singular town of Kuelaa, and finally Dellys.

The country of the Zouaouas | embraces the highest and most arid
part of the mountains. Their soil is poor and affords little grain, the tribe
preferring to cultivate vegetables, flax, and tobacco. Fruit is not wanting,
including carobs, olives, figs, pomegranates, apricots, apples, <fcc. Sweet
acorns are very plentiful, and eaten in cous-coussou by the Zouaouas. They
have much game, including hares, partridges, quails, pigeons, <fcc. Lions
are rare, but panthers are more common; and to destroy them they often
employ a kind of infernal machine, with a piece of meat near it as
a bait. §

The Zouaoua mountains also contain a host of hyenas, wild boars,
jackals, <fcc., and especially vast numbers of apes;|| but the produce of the
country would be quite insufficient for its inhabitants, if they were not a
highly industrious race. 5

Most of the towns of Algeria seem built under the impression of fear;
and Kuelaa is a veritable miracle on the score of unassailableness : the
only exposed approach is Bouni, on the side of Medjana. A natural phe-
nomenon indicates clearly the separation of the Arab and Kabyle territories
at this spot. Near the village of Djedida a colossal gate opens between the
rocks, separating two countries of strikingly opposite characters. To the
south is the rich Medjana plain with its golden harvests. To the north an
abrupt and rugged ground and stei'ile soil, yet, as you advance, improv-
ing and displaying picturesque mountain beauties. Passing mighty rocks
and a splendid cataract, you reach the plateau of Bouni, separated from
Kuelaa by three leagues (7|- miles) of broken territory, whose difficulty

* How like this to the superior wisdom of some enlightened classes nearer home !
+ La Grande Kabylie.

J The name of the Zouaouas is frequently extended to all the Kabyle tribes inhabiting
the ridge of the Jurjura, between Dellys and Bugia.

§ La Grande Kabylie. j] See the Fauna.

^] See following chapter.

2G4 DELLYS.

exceeds the fabulous, the path being for the most part along a ridge like
Mahomet's razor, with fearful precipices on both sides, and only at times
one metre in width. At length you reach the plateau of six kilometres
(4| miles), only united to earth by this narrow ridge, standing on wall-like
precipices, and commanding a vast vat-like basin. This sport of nature
holds four villages, composing the town of Kuelaa. Ruins at the north-
east point, called Bordj-el-feteun, point out the civil dissensions of its
brilliant rulers the Mekhranis, one of whom built the Casbah, now in
ruins, and brought four vast cannon of European origin to Kuelaa. The
people are now governed by a natural Djema, and can raise 700 firelocks.
They belong to the soff of the Beni- Abbas. (See chap, xiv.)

The aspect of Kuelaa is smiling. The houses, built in the Moorish
style, are often white-washed, always tiled. The great mosque commands
the town, and has a graceful appearance, the porch being decorated with
poplars.

Unhappily the town has no water. Seven basins have been dug in
the rock by an alley separating the quarters of Ben-Daoud and Ouled-
Aissa (the son of David and the children of Jesus), but the water only
trickles there in drops. In winter they have plenty of rain, but in the
droughts they have to resort to the Oued-Beni-Hamadouche, winding at
the bottom of the ravine, half a league (1^ miles) off by the steepest
roads. The banks of this river present a little cultivation, but the people
would starve were it not for their great industry. Men and women work
hard, making immense quantities of woollen garments, and many of them
migrating to the towns of Algeria and Barbary. The women are noted
for their beauty and toilette; and the strong position of Kuelaa has made
it for ages a kind of sanctuary for person and property in this anarchical
country."

Turning to Dellys (in Arabic Teddel), the west limit of Great Kabylia
on the seaboard, we find that this town stands on the supposed site, and
is built of the remains of, Rusucurrum, one league from the mouth of the
river Booberak, and forty-five miles east from Algiers. St. Marie, who
passed Dellys in 1845, on his voyage from Algiers to Bona, describes it as
the first well-inhabited place on the coast within a distance of twenty
leagues from Algiers. The surrounding hills show careful cultivation ; and
a succession of delightful gardens indicates amongst the inhabitants a
certain love of order and repose, not to be met with in other parts of
Africa. +

* La Granrle Kabylie.

+ Baron Baude, vol. i. p. 127- St. Marie, p. 197. Diary of a Lady's Travels in Bar-
bary, vol. i. p. 155. Nicholas de Nicolai, who was at Dellys in 1551, remarks : " O'est une
ville habitiV d'un | .< uj pit- I'ml rcVtvatit' H phiisanl , duni [ .r< -~c ju> ■ t.>us s'adonnent anjeu
<k- la harpe et du luth." He gave it 2000 fires ; and Gramaye agrees in Lis statement.

DELLYS. 2G5

It appears from the latest official documents,* that a landing-slip, fifty-
five metres (180-40 feet) in length, and built of masonry, was constructed
at the port of Dellys in 1847-8, costing 46,611 fr. 29 cents. (1860/. 9s. 5d.)
The Place Nationale was partially cleared of rubbish in 18-30 ; and 1790
metres (5871-20 feet) of principal streets, and 1470 metres (4785-20 feet)
of branch streets, were opened from 1844 to 1849. The springs within
the walls supply daily 43,200 litres (9504 gallons) of water ; whilst the
ain, or conduit, of Mezel-el-Foukani, finished between 1844 and 1849, at
an expense of 7260 fr. (290/. 8s. 2d.), has a length of 225 metres (738
feet), and yields a daily supply of 21,600 litres (4752 gallons). The con-
duit of Ain-liouabada, called Sidi-Souzou, was finished in 1849, at a cost
of 15,400 fr. (616/.), having a length of 500 metres (1640 feet), and
yielding a daily supply of 28,800 litres (6336 gallons). The latter con-
duit has been brought in as far as to the fountains within the walls.

A building connected with the maritime service, and called direction
du port, answering to our harbour-master's office, was built in 1844-6, cost-
ing 6469 fr. (258/. 15s. 10J.) ; as well as a bureau Arabe, built at the same
date, at an expense of 16,717 fr. (668/. 14s. 2d.)

The precincts of Dellys are occupied by a certain number of petty
tribes, who in a great measure identify their interests with those of the
town, forming a distinct confederation from the other Kabyles. Its prin-
cipal members are the Beni-Slyems and the Beni-Thour, and they can
raise 1400 muskets. Dellys numbers ahout 1339 inhabitants, of whom
308 are Europeans, f

After leaving Dellys, as you proceed eastward along the coast of
Kabylia towards Bugia, you pass the port of Zuffoone, commonly called
Mers-el-Fahm (the port of charcoal) ; and doubling Cape Ash-oune-mon-
Kar, where stood the ancient Yabar, the next remarkable place you
come to is Mettsecoub (the perforated rock). The Spaniards have a
tradition that Raymond Lully, in his mission to Africa, was in the
habit of retiring to this cave for meditation. Not far hence is Bugia. |
St. Marie, who also sailed along this coast, speaks thus of its appearance :
" Leaving behind us Cape Sigli, Ave saw at sunrise the islet of the Pisans,
a wild rock, on which innumerable sea-birds alight. § This part of the
coast is rocky and mountainous, and their forms indicate a calcareous
soil. Here and there thin black spaces mark the spots where the Kabyles
have burned the dwarf-palms and other wild vegetation, to clear the un-
cultivated ground for sowing." ||

Having completed our survey of the topography of Algeria, we proceed

* See the Tableau (1850), p. 344.

+ Diary, vol. i. p. 155. X Blofeld, p. 43.

§ Query : might it not contain a deposit of guano ?

|| We shall revisit this interesting region in a future chapter.

2GG RECENT AUTHORITIES ON ALGIERS.

in the following chapters to analyse the physical characteristics, manners,
customs, and laws, the arts and sciences, of the different strata of humanity
that have been deposited on this shore by the tide of time.*

* Baude, vol. i. p 127- St. Marie, chap. vi. p. 197. For a description of the topo-
graphy, &c. of Algeria in the earlier years of the French occupation, see Nouvelles An-
nates des Voyages, Dec. 1833; Apercu historique et statistique sur la Regence cl' Alger, <tc.
par Sidi-Hamadan Ben Othman Khoja ; A Review of Rozet's Voyage, par Laurenaudiere ;
Appel en faveur d' Alger et de I'Afrique du Nord, ; and the works of Poiret, Hoest,
Norberg, Brims, Langier de Tassy, Renaudor, &c. Many additional details relating to the
topography of Algeria in 1S45 and 1848 will be found in Captain Kennedy's Algeria and
Tunis, and in the Diary of a Lady's Travels in Barhary. Our limits prevent us from
dwelling any longer on this branch of the subject ; but we especially commend to the
reader's attention chaps, i. ii. and xii. of the first volume of Captain Kennedy, and sec-
tions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 13, and 14 of the Diary, on the city of Algiers.

PAET II.

STATISTICS AND HISTORY,

POLITICAL, SOCIAL, AND NATURAL.

CHAPTER XIV.
Che SabnUs.

NATIVE POPULATION OF ALGERIA — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE KABYLES CONTRASTED

WITH THE ARABS — SUPERSTITIONS INDUSTRY MANUFACTURES MANNERS

WEDDINGS — WOMEN ADMINISTRATION — LAWS AUTHORITIES THE MARA-
BOUTS THE ZAOUIAS THE ANAYA — ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURAL AND

CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY.

The existing Mussulman population of Algeria is much like that of Gaul
when conquered by Ctesar, forming one great community with one
dominant language and religion ; but there exists no durable tie, and there
are many divisions. "In Gallia," says Csesar, "non solum in omnibus
civitatibus . . , sed pene etiam in singulis domibus factiones," (fee*
Ca5sar fomented these discords, and conquered Gaul ; the Turks did the
same at Algiers, fomenting the natural antipathy of the Kabylcs and Arabs.
Divide et hnpera was their motto, and it succeeded, their instinct having
taught this principle to the Ottoman rulers.

Numerous revolutions have visited North Africa; but the populations
that they have deposited have not, generally speaking, gone far from the
coast, and the older races remain commonly in the Sahara and the Atlas.
An exception is found in the Aouress mountain, which seems to be inhabi-
ted by a tribe of Vandal origin. The Biskris and Mozabites, who have a
colony at Algiers, are pronounced by some authorities the same people as
the Gsetulians of the ancients, to whom Rome gave the right of citizenship.
They live in the Sahara, and have not meddle<l with the quarrels of the
people of the Atlas. We shall shortly examine their characteristics more
minutely.

The ancients have not given a very flattering picture of the Kabylcs, to
whom we shall first direct our attention. These tribes, belonging to the
Berber race, are the aborigines of Algeria, living chiefly in the Atlas, par-
ticularly the Djorjora and the Darha ; and they have been thus described by
Procopius: "Inured to hardships, they live in little huts in which it is
scarcely possible to breathe ; in winter or summer alike regardless of snow
or sun, or any other necessary evil. They sleep on the bare ground, or

* De Bell. Gall. i. 6, c. 11.

270 KABYLE CHARACTERISTICS.

occasionally the more lucky among them may put something under them.
They are forbidden by law to add additional clothing according to the
weather ; but their dress is torn and dirty, and they wear a rough tunic in
all weathers. They are without wine, bread, and all the other usual neces-
saries of life ; but either roasting or kneading into flour wheat, corn, or
at least barley, they devour it after the fashion of wild beasts." *

The Turks looked upon them as a barbarous and perfidious race, with-
out fear of God and without faith to men, keeping peace only with those
who kept them under by terror. Similar was the opinion entertained of
them by the ancients. " They have neither any fear of God or respect for
man, nor do they pay any regard to their oath. . . . Lastly, they have
no peace with any one, save with those who coerce them through fear."-f-

Let us compare these statements with their actual position.

Having given a description of the topography and population of Ka-
bylia, we proceed to lay before the reader a compendious account of the
character, manners, and customs of the Kabyles, and of the productions of
their territory.;}:

The dominant characteristics of this region have been : 1. Independ-
ence of the Turkish or French yoke. 2. The use of the Berber tongue.
3. The stability and relative luxury of the habitations. 4. The cultiva-
tion of fruit-trees and the exercise of professional arts.

The Kabyles delight in a sedentary life ; some inhabit huts of mud and
turf or rough stones, and others reside in solidly and well-constructed vil-
lages. They are a highly industrious people, great cultivators, and make
their own agricultural implements, arms, gunpowder, haicks, carpets,
leather, &c. Yet this race is very unsociable with strangers ; and while
the Arabs correspond to the French families that speak the langue d'oc,
with southern imaginations, personifying material forms, — the Kabyles
have a northern precision of thought and expression, confining themselves
to a precise and critical statement of facts. §

Patriarchalism is the dominant principle with the Arabs, communism
with the Berbers or Kabyles. They are not acquainted, like the Arabs,
with the distinction between the terms OuMd and Beni, as applied to noble
and servile tribes. The only distinction that they make in employing

* Marusii duns assueti, in parvis tuguriis ubi vix rcspirare licet degunt, hyemis ac
wstatis temporibus, neque nivibus, nequo solibus, neque alio quocumquo malo necessario
curantes. Dormiunt nudo humo ; si qui beatiores inter eos, aliquid substerniunt. Vestes
insuper secundum tempora variare ox lege probibentur; scd laceram vestem atque cras-
sam, tunicamque asperam in omne tempus induunt. Fane vinoquc et aliis bonis omnibus
usui neeessario carent, sed triticuin, sive selaginom, sivo hordcum ininime aut coquentes
aut in farinam terentec more belluarum passim depascuntur. — Proc. Be Bell. Vand. i. 2.

t Illis nequo Doi metus est ullus, nequo hominum reverentia, nequo item jusjurandi aut

hominum ulla cura Denique cum nullo pacom habont, nisi cum his quorum metu

coereeantur.— Be Bell. Vand. i. 2.

'+ Seo vol. i. chap. xiii. of Captain Kennedy's Algeria and Tunis.

§ La Kabylio propremont dite, by E. Caretto, in tbo Exploration Sciontifiquo.

CONTRAST OF ARABS AND KABYLES. 271

these Arabic designations is, that they commonly style the lay tribes Beni,
and reserve that of Oulad for the marabouts. The Berber generic term
for tribe is ait, which they give without distinction both to nobles and
villains, for ait has not so much of a family meaning as Oulad and Beni.
It signifies properly the people, the followers, while Beni and Oulad imply
direct descent ; thus familism is not such a dominant influence among the
Kabyles as among the Arabs/'

The Kabyles are very frugal in their habits, their principal food con-
sisting of pancakes, called galette, baked upon a plate of clay; milk, honey,
butter ; figs soaked in oil, of which they consume great quantities ; and the
everlasting cous-coussou. t

The moral and physical characteristics of the Arabs and Kabyles are
thus contrasted by Colonel Daumas :

" The Arab has black eyes and hair ; many of the Kabyles have blue
eyes and red hair: they are also generally fcrirer than the Arabs. The
Arab has an oval face and a long neck ; the Kabyle, on the contrary, has
a square face, with the head approaching the shoulders. The Arab never
shaves ; the Kabyle shaves till he has attained his 20th or 25th year : at
that age he is a man, and lets his beard grow ; it is an indication of the
judgment that he has acquired, and of his reason which is maturing. The
Arab covers his head at all seasons, and clothes his feet whenever he can.
The Kabyle, in winter and summer, through sunshine and shade, goes bare-
footed and bare-headed." %

The Kabyles differ in all things from the Arabs. The first live under
roofs, the last under tents ; the Kabyle fights in preference on foot, the
Arab on horseback. Their languages have no analogy. The Arab flies
our contact ; the Kabyles of the tribes that are most hostile to the French
do not hesitate to come and seek labour in the towns, and the Amaz-
irghes of the Biff in Morocco have latterly immigrated in considerable
numbers into Oran. In short, the Kabyles are the conquered, and the
Arabs the conquerors ; hence their hereditary hatred.§ If by chance you
meet a Kabyle with his feet covered, it is accidentally, and merely with the
skin of a beast just killed. When they cover their feet, which is unusual,
they wear a slight sandal of raw hide, whilst a kind of buskin of the same
material is often worn up the leg. || Those who border on the plains some-
times wear the chachia (Tunis cap).

The Kabyle has for his only clothing the cheloucha, a kind of woollen
shirt which falls below the knees, aud costs from 7 to 8 fr. (6s. 8d.) ;
he protects his legs with footless gaiters, knitted in wool, which they call
bougherous. When engaged in work, he puts on a large leathern apron cut

* La Kabylic proprement dito. General Dauruas, La Grande Kabylie. Baron Baude's
Algerie, vol. iii. p. 221.

+ Dawson Borrer's Campaign, &c. + La Grande Kabylie, p. 21.

§ Baron Baude, vol. iii. p. 221. || D. Borrer, chap. i.

272 KABYLE HOUSES.

like that of the French sappers; and he wears the burnouse when his means
allow him, keeping it an indefinite period, regardless of spots or rents :
he received it from his father, and he bequeathes it to his son.* Some
authorities entitle the Kabyle shirt khcmdowra, and describe it as having
loose sleeves ; and their burnouse they describe as a white, or black and
white, woollen mantle with a large hood.f

The Arab lives under his tent— he is a nomad on a limited territory ;
the Kabyle dwells in a house — he is fixed to his spot of ground. His
house is built of dry stones or unburnt bricks, which he puts together in a
somewhat rude fashion. The roof is thatched, but among the rich it is
covered with tiles ; and this sort of cabin is called tezaka. It consists of
one or two chambers ; the father, mother, and children occupying one-half
the building to the right of the entrance-door. This family dwelling is
called dounes. The other part of the house, which they name Main, to
the left, serves for a stable for the cattle and horses. If one of the sons of
the house is married, and requires a menage of his own, they build him a
dwelling above by running up another story .%

Whoever undertakes a journey, ought to set out on a Monday, Thurs-
day, or Saturday : these days smile on the traveller. Happy the man who
begins his journey on a Saturday ; the prophet preferred that day to the
other two. They travel, it is true, on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday ;
but then the traveller is never free from anxiety during his whole transit.
You must never begin a battle or skirmish on a Tuesday. Thursday is the
day on which the bridegroom ought to introduce his bride to the conjugal
roof : it is always a good augury ; because the wife awakes on a Friday,
which is the Sunday of the Mussulman. No one is to be lamented who
dies during the Rhamadan,§ during which the gates of hell are closed, and
those of paradise always open. It is a happy presage if you see a jackal
when you rise in the morning ; and two crows at the moment of setting-
out are a sign of a prosperous journey. It is a bad sign to see a hare at
night ; and a single crow before commencing a journey is a reason for
anxiety. The Kabyles, so incredulous on the subject of witchcraft, are
less so on the question of demons. They say there are some in all seasons,
except during the Rhamadan ; because God compels them to remain in hell
during the sacred month. They fear them extremely. A Kabyle will never
go out of his house at night, without conjuring them in the name of the
all-powerful and merciful God. He will do the same also when he passes
near a spot where blood has been shed, because the demons love blood,
and are sure to resort to those spots. There exists also, if it be not a pre-
judice, at least a universal contempt for the she-ass ; and to such an extent

* Daumas, chap. i. Dawson Borrcr, p. 1 et seqq.

t Dawson Borrer, chap. i. X Daumas, La Grande Kabylie, p. 22.

§ This word signifies tho sacred month of the Mussulmans, during which they fast till
aunsot.

KABYLE AGRICULTURE. 273

do they carry it, that amongst certain tribes a Kabylc would not see one
enter the house for any thing in the world. They have a legend which
would explain this aversion by an act against nature in the time of the
ancient Kabyles. The Arab detests work ; he is essentially idle ; during
nine months of the year he only thinks of his pleasures. The Kabyle
labours immensely, and at all times ; idleness is a disgrace in his eyes.
The Arab tills the laud a great deal ; he possesses a great number of
flocks which he tends ; but he plants no trees. The Kabyle grows less
corn, but he gardens a good deal ; he spends his life in planting and
grafting; he has lentils, grey peas, beans, artichokes, turnips, cucumbers,
onions, beet-root, red pepper, water-melons, and melons. He also culti-
vates tobacco ; he has for some time grown potatoes ; he has fruit of all
kinds — olives, figs, nuts, oranges, pears, apples, apricots, almonds, and
raisins. The chief riches of the country consist in its olives, many of
which are grafted, and attain sometimes the dimensions of the walnut-
tree. The olives, which are of excellent quality, form a great part of the
Kabyle's nourishment ; but an enormous quantity remains to be sold
either as fruit or as oil. The latter is exported in goat-skins to Algiers,
Bugia, Dellys, to Setif, and to all the markets in the interior. The arable
land not being very abundant in proportion to the population, the Kabyles
do not neglect a morsel of it. They give two ploughings to the ground,
and manure it, but seldom suffer it to lie fallow ; uor do they practise
rotation of crops. Generally speaking, their fields are kept pretty clean,
and some of them yield as much as twenty-five for one. The wheat is
threshed in a barbarous fashion by means of bulls, which work in a
circle on the barn-floor; and being winnowed coarsely with the end of a
board, does not pass through the sieve : it is preserved, like that of the
Arabs, in silos (in Arabic, metmora) ; and also in large osier-baskets,
which are very wide at the bottom and narrow at the top. The Arab
travels sometimes in search of pasturage, but he never goes beyond a cer-
tain circle. Among the Kabyles, one of the members of the family goes
away for a time to seek his fortune ; thus one sees them every where — at
Algiers, at Setif, at Bona, Philippeville, Constantina, and at Tunis. They
work as masons, gardeners, reapers ; and they tend flocks. When they
have gained a little money, they return to their village, buy a gun and an
ox, and then marry.

Baron Baude says we call Kabyles all the inhabitants of the Atlas
and of the shore whose establishment preceded that of the Arabs, and who
do not speak their language. This definition is in the main correct, though
likely to give rise to sundry inaccuracies.

The Kabyles, on their part, do not distinguish the European nations
respectively, and think us the same people as the ancient Romans, hence
they call us Bomni ; and the native Kabyle who serves in the regiment of
Zouaves, a mongrel force raised by the French in Algeria, is thought to

274 KABYLE MANUFACTURES.

serve in the Roman troops. The Baron was disposed to think, however,
that they had as many shades of difference among them as the different
nations of Europe : in some places they present us Avith dark skins and
line hair, in others with light hair and fine clear complexions. This re-
mark is true, if we give the same extent as the Baron to the term Kabyle ;
embracing the blue-eyed tribes of the Aouress and Mount Edough, and the
Kabyle Jews.

He further states that their habits and customs change according to
the tribes : some, like the Mezayas near Bugia, and the mountaineers of
the Chiffa, have no other industry than robbery, and no other law than the
sword ; others, again, are superior in honest industry to many European
populations. The inhabitants on the slopes of the Djordjora, who are cor-
rectly thought to be the descendants of the Vandals, build houses which
remind one of European structures, and have no resemblance to Moorish
edifices. They work mines, know how to extract the ore of iron and lead ;
manufacture gunpowder, steel weapons, and firelocks ; they also make
a great part of the haicks, of the coverings, and burnouses, that are used
not only all over Algeria, but also in the empire of Morocco and in the
regencies of Tunis and Tripoli. They have factories (des comptoirs) like
those of the Bisans in the middle ages ; and if we take into consideration
the simplicity of their implements and the finish of their work, we must
confess that their workmen are not less dexterous than ours. They seem
to have institutions like those of the ancient Germans of Ca?sar and Ta-
citus. Thus, from the age of twenty to twenty-five years, all the male
population are subject to military service ; after the age of twenty-five
they make a kind of mobilised reserve in case of war ; and after a certain
age they cannot be called out except in cases of great danger.*

Strictly speaking, the Arab is not industrious, although he manufac-
tures saddles, harness, horse-bits, ctc.t The Kabyle, on the contrary, is
industrious : he builds his house, he is a carpenter, he forges weapons,
gun -barrels, and locks, swords called Jiissas, knives, pickaxes, cards for
wool, ploughshares, &c. They moreover manufacture gun-stocks, shovels,
wooden shoes, and frames for weaving. The burnouses and habayas
(woollen garments) are also made by them, together with the haicks for
women, and the white chachias (caps). Their earthenware is renowned ;
and they make the oil from their olives, which they gather on their own
property, besides preparing the mills themselves for pressing them. The
following is the most usual form of the Kabyle oil-press : a large basin,
formed of one piece of wood, having at each extremity of one of its diameters
a vertical post, which works in a horizontal bar ; the latter being pierced in
the middle, a wooden vice is let through, terminated by a millstone of a
diameter little inferior to that of the basin. The vice presses upon the
olives, which, having been previously boiled, are placed under the millstone.
* Baron Baude. t Daumas, chap. i.

FALSE COINERS. 275

The Kabyles also prepare tlie hives for their bees, and extract the wax ;
and in preparing flour for their bread, they only use portable mills at
home. They are acquainted with the art of baking tiles, a hundred of
which cost from two francs (Is. Sd.) to two francs fifty cents. In certain
localities they make cork soles; and they are also familiar with the prepara-
tion and use of lime ; but they are very careful of it, only using it to whiten
the mosque and the koubbas (the tombs) of the marabouts. They make
use of plaister (whitewash) for their houses, this article seeming to be very
plentiful in their territory : the quarry of Thisi, among the Beni-Messaoud,
at a league and a half from Bugia, furnishes a great quantity of it. They
prepare black soap from the olive-oil, and salt- wort of sea-weed or the
ashes of the lam-el-rose ; they weave baskets in which to carry loads,
and prepare table-cloths of the dwarf palm, besides spinning cords from
wool and goat's hair. In short, they carry their industrial cleverness to
such a pitch, that they manufacture even false coin.*

We shall proceed to enlarge on some of the branches of industry pre-
viously mentioned, beginning with the last. From time immemorial the
Kabyles who were established at Ayt-el-Arba, a considerable village of
the tribe of Beni-Janni, gave themselves up to this guilty practice. Other
less noted gangs are still found in the village of Ayt-Ali-ou-Harzoun,
15 leagues south-east of Ayt-el-Arba, 40 leagues (100 miles) distant from
Algiers. The spot to which these coiners repair is the summit of a moun-
tain protected by a very narrow and almost inaccessible defile. It is there
that, sheltered from all attack, they imitate the copper, gold, and silver coins
of all the countries of the world. Their first materials are partly furnished
by the neighbouring mines. Copper and silver they have brought to
them from all the barbarous parts of the country, even from the Sahara,
by men who not only transfer the produce of their country to Ayt-el-
Arba, but also come to buy adulterations. They pay them with monies of
good alloy, on the footing of 25 per cent. The simple inspection of a piece
of counterfeit proves that the procedure employed to obtain it is gene-
rally that of fusion. In fact, all the pieces present a diameter slightly
inferior to that of the models ; a result occasioned bythe contraction
which they have suffered in casting, after extraction from the mould con-
taining the impression of genuine pieces. The relief of the figures and
the letters is generally badly wrought, and the aspect of the metal is faded
or coppery. It must be owned, however, and all who have seen them will
bear out the assertion, that the greater part of these false pieces effectually
deceive you at first sight, and some really require a very minute examin-
ation.

The methods of prevention employed under the Turks, in order to
oppose the uttering of false coins, were conformable in every thing to
the despotic and arbitrary procedures which the authorities at that time

* La Grande Kabylie, p. 27.

276 FALSE COINERS.

sanctioned. The people of Ayt-el-Arba, and those of Ali-ou-Harzoun,
never going from their retreat, were obliged to confide to others the care
of hawking about their products ; for though the Kabyles protect the
manufacturers of false coin, they are quite merciless towards any man
who would try to circulate it in the country. It is therefore necessary to
send it out of Kabylia ; and the Beni-Janni, the Beni-Menguelat, the Beni-
Boudrar, and the Beni-Ouassif, were generally charged with this mission.
The estrangement of the other Kabyles from these tribes proceeds, no
doubt, from this cause. These people were watched with peculiar jealousy,
and could not travel in the interior of the district without the permission
of the caid of Sebaou, who never granted it without imposing a duty of
two Spanish douros (9s.). If he omitted to show this permission, which
they moreover refuse to all who are suspected of trafficking in coin, the
first traveller who arrived was obliged to submit to the confiscation of his
merchandise, mules, &c.

Three years before the conquest of Algiers by the French, false coin
had multiplied so excessively, that the Agha-Yahia, who had a great re-
putation among the Arabs, furious to find his vigilance of no avail, caused,
in one and the same day, men of all the tribes who were known to have
devoted themselves to this profession to be arrested in the markets of
Algiers, Constantina, Setif, and Bona. They imprisoned in this way a
hundred individuals, whom the pasha sentenced to death if they did not
deliver up the moulds which they used in their manufacture. The people
of Ayt-el-Arba, in order to save their brothers, sent all their instruments,
and the prisoners were not set at liberty until a large fine was paid. This
check which the false coiners experienced did not give them any distaste
for their trade. Ayt-el-Arba lost no portion of its prospei'ity ; and the
number of merchants who came there to supply themselves from all parts, —
from Morocco, Tunis, from the Sahara and Tripoli, — did not at all decrease.
A Kabyle taken in the act of issuing false coin was put to death without
any formal process. It was the only case in which justice was inexorable,
and in which the money which redeemed all other crimes was not able to
weigh down the scales on their side. Those branches of labour which are
more honourable, but not so exciting to the curiosity, are perhaps not so
well known.

The manufacture of powder is confined to the tribe of the Beboulas :
they make it in great quantities there, and by processes similar to our
own. Saltpetre abounds in natural caverns, and it is found incrusting
their walls. Being collected like our sweepings of saltpetre, it is first
washed, and then obtained by evaporation. Charcoal is procured from
the laurel-rose, and possesses the best qualities. Sulphur is imported from
foreign countries. The proportions are regulated as with us, and the dry-
ing is performed by the sun. This Kabyle powder, which is not quite so
strong as ours, is neither smooth nor equally granulated ; but it does not

KABYLE MECHANICS. 277

stain the hand, and answers as a good powder for war. The Kahyle
cartridges are well rolled, and they arc much hoasted of in the market.
The lowest price of the cartouch is 40 cents (id.), which appears extremely
high. The bulls are of lead, and very irregular in size. The working of
lead-mines is carried on upon a considerable scale in the tribe of the
Boni-Buulateb, near Setif. This metal is found also in a mountain near
Msila, and in another called Agouf, also amongst the Reboulas : this lust
is reported to contain silver ore. In all cases they obtain it by simple
fusion, and it is exported in pigs or balls. Copper is also found in Ka-
bylia. It is extracted, and employed in making female ornaments. Melted
with ziuc, it forms a brass which is very useful for powder-horns, the
mountings of flissas, handles for poniards, &c. Two very abundant iron
mines are renowned in Great Kabylia ; one amongst the Berbachas, the
other amongst the Beni-Slyman. The vein of ore is smelted in furnaces
heated by charcoal, after the Catalan method ; the bellows are made of
goat-skin, and plied by men. The tribe of the Flissas prepare steel wea-
pons, bearing their name, with the iron of the Berbaches and the steel
brought from the East. The principal manufacturers of fire-arms are the
Beni-Abbas. Their gun-locks, which are more celebrated than their gun-
barrels, unite elegance with solidity ; they are exported as far as Tunis.
Their gun-stock is made of the walnut-wood, and they mount the whole of
their steel weapons. In the midst of this vast industry of the men, the
women do not remain idle. They spin wool, and weave it into a sort of
white stuff', which serves for clothing for both sexes. Their trades are
established upon the model of those of Algeria. The flax, gathered in
little bunches, then dried in the open air, and lastly pounded and spun by
the women, makes a coarse cloth which is employed for many uses. The
women co-operate in making the burnouse, which in some tribes, for in-
stance the Beni-Abbas and Beni-Ourtilan, becomes an object of exporta-
tion, these people having more than they require for their own use.

The Arab occupies himself very little in preserving his arms; it would
require some care: "a black dog," he says, "bites as well as a white dog."
The Kabyle, on the contrary, considers his gun his chief luxury; he pre-
serves it from rust; and when he takes it out of the case, he holds it with
his handkerchief, that it may not be soiled. The Arab, physically idle, is
somewhat inert even in the impulses of the heart; but amongst the Ka-
bylcs anger and conflicts attain inconceivable proportions. The follow-
ing is a recent example. A man of the tribe of the Beni-Yala met, at
the market of Guenzate, another Kabyle, who owed him a ba/rra (seven *
centimes). He reclaimed his debt. " I will not give thee thy barra,"
replied the debtor. " And why?" "I do not know." a If thou hast
no money, I will wait still." "I have some, — but it's a kind of whim
which has taken hold of me not to pay thee." At these words the cre-
ditor, quite furious, seized the other by his burnouse, and threw him on

278 PRIDE AND REVENGE.

the ground. The neighbours joined in the struggle. Two parties were
soon formed, and they had recourse to arms. From 1 o'clock till 7 in
the evening, it was impossible to separate the combatants; 45 men were
killed, and that for about a halfpenny! This quarrel happened in 1843;
but the war which was kindled through it is not yet extinguished. The
town has since been divided into two hostile quarters, and the houses
which stood on the frontier are now deserted.

The Arab is vain : he appears humble and arrogant alternately. The
Kabyle remains always wrapped up in his pride. This pride gives import-
ance to the smallest things of life, imposes on all great simplicity of man-
ners, and exacts a scrupulous reciprocity for every deferential act. For
instance, the Arab kisses the hand and the head of his superior with forced
compliments and salutations, troubling himself little whether or not his
politeness is returned. The Kabyle never pays compliments; he kisses
the hand and the head of a chief or of an old man ; but whatever be the
dignity or the age of him who has received this politeness, he is bound
immediately to return it. Si-Said-Abbas, a marabout of the Beni-Haffif,
was one day in the market, on a Friday, of the Beni-Ourtilan. A Kabyle
called Ben-Zeddam approached and kissed his hand; but the marabout, no
doubt not thinking about it, did not return the salutation. " By the sins
of my wife," said Ben-Zeddam, who placed himself in front of Si-Said with
his gun in his hand, " thou shalt instantly return me what I gave thee, or
thou art a dead man." And the marabout performed the act. The Arab
is a liar; the Kabyle considers lying a disgrace.

The Arabs in war usually proceed (say the French) through surprises
and treachery. The Kabyle acquaints his enemy with his intentions ;
and this is done in the following manner : the token of peace between
two tribes consists in the exchange of some article, — it may be a gun, a
stick, or a bullet- mould, &c; this is called the mezrac (the lance). All this
leads to the conclusion, that before the invention of fire-arms, the deposit
of a lance was, in fact, the symbol of a truce and good faith. Should one
of the tribes wish to break the truce, the chief simply returns the mezrac,
and war is declared. The Arabs are satisfied with the diet, the price of blood
in expiation of a murder committed on one of the members of the family.
With the Kabyles, the assassin must die. His flight will not save him;
for vengeance is a sacred obligation. Into whatever region, however dis-
tant, the murderer may fly, thither revenge follows him. A man happens
to be assassinated; he leaves a son very young; the mother teaches the
child very early the name of his fathers murderer. When the son is
grown up, she gives him a gun, and says, "Go, revenge thy father!" If
the widow lias only a daughter, she makes known that she will receive
no money for her,* and will give her only to him who kills her husband's
murderer. There is a striking analogy between their manners and those
* Tho Kabyles buy their wives, as wo shall show further on.

KABYLE CUSTOMS. 279

of the Corsicans ; juid it is still more delineated in the following traits.
If the really guilty man escapes vengeance, and evades all pursuit, it
passes over to the nearest of kin ; whose death, in its turn, requires new
reprisals. Hatred thus enters the two families, and becomes hereditary.
On both sides, friends and neighbours marry, factions ensue, and actual
wars may even result from it. The Arabs practise hospitality; but there
is more of policy and ostentation than of heart in it. Amongst the
Kabyles, though their hospitality is of a less sumptuous nature, you can
nevertheless perceive in its forms the existence of good feeling. A stranger
is always well treated, whatever may be his origin. These attentions are
still more marked towards refugees, whom nothing in the world could
induce them to deliver up. The Turks and the Emir Abd-el-Kader have
always been frustrated in any demands or efforts contrary to this noble
principle. The following is a generous custom amongst them. When
the fruits, such as figs, grapes, &c. begin to ripen, the chiefs publish a
deci'ee that no one, during fourteen or fifteen days, under pain of a
penalty, shall touch any of the fruit on the trees. At the expiration of
the time fixed, the proprietors assemble in the mosque, and swear on the
holy books that the command has not been violated. He who cannot take
the oath pays the fine. The poor of the tribe are then consulted, they
make out a list, and each proprietor by turn feeds them till the fruit-season
is passed. The same thing takes place during the bean season, an article
much cultivated by the Kabyles. At these periods every stranger may
enter the gardens, and eat as much as will satisfy him, without any in-
terruption; but he must not take away any thing with him: for a theft
is doubly culpable on these occasions, and might cost him his life. The
Arabs cut off the head in combat; the Kabyles, amongst themselves, never
do this. The Arabs are accustomed to rob wherever they can, and espe-
cially in the day-time. The Kabyles commit robberies chiefly by night,
and only amongst their enemies. In this case it is an act worthy of
praise; otherwise, quite the contrary. The Arab has preserved some tra-
ditions concerning medicine and surgery. The Kabyle has neglected
them; consequently we find many chronic diseases amongst them. The
Arab does not know how to increase the value of his money; he buries it
in the ground, or uses it to increase his flocks. The Kabyle, contrary to
the Mussulman law, puts it out at large interest, — for instance, at 50 per
cent per month ; or he buys at a cheap rate, and forestalls the harvests
of oil, of grain, &c. The Arabs class musicians in the rank of buffoons;
and the man amongst them who would dance is dishonoured in all eyes.
The Kabyle likes to play on his little flute ; and every one dances, men
and women, relations and neighbours : the dance is performed with and
without arms.

When a marriage is celebrated among the Arabs, they perform eques-
trian games before they bring home the bride. With the Kabyles, the

280 WEDDINGS.

relations or friends of the bridegroom shoot at a target. The mark is
generally an «gg, a peppercorn, or a flat stone. This custom causes
a great deal of gaiety, for those who miss the mark are subject to
much joking. When a Kabyle wants to marry, he informs one of his
friends, who seeks the father of the girl of his choice, and makes known
the desire. They fix the marriage-portion which will be paid by the
husband ; for he literally buys his wife, and a great number of girls is con-
sidered to constitute the wealth of the house. These portions amount to
upwards of a hundred douros (251.). It sometimes happens that the future
husband does not possess the entire sum ; he is then granted a month or
two to collect it, and during that time he may visit the house of his future
wife. When he has succeeded, he leads her, as his fiancee, first through
the village, armed with a yatagan, a gun, and a pair of pistols ; after
which he takes her under his own roof. This ceremony is performed with
great pomp. Each village has its band, composed of two kinds of Turkish
clarionets and drums ; and these musicians figure in the nuptial cortege.
They sing as they go, and the women and children make the air resound
with their joyous cries, " You! you ! you!" They fire a number of guns ;
and the young people of the village, all or a part of them, according to
the wealth of the husband, are invited to a great repast.

Amongst the Arabs, when a male child is born, they rejoice and make
compliments, but the fete is held in the family alone ; if the mother has a
female child, the women alone rejoice. The birth of a male child amongst
the Kabyles causes an assembling of all the neighbours and friends of the
surrounding villages. They fire guns and shoot at the target ; and seven
days after, the father gives a great feast. Circumcision does not take
place till the age of seven or eight j'ears. If a girl is brought into the
world, there is no change in the habits of life or appearance of the house,
because she does not at all increase the force of the tribe ; since the child,
when old enough, will probably marry, and will perhaps leave the country
in order to follow a new master.

When one of the family dies amongst the Arabs, the friends and
neighbours assist at the burial, and then each one returns to his business.
Amongst the Kabyles, the whole village is present at the funeral. No one
must work ; and with the exception of the relations of the departed, all
unite in giving hospitality to the Kabyles of other villages, who have come
to add their tribute of grief. The dead are not placed on a bier: after
being carefully washed, they are wrapped in a sort of cloth, and are then
committed to the earth. The Kabyle women enjoy much greater liberty
than the Arab women ; they are more considered in society. For in-
stance, (he Kabyle woman goes to market to get provisions for the house,
to sell and (o buy. The husband would he ashamed to enter into house-
hold details like the Aral). The Aral) woman cannot appear in the assem-
blies of men ; she always holds her handkerchief, or veils herself with the

WOMEN. 281

kaik. The Kabyle woman seats herself where she chooses ; she talks, she
sings, and her face remains uncovered. Both from infancy wear a small
tattooed pattern on the face; hut that of the Kabyle women presents a
remarkable peculiarity : it has generally the form of a cross. The usual
position of it is between the eyes, or upon one of the nostrils. The
Kabyles continue this custom, without knowing the origin of it, which
appears to have been derived from the early Christian times. A fact
worthy of remark strengthens this conjecture : it is, that no taleb or
marabout will marry a woman thus tattooed, until he has made the sign
disappear through the application of lime and black soap. It is right,
however, to observe, that the Koran prohibits all tattooings, branding them
with the name of Ketibet-el-chytan (writing of the devil). The Arab woman
never eats with her husband, and still less with her hosts. The Kabyle
woman takes her meals with the family, even when strangers are present.
The Arab woman is never considered free in her actions. The Kabyle
woman, if abandoned by her husband, returns to the house of her father
or her brother ; and as long as her isolated mode of life lasts, enjoys perfect
freedom from moral restraint. A woman who is divorced acts precisely
in the same way This license will explain the pretended custom which
is attributed to the Kabyles by several historians, of offering their wives
or daughters to distinguished guests. Owing to a certain number of
free women being found in each tribe, the Kabyles appear to have been
preserved from a kind of debauch contrary to nature, and so frequent
amongst the Arabs, but which with them would be punished with death.
In certain tribes, and especially amongst the Yguifsal, the women and
girls who live by prostitution pay each year, on new year's day, a sort
of duty, which does not amount to more than five douros (11. 5s.) : this
money is thrown into the public treasury. They cease to pay when they
marry or give up their condition. But this custom is not general. After
what has been said, it will not appear surprising, that the Kabyles attach
much less importance to the virginity of the young girls they marry than
the Arabs.

The Arab woman who receives no news of her husband duiing one
or two years, or who has nothing at home to live upon, asks for a
divorce, and the law directs the cadi to grant it. The Kabyle woman
can only be married again on having a certain proof of her husband's
death. If her position is unhappy, they give her work, or the tribe
gives her assistance. Still, divorces are very usual amongst the Ka-
byles ; but they are in a great measure at the whim of the husband.
" / leave thee for one hundred douros" says the man who wishes to be
divorced from his wife ; and the wife retires to her parents with that
sum. If she marries again, she is bound to restore the money to her
first Benedict ; but if she does not form new ties, she keeps it. This
measure is necessary, as girls have no right to inherit property, owing to

282 KABYLE WOMEN.

the chance of their being married to husbands of strange trihes. The
more daughters a Kabyle has, the richer he is,* as each of them brings
him in a dowry, and he has to give none. The common women amongst
the Arabs are generally dirty. The Kabyle women are cleaner, and they
are obliged to make two toilets in the day: in the morning they wash; in
the evening they adorn themselves with all their ornaments, they apply
the henne, &c. This custom, it seems, results from their appearing at the
guest's table. It is possible that this attention to their persons has con-
tributed to establish the reputation which the Kabyle women have of sur-
passing the Arab women in beauty. This renown has always existed ;
but it refers principally to the distinction of forms. In short, not only are
the Kabyle women more free, more considered, more influential than the
Arab women ; but they can even aspire to the honours, the odour, and
the power which appertain to sanctity. The koubba of Lella-Gouraya,
which stands above Bugia, immortalises the memory of a girl who was
celebrated for her science and piety. The legend relates, that after her
death, she returned to instruct her faithful disciples> who assembled again
round her tomb. In Kabylia there are also other koubbas consecrated to
women; and without departing from living examples, we may cite, as
enjoying a high reputation of this kind, the daughter of the famous mara-
bout Sidi-Mokamed-ben-Abder-Bahman Kafiiaoui,-j- who receives religious
offerings at the tomb of her father, and whom all the Kabyles recognise
under the name of Bent-el-Sheikh]; (the daughter of the Sheikh).

Politically speaking, Kabylia is a sort of wild Switzerland. It is
composed of tribes independent of each other, at least in rights, governing
themselves, like the Swiss cantons, as distinct states, but whose federation
has no permanent character or central government. So many tribes
constitute so many unities ; but these unities group together variously,
according to the political interests of the day. From this result offensive
and defensive leagues, which bear the name of soff (rank, line). The
tribes thus allied say, We make but one rank, but one single line. Com-
mon interests, old or new alliances, relations of neighbourhood, of transit,
of commerce, — such are the causes which determine the formation of a soff.
The soff obliges the contracting tribes to share in the common good or bad
fortune. It is proclaimed in a general assembly of their chiefs. The
latter regulate also the plan of military operations, the number and the
order of the combatants, their points of reunion ; and finally, they elect a
supreme chief. When it is one particular tribe which lias summoned
the soff, in order to secure itself against danger, or be revenged on an

* Strange contradictions in humanity! The ltajpoots regard many girls as a curse,
and practise extensively female infanticide. Sec Ward's View <;/' th History of India;
Blaquiere's Asiatic Researches ; Millar's Inquiry into th Distribution of Ranks, &c.

f Sid, or Si by abbreviation, sieur, lord. Sidi, tny Lord. Aid, servant. Rahman,
mercy. Abd-er-Rahman, servant of mercy,

X Sheikh, old, venerable ; and chief.

THE SOFFS. 283

enemy, it furnishes in general the chief of the expedition. The auxi-
liaries who come and fight on the territory, and for the cause of an ally,
bring with them also their arms and provisions. The succoured tribe
does not furnish them with any thing, unless the war is prolonged beyond
their expectation ; they then beg their defenders to remain with them,
after they have consumed their provisions. Certain tribes pass frequently
from one soff to another, whether it be from temper, from a political fluc-
tuation inherent in their situation, or sometimes because they are induced
by money. In this last case, they lose much in the public esteem ; they
use them, whilst despising them. Soffs are formed in consequence of en-
mities common to many tribes, when these latter war against each other.
It resembles the league of the Catholic cantons against the Protes-
tant cantons in Switzerland. There are accidental, momentary soffs ;
while others have motives of such stability, that they last for ages ; and in
cases of universal peril, great soffs are spontaneously constituted to pre-
serve a common defence. Let the marabouts preach the djehad (holy
war), let them dread the invasion of the Christians, and all Kabylia, in
this emergency, forms only one soff. Many soffs may spring out of this
single one, but all animated with the same spirit, if they learn that the
enemy is going to pour in by a number of points at once. The tribes
menaced in each direction concentrate themselves then into so many par-
ticular soffs, who seek as much as possible to unite their operations. But
egoism and rivalries continually oppose this. In too-numerous gatherings
certain rival families aspire to command. Sometimes they separate, having
decided on nothing ; and sometimes those who disagree abandon the com-
mon cause. There exist, in fact, amongst the Kabyles (strange disparity
in the midst of the most republican manners) some great families of reli-
gious or military origin, whose uncontested influence rules many tribes at
a time : they are those who furnish chiefs to all the soffs which have some
little importance. Every other candidate retires before their members.
It is also in the bosom of these families that all governments aspiring
to hold sway over the Kabyles are forced to take their instruments : they
have accordingly conferred on these the titles of khalifas, of aghas, <fec.*
This policy was that of the Turkish pashas, and afterwards of Abd-el-
Kader ; and it has now become that of France, by the force of circum-
stances.

We shall not dwell in detail on these preponderating families, though
they play a considerable part in the course of Algerian history. That
which it concerns us here to prove is, the essentially fickle character of the
confederations, the absence of any permanent tie, of all central adminis-
tration ; and, to conclude, that one must descend into the bosom of the

* Khalifa, lieutenant. Employed alone, this word signifies lieutenant of the supreme
chief, or even of the Prophet. In this last sense, we have translated it by Calif. Agha,
chief; quite inferior, almost always military.

284 AMINS AXD DJBMMAS.

tribe, properly speaking, to begin to discover the appearance of a regular
government.

They call Arch or Kuebila one entire tribe. The fractions, Ferka, of
the tribe are called moreover Krarouba, Fekhed, Areg (carob, thigh, veins).
Tlie.se fractions sometimes, in their turn, are resolved into Dechera, vil-
lages. According to the Kabyles, the tribe, ourch, is the body of the
man ; fekhed, dreg, are its members or veins ; and d'echera, the fingers
which terminate the feet or the hands. The tribe and its fractions find
equally their image in the fruit of the carob-tree ; for it is composed of
one cosse, in which are contained several grains, krarouba. Each deehera
appoints a chief, whom they call Amin.* This election depends on uni-
versal suffrage ; all Kabylia takes part in this, and the general wish is
not in any way limited ; notwithstanding which, they very well know
there, as elsewhere, how to influence in favour of rights of birth, to inti-
midate by influence, to seduce by riches, and to captivate by eloquence.
These great assemblies are Djemm&s ;f but, in a more special sense, the
djemma of a tribe is an assembly of all the amins elected, as has just been
said, by these divers fractions — deliberating in common upon the national
interests, giving judgments, and taking general measures, etc. This same
djemma proceeds also to the election of a president amongst the members
who compose it, who bears the name of Amin-el-Oumena (the amin of
amins) ; who becomes also the regular chief of the whole tribe, and to
whom the command of the warriors they set on foot belongs on the day
of battle. His prerogatives are otherwise very limited, unless an illus-
trious birth confers others founded on the moral aid of public opinion.

In all cases, however, and were it only for the sake of form and pre-
cedent, this president takes the advice of this djemma upon the smallest
affairs, t In it, properly speaking, resides the government. The duration
of power granted to the chiefs is not the same in all territorial districts.
Amongst certain tribes they are renewed every six months; with others,
every year ; but with all, bad conduct would cause their immediate removal,
just as any signal services would cause them to be prolonged. In every
case the people must pronounce. The amins are charged with the
maintenance of public order, as well as the observance of the laws and
customs; and in this connection we shall introduce a series of facts all pe-
culiar to the Kabyles. Alone amongst all Mussulman nations, this singu-
lar people possess a code of their own, whose prescriptions are derived
neither from the Koran nor the sacred commentaries, but from past cus-
toms which have been maintained through ages, even throughout the
changes of religion. It is this •customary right which the amins consult
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2S6 THE MARABOUTS.

an exile for ever : this is the public revenge. But the field still remains
open for private vengeance ; it is for the parents of the victim to apply the
retaliation in all its rigour. The law shuts its eyes on these bloody repri-
sals : opinion exacts them, and prejudice absolves them. One more re-
mark only remains to be made on the preceding code : there is no bastin-
ading. Contrary to the ideas received amongst the Arabs, this punish-
ment is considered infamous in the eyes of the Kabyles. No amin can
dare to order it in the whole extent of his jurisdiction. We may judge by
that how dangerous it might be to employ agents not familiar with the
customs of the Algerian races. We have remarked, that the office of the
amins is limited to the interior police of the tribes ; and that their privi-
leges being very restricted, their influence does not suffice to preserve order
and public peace in the country. Accordingly they are not required or
expected to exceed the limits of their little authority, because for graver
matters there exists a vague power raised very much above their petty
jurisdiction : this is the power of the marabouts. Marabout* comes from
the word mrabeth (united). The term Marabouts signifies a people united
to God. When enmities arise between two tribes, the marabouts alone
have the right to interfere, whether to establish peace or to obtain a truce
of longer or shorter duration. At the time of the election of chiefs, the
marabouts have the right to propose to the people those who appear to
them the most worthy. They then recite the fatahj- over the elected.
When one tribe has gained an advantage over another and weaker one, and
this last is resolved to perish rather than surrender, the marabouts compel
the victorious tribe to declare themselves vanquished. Admirable skill of
the human heart, which knows how to apportion to all their due share of
vanity ! Actions of this kind are not rare ; and such is the character of
this people, that there is no other method of preventing their weak pride
from destroying them. When important circumstances require a gathering
of the tribes, the chiefs order it to be made public in the market-places;
and with the exception of the sick, of old men, women, and children, no
one fails to attend the meeting, however far they may have to go. On the
day fixed, the tribes being grouped separately, the marabouts advance to the
centre, and explain through the public crier the cause of the meeting, de-
manding what advice they should follow. Each man has his say, each is
respectfully listened to, whatever be the class; and the Various opinions
havino- been received, the marabouts unite in a committee, and the public
crier makes known to the people their decision. If no voice is raised to
make any new remonstrances, they invite the assembly to clap their hands
in sign of consent. This being done, all the Kabyles discharge their pieces,

* The French havegiven, by extension, the aame of marabout to the little monuments
which enclose the tombs of the marabouts, and which are called in reality Jcoublas, acmes.

t /'"'.'A, special prayer to obtain success for any undertaking ; the first chapter of the
Koran.

THE MARABOUTS. 287

which they call el meiz (the decision). The things they relate of the in-
fluence of the marabouts in the Kabyle land are so very surprising, that

one hesitates to helieve them. The mountaineers, they say, do not fear tp
butcher their own children, if they receive the order from a marabout. The
Dame of God invoked by a wretched being whom they intend to rob, does
not protect him ; that of a venerable marabout saves him. The marabouts
command the markets; and the authority of the amins falls to the ground
before theirs.

Not only are the markets free, exempt from all customs, taxes, and
rights ; they are also inviolable. With the Arabs, a man who has com-
mitted a fault or a crime may be arrested in the open market ; in the
Kabyle markets the marabouts do not tolerate arrests or acts of revenge,
for any reason whatever.

This influence of the marabouts is the more remarkable, as the
Kabyle people are much further removed from religious ideas than the
Arabs. They know nothing of prayers ; they do not properly observe fasts
or ablutions ; they limit their religion nearly to this : " There is but one
God, and Mahomet is his Prophet." It is said, that there are Kabyle
tribes where the poor people do not fear to eat the flesh of the boar ; and
they almost all drink brandy of the fig, made by the Jews, of whom there
is a great number in the country. The precepts of religion are only fol-
lowed by the marabouts, the chiefs, and the tolbas.

The cause of this passive obedience of the people is found entirely in
the industrial spirit, which makes them comprehend of what importance
order and peace are to commerce.

The marabouts, moreover, have taken advantage of this general re-
spect to institute one of the most beautiful customs of the world, the
Anaya, with which the reader will become acquainted further on. The
public veneration for the marabouts does not solely display itself in
honours, deference, and privileges. These holy men live on the people,
and by the people, as in Christendom ; one might almost say, that all the
riches of the nation belonged to them. Their zaouias, or common habita-
tions, of which we shall speak hereafter, are repaired and provided, with-
out their even paving any attention to it, nay without their expressing a
desire to that effect. All their wdshes are anticipated ; the community
interest themselves in all the details of their private life ; they bring them
water, wood, food, &c. If they are going to beg in the villages, each one
hastens to them, and inquires concerning their wants, offers them horses,
and loads them with presents.

The Rah vies pay taxes, which are the zekkat and the achour pre-
scribed by the Koran, and fixed at a hundredth for the flocks and a tenth
for grain. But, contrary to the Arabs, who give these contributions to
the Sultan, the Kabyles, organised as republics, bring all to their mosques.
They employ it in defraying the expense of schools, in succouring the poor,

288 SELF-GOVERNMENT.

in feeding travellers, in keeping up worship, in practising hospitality,
or in buying powder and arms for the distressed members of the tribe,
who are called, like the others, to march on the day of battle. For
with the Kabyle people, as soon as it is meditated to revenge an injury
or repel an aggression, all must rise up, whether they have arms or
not. Those who have no guns take sticks, throw stones, and keep with-
in reach of those engaged, their duty being to remove the dead or the
wounded. The women sometimes take part in these bloody dramas, in
order to encourage their brothers and husbands : they bring them am-
munition ; and if one of the warriors has fled, they put a large mark with
charcoal on his burnouse, or woollen shirt, as a symbol of general con-
tempt.

The general recruiting or conscription for the public defence is regu-
lated by a formality which approaches a good deal to the French recruit-
ing system. When a boy has completed his first rhamadan, that is, his
fourteenth or fifteenth year, according to his constitution, he presents
himself to the djemma. He is then declared fit to carry a gun. They
inscribe him as one of the defenders of the tribe, whose good and evil
luck he is henceforth to share. They read over him the fatah ; and if his
father is poor, they buy him a gun from the public funds.

Consequently every man must be considered as a soldier, who serves
from the age of fifteen till the age of sixty at least. It is a strange mis-
take, and too common to be passed over, to estimate Kabyle population
according to the number of guns, or reciprocally in the proportion of one
warrior to every six persons, as is done in Europe. The combatants in
this country must evidently form a third of the entire population ; and
calculating on this datum, we shall not depart widely from the truth.

The Kabyles, besides, are accustomed to labour (souiza) imposed by
the state; but not like the Arabs, who must do it to increase the goods of
the beylik. The Kabyle only labours for the mosque, his marabouts, the
common fountain, or the roads, which may be useful to all. He will
labour also to dig a grave for one of his compatriots.

These are all the debts due from the Kabyle to. the state. We see
how he contributes with his person and his purse to public affairs ; but
what we seek in vain for is, an administration capable of regulating all
these efforts, and of deriving from them the greatest good possible. An-
other thing wanting is, a competent public authority to enforce them
when needful. It seems that opinion is the only tribunal before which
all delinquencies against the state can be summoned.

Such is the pride of the Kabyle, such is his instinctive inclination
towards absolute equality, and perhaps also his supercilious defiance, that
he looks upon it as his duty, so to speak, to suppress all depositories of
social power. The marabouts, who possess the principal part of it, exer-
cise it with discretion and in a persuasive manner. As to the amins, the

TIIE ZAOUIAS. 289

smallest abuse of authority on their part leads to a refusal of obedience,
expressed in the most energetic terms. Enta cheik/t, ana rfnuLh, literally,
"Thou chief, I chief." If it were possible to form a correct idea of what
the actual life of the Kabyle would be according to the probable conse-
quences of a government such as we have sketched, what a fearful picture
wmild be presented to our eyes ! No unity in power, no cohesion in the
masses ; every where intrigue and political rivalries, every wdiere private
prerogative braving the general interest; no social hierarchy, no preventive
foreseeing authority endowed with the initiative, as in our happy rate-
paying parishes; opinion without any consistency, the impunity of the
strong, the oppression of the weak, all disorders at their height ; this is
what would, of course, await them. But happily this primitive society is
saved by a phenomenon quite the reverse of that which characterises old
nations. Whilst our admirable laws and philosophical constitutions are
unaccountably crippled through the irregularities of our morals ; here, on
the contrary, religious institutions and inviolable customs admirably cor-
rect the insufficiency of the political machinery. Thus, this sadly repub-
lican people, who carry democracy to the length of individualism, have a
terrestrial providence and a sultan. Its providence is the institution of
the zaouias ; and its sultan is a sacred custom which bears the name of
anaya. We will attempt to describe these institutions clearly.

Every zaouia is composed of a mosque; a dome (kotebba) which covers
the tomb of the marabout whose name it bears ; of a place where they
read the Koran ; of a second, reserved for the study of sciences ; a third,
serving as a primary school for children ; of a habitation destined for the
pupils and tolbas, who come to perform or perfect their studies ; also of
another dwelling in which they receive beggars and strangers ; and some-
times there is a cemetery at hand, designed for pious persons who may
have solicited permission to lie near the marabout. The zaouia is, alto-
gether, a religious university and a gratuitous auberge. Under these two
points of view it offers a multitude of distressing analogies with the mon-
astery of the middle ages, with which it is impossible not to be struck
in reading the following details.

Every man, rich or poor, known or unknown in the country, who pre-
sents himself at the door of any zaouia, is received and provided for during
three days. No one can be refused; no example of any refusal of this kind
is on record. The people of the zaouia, strangely enough, never take
their meals, either morning or evening, without being first assured that
their guests have had all their wants satisfied. The principle of hospi-
tality extends even to such childish and unmanly lengths, that if a horse or
mule has wandered, and arrives by chance without conductor, they are
always received, installed, and fed, till the owners reclaim them.

It is to be regretted that this unconditional reception of unsheltered
strangers in the house of God causes the misery of hunger and general

290 THE ZAOUIAS.

destitution to be, properly speaking - , unknown to the Kabyles, the life of
the poor consisting in a long pilgrimage from zaouia to zaouia.

Considered in the light of colleges, all the zaouias include three degrees
of instruction.

The primary school is unhappily open to all children, whether Kabyle
or Arab. Some parents send them from great distances, rather than have
recourse to the small schools of their tribes. They pay six douros (30s.)
beforehand for each child, providing, however, that they are fed, lodged,
and clothed at the expense of the establishment, till the time of their
leaving school : this is the common rule ; but we shall see later, that the
rich add to this very considerable presents.

The child is first taught the religious formula of Islam : " There is no
other God than God, and Mahomet is his prophet;" afterwards, half a
dozen prayers, and some verses of the Koran. The greatest number of
the Kabyles learn no more than this ; they return to the bosom of their
family, to take part in their labours as soon as their physical strength
permits.

Those who prolong their education learn to read and write, to recite
the text of the Koran, &c. After six or seven years, this secondary edu-
cation allows them to enter again the tribes as tolbas, and to open small
schools for the children of the people.

When a pupil quits the zaouia, his masters meet together, and one of
them reads the fatah over him. The young man, in his turn, thanks
them, and he usually does it by this form, which is almost prescribed :
" O my master, you have instructed me, but you have suffered much
evil on account of me. If I have caused you any pain, I ask pardon for
it on the day of our separation." We must just mention that the neigh-
bourhood of the zaouias, like Oxford or Cambridge, suffers sometimes
from the turbulence naturally consequent on numerous reunions of young
people ; such as quarrels, thefts, besides the frequent visits of the Kabyle
women whom the law has emancipated, &c. The chiefs of the zaouias
spend their lives in settling the disputes which each day brings forth,
owing to some new folly of their disciples.

Finally, the transcendental branches of study, especially in some of
the most renowned zaouias, attract tolbas from distant regions. They
come not only from various parts of Algeria, but from Tunis, Tripoli,
Morocco, and even from Egypt. These learned men pay at their entrance
four boudjous* and a half for the whole of their stay, which is entirely at
their own option. They learn in the zaouias :

1. Beading and writing.

2. The text of the Koran, so as to be able to repeat it completely
without fault, and with the proper psalmody or intonation, which tends
to preserve the purity of the language.

* A picco of inoiioy_of about tho value of 1 fr. 75 cents.

THE MOSQUE OF KOUKOU. 291

3. The Arab grammar (Djayroumia). They do not teach the Berber
language : its elements, as a written language, no longer exist, save in a
few ancient inscriptions lately discovered among the Tuaricks.

4. The divers branches of theology (Touhhid-el-tassaououf).

5. The law ; that is to say, the commentary of the Koran in a legal
point of view, by Sidi Khelil, who is in credit with all the rite of Maleki,
and in consequence with most of the Arabs of Barbary.

6. The conversations of the Prophet {Iladite Sidna Mohammed).

7. The commentaries on the Koran (Tefessir-el-Korari) ; that is, the in-
terpretation of the holy text. They reckon seven or eight commentaries
which have authority : El Khazin is the most esteemed.

8. Arithmetic (Hacal-eb-ghrobari) ; geometry {Racab-el-memher) ; as->
tronomy (Aem-el-faleuk).

9. Versification (Alcm-el-Aaroud). Almost all the tolbas are poets.
The different zaouias entertain amongst themselves dissensions and

college rivalries : opinion classifies them, the esprit de corps mixes up
with them, and a Taleb would never leave his own zaouia for another ; he
would not even be received in it. The most celebrated zaouias are those
of Sidi Ben-Ali-Cherif (amongst the Joullen) ; Sidi Moussa Tinebedar
(amongst the Beni Ourghlis) ; Sidi Abd-er-Rahman (near de Bordj-el-
Boghni) ; Sidi Ahmed- Ben -Driss (amongst the Ayt-Iboura). These
reckon a considerable personnel, or household.

' Sidi Ben-Ali-Cherif, for example, contains permanently two or three
hundred pupils and tolbas, with a variable number of passing guests, of
whom the mean daily amount may be valued at more than a hundred, and
the maximum at four hundred. The zaouias are then, properly speaking,
benevolent institutions; they furnish gratuitous hospitality, education for
almost nothing; they do it on a large scale, and necessarily at a great ex-
pense. In what consists their resources 1 The zaouias are an object of
especial veneration to the people. It is there that the Kabyles resort to
oaths, when they have some claims, or any discussions with regard to
debts, thefts, &c. The Kabyles upon whom many misfortunes press go
to them from afar, in order to ask of God (through the mediation of the
holy marabouts) an end to their afflictions. The mother who cannot
bring up her children, who sees them about to die young, comes and prays
God to preserve them. The woman who is barren is conducted there
by her father or husband, hoping for the blessing of offspring.

The mosque of Koukou is the most celebrated for miracles of this last
description. They attribute them to the stick of Sidi Ali-Taleub, which
the barren woman must agitate in every direction in a hole made in the
very centre of the mosque. They also rub the backs of the sick with it,
in order to cure them. According to tradition, Sidi Ali-Taleub has only
to aim at the cheek of his enemy with this wonderful stick, in order to
make him fall down dead. This, if true, would be a powerful case of

292 THE ZA0U1AS.

rapping. The sick also use as remedies the stone of the sacred tomb,
which they pound, and then swallow together with many other things.
Superstitious beliefs vary at each zaouia. In seasons of drought, they
make large processions around all, without distinction, to ask for rain (a
striking similarity to the Catholic requests). In short, although each
tribe has its mosque, religious persons never fail to go and say their
prayers on a Friday in the nearest zaouia.

The zaouia that has once obtained a position receives a portion of
the acliour and of the zekkat, otherwise usually appropriated to the
mosques. Besides, there are certain tribes of the neighbourhood who, in
many cases, have declared themselves its servants, and consider it an
honour to make it presents (ziarah), bringing to it a constant supply of
oil, honey, dried raisins, figs, fowls, tkc. They also send sheep, goats,
sometimes even money to the zaouia. The pilgrims, and above all those
who implore a celestial favour, make rich preseuts. A family whose
children are instructed at the zaouia give according to their means.
There are also accidental profits ; but the zaouias, not trusting the munifi-
cence of the voluntary system, have moreover landed property, which the
founders have either settled upon them in estates belonging to themselves,
or that they have obtained through the extinctions of the Habous*
They confide the cultivation of those lands to their own servants, or,
according to the Arab custom, to farmers, who deduct a fifth of all the
produee.

In case of need, they appeal to the piety of the believers, and the latter
furnish them with a general contribution in labour (touiza). But the
fixed revenues are nothing in comparison to the produce of voluntary
offerings.

A zaouia which does not possess an inch of land may be much wealthier
than those possessing the largest landed property. -f

Each zaouia is placed under the authority of a supreme chief; and this
authority passes hereditarily from male to male, in the family of the
founder. When this family becomes extinct, all the tolbas of the zaouia
assemble, wheu one of them is elected chief for one year only. If this
person justifies the choice of which he has been the object, if he maintains
his reputation for sanctity in the establishment, he retains his power, and
becomes the stem of a new family of chiefs. On the other hand, should
he prove unworthy, they renew the election every year, till it falls on a
man really deserving of the situation.

It is the permanent chief of the zaouia who administers the smallest
details, through his tolbas and servants; but when the chief is only an

* The habous is the donation of a fixed property to a religions institution, which is
bound to 3 Leld a usufructuary maintenance to the testamentary hoirs till their extinction,
v. hen it reverts in toto to the institution.

t The voluntary system amongst a religious people would naturally work better than
\vith its.

THE ANAYA. 293

annual officer, the tribes who serve the zaouia choose themselves the ad-
ministrators of its property.*

Tt is well known that there are religious orders existing amongst the
Mussulmans, and that they are scattered over Algeria. Amongst the
Kabyle zaouias, only a small number belong to the Brothers (Kouan);
we shall, however, say a few words concerning them.

The order which is by far the most widely spread is that of Sidi Mo-
hammed Ben Abd-er-Bhaman, bou Koberein. This surname is founded
on a marvellous legend, though recent enough. Sidi Mohammed had
just died, and had been buried in the Jurjura, when the inhabitants of
Algiers, where his virtues were in high repute, went to pray at night by
his tomb. By some neglect, they were not watched ; and these people,
through a pious fraud, appropriated to themselves the body of the mara-
bout, which they placed near the road to Hamma, a little before you arrive
at the Cafe of the Plantains, f in the spot where now stands the koubba
of this marabout.

But this event was soon made known to the Kabyles by public
rumours. They felt a terrible indignation at it ; and a long-enduring
revenge would no doubt have followed, when they were luckily advised to
examine the tomb which they possessed. They opened it, and, marvellous
to relate, a second edition of the remains of the marabout was found there
also.

The BerJmouas, or rebels, are the puritans of Mahometanism, and,
like our dangerous liberals, always in revolt, and perpetually struggling
against the authority of the Sultans and the social hierarchy.

In Kabylia they are especially found near Zamora, amongst the Beni-
Yala. Their chief is an important man, Hadj-Moussa-bou-hamar (master of
the ass), whom we have seen lately joining in the struggle against the Emir.
The A nay a is the sultan of the Kabyles : no sultan in the world can be
compared to him ; he does good, and raises no taxes. A Kabyle will
abandon his wife, his children, his house, but never his Anaya.

Such are the passionate terms in which the Kabyle expresses his
attachment for a custom truly sublime, and which Ave find amongst no
other people.

The Anaya bears some analogy to a passport and safe-conduct, with
this difference, that the latter derive essentially a legal authority from a
constituted power, whilst every Kabyle can give the Anaya ; and with tins
additional difference, that as much as the moral support of a prejudice may
be carried beyond the watchfulness of the police, so much the security
of him who possesses the Anaya exceeds that which a citizen may enjoy
under the common guardianship of the laws.

Not only does the straDger who travels in Kabylia under the protec-
tion of Anaya defy all present violence, but he also braves for a time the

* Castellane, pp. 183-4 ; La Grande Kabylie, p. 67. + See Part I. chap. vi. p. 106.

294 THE ANAYA.

vengeance of his enemies, or the penalty due to his former acts. The
abuses which might arise from so generous an extension of the principle
are limited in practice by the extreme reserve of the Kabyles in making
the application of it.

Far from lavishing the Anaya, they limit it to their friends ; they
accord it once only to the fugitive ; they regard it as a counterfeit if it has
been sold, — in short, they punish with death the usurped declaration.

In order to avoid this last fraud, and at the same time to prevent all
involuntary infraction, the Anaya manifests itself generally by an ostensi-
ble sign. The man who confers it delivers as a proof of his support any
object that is well known as having belonged to him, such as his gun
or his stick ; he often sends one of his servants, and he himself will not
unfrequently escort his protege, if he has any particular motives for
suspecting that the latter will be annoyed.

The Anaya naturally enjoys a consideration more or less great ac-
cording to circumstances, and especially it extends its influence according
to the quality of the person who gives it. Coming from an inferior Kabyle,
it will be respected in his village and in the neighbourhood. On the part of
a man in credit amongst the neighbouring tribes, it will be renewed by a
friend who will substitute his own ; and thus it proceeds from neighbour
to neighbour.*

Granted by a marabout, it knows no limits. Whilst the Arab chief
cannot extend the benefit of his protection beyond the circle of his go-
vernment, the safe-conduct of the Kabyle marabout extends even to those
spots where his name would be unknown. Whoever is the bearer of it
can traverse the whole Kabyle country, whatever be the number of his
enemies, or the nature of the complaints existing against his person. He
will only have to present himself on his route, successively, to the mara-
bouts of the clivers tribes; each one will be anxious to do honour to the
Anaya of the preceding patron, and to give his own in return : thus the
stranger cannot fail to reach the end of his journey happily, going from
marabout to marabout. A Kabyle has nothing more at heart than the
inviolability of his Anaya ; not only does he attach to it his own indi-
vidual point of honour, but that of his parents, his friends, his village, his
entire tribe, answer also morally for it. A man who would not find
a second to aid him to take vengeance for a personal injury, could raise
all his compatriots, if there were a question about his Anaya not being

* A very similar institution to the Anaya exists among the Circassians, by whom the
protector is called Jconah (Recelations of Russia, vol. ii. p. 295). It may have arisen at the
ii,,,.- when Arian Christianity shed its light over the desolate shores of the Black Sea; but
it is probably of more ancient date, and must he attributed to the gallant and generous
character of these martyrs to European civilisation and orthodox covetousness. (See Bell's,
Langworth's, and Spencer's Travels in Cir cassia.)— Another illustration of the Anaya

maj be tra 1 in the custom of tayo at Otakeite, the Friendly Islands, &c, before the

missionaries, the whalers, small-pox, and whisky, had done their work. See Cooke's Third
Voyaije, vol. ii. p. 139 ; La Pcyrouso; The Mutiny of the Bounty, &c. &c.

THE ANAYA. 295

recognised. Such cases must rarely occur, owing to the force of prejudice;
nevertheless, tradition has preserved this memorahle example.

The friend of aZouaoua* once presented himself at his dwelling to ask
for the Anaya. In the ahsence of the master, the woman, rather cmbar-
rassed, gave to the fugitive a bitch very well known in the country, and
the man started with this token of safety. But the bitch soon returned
alone, and covered with blood. The Zouaoua was greatly troubled ; the
people of the village assembled, they followed traces of the animal, and
discovered the dead body of the traveller. War was declared with the
tribe in whose territory the crime was committed; much blood was shed;
and the village compromised in this quarrel still bears the characteristic
name of Dacheret-el-Kelba &■>.£ Jl CJi-t J ' village of the bitch.' The
Anaya attaches itself also to a more general order of ideas. An indi-
vidual who is either weak or persecuted, or under the stroke of some
pressing danger, invokes the protection of the first Kabyle he meets. He
does not know him, nor is he known himself, — he has met his protector by
chance ; but this is of no consequence, for his prayer will be rarely re-
jected. The mountaineer, delighted to exercise his patronage, willingly
grants this accidental Anaya. Women invested with the same privilege,
and naturally compassionate, seldom refuse to make use of it. They cite
the case of a woman who saw the murderer of her own husband about to be
butchered by her brothers. The wretched man, struck with many blows,
and struggling on the ground, managed to catch hold of her foot, crying
out, " I claim thy Anaya!" Whereupon the widow threw her veil over
him, and the avengers let him go. It is known throughout Bugia, that in
the month of November 1 833 a Tunis brig was wrecked in going out of
the roads, and that all the shipwrecked persons were put to death as
friends of the French, with the exception of two Bugiotes, more compro-
mised than the others, but who had the presence of mind to put them-
selves under the protection of the women. These scattered traits, which
might be easily multiplied, prove that a great influence is given to senti-
ments of fraternity and of mercy among these people. Their existence in
the midst of Mussulman society, invariably so severe in matters of justice,
might cause some surprise, did we not remember that amongst a people
very much distributed, under very little control, proud, and always in
arms, and where consequently internal dissensions must abound, it was ne-
cessary that customs should supply the want of spies and police, in order
to give security of transit to industry, commerce, and cheating. The
Anaya produces this effect. It suppresses also many revenges, by favour-
ing the escape of those who have excited them. In fact, it extends to all
the Kabyles an immense net-work of reciprocal benefits.

It must be admitted that these people are very far removed from that

* A tribe of Kabyles inhabiting the Jorjora.

290 KABYLE AND ARAB ANTIPATHIES.

inexorable fatalism, that rigorous abuse of force, and that complete sacri-
fice of individualism, which have followed the march of the Koran every
where throughout the globe. How is it, then, that here we meet with
tendencies so much more humane, charitable impulses, sudden move-
ments of compassion? Some respectable authorities consider them, with
emotion, as a feeble gleam of the great Christian light which formerly
illuminated Northern Africa, before the Church was developed into Ca-
tholic and evangelical perfection.

We have now given a broad sketch of Kabyle society.

We shall be much deceived if the picture speaks only to the eyes ; it
will clearly develop to the mind the great mixture of races and creeds
which has been working for ages upon this obscure part of the African
coast, A single impression results from this whole delineation, which it
is easy to sum up. The natives whom the French have found in pos-
session of the Algerian soil constitute really two nations. These nations
every where live in contact, and every where an insurmountable abyss se-
parates them; they agree only on one point : the Kabyle detests the Arab,
the Arab detests the Kabyle. An antipathy so enduring can only be at-
tributed to a traditional resentment, perpetuated from age to age, between
conquering and conquered races. Corroborated by the indelible existence
of two distinct languages, this conjecture becomes a certainty.

Physically the Arab and the Kabyle are so dissimilar, as to prove their
diversity of stock. Besides, the Kabyle is not homogeneous ; he presents,
according to the spots that he inhabits, different types, some of which
betray the lineage of the barbarians of the north.

In their morals, also, there are varieties. Contrary to the universal
results of the Mahometan faith, in Kabylia we find the holy law of labour
obeyed, woman nearly reinstated in her rights, and a number of customs
which, unlike those of modern Christendom, breathe equality, fraternity,
and Christian piety. Some of these advantages may possibly result from
the influence of the ancient Christian Church on the Kabyles, before plu-
ralists and cant had defaced its fair form, and disgusted all honest and
honourable men with the mask of sanctity allied to rottenness and atheism.
Yet the greater part of their beautiful customs we would attribute to the
palajological socialism of the primitive races on this planet, when men
held converse Avith their God, when they entertained angels, and before
the love of gold and glory had drawn a veil between heaven and earth.

The following customs among this interesting people, gasping for
breath in the accolade fraternette of France, have appeared to us worthy of
record as memorials of Christian and classical antiquity.

The institution of zaouia has been minutely described in a former
place; but we have reserved the account of one of its affiliated societies
for the present occasion, on account of its remarkable approximation to
Christian monasticism. A certain class of religionists among the Kabyles

THE DEItOUICIIES. 297

arc called derouiches (detached), men detached from the world, and form
a very remarkable sect, having striking points of affinity with the ascetic
hermits of the Thcbaid. In the country of the Beni-Katen, a distinguished
marabout, Sheik-el-Mahdy, affects to lead his followers to a state of holi-
ness by the following process : — Each candidate is rigorously shut up in
a little cavern or cell, in which he can scarcely turn or stand upright.
His food is gradually diminished during forty days, till at length it does
not exceed one fig; some even bring themselves to take nothing but a
carob in the twenty-four hours. In proportion as they gradually lose
their relation with material life, the disciples acquire a second sight ; they
are visited with dreams from on high ; and at last the mystical relation is
established between them and the marabout, when their dreams coincide,
and when they are visited by similar visions. When this crisis has arrived,
the Sheik-el-Mahdy gives a burnouse, a haikh, or some other object as a
sign of investiture, to the accomplished adept, and sends him forth into
the world to make proselytes. There exist accordingly affiliated lodges, so
to speak, of the great master lodge among the Beni-Ourghlis, the Beni-
Abbas, the Beni-Yala, &c, amounting, perhaps, to about fifty. Their
praxis is always based on the severest asceticism; and all pleasures, such
as women, tobacco, &c. are scrupulously proscribed. The state of prayer
and contemplation is perpetual among them.*

The philosophic inquirer into the phenomena of human nature might
be inclined to attribute this institution to the spontaneous disposition
that exists in certain individuals, in all ages and countries, for the mystico-
ascetic life. He would probably remind us of the Hindoo yogi, and the
bonzes of Buddha, and give them all a common origin in the instincts of
the human heart. A local examination of the Kabyle institution gives a
different version to the story;-]- and the same facts here again, as in so
many cases, are adduced in support of the most opposite theories of the
closet. Thus some authorities would persuade us that there is no suffi-
cient evidence to establish the tradition current among them, that the in-
stitution is derived from Ali-Ben-Ali-Thaleb, the celebrated son-in-law of
the Prophet; adding that it is quite certain that it was imported from
Egypt by Sidi-Abd-er-Bahman, a disciple of Sidi-Salem-el-Hafnaoui; and
reminding the reader that Christianity has left in Egypt the deepest traces
of the mystical ecstasies and the prodigious abstinence of its cellular
hermits.

It is the opinion of General Daumas, who has long been conversant
with the subject, that the deeper you dive into the mysteries of the Kabyle
life and society, the more traces you find of their having once been a
Christian people. One of the strongest apparent evidences of this state-
ment is found in their usages and customs, which have the force of laws.
All other Mussulmans over the whole globe look to the Koran as the coni-
* La Grande Kabylie, p. 69. t Ibid.

298 TIIE INCARNATE CROSS.

plete and universal code, embracing the whole life of man, and regulating
the smallest details of public and private life. The Kabyles, on the con-
trary, observe particular statutes derived from their ancestors, and which
they attribute to a pre-Saracen period. On many important points, such
as the repression of thefts, murders, &c, these statutes do not agree with
those of the Koran; they seem to approximate more to our penal notions;
but a circumstance that appears to give conclusive evidence of their Chris-
tian origin is, that the name these statutes bear is Kanouns.*

We have previously adverted to the prevalence of the sign of the cross,
which is tattooed on the faces of the women in many parts of Kabylia. No
less than three of the most eminent French authorities')- have attested this
fact. These fleshly inscriptions are an incarnate proof of the Christian
past of many of the Kabyles, particularly such as are pi'obably of Vandal
origin. They are found especially among the tribes of the Gouraya, are
probably a result of the Vandal invasion, and consist in the mark or sign
of the cross on their forehead, cheeks, and the palms of their hands. It ap-
pears that all the natives who were found to be Christians were freed from
the burden of certain taxes by their Arian conquerors ; and it was arranged
that they should profess their faith by marking the cross on their persons,
which practice was thus universalised. These crosses do not exceed T ^,^j
of a metre (-58 inches) in size. The tattooing is of a beautiful blue colour,
and is in much better taste than the patches worn by our grandmothers ;
its effect is far from displeasing on the faces of their women, who are re-
markable for grace and simplicity.

Our final inference from these facts is, then, that the Kabyles universally
have preserved strong traces of their primitive convictions and customs,
which in certain cases and among certain tribes are clearly attributable to
a Christian origin.

All travellers who have visited the hills and valleys of Numidia bear
Avitness to the identity existing between the habits of its present popula-
tion and those recorded by the pens of the classical authors. It is natural
to suppose that, before the aboriginal Numidians and Libyans were driven
to seek refuge in the fastnesses of the Atlas by the Arab irruption, they
roamed over the plains at their feet, where the genius of the country would
force upon them the same mode of life that is now led by their conquer-
ors. And the two peoples being moreover families of the same Semitic
variety, there would necessarily be but a slight difference between the habits
of the pastoral Libyans of old and the modern Bedouins. Hence the fol-

* It will bo evident to tho reader that the resemblance of this word to the Greek
xxvm, rule, canon of the church, must he inure than accidental. The expression has,
however, long been used in Turkey. Sec Von Hammer's GeschichU des Osrna nischen Jicichs
band iii. p. 481, Kanunl Raja.

t Marshal de Castcllanc, General Daumas, p. 40 and Baron Baude ; also Captain
Kennedy, vol. i. p. '270'.

THE KABYLES OF OLD. 299

lowing- description given by Virgil of their mode of life admirably illus-
trates the habits of the wandering Arabs :

Quid tibi pastores Libya?, quid pascua versu ?
l'rosequar, et raris habitata mapalia tectis
Sa;pe diem noctemquo et totum ex ordine mensem.
Pascitur, itque pecus longa in deserta sine ullis
Hospitiis ; tantum campi jacet. Omnia secum
Armentarius Afer agit, teetumque, laremque,
Arrnaque, amyckoumque canem cressamque pharetram.*

Flocks still constitute the sole riches of the southern tribes on the con-
fines of the desert ; hence they still preserve the nomadic habits of their
forerunners, and the nature of the soil does not, in fact, admit of any other.
Now, as in the days of Virgil, their flocks and shepherds plunge into bound-
less and shelterless solitudes ; days, nights, months are passed in the pas-
turages ; and no change could be traced if bows, arrows, and quivers were
substituted for guns, powder, and balls. Nor is the previous description
inapplicable to many tribes of Kabyles in the present day, especially those
inhabitants of the vast district of the Aouress and the clans of Little Ka-
bylia or the Dahra, who lead chiefly a pastoral and wandering life, and
whose principal riches and industry consist in herds and flocks and in the
produce of the dairy.

Having now given an imperfect sketch of the physical, moral, and social
characteristics of this interesting people, we pass to the Arabs, who still
remain the dominant race in Morocco and Tunis, though they now lie
prostrate at the feet of France throughout Algeria, t

* Georg. lib. iii.

f On the Kabyles see General Daumas's Grande Kabylie; Castellane's La Kabylie,
p. 395 of his Souvenirs; Captain Kennedy, vol. i. chap. xiii. ; and Captain Carette's Ka-
bylie propremervt dite, 2 vols, of the Exploration Scientifique. Sec also, on the Berbers or
Kabyles, the Appendix, p. 144, of Wilde's Narrativi of a Voyage to Madeira, Algiers, >L-c.
1844.

Leo Africanus and Marmol deduce the etymology of Verier from the Arabic barbar,
'hot,' and from B< r, a proper name. Dr. Pritchard states that Barbar was an Egyptian
name for the maritime country on the fted Sea. The ( 'optic Repfiep, meaning hot, may be
the root of the name, which is derived by Gibbon from Bep/Sup, meaning to cast out, i.e. out-
casts.

•o>^)iC5X3^^-

CHAPTER XV.
€hc ®vafo$.

AGRICULTURISTS AND BEDOUINS TENTS — FURNITURE WOMEN DISTINCTIONS OF

ARAB LIFE PATRIARCHALISM FEUDALISM DOUARS HORSES FALCONRY

ILLUSTRATIONS MARKETS — LEGENDS — SCRIPTURAL CUSTOMS THE ARABS OF

COXSTANTINA ADMINISTRATION OF THE TRIBES — BEDOUINS OFFICIALS

STATISTICS — BUREAUX ARABES.

The Arabs are in general agricultural or pastoral in tlieir mode of life.
This difference of pursuits begets a difference of characters and of
manners. In the former case, their stationary habits reduce them into
subjection to a regular form of government, and they present a social state
approaching our own. The Arabs of this class are the descendants of
those Saracen hosts who, under the first caliphs, took possession of a great
part of Africa, and even invaded Spain. The pastoral Arabs are only
bound to the soil by a transitory interest; pitching their tents at random,
they are not the slaves of any cumbrous law-machinery, and they lead a
mode of life foreign alike to that of polished and of savage nations.
Hence their interest. The latter class constitute the Bedouins,'" or no-
madic Arabs, who are the principal inhabitants of the vast plains and
deserts that stretch over North-western Africa, and Avho, though divided
into independent, and often hostile tribes, form but one people, as is
evidenced by the community of language subsisting among them.

The Arabs of both classes are of the middle height, and remarkably
strong. Their physiognomy is expressive; they have a quick and ani-
mated look, and brown or olive complexions, but seldom black, like that
of the negroes. The type of the women is the same as that of the men,
whose manly faces are more oval than those of the Moors, with much
more prominent, but less agreeable features. Their step is light and
elastic, and their attitude often recalls the nobleness of antique statues.
Tlieir hair is generally black.

Extremely adventurous and daring, the Arabs meet their enemies in
the field with assurance; they treat the vanquished with harshness, but

1 The word Bedouin, pronounced ledaony, written ,» Jjj, comes from ledou jJU
desert. Ooryuos, Cours d'Arate mdga/we, vol. i. p. lSli.

TIIE DOUAR. 301

without indulging in the cruelties practised by the Berbers. Their habi-
tations are very well built of branches of trees kept together by cement, and
occasionally consolidated by unhewn stones, which, however, are made to fit
together perfectly ; these huts arc grouped to the number of ten or twelve,
and sometimes even of thirty or forty, forming villages, surrounded by
hedges of cactus growing to a great height. In the midst of this group
stands the hut of the scheik, or chief of the tribe, and a mosque, which is
nothing but a lodge built like the others, only of larger dimensions.

In speaking of these habitations, our remarks must be confined to the
first class, or that of the agricultural Arabs ; for the Bedouins"' live in-
variably in tents, named hymas or Jcymas. A collection of these hymas,
which are generally placed in a circle of ten, twelve, or fifteen, forms a
douar. -\ These tents are composed of black or brown stuff, are of an ob-
long form, and supported by stakes, which moreover answer the purpose
of suspending clothes, arms, harness, &c. No beds are found in them, the
Bedouins rolling themselves up at night in a haikh. The middle of the
douar is commonly empty, like a court ; and each family possesses in gene-
ral two tents, one for the family, the other for the cattle.

The simplicity, or rather poverty of the family is remarkable, their
household only comprising the following articles : some camels, goats, and
fowls, a mare and its harness, a tent, a lance thirteen feet long, a curved
sword, a musket, a pipe, a pot, a hand-mill, a coffee-pot, a mat, some
clothes, and some fold or silver rings for the women's wrists and ankles.
With these the Arab is rich.

The best clew to unravel the mysteries of Arab life and manners will
be found in their religion. We shall soon go astray in estimating their
character, if we lose sight of this mainspring of all their thoughts and
actions. Unlike the anxious, bustling, and prosaic populations of modern
Christendom, the Arab still holds to the faith of his sires with a glowing
devotion ; he sees the arm of the Lord and of his angels in all the acci-
dents of time ; and conscious of the measure of man's power and days,
reverence and submission become the predominant elements of his nature.
This feature of the Arab temperament constitutes what will be regarded
as puerile weakness or sublime philosophy, according to the favourite bias
of the critic ; but all who have observed Mussulmans in general, and the
children of Arabia in particular, under the stroke of affliction and in the
hour of death, bear witness to the manly resignation and dignified bearing
that they display in those seasons of distress and trial. The wisdom of
this world and the metaphysics of the nineteenth century having decided
that the laws of nature are the supreme arbiters of all things, and that the
idea of a special providence is an idle dream, Ave can only regret that the

* For an excellent estimate of the Arab character and of Mohammed, see Sismondi's
Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. ii. chap. 13. See also Diary of a Tour, <fcc. vol. i. p. 52

+ Douar comes from the Arabic word i 1 J dar, house ; diminutive b .J , J douira,

little houso.

302 ARAB CHARACTERISTICS.

happy scepticism of our free-thinking- Europe cannot imbibe some of the
comfort and the faith of the Oriental and the Arab, without falling victims
to the deplorable heresy of predestination and other mysticism.

Notwithstanding their faith, always ready to fight, the Arabs go about
armed cap-a-jned, with a musket in a sling, a yatagan, and pistols. Every
man must bear ai*ms ; and in some cases women and children do so too.
Their mode of fighting resembles that of the Berbers. They ride up to
the foe in groups, and drawing near, they break into a gallop describing
an eccentric curve. After reaching the farthest point they fire, and ride
back to the main body to load and dart off anew. If the affair grows
serious, and they must come to close quarters, they put their gun in the
left hand, draw the yatagan, and set-to bravely. When celebrating a fete,
they are fond of mock fights resembling tom-naments, and called fantasias.

Those too poor to have a horse are armed with muskets, blunderbusses,
yatagans, and clubs. They are good pedestrians, and stand privations
Avell. It may be said that the common people live in perpetual misery.

The founders and the first-born of Islamisro, the Arabs are sincerely
religious, though some are negligent in their devotions; they are ex-
tremely superstitious, — suspend wooden hands to their children as a talis-
man against the evil eye, and amulets on themselves and their animals, con-
sisting of bits of parchment with texts from the Koran, &c.

They are laudably respectful to the aged, who, if infirm or blind, are
always escorted by one or two lads. The Bedouin cemeteries are rather
neglected; but if one of their warriors dies, all his relations congregate on
horseback and celebrate his obsequies for eight days around his tomb; and
they will encounter almost any risks to carry off the fallen in battle.

The rich Arab women dress sumptuously, wearing chemises of fine linen,
drawers, and a kind of silk vest, over which they place a long coloured
robe reaching to the knee and having large sleeves. In ceremonies they
throw over them a long red or blue cloak, fastened round the shoulders by
silver hooks; and they have anklets and bracelets of the same metal. The
Bedouin women are commonly ugly, tattooing and painting their faces,
breasts, feet, and hands blue ; which, added to their dirtiness and sweat,
makes them horrible. They look on the patterns tattooed as ornaments,
or rather national crests, pricking them into their skin with needles made
on purpose. They leave their faces uncovered; and it is only on long
journeys that they wrap them over with a piece of linen. The dress of
the common Bedouin women consists of a long chemise of white wool,
with short sleeves, and a rope for their girdle. Their hair, rolled up on
the head, is surrounded with a great red cord in a few coils, imitating a
turban; but frequently long tails of hair fall on their shoulders, while
other smaller ones hang on their foreheads, with bits of red riband tied
to the end of them. Their woollen chemise, hanging loose like an apron,
is kepi Btraight by an immense copper pin and ring fore and aft; and mas-
sive copper rings adorn their cars. \

ARAB CHARACTERISTICS. 308

They commonly look miserable, withered, and old when still young ;
yet some girls of fifteen display the beauty of regular features and the
comeliness of youth.

They have little feeling for each other ; and in the case of accidents at
Algiers, when five or six Arabs have been buried under ruined houses,
&c, not an Arab, even a relation, has been seen to raise a hand to help
them. Fatalism and their want of socialism explain this.

Hospitality is, according to some severe writers, only a name amongst
them, and the power of the sheikh cannot protect travellers among them
from theft. Algeria is roved over by hungry Bedouins anxious to pounce
on unprotected males and females; and it is added, that in dealing with
men of different religion, they, like many Christians, do not scruple to Ho
and cheat.*

In receiving these and other statements of French writers about the
Arabs, it is necessary to observe great caution, as it is the interest of th«
conquerors to represent their victims in the most odious light possible, ia
order to justify their own injustice and cruelty. -j-

The reader has already learnt much in the preceding chapter regarding
the contrasts between the Kabyles and the Arabs, or the primary and
secondary strata of Algerian population. Summing up these differences,
Baron Baude has happily expressed them in one sentence : " In short, the
Kabyles are the vanquished, the Arabs the victors — hence their hereditary
hatred." The story of the Cumri and Sassnach is wide as the poles, and
Ireland's complaint is- an eternal truth.

The Arabs appeared in the seventh century, when they finished the
conquest of the Roman establishments in Africa, so well begun by the
Vandals, and upset the dominion of the latter. The superiority of their
cavalry made them masters of the plains ; whilst the mountainous regions,
where the attack was less easy, and the defence more feasible, remained in
the possession* of the oldest inhabitants. The limits of the Arabian estab-
lishment have thus been cut out according to the irregular relief of the
territory ; and this tide of humanity has spread and been broken, almost
like a fluid that has only reached a certain level.

The Arabs, or Saracens, were organised like all other peoples that have
installed themselves by force of arms in a new country. They consisted
of chiefs and soldiers, practising the command and obedience of feudal in-
stitutions ; which were, and still remain, identical in the barbarous form
of government and society once prevalent in Europe, and in that now
dominant in north-west Africa. These institutions were preserved, from
the necessity felt by the masters of maintaining a firm footing among a
conquered people ; and the Turks subsequently made use of them also.

* Berbrugger, part iii. ; Captain Kennedy, vol. i. p. Hi, vol. ii. pp. 203-214.
f See the Chapter on History, and Diary of a Tour in Barbary, vol. i. p. 277.

304 TELLIANS AND SAHAKIANS.

In short, feudalism is the organic law of transitive races in the early stage
of development. Thus, each tribe forms a little state, subject to an in-
flexible hierarchy. Power is hereditary among them, and military service
is looked upon as a tribute due, in the same way as the fruits of the land
and taxes. Differing from the Kabyle tribes, whose government is fluc-
tuating and various, the Arab form of society seems to flow from one
single principle.

Nevertheless, the Arabs of Barbary are divided into two sects, those of
the east and west : the former profess the rite of Hanefi ; those of the
west the rite of Maleki. The Hanefis acknowledge the Sultan of Turkey
as their spiritual head, and the latter bow to the Emperor of Morocco ;
and in countries where creeds are the great causes of separation between
populations, this difference has important consequences.*

The Arab tribes may be divided into three classes : those inhabiting
the Tell ; those holding the plateaux in the more elevated districts ; and,
thirdly, the Djeridi of the oases. The first, who are agriculturists, inhabit
that part of Northern Africa called the Tell, bounded by the Mediterranean
to the north, and often by the mountains of the Lesser Atlas to the south,
though, as we have previously seen, the district called Tell stretches far-
ther inland in the east than in the west of Algeria, This country is in
general very fertile, with good crops. The second class, belonging to
the pastoral society, live in the plateaux between the Tell and the oases,
which, though not so rich in grain, afford very good spots for pastures :
they also roam over the vast plains of the Sahara. The third class inhabit
the ksours, and carry on the barter and carrier trade of the interior. A
simpler and shorter division is that into Tellians and Saharians, previously
noticed. -j-

The influence of blood-relationship, aristocratic government, and the
love of roaming, are common to all these classes and subdivisions. The
Tellians, being agriculturists, are less addicted to roving than the Saha-
rians, who, being shepherds and carriers, are always on the move for fresh
pastures or for speculation. Many tribes are powerful and numerous;
but war, disease, &c. have much reduced others. Heads of families are
treated with great respect by their offspring, who, settling around the
patriarch with their slaves, form a douar or circle of tents, <*■«**>- hjma,

of which he is sheikh >£^,% having an independent authority over its do-
mestic economy. Several douars uniting for safety form afarka, and the
sheikhs form together a djemaa (or council) to watch over the common
interests of the farka ; one amongst them, on account either of his supe-
rior nobility, age, intellect, or energy, being generally appointed the head
or president of the assembly.

* Baron Baude. t Capt. Kennedy, vol. i. pp. 203-212.

I Meaning elder, senior, signor, seigneur, lord.

BEDOUIN ARISTOCRACY. 305

Nobility of blood is much respected among the Arabs, who am a noma-
dic phase of the pastoral society. All descendants of Fathma, the (laughter
of Mohammed, and of Sidi-Ben-ebn-Thaleb, his brother, are regarded as
iiiil ilc, and are called sherif or sidi (meaning lord or master). Amongst
other privileges, they can only be judged by their peers. The descendant-;
of the tribe of the Koraiche prophet, and those of the first invaders of
Western Africa, are also noble, but of the military class. The marabouts''
are the lords spiritual, whose influence is far greater than that of all others:
they are commonly men of austere lives, devoted to the study of the Maho-
metan law; and they are reported not unfrequently to have the gift of mi-
racles and prophecy. Surrounded with a halo of holiness in life, after death
their koubbahs or tombs become places of prayer and pilgrimage, besides
being sanctuaries for criminals. Upon the woody slopes of the Atlas and
the large plains of Algeria the white domes of these sacred sepulchres often
attract the eye of the wanderer. The marabouts frequently unite and form
a dollar, or even a farka, near some chapel erected to the memory of a
deceased member of the fraternity. There they instruct youth in the law,
&c, forming a zaouia, such as we have described in the last chapter.

Before we give an outline of the present administration of the tribes,
we shall introduce another description of a dollar, or village of tents, from
the pen of Baron Baude :

" The arrangement of all the douars is similar, consisting of about
20 huts or tents, according to the season, one of which is devoted to each
family. The tent is made of a black and very thick woollen tissue, which
swells with the damp and keeps out the rain, requiring much labour in its
manufacture. The weather being very fine during two-thirds of the year,
they only require a roof of branches, supported on pickets of wood, for
their huts, brushwood being piled up on the weather side. These huts,
placed at about 10 metres apart, form a circle, with the cattle in the centre,
and contain numerous savage dogs as guardians. The douars are moved
when the neighbouring pastures are exhausted, seldom remaining in one
place above three months together. The great quantity of dung accumu-
lated by their cattle forms the only manure they employ."-j-

Baron Baude describes an Arab entertainment in the douar of the
Mcrdes, near Bona, in the following terms : " After sunset, the Mussul-
mans take a meal ; and the preparations for ours were being completed
as we came back from our walk. Mats were laid on the ground, and all
the guests crouched round, excepting the host. The meal was served up in
pots made of old wood, and consisted of hard eggs, honey pancakes, boiled

* Borrcr, ch. 16, derives the word from the Arabic rhth (Daumas saws mrabcth, lie),
'to devote oueself;' the participle of the verb mrbth. M. Gorguos describes the word as
m'rdiot ±2 J\]sO participle of the 3d form of the verb rbot Lj i ' to tie.' C'our.i d'Arabe
vulgaire, vol. i. p. 237. + Baude, i. p. 1J4.

30G ABAB LIFE.

fowls, and cous-coussou. The pancakes were to be dipped into a copious
sauce of an ochre-colour; aud Mahmoud (the sheikh) began to stir up this
mess with his greasy paws, which induced the Baron's party to decline
taking any. The fowls were awfully peppered ; but they found the cous-
coussou excellent.* After the meal, some water and soap were brought,
all washing their hands and beards in it, and some of the company rinsing
their mouths with the same foul water.

A night in a douarf is distressing to Europeans, the fleas and mus-
quitoes allowing their victims no rest. This veritable plague is so delete-
rious, by depriving you of your rest, that it greatly debilitates the French
troops, colonists, and visitors, rendering them unfit for work and ill, many
having died in consequence. The Arab women anoint themselves with
oil to keep off these enemies. Hard is the life and sad the slavery of Arab
women, like all females in the pastoral phase of society. They go often to
the wells, carry heavy loads of wood, have to grind the corn unceasingly by
day, whilst at night they often have no rest, being obliged to spin wool, and
weave the cloth for their tents. The Arabs are very jealous of the effects
of civilisation in emancipating their women ; but Baron Baude informs us
that the ties of family are not felt among them. This remark evidently re-
quires qualification, familism being the pivot of pastoral society; but he pro-
bably alludes to the spiritual ties and tender regard for women appertaining
to the Christian and Germanic phase of civilisation being unknown to them.

Madame Prus gives the following description of an Arab encampment
near Bona in 1850 : "The tents were very low, and of an extremely thick
tissue of camel's hair, by which they were enabled to resist the scorching
rays of an African sun, and also the torrents of rain which inundate the
whole country during the wet season. Not a single tree, not a plant, re-
lieved the eye from the monotony of this arid spot. One of the extremi-
ties of the plain was bounded by the Bourzizi mountains, whose rocky
summits appeared in sad harmony with the still and deathlike face of
surrounding nature, though the valleys which are occasionally found among
the table-lands offer a scant pasturage for cattle.

" The tent of Abdallah was divided into two rather large apartments.
One of these was occupied by his family, wives, chickens, cats, and dogs.
The other, into which I was introduced, was his hall of reception, which
was also used as his dormitory when he wished to sleep alone, and became

* Baude pronounces cous-coussou better than English puddings, and a good addition
to European cookery-books. It forms the bread, soup, bouilli, and dessert of the Arab,
and is made of wheat bruised by tho women in hand-mills, and then thrown into a great
vessel shaped like a kettle-drum, a little oil being mixed with it, till it forms lumps of the
size of millet grain; after Which it is boiled over steam, and mixed with milk, broth, butter,
&c. (vol. i. p. 176.) For Arab life, see Capt. Kennedy, vol. i. pp. 138, 205-212 ; and Diary
of a Tour, vol. ii. pp. 184-9.

t A douar is called a smalak when it is tho residence and contains tho household of a
noted ehijf. Kennedy, vol. ii. p. 99".

ATIAB STEEDS. 307

his private sitting-room, in which he smoked from morning till night,
cross-legged, according to the fashion of the Arabs."*

You see their horses to the best advantage in the province of Bona.
The equipment is well known. They have a saddle without crupper, with
the high pummel and cantle of the Mamelukes, bridles with blinkers and
chain bits, besides very short stirrups placed farther back than ours. In
riding the leg is accordingly much bent; and they use iron spikes, 15 cen-
timetres (5 - 85 inches) in length, instead of a spur. The seat is very fa-
tiguing to those unaccustomed to it, nor would it answer for trotting — a
pace never used by the Arabs, who stand in their stirrups at a gallop, lean-
ing slightly on the top of the cantle. Common people ride bare-legged;
but the sheikhs wear red morocco boots, in shape something like those of
our knights of old: they have a very good appearance. f The Arabs are
like children, and abuse their horses ; whence they indulge in the fantasia,
a kind of mock fight to welcome a guest, goading their steeds at full
speed with bleeding flanks. Fine horses can be obtained from Tunis for
from 500 to 800 fr. (201. to 361), with large limbs like English horses ;
and a good breed of this sort is found at La Calle, and is in request for the
3d regiment of the Chasseurs dAfrique, at 242 fr. (91. 14s. 2d.) each.
Castellane, in his trip through the Sahara, writes: "In the course of our
ride we admired, as ever, the boldness of the riders, and the beauty of their
steeds. We were especially struck with one mare of Mohamed, the friend
of our friend Rhaled, so light that it might, according to the Arab phrase,
have galloped on a woman's bosom. As we were praising its beauty,
Rhaled said to us : ' She had a sister, who alone could contend with her.
They were the envy of all, and the pride of their master, when Mohamed
was led up a prisoner by the horsemen of the Emir. He managed to
escape ; but scarcely had he reached his douar, ere the chaous% of the Sultan
were signalled as coming. Mohamed immediately vaulted on his good
mare ; and when the horsemen arrived at the tent, they found the chief
flown. It was impossible to overtake him ; yet one of them, as the only
chance, leapt from his horse and ran to the other mare that was still tied
by a rope ; but Mohamed's boy shot her dead with a pistol. This mare
alone could overtake her sister, and the child had saved his father.' "§

A mare is looked upon as the best property, as a fortune. || She is

* P. 91.

j- Baron Baude, vol. i. p. 203; Dawson Borrer, p. 18. Lamping informs us that the
Arab chiefs consider the skin of the tiger (?) and panther as one of then - principal orna-
ments. The head of the animal is generally fastened to the saddle-bow (the head and
teeth are essential), and the skin waves to and fro with every motion of the horse; so that
at a distance one might almost imagine that some wild beast had just taken a deadly
spring upon the rider.— The French in Algiers, p. 9.

J Constables and executioners. § P. 256.

\ The Ulemas relate that when God wished to create the mare, He spake to the wind :
" I will cause thee to bring forth a creature that shall bear all My worshippers, that shall
be loved by My slaves, and that will cause the despair of all who will not follow My laws."
And He created the mare, saying : " I have made thee without an equal ; the goods of this

308 FALCONRY.

preferred to the horse, entire or gelding; for she does not neigh, she is
docile, and supplies milk on an emergency. All who can afford it possess
one of these animals, and they pass hours in looking at them. They are,
in fact, the Arab's companion and friend, sharing his adventures, perils,
and wars, and bearing him from danger with the speed of the wind. Ac-
cordingly, wonderful is the care their owners bestow on their grooming
and toilet, combing their manes and tails coquettishly; and after washing
their legs, smoking their pipes in ecstasy while they gaze at and admire
them. When idle the grass of the pastures is their food, but under toil
they are indulged with a light feed of barley.

The Arab race of horses is admitted to bear off the palm, the Arabs
boasting that they proceed direct from the studs of Solomon. But the
Bible contradicts this Bedouin boast, for we read that Solomon " had a
thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen . . .
and Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt."* Hence the great king
had no studs, Solomon being satisfied with improving his proverbs.

However this may be, the beauty of the Arab breed is proverbial, which
they attribute to the care they take to prevent misalliances, and to their
genealogical trees. The birth of a foal always takes place before six wit-
nesses, who all sign an act of nativity in a proper form. It is an article of
belief with the Arabs, that they would be unlucky in this life and punished
in the next, if they practised any deception in all relating to the pedigree
.and parentage of the horse.

English jockeying might profitably study the ethics of the Arab turf.

Mediaeval manners are still dominant amongst the Arabs, and our
chivalric ancestors would feel quite at home in the Sahara. Falconry is
quite in fashion among the chiefs, and is thus described by Castellane :
" Farther on, two hares, frightened by the sound of our horses, darted
from their cover, and the falcons were let loose again. As long as the
hare can run, it escapes its enemy; but when it begins to waver, that it
may seek a refuge, the bird darts on its back and begins eating its brain
and its eyes. Falcons are like men; some are good, and others bad. It
was good fun to hear the Arabs banter, jeer, and abuse the latter ; and it
was amusing to see the pride of the proprietor of the best bird. It is
during the summer that preparations are made for the winter hunts. The
bird when first learning to fly is caught by the fowler; and even before it
is tamed, it is taught to run after its prey : it is initiated at first into easy
hunts, and taught to wait for its master's order, to recognise his voice
and his signal, to dart at the skin of a hare thrown into the air, and to
answer different cries, which the voracious bird obeys with an unparalleled

■ o] M shall be placed between thy eyes ; every where I will make thec happy and preferred
above all the beasts of the field, for tenderness shall everywhere bo in the heart of thy
master ; good alike for the chase and retreat, thou shalt fly, though wingless; and I will
only place on thy back tho mon who know Mo, who will offer Mo prayers and thanks-
givings; in short, men who shall bo My worshippers." — Castellane, p. 255.
* 1 Kings x. 26, 28.

ARAB MARKETS. 309

ardour. In this manner the falcon of the Arab becomes once more tin-
bird of the middle ages, surrounded with attentions, with glory, and even
"with honour.

' The chiefs had their right hand armed with a glove called smegue.
This glove has no fingers. The Arab exquisites have them made of tiger
and panther skin. On this the falcon perches; not unfrequeutly two or
three find room, — one on the shoulder, and another on the strings of
camel's hair surrounding the cowl of the haikk."*

Here follow a few illustrations from the pens of eye-witnesses.

The following night-scene described by Baron Baude, on his trip from
Bona to La Calle, gives a good idea of the poetry of Arab life : " The
moon in all her splendour silvered the surface of the lake, and its light
was mixed under our black tent with the glare of the fire of dry rushes.
Above the heads of the crouching Arabs stretched out those of the Numi-
dian horses, the faithful companions, who seemed to take part in their
recreations. The animated faces of our hosts, as attentive to the story
being told as to the roast mutton, seemed lighted up with the departed
elegance of their race ; and we, the descendants of those barbarians who
learnt civilisation from them, were almost envious of their present con-
dition."

A good insight into Arab life is given in Marshal Castellane's descrip-
tion of a market held every Thursday at the little magazine-post of Kha-
mis, among the Beni-Ouraghs, built, like all such French posts in Algeria,
on a line parallel with the sea near Mostaganem. Markets in Africa are
not only places of sale, but bazaars of news ; and the whole population,
Arab and Kabyle, frequents them. On market-days, breaking their repose
and silence, multitudes of Kabyles and Arabs were seen trooping in from
all sides, from the mountains and the valleys, from every path, some
driving sheep, others horned cattle, many carrying loads of corn, beans,
wool, or manufactured stuffs, but all armed, and many with their muskets,
only, or that knotty stick, one blow of which can break the hardest heads.
Jews, with dirty turbans, drive in their half-starved mules, displaying their
goods at the spot pointed out by the caid and police, and erecting a little
tent of bad cotton to guard them from pillage. The first hours were
usually devoted to business. The butchers skinned the sheep they had
killed, uttering Ms-miUahs,-f and suspended the flesh to little fir-trees,
whose branches served as skewers ;. cattle-dealers were standing near
their beasts, awaiting purchasers ; the corn and bean merchants were
shouting and quarrelling about a halfpenny; but the noisiest of all was
the Jew. As every where else, he was here the agent and the jobber,
over-reaching, selling, and stealing. In Algeria the Jew supplies cotton,
pepper, cloves, sugar, and coffee ; antimony for the women's eyes, henna

* Page 255.

f In the name of God: an invocation always employed in slaughtering any thing ia
Mussulman countries.

310

AN ARAB SAINT.

for their nails ; a gunsmith, he mends their arms ; he repairs rings and
makes jewels, and silver ornaments for the chiefs. Nothing comes amiss
to him ; he crawls through all trades. You may see him every where,
hurried, agitated, thrusting out his dirty hand, greedy, quarrelling, inde-
fatigable, asking for justice from the caid, whose decision is law. A volley
and tempest of shouts, eloquence, and special pleading, is at once silenced
by his verdict.

The first hours and business over, the hum of men increases. The
groups thicken, the state of affairs is canvassed, — sometimes general poli-
tics, at others disputes between tribes.

Envoys of the Emir gliding in among these groups used to fan the
flame of rebellion at the market of Khamis ; and the religious fraternities
of the zaouias exchanged the messages confided to their fanaticism.*

The religious colouring and phase of the Arab character is finely
developed in the following description of Castellane : " In the winter of
1841-42, whilst General de Lamoriciere, on the side of Mascara, was
striking rude blows at the power of Abd-el-Kader, the authority of the
khalifat of the Emir, Bou-Hamedi, was seriously shaken in the west of the
province. Mouley-Chirq-Ben-Ali, of the tribe of the Hachem, had been
the instigator of this movement. His influence was o Te at, for he had lono-
commanded the country as lieutenant of Mustapha-Ben-Tami, an ancient
khalifat of the Emir.

Dismissed from office by Bou-Hamedi, when the latter replaced Mus-
tapha-Ben-Tami, Mouley-Ben-Ali had sworn to avenge himself; and he
kept his word in the following manner. BenAli was patient in his
vengeance ; he knew how to await the hour and the moment. His first
care was to go the round of the tribes, and by his words to prepare
their minds for a change ; and then as soon as the moment seemed
favourable, feeling that his own authority was not sufficiently strong for
him to raise the standard himself, he cast his eyes on a man whose reli-
gious prestige might increase his power. Si-Mohamed-Ben-Abdallah, of
the great tribe of the Ouled-Sidi-Chirq, was chosen by him. The religious
influence of this tribe of marabouts extends from the oasis to which
they have retired to the sea-shore. Having been established many years
in the country of Tlemsen, Mohamed-Ben-Abdallah enjoyed a great repu-
tation there. His piety was proverbial ; and the people of the douars re-
lated, that every Friday he went barefooted to the tomb of Si-Bou-Medin,
passed the night there in prayer, and that the words of God came from
liis mouth when he quitted the holy place, because the Spirit from on
high had visited him. This belief soon became general, and all were
prepared to recognise him as chief. The old chief Mustapha-Ben-Ismail,
informed of the agitation which reigned on the side of Tlemsen, know-
ing that Bou-Hamedi began to conceive serious alarms, and had not
been aide to succeed in getting possession of Mohamed-Ben-Abdallah,

* Castellan o, p. 181.

AN INTERVIEW. 311

thought that the marabout might serve as a powerful lever wherewith to
attack the Emir. Upon the report of Mustapha, General de Lamoriciijre
authorised our old ally to put himself in relation with Mohamed-Ben-
Abdallah.

Assistance and protection were guaranteed to him, and their first in-
terview was arranged ; but on the 3d of December, at the very moment
when it was about to take place, Bou-Hamedi stopped the advance of
Mohamed-Ben-Abdallah.

Three weeks later, recovering from this check, Mohamed demanded
another interview ; and Colonel Tempoure, supporting the goum* of Mus-
tapha with a little column of infantry, set out in the midst of tremendous
weather. On the 28th, accompanied only by some officers and people of
Mustapha, he marched forth to meet the new chief.

The horsemen extended in long files over the precipices of a lofty
mountain ; at their feet the valley of the Tafna spread itself out, with its
rich cultivation. On the horizon appeared the white walls of Tlemsen,
the town of the sultans. Suddenly, at the winding of the mountain, they
perceived the hills and undulations covered with the people of the tribes.
The standards on both sides halted, the horsemen remained immovable, and
the chiefs advanced between these living hedges. Mustapha first put his
foot to the ground; he thus rendered homage, in the presence of all, to the
religious character of Mohamed-Ben-Abdallah : but the latter dismount-
ing, pressed him in his arms, without permitting any other mark of defer-
ence. Those who assisted at the interview have since related that General
Mustapha, after having bowed before the French chief, Colonel Tempoure,
pronounced these words : " This is the day of my life which has afforded
me the greatest happiness, for I perceive that my endeavours have suc-
ceeded in establishing esteem and friendship between the French and so
venerated a character. Thanks to the omnipotent God, this day is the
commencement of the union which ought to be sealed between the two
races, under the protection of the Great Sultan of France. As for myself,
my few remaining days cannot be better employed than in labouring for
the peace of the country and the elevation of the house of Mohamed, —
of thy house, O Mohamed, already so illustrious amongst us."

Mustapha then, with that dignity which never deserted him, pointed to a
clump of dwarf-palms ; and all seating themselves in a circle, the conference
commenced. It was short ; and the conditions were soon settled. The last
addresses having been delivered, Colonel Tempoure presented the Arab
chief with the donations brought to do him honour. All then rose. The
chiefs mounted their horses, and kept united round Mohamed; whilst stand-
ing up in his stirrups, the marabout pronounced the prayer which was in-
tended to call down the Divine blessing on their enterprises. His eye
was burning, his features pale and worn by fasting and vigils, his voice
* A contingent of irregulars furnished to government by the tribes.

312 AN ARAB LEGEND.

deep and hollow. It was an imposing and majestic spectacle. " O
gracious and merciful God," exclaimed Mohamed, •• we entreat Thee to
give peace to our unhappy country, laid waste through a cruel war." And
the voices of the two thousand horsemen repeated at the end of each line :
" merciful and gracious God. we entreat Thee to give peace to our
unhappy country, laid waste through a cruel war." " Have pity."' con-
tinued the chief, raising his eyes towards heaven. " have pity on this po-
pulation reduced to misery ! Grant that abundance and happiness may
again he restored to us ! Give us the victory over the enemies of our
country ; and may the holy religion revealed by thy Prophet be always
triumphant !" And with one voice all the warriors responded : " Give us
the victory over the enemies of our country, and may the holv religion
revealed by thy Prophet be always triumphant !" The murmur of these
prayers reached even the horsemen of Bou-Hamedi, announcing to them
the greatness of their danger. The hour was in fact approaching when
Tlemseu was for ever to become French.*

Fairy and religious legends are dear to the Arab heart, amongst which
the following combines a Semitic mysticism with a European rationalism,
and is not unworthy of the wisdom of Solomon.

Sidi-Mohamed-ou- Allah be it known, was a man of God celebrated for
the pious legends which he loved to relate. The following is one which
the traveller never fails to hear, who stops for the first time near the
venerated marabout the last abode of the holy man :

One day Sidna-Aissa (our Lord Jesus Christ) met Chaytan (Satan),
who was driving four asses before him, heavily laden, and said to him :
■' Chaytan, why, thou art become a merchant, then V " Yes, Lord; and I've
so much business on hand that I cannot do justice to it.''

•• What business do you carry on, then ?" " Lord, an excellent busi-
ness; just see. One of these asses — and I choose them amongst the
strongest in Syria — is laden with injustices; who will buy them of me? —
the sultans. The second ass is laden with envies; who will buy them
of me I — the learned. The third is charged with thefts: who will pur-
chase them? — the merchants. The fourth carries, together with perfidies
and wiles, an assortment of seductions, which are related to all the vices;
who will buy them ? — the women."

"Wicked one, may God curse thee !" replied Shhui-Aissa. "What is
that to me, if I gain I" replied Chaytan.

The next day Sidna-Aissa, who was saying his prayers at the same
spot, was disturbed by the swearing of a donkey-driver, whose four asses,
overwhelmed by their load, refused to go on; and In- recognised Chaytan
by their load. '-Thank Cod! thou hast sold nothing." he said, addressing
him. •• Lord, an hour after you left me, all my panniers were empty; but,
as usual, I had difficulties about the payment."

* Castcllane, pp. 369-371.

ARAB PROPHECIES. 313

" The Sultan caused me to be paid through his khalifa,* who wanted
to cheat me about the sum. The sages said they were poor. The mer-
chants and I called each other thieves. The women alone paid me hand-
somely, without bargaining."

" And yet I see thy panniers still full," objected Sidna-Aissa. " They
are full of money; and I am carrying it to the kadi (to justice)," replied
Chaytan, driving on his asses.

" my brothers," added Sidi-Mohamed-ou-Allal, " the free man, if he is
grasping, is a slave; the slave is free, if he lives on little. Choose tents to
repose in, and for your last dwelling the cemeteries. Nourish yourselves
with the produce of the earth, satisfy your thirst with the running water,
and you Avill leave the world in peace."t

Many prophetical legends are current amongst the Arabs relating to
the i - ise and fall of the French power in Algeria. A holy marabout, Si-
Akredar, many years before the conquest, had announced it in these
widely-diffused couplets.

" Their arrival is certain in the first of the 70th; for by the power of
God I am informed of the matter. The hosts of the Christians shall come
from all sides; the mountains and the towns shall shrink from us. They
will come from all quarters, horsemen and foot; they will cross over the sea.

" They will descend on the strand with a host like a raging fire, a
flying flash.

" The hosts of the Christians shall come from- the side of their country;
verily it will be a mighty kingdom that shall send them forth. Verily
the whole country of France shall come. Thou shalt have no rest; and
the cause shall not be victorious. They will arrive like a torrent in a dark
night; like a cloud of sand driven before the wind.

" They will enter by the eastern wall. The churches of the Christians
will be raised; the thing is certain; and then thou shalt see them spread
their doctrine.

" If you wish to find protection, go to the land of Kairouan; if the
Christian hosts advance, and their coming is certain. And the Christian
expedition will smite Algiers, and thev will spread themselves abroad
there. They will rule over the Arabs by the all-powerful command of
God; the daughters of the land will be in their power.

" After them will appear the powerful of the golden mountain; he will
reign many years, according as God shall will and ordain. Every where,
all inhabited places shall be in anguish, from the east unto the west.
Verily, if thou livest, thou shalt see all this."J

The departure of the French has been similarly announced by Si-
Aissa-el-Lagahouati, another venerated marabout, in these terms :

* Lieutenant.

•f- Le Grand D€sert of General Daumas, pp. 50-51. Castellans' s Souvenirs, pp. 276-7.

J Castellane, pp. 12S-9.

314 THE BENI-MERIIN.

" Publish, crier, make known what I saw yesterday in a dream.

" The coming evils shall surpass all imaginable evils; the eye of man
shall never have seen the like. The man shall abandon his child. A bey
shall come to us subject to the Christians. His heart shall be hard; he
will rise against my master, a man of noble oi-igin, whose heart is gentle,
who is handsome and prudent, and whose commands are just.

" Make known and say : ' Quiet yourselves ; he who has come hath dis-
persed them; they have fled behind the salt lake; they have mounted to
the summit of the Kahars; the Christians have left Oran.' "*

Though such oracular language might seem to savour largely of fana-
ticism, and be thought to fall under the head of remarkable coincidences,
the march of science warrants us in throwing out the conjecture that it
may not improbably belong to the category of natural prevision; and that
a more searching analysis of the anthropological development of all reli-
gions will classify it with the sibylline and ecstatic phenomena of all ages
and of all degrees.

We shall present the reader with one more specimen of Arab legends,
and then proceed to other matters : "In past ages the kings of Tlemsen
had dealings with the fallen angels. These sovereigns were called Beni-
Meriin (interpreted, the language of thunder); and by mysterious combina-
tions of figures, or by throwing sand on a black table, they predicted the
future, chastising those who had offended them by the aid of the devil,
their ally. Now it came to pass that one of the Beni-Meriin was struck
by the appearance of a girl whom he once met drawing water from the
Tama. Proud of his power, he thought that a nod would give him a new
slave; but the girl, plighted to a warrior of the tribe, was deaf to the
sultan's bribes. Furious at this refusal, the king swore to revel in the
tears of her who refused him her smiles. Accordingly one evening, when
the girl glided from the douar to meet her lover under some palms, the
sultan called to his aid the evil spirit. At his command the demon seized
the two young people, dragged them into the earth, and at once the
country changed aspect. It used to be called the valley of flowers; but
these were replaced by the dark olive. The palm alone, where the lovers
met and vanished, still stands; and a wonderful spring has gushed forth
from the spot, consisting of the tears of the unhappy pair, who shed them
incessantly in their underground prison, where they are still kept by the

devil."f

Both the stationary and the Bedouin or wandering Arabs still ret;, In
many customs described in sacred and profane history, and arc in almost
every respect the same people as we find mentioned in the earliest re-
cords. The Bedouins in particular still preserve the simple and primi-

* Castellanc, p. 129. Captain Kennedy gives a full version of Si-Aissa's prophecy,
which was uttered 130 years ago. Sec vol. i. eh. 11, p. 235, containing General Marrey's
account of his expedition to Lagahouati in 184 I. t C'astcllano, p. '331.

SCRIPTURAL CUSTOMS. 315

tive habits of their ancestors, and a strong attachment to a pastoral life,
so well adapted to the vast plains which constitute their proper home, to
the heat of their climate, and to their serene and beautiful nights. They
speak the Arabic language, and affect to have preserved the purest pro-
nunciation of this their parent tongue. Of all the nations on the face of
the earth, these are probably the greatest conservatives, having scarcely
deviated in any particular from the mode of life chalked out by their sires.
Save in religion, they are precisely the identical people with the Arabs at
the time of the composition of the book of Job, and afford an admirable
illustration and verification of the descriptions contained in that book. A
traveller arriving amongst them is delighted to find the same dresses,
manners, and customs as are portrayed in Oriental romance and historical
paintings representing scriptural subjects. Their present habits are also
found to be strictly conformable to the statements of Strabo, Leo Afri-
canus, and Pomponius Mela, of whom the latter especially has left such
clear and accurate accounts, that you would almost take him to have been
a modern traveller in the plains of Northern Africa. We shall presently
revert to this part of the subject. A visit to the tents of this interesting-
people transports you at a bound among the holy fathers of our race, and
makes you an eye-witness of the sayings and doings of the ancient of
days in the Fore-world."

Like the daughters of Judah, their women go forth every evening to
the distant well,-j- to draw water for household purposes and for their
camels. They are, however, somewhat less gracious than Dinah ; and if a
stranger approach, they immediately let fall their veil, and cover their
face, as Rebecca did on the appearance of Isaac: and should they meet a
foreigner on the road, they go aside and sit down, turning their backs to
the road.

The Bedouins grind their corn in their tents, employing some mill-
stones with wooden handles ; and their women are commonly engaged in
this work: which proves the accuracy of Moses' expression, who speaks of
the women labouring at the mill; and explains our Saviour's words when
he says, that "two women shall be grinding together ; the one shall be
taken, and the other left."^

They clothe themselves with a woollen garment five or six feet wide
and three yards long, called a haik. It is a kind of blanket or quilted
counterpane, of a white colour and fine material, and forms a light and
becoming, but a very inconvenient article of apparel; for it gets loose
and falls off every moment, needing constant attention to gather it up
and fix it again. To this end a girdle or band is required; and probably

* Pananti's Awenture, vol. ii. pp. 108-123 : gli Arabi Beduini.

+ According to St. Marie, the Arab women lead very bard lives, and have to go forth
to the well and draw water many times in the course of the day. Pananti, ubi supra.
t Luke xvii. 35 ; St. Marie ; Pananti ; Blofeld. Diary of a Tour, vol. ii. p. 186.

316 ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE.

from this has been derived the scriptural expression, " to have your loins
girt,"* in order to have strength and activity.

The following patriarchal scene from the pen of Count St. Marie gives
a pleasing picture of the poetry of Arab life, and its illustration of scrip-
tural subjects : " We soon arrived at the gates of Medeah," he writes,
" where, near a little fountain, there was a caravan which had stopped
there at sunset. Camels were feeding on the crass and shrubs on the
road-sides. A group of Arabs were at prayers, with their faces turned
to the east, in the direction of Mecca; and some children were imitating
the pious example of their parents. No one stirred on our approach. A
burnouse spread on the ground served as a carpet, on which, barefooted,
they alternately lay down prostrate and stood erect. There was some-
thing very imposing in the calm dignity of manner with which those men
invoked the Deity. When the prayer was ended, they turned to the eldest
man of their party and embraced him. Then resuming their slippers, and
driving their camels before them, they penetrated into the sinuosities of a
ravine, and were soon out of sight. f

The Arabs are rich in proverbs, many of which present a family like-
ness to those contained in the sacred oracles of the Hebrews. In all
eastern proverbs there is great depth of thought, and they express opinions
which are the result of long experience and reflection. We extract the
following from the travels of Count St. Marie, as a specimen of this style
of wisdom. " If your friend is made of honey, do not eat him up." " If
you travel through the country of the blind, be blind yourself." " When
you are the anvil, have patience; when you are the hammer, strike straight
and well." " He who cannot take a hint, will not comprehend a long ex-
planation." " The mother of the murdered man may sleep ; but the mother
of the murderer cannot." " I like the head of a dog better than the tail
of a lion." " Take counsel of one greater and of one less than yourself,
and afterwards form your own opinion."£

St. Marie relates, in another part of his light and graceful work, how
he saw beneath the shade of some stately old plane-trees an aged Moor
seated, wrapped in a white burnouse, and tranquilly smoking his pipe.
Before him lay a youth reclining on the ground, passing a chaplet through
his fingers. This group, with the surrounding objects and brilliant colour-
ing, was like a Bible scene. Nothing was wanting: the large mountain
dog, the curved shepherd's staff, the camel crouched in the foreground,
ruminating with upraised head and gazing at his master, all combined to
perfect the picture. Save the pipe, the group might have figured in an
altar-piece of the old masters. §

Pananti states, however, in another placo, that the haik is also bound round the
haul by the men, by a cord that assumes the shape of a turban; while the women fix it
with & fibula (vol. ii. pp. 111-112).

f St. Marie. J Ibid. § Ibid.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE. 317

We learn from the same authority, that there is- a legendary story
relating to the river Oued-Kebir, near Blidah, which calls to mind an inci-
dent of the Bihle. The true believers affirm that once upon a time, water
having become scarce in Blidah, Mohamed, the marabout whom I have
already mentioned, struck with his stick one of the mountains of the Atlas
range, and a spring gushed forth, which has never dried up. This spring
is the source of the Oued-Kebir.*

We find in the pages of Baron Baude' s Algerie several interesting illus-
trations of scriptural expressions and descriptions, which afford useful ma-
terials for future exegesis. On the Baron's trip from the Camp of Draan
to La Calle, to which we have adverted elsewhere, he was entertained one
night at the douar of the Merdes' tribe, in the tent of their sheikh, Sidi-
Mahmoud. Tt appears that " mats were spread on the ground, and the
guests crouched around them, all excepting the host, who, without touch-
ing any dish, stood opposite them, watching over the attendants, and
anticipating their least wants." It was thus that Abraham received his
guests, according to the sacred narrative (Gen. xviii. 8) : ' And he took
butter and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them ;
and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.' "j On their return
from La Calle to Bona, the Baron further relates how " they arrived at
the douar of Abdallah-ben-Hassan, and received the hospitality of the
ancient patriarchs, such as we read it described in the same chapter of
Genesis, verses G and 7 : ' And Abraham hastened into the tent unto
Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead
it, and make cakes upon the hearth. And Abraham ran unto the herd
and fetched a calf, tender and good, and gave it unto a young man ; and
he hasted to dress it.'

" Abdallah himself had, like Abraham (Gen. xxiv. 35), ' flocks and
herds, and silver and gold, and men-servants and maid-servants, and
camels and asses;' and his French visitors, on seeing his flocks at sunset
come trooping in from all quarters, formed a high idea of his riches.

" On reading these descriptions, the image of the venerable Job, or the
race of Arab proprietors of whom he was the type, is brought vividly before
the mind as a living reality. Stepping over the Mediterranean, we find
there are still men whose substance is 7000 sheep, and 3000 camels, and
500 yoke of oxen, and 500 she-asses, and a very great household ; so that
this man was the greatest of all the men of the east' (Job i. 8). "J

" The young girls," says M. Lamping, " are to be found every morning
at sunrise outside the gate of the town (Coleah), standing by the fountain,
at which they assemble, with stone jars on their shoulders, to fetch water
for the daily consumption, This truly eastern scene calls to mind Bebecca
at the well, drawing water for her father's flocks."§ " The moment the Arab

* St. Marie. "f Baude's Alge"rie, vol. i. p. 176 et seqq.

X Ibid. p. 176 et seqq. § The Foreign Legion, p. 5.

318 ARABS OP CONSTANTINA.

hears the call of the muezzin,* he throws himself upon the earth, wher-
ever he may chance to be, and touches the ground with his brow ; then,
rising again, he stretches his arms towards heaven, with his face turned in
the direction of Mecca, his white flowing burnouse and his long beard
giving him a venerable and patriarchal air. Thus surely did Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob worship their God." -j-

The conservatism of Arab life gives us contemporary illustrations of
the days of Joseph, Jonathan, and Joshua. On meeting they still say,
like their fathers, placing their right hand on their breast, Salaam alykum\
(Peace be unto you). Friends kiss each other's hands, heads, and shoulders.
On great occasions the women also salute their husbands by kissing their
hands. Inferiors kiss the feet, knees, or clothes of their superiors, and
children the heads of their pai*euts.§

Madame Prus observes, there is nothing more singular or picturesque
than the appearance of these Arabs arrayed in the majestic drapery of
their burnouse, and reminding one strongly of the old engravings repre-
senting the patriarchs of the Bible. Their aspect and bearing are noble
and dignified, and their imposing attitude might offer many a model to
our actors. ||

The Arabs of the province of Constantina differ considerably from
those who inhabit the other parts of Algeria ; their language, customs, edu-
cation, and character form a complete contrast to that observable else-
where. It is surprising, at first sight, to find that the different shades
which thus characterise fractions of the same people should be in perfect
unison with the geographical position which these several fractions oc-
cupy. For instance, in the west the Arab is ignorant, coarse, warlike,
and rough in the pronunciation of his local idiom, which has undergone
greater change than any other ; whilst the inhabitants of the eastern pro-
vince bear a diametrically opposite character. To account for this sin-
gular fact, we must bear in mind the mode in which the Mussulman
conquest operated. This movement proceeded from east to west ; and
thus, as always happens in enterprises of this nature, the most adven-
turous and hardy advanced the farthest. It was in this manner that a
bold Arab chief pushed on as far as the ocean, accompanied by a dashing
train of cavaliers ; but being farther removed than the rest of the nation
from the general and original fountain of this stream of population in
Arabia, this band of adventurers became more deeply imbued with the
spirit of resistance, and it had to sustain longer and more inveterate

* M. Lamping says 'marabout;' which may be correct in the country districts of Al-
geria, where they have no mosques. But the usual official who in Mahommedan countries
call the faithful to prayers, as an incarnate bell, is styled the muezzin.

t The Foreign Legion, pp. 5-6. + *& \s. aX^- § Berbrugger, iii. 15, 16.

|| llosidcnco in Algeria, p. 3.

ARABS OF CONSTAXT1NA.

319

struggles. It is easy to believe that such a state of hostility, so favourable
for the preservation of warlike tendencies, should influence unfavourably
every thing relating to education, to language, and to manners. These

ARABS OF CONSTANTINA.

wanderers, pushed onwards by the tide of conquest, have therefore much
degenerated in these respects, both because of their greater distance from
their compatriots of Arabia, the source of all their national light, and also
because of their closer proximity to the rough and ferocious Berbers, the
ancient masters of Morhereb.* Besides, as the Roman dominion established
itself first in the eastern part of Northern Africa, and had taken deeper
root there than in the west, on account of the greater duration of its sway ;
and as, on the other hand, the Vandals came from the west, and their de-
vastating fury received no check till it reached the walls of Carthage, — it
seems to result from these two conflicting causes, the one constructive and
the other destructive, that the provinces in the east at the time of the
Arabian conquest were the least degenerated from their ancient splendour.
Accordingly, it is in this section of the country that the finest remains are
brought to light in the present day, attesting, by their massiveness and
finish, the power, wealth, and good taste of these masters of the world.
It is therefore probable, that in this favoured region, the sight of these

* C_J ' -i/cJl el Morreb, the setting; the Arabic name for the empire of Morocco.

320 ORGANISATION OF THE TRIBES.

imposing vestiges of Roman grandeur, and the influence of a civilisation
which survived the attacks of the harbarians, contributed in softening the
conquering Arabs who settled there, and in vanquishing them, in their
turn, by the ascendency of an undoubted intellectual superiority, as the
Vandals had been likewise subjected before them. Whatever truth there
may be in these explanations, the facts are self-evident, and it suffices to
go from Algiers to Bona to be convinced of this.

The difference of language is the first tiling noticed : in a general
point of view, this consists in a greater softness of pronunciation.

Amongst the Arabs of the province of Constantina, the courtesy of
manners corresponds with the softness of the language ; and they are
much more disposed to give a friendly reception to the Christians than
their countrymen farther west. The raj>id progress of the French rule in
the east of Algeria testifies to this. On the- other hand, the people of
Constantina have not the warlike spirit of the western tribes ; and who-
ever has seen the two races in 'action can appreciate this difference. A
troop of chasseurs dispersed some hundreds of Arabs in 183G, near the
marabout of Sidi-Tamtam ; whereas the Beni-Amer and Garbas were seen,
in 1835, to stand discharges of grape-shot with the steadiness of veteran
European troops.

The costume at Constantina does not differ materially from that found
throughout Algeria ; only the people are generally more attentive to
dress, and the white burnouse is commonly worn, whereas black and
brown prevails in the west.*

We must now proceed to analyse the political and social organisation of
the Arab tribes, 114.5 in number, composing a population of about three
millions, and inhabiting the surface of Algeria, Tell, and Sahara, which is
estimated at 390,900 square kilometres, equivalent to four-fifths of the
86 French departments, or 150,000 square miles. We have seen that
Algeria under the Turks comprised four provinces, three of which — Oran,
Tittery, and Constantina — were governed by Beys, and the territory of the
city of Algiers by the Dey in person, on whom the three Beys were no-
minally dependent. In 1843, by a decision of the French Minister of
War, the possessions in Africa were classed in three divisions, Algiers,
Oran, and Constantina: Algiers containing two sub-divisions, Algiers and
Tittery ; Oran four sub-divisions, Oran, Mascara, Mostaganem, Tlemsen ;
and Constantina containing two, Bona and Setif. The latest division is
the following: — 1st, the province of Algiers is analysed into six sub-
divisions, whose chefs lieuac are, Algiers, Blidah, Medeah, Aumale, Mi-
lianah, and Orleansvillc. The province of Oran has five sub-divisions, —
those of Oran, Mascara, Mostaganem, Sidi-bel-Abbcs, and Tlemsen. The
division of Constantina admits four sub-divisions, — Constantina, Bona,
Setif, and Batna. The Governor -general is the supreme head of the

* Berbruggor, part iii. pp. 17-18.

ARAB ORGANIZATION. 321

regency, and under him there are, first, the governors of the two other
provinces ; secondly, each sub-division is under superior officers ; and
thirdly, each sub-division is distributed into circles, under French com-
mandants. There are eleven of the latter in each province ; and a bureau
Arabe has been attached to every military commandant since 1844.*

The circle comprehends generally several kaidats, who, when the state
of the country allows it, are placed under the direct orders of the superior
commandant, without obeying an agha. The khalifa or the bach-agha is
dependent either on the commandant of the division or of the sub-division.

The sheikh is appointed by the commandant of the sub-division, on
the recommendation of the kaid. The assembly of the notables of the
douar, who assist him, is called djemaa.

The kaids are chosen amongst the most distinguished men of the tribe,
and appointed by the commandant of the division, on the recommendation
of the commandant of the sub-division. The kaids receive no fixed
salary ; they derive emoluments from the raising of tribute, &c.

The aghas are named by the minister of war, on the recommendation
of the commandant of the sub-division, transmitted through legitimate
channels. They form three classes, whose salaries were fixed, in 1847, at
1200, 1800, and 3000 frs. (48£ to 1201.)

The khalifas, bach-aghas, and independent aghas are also named by
the minister of war, on the recommendation of the commandant of the di-
vision, transmitted through the governor-general. The khalifas have
12,000 frs. (480£), bach-aghas 5000 frs. (200£), besides perquisites con-
nected with their office.

The khalifas and bach-aghas, when called upon, with their horsemen,
to join the French forces in the war, are dependent on the orders of the
French commandants. In their judicial capacity they can inflict fines,
revise the judgments of the aghas, kaids, &c. of the territory they govern,
and are responsible for the regular payment of dues, &e. The duty of the
agha is to act on the orders of the khalifa, or direct orders from the French
authority ; he arranges the military affairs of the khalifat, sees that pun-
ishments ordered by the khalifa are duly executed, and has power to
inflict fines to a certain amount; renders accounts to the khalifa of com-
plaints made against the kaids beneath him, and arranges the collection of
imposts, &c. The office of the kaid is annual ; and on his investiture he
has to provide a horse fit for military service, as an acknowledgment of

* Tableau, 1S50, Appendix, from pp. 713 to 722 ; also, Dawson Borrer's Campaign
in the Kabylie, c. 16, on the Arab tribes. The douar is the basis of Arab social organisa-
tion. A certain number of douars, forming a forka, obey a sheikh; the assemblage of a
number of ferkas, sometimes only one, a tribe, commanded by a kaid. A group of several
tribes forms either a grand kaidat or an aghalik, under the orders of a kaid-el-kijad (caid
of caids), or of an agha. Several aghaliks may form a circumscription dependent on a
bach-agha (chief of aghas), or on a khalifa. Such is the hierarchy of the Arab powers
that be.

322 ARAB AUTHORITIES.

vassalage to the French ; he then receives the burnouse and seal of office
from the government. This feudal custom is derived from the Turkish
times. The kaid has to see that the warriors of his tribe are ready
for service, and to command them during the war ; is responsible for the
execution of all orders issued by his superiors ; is charged with the interior
police of the tribe, particularly that of the markets, where he is obliged to
be present, either in person or by his lieutenant. He has to decide con-
troversies between the douars of the tribe in cases of small importance,
and to refer to the agha those of greater weight ; he has also the power
of arresting criminals, of whom he must render account to the agha, and
that officer to the French authorities ; he has also the right to inflict cor-
poral punishment and fines to a certain amount, &c. The sheikh has to
settle disputes in the ferka, to see the taxes levied, and to exercise police
functions, &c, which makes his office like that of the maires of French
parishes. Each tribe has a kadi besides a kaid. The duties of his office are
to give judgment upon civil questions relating to person or property, or
such infractions of the law as relate to marriages, divorces, successions,
the guardianship of orphans, &c. He takes the oath of vassalage between
the hands of the procureur-general of Algiers, or the commandant of the
sub-division. This office is held for life, unless his conduct is so bad as to
render his deposition necessary. The kadis in the towns, and attached to
the bureaux Arabes, receive salaries ; those of the tribes none, obtaining
perquisites and enjoying immunities there. Below the office of the kadi
is that of the oukil-bit-el-mel, an officer nominated in each sub-division by
the commandant of the division, to watch over certain fiscal interests, to
find out vacant heritages, to collect state duties on successions, &c*

Hence it appears that the government of the Arab tribes is in the
hands of the military authorities, aided by the bureaux Arabes. The
duty of the heads of this office is most important, all the affairs of the
government with the natives being transacted through them. They
must know the language of the country, and the laws, customs, and
characters of the Arabs ; they must also be shrewd and resolute diplo-
matists, with sound notions of justice. Their duties are laborious and
extensive ; and the race with which they have to deal is intriguing, sen-
sitive, and hates the French government. They are the intermediaries
between the tribes and the administrative commissions in all that relates
to fixing imposts, recovering government property, regulating the pay-

* The tributes imposed on tho tribes are of two kinds, — the achour (tithe) on corn ;
and the zekkat, a tax of religious origin on Hocks. In the province of Constantina the
latter is replaced by the hokor, a kind of land-tax in money. Jn tho aohour, each zouidja
(17 to 25 acres) must pay the state a measuro of wheat and a measure of barley: it is often
raised in money. The zekkat yields one sheep per cent, one ox in thirty, one camel in
forty, in the east provinco the hokor yields 26 lis. per djebda or zouidja. The Saharian
tribes pa a lama, a low tax in money, proportioned to their wealth. In the ziban or
;zaab of Biscara each palm-tree returns 40 centimes {id.). Tableau, 1850, p. 718.

STATISTICS OP THE TRIBES. 323

ment of the native troops supplied by the tribes when called for, settling
disputes between natives and colonists, attending to markets, listening to
reclamations, and administering justice. Theirs is a delicate and a diffi-
cult situation, requiring much caution to fill it with propriety. If it
falls to a man worthy of it, he becomes a great prop to the existence of
the colony, for through him chiefly can some moral ascendency be gained
over the Arabs.*

The administrative commissions instituted in each sub-division and all
towns, by ordinances published by Marshal Bugeaud in 1842, have to
watch over government property, and to regulate tribute, fines, &c. from
the Arabs. The proper execution of the duties of the commission depends
much on the skill, Arc. of the head of the bureau Arabe.

What we have said will suffice to give a general notion of the tribes;
and we shall add below some particulars relative to the political state of
the Arabs. -j"

* Borrer, ch. 16. Castellane observes : " The Arab bureaux represent the centralisa-
tion of all the interests of the country in military hands. The chief of these officers repre-
sents the old Turkish chiefs, who were the chiefs of the naargzhen" (page 367). Tableau,
p. 715.

+ The population of the province of Algiers consists of 290 tribes, or 900,000 souls.
Of these, 175 tribes are administered directly by the commandants of circles and the
bureaux Arabes ; 35, indirectly by the latter ; 52, more distant in the Sahara, acknow-
ledging a feudal vassalage to the French, but with perfect administrative freedom ; 28
unsubdued, all Kabyles. The government of the subject tribes is managed by a division-
ary direction of Aral > affairs, five bureaux of the first class, five of the second, three kha-
lifas, five bach-aghas, and twenty aghas. Auxiliary troops, horse and foot, 570. There
is, moreover, at Algiers, connected with the governor-general, a political bureau of Arab
affairs, centralising all the administration of the tribes. The province of Oran has 600,000
natives, or 27"> tribes, all subdued, 45 indirectly governed, and 28 left to the French com-
mandant, or the great native chiefs of the Arabs. This province has a divisionary direc-
tion of Arab affairs, four bureaux of the first class, and six of the second. The native
chiefs are analysed thus: — three khalifas (of whom one only in the Tell), and 22 aghas.
335 natives, horse and foot, are paid by France. The province of Constantina contains
1,300,000 inhabitants, or 580 tribes. Of these, 240 are governed directly, 200 indirectly,
80 mediately ; and 60 are unsubdued, being Kabyles. This province has a divisionary
direction of Arab affairs, three bureaux of the first class, and six of the second. It reckons
three khalifas; and three other chiefs exert the power and receive the pay of khalifas,
without the title. (Tableau, 1850, pp. 719-20.) The province returns 260 auxiliary horse
and foot. In short, France has subdued, and governs directly, 897 tribes, occupying the
most fertile part of Algeria. The tribes indirectly governed by means of delegates amount
to 160, and the unsubdued in 1850-1 to 88 ; the latter inhabiting mountains or deserts, and
depending for subsistence on the subdued tribes.

CHAPTER XVI.
:0loon;, CurH Houtouglts, &ixrt, be.

ETYMOLOGY — MOORISH WOMEN TOILETTE WEDDINGS DIVORCES TURKS

THEIR GOVERNMENT — THEIR COSTUME YOUSOUF — THE KOULOUGLIS THEIR

CHARACTERISTICS AND LAZINESS — THE JEWS THEIR SERVILITY AND PERSE-
CUTION— THE CORPORATIONS.

Various opinions have been advanced in connexion with the origin of the
Moors,* who inhabit exclusively the towns chiefly on or near the sea-
coast, except when driven from them. One authority represents them as
the produce of different migrations ; -f- and another describes them as Arabs
in race, but fallen, without the institutions of those in the country, adding
that they have been formed by emigrations from Spain, and of families
separately detached from the tribes.^ It is very probable that there may
be some admixture of the old Berber blood in the Moorish veins ; but it

* The name of Moors is very general, and has been used in Em-ope in the sense of
African Arabs ; but it properly denotes Arabs settled in the towns and stationary, in
distinction from the Bedouin Arabs, and those who practise agriculture in the country,

styled fellahs Jj^i in Egypt (from the verb flak *Ai, to trace a furrow, to plough. Cours

a"Arale mdgaire, par A. Gorguos, pp. 231-2). Dr. Shaw derives the word Moor from
~^}???, a ferry ; or, as Genesius (Lexicon, p. 596) interprets it, transitus, locus transeundi.
Hence Mauri would mean persons living near a strait or ferry, such as the Straits of Gib-
raltar. There are, however, other derivations, such as 3~"!37^ the west, occidens (Ibid. p.

603) ; evidently the same word as the Arabic t > .jLcj 1 el inorreb, the setting, i. e. Mo-
rocco. This derivation appears to us much more probable, though not conclusive, as its
claim may be disputed by the Greek n"i'P»fi m"»p ow > which Passow renders dunkel, un-
scheinbar, dark, — (Lexicon, 1830, vol. ii. p. 93, where he derives m<"'p»9 from /laipu and
ii, .|,/""f".i, properly meaning to shine; but the derivation, according to him, has passed
into the opposite meaning, signifying the same as afiavpos, i.e. without light), — a word still
used in the Romaic, as pavpos, mavros, black, appearing in such names as Mavrocordato,
Mavrapanagia : the modern Urceks, as is well known, having in the diphthongs, &c. re-
tained the use and pronunciation of the van or digamma, though they have lost the letter,
which has been transferred to the upsilon. (Eichoff's Parallele des Langues de l'Europe et
de I'Inde, &c. p. 47.)

t Blofeld. I Earon Baude.

MOORISn CHARACTERISTICS. 325

has been chiefly supplied by the Saracen invasion, and is now far from
the purest in the world. Roughly handled and cowed by the Turks, this
class has lost that confidence in itself which flows from the spirit of clan-
ship in all the Bedouins. In vain do you look for the noble bearing, the
daring chivalry, the love of science, that distinguished their Andalusian
and Arabian ancestors, that cast a radiance over the dark ages, and
the great qualities of their ancestors is a rare sagacity, dissimulation, and
heralded the triumph of intelligence in the better day about to dawn on
the West.* The Servant of the Merciful -j- would no longer recognise in
them the same race as those gallant soldiers and glowing worshippers who
raised the Alhambra and fought for the Vega. Al-Rashid and Averroes
would turn aside and weep over their degenerate posterity. Verily the
crescent hath begun to wane. All that remains to the modern Moors of
constancy. Yet these men are the offspring of those who filled Spain with
monuments of fabulous beauty, and who lighted up the torch of the
sciences when the world was plunged in night.

It appears that since the Turks have held sway at Algiers, many
Christian l'enegades have married Moorish women, in such wise that the
people called Moors are a very mixed race. Yet many families can still
boast of a pure blood ; nor is it difficult, notwithstanding these numerous
crossings, to detect the true Moorish type. The men are mostly above
the middle height ; their walk is noble and grave ; they have black hair ;
their skin a little bronzed, but rather fair than brown ; aquiline noses, full
faces, a middle-sized mouth, large but sleepy eyes. Their features are
less marked, and some say less, others more handsome than those of the
Arabs and Berbers. Their body is very i-ounded, and they have generally
much embonpoint, by which you may always distinguish the race.*

The Moors have adopted most of the Turkish tailoring with its sway.
Their costume, though not nearly so elegant as that of the women, is quite
oriental : consisting of very full drawers (seroual), leaving their legs bare ;
a very ample vest (greliter), two waistcoats embroidered with gold or silk,
and a turban. As chaussure, they wear slippers of morocco leather, called
babouches. Stockings, they have none. Some fold a burnouse, and throw
it over their arm as an ornament.

Notions of beauty are wide as the poles, and sesthetical disputes betray
bad taste. Though Moorish women are not exactly fat, fair, and forty,
they are valued by weight, ignorant to excess, and sleepy though not
sleeping beauties. Chinese feet, European stays, Bloomer eccentricities,
and Hottentot Venuses betray the variable principles of aesthetics; nor
need we be surprised to learn that a camel-load of female flesh is thought

* Berbrugger, part iii.

f ^y^^^J (Jl &?s. Abderrahman, the celebrated caliph of Cordova.
J Berbragger, part iii.

32G

FEMALE COSTUME.

a beauty by the Moors, and that girls are fattened for marriage like
turkeys, occasionally dying under the spoon.

The costume of the Moorish women is handsome and various. We
will examine its mysteries and different phases of development.

The neglige. — This costume among the poor is extremely simple ; con-
sisting of a chemise of a transparent stuff, and long breeches kept up by a
string drawn round the waist. The rich, and even those of the middle class,
have a more dressy and a more complicated neglige. They never go bare-
headed; and the head-dress of the young girls is generally a little close-fit-
ting velvet cap, called quonibat, which only covers the top of the head, and
is tied under the chin by a thin bridle. Sequins are frequently placed and
fixed in concentric rings in it, and by their number give an idea of the

MOORISH LADY.

wealth of the parents, — or rather of their pride, for you see persons of nar-
row finances make use of this luxury. The hair falling down in long plaits,
or squeezed into a long riband, almost always of a red colour, and of which
the two ends fall below the knee, reminds one of the queues of Frederick
the Great's grenadiers. With young women, the cap called quonibat, or
the little red chachiyah of Tunis, serves only as a support to a coiffure that
we are about to describe, and which is not meant to be seen. A cap

MOORISH LADIES' FULL DEB6S. ; i~7

(mhhenn'iJi), almost always black and red, is placed on the head so as to
leave all the anterior and superior part far above the beginning of the hair
quite uncovered; it is knotted behind on the niddock, and the united ends
fall on the shoulders, enveloping them with long curls of black hair, that
float and wave gracefully as the fair, or rather unfair, lady moves her pate.
Sometimes the hair, instead of remaining free, is squeezed into ribands in
the way already described.

The matrons go out often with a more or less lofty sarmah, a kind of
tiara of gold or silver, which has some analogy to the cap of the French
cauclioises. Very old women preserve this costume even indoors.

A corsage or bodice of silk (frimlah), very tight, compressing the
bosom and bringing it unnaturally upward and forward, slightly di-
minishes the extreme transparency of the chemise. A large and richly-
worked zone (euzame) of silk and gold also conceals a part of the body
above the trousers, which are placed very low.

Let us now attend to Moorish female full-dress.

Over the head-dress of which Ave have spoken farther back, the Alge-
rian women, when they wish to adorn themselves, place a second cap
(dslsbah), which covers a part of the forehead, and is knotted in front at the
top of the head. Their little bandeau of brilliants (zriref) resembles that
of our European ladies ; only instead of its being applied immediately on
the forehead, it is tied to the rim of a silk kerchief thrown over the head.

They wear on solemn occasions a kind of open tunic (rh'lilaJi), in
which gold and silver are married in capricious arabesques on a ground of
red or blue silk. They also gird themselves with a long piece of silk with
broad stripes (foutah feuchetanne), which is tied in front and falls down
to the ground.

Besides the clothes of which we have spoken, jewels rich in material,
but in bad taste, complete the costume of a Moorish lady, who is seldom
able to put on all her ornaments. Long drops (^nienagneche) laden with
diamonds hang from her ears. The young girls wear round their neck a
collar of sequins, called mdibehh; and the married women put on a similar
ornament (queladah), but composed of diamonds. Jfmis, or gold rings,
encircle their arms; the Bedouin women being satisfied with horn rings,
called mquais. The legs above the instep have gold and silver rings,
called rdise when they are massive, and k'halkhal when hollow. Their
hands are also laden with rings having brilliants, and a kind of seal called
lltouatim, or braiim. In short, to our notions, a Moorish lady in full-
dress must be an incarnation of splendid misery. ■'

* Nor havo we yet done with her troubles; for sho is, moreover, the victim of gyneci-
dal cosmetics. With a preparation of gall-nuts (afoah) they paint their eyebrows black,
in a broad band contiuued across the forehead; and they darken the inside of the eyelid
with g'hhol or antimony. This gives liveliness to the eyes, but hardness to the face. The
juice of the plant henna, yielding a red dye, is put on the nails, on which a deep coat is

323

POLYGAMY.

Moorish women at home. — If out of doors they are heavily clad, in-
doors the Moorish ladies are what we should call almost indelicately, though
very gracefully, attired.

When the Moorish lady sallies forth to the bath or her devotions at
the marabouts of Sidi-Abd-el-llahman-el-Tsaalebi, of Abd-el-Quader, or of
Sidi Mohammed, &c, she adds to her undress a long white Mameluke
trouser (serouah el zankal) if marriageable; but of colour if she is not yet
nubile. She throws on her shoulders a floating tunic of clear stuff {hlutik
el telhhif) which slightly hides the transparency of the shift : this tunic
is fixed in its upper part by long gold or silver pins (bzaiim). She girds
the foutah and knots the eudjar, or handkerchief that is to hide the face.
Lastly, she covers her head and most of her body with a long and broad
piece of white cotton, of which the upper part is put on the forehead,
leaving between it and the eudjar only a little space free for the eyes.
This piece of cotton or linen (foutaJi enta snaniy), which is called takhe-
lilah when it is of silk, falls back behind half-way down the leg. The
Moorish women, pinching the stuff on both sides of the head, bring back
the hand under the chin inside, from which it results that they are exactly
enveloped on all sides, and only the lower part of their legs is visible. The
whole coquetry of the native ladies is concentrated in the movements that
they give to this dress. Those who wish to be seen put apart their hands,
which hold up the takhelilah, and raise them by removing them from the
head as high as the top of the forehead. This sudden manoeuvre uncovers
all that part of the face which is not hid by the eudjar, and offers a speci-
men from which an amateur can judge of what it is not allowed the lady to
show. She also displays the rich belt and elegantly embroidered bodice
that shines under the transparent tunic. The foutah enta snauiz and the
takhelilah are articles peculiar to the Algerines. Every where else the
women, when going out, put on a long piece of coarse wool (hhaik) falling
to the ground, and showing only one eye.

A few words on polygamy ere we pass to other matters. The position
of woman is the key to a nation's social state; and her slavery among
Mussulmans accounts for the low scale of their civilisation. Yet uni-
formity on this globe is impossible; nor can the morality of the poles tally
with that of the line. We have sacred and patriarchal authority for poly-
gamy in certain ages and countries; and though it cannot co exist with
Christian civilisation and Germanic chivalry, it has been proved to be the
legitimate offspring of the Semitic phase of human nature. In short, there
may be circumstances in time and space that justify the institution in the
eyes of reason and religion ; though, notwithstanding the arguments of

rubbed, to increase the blush of that part of the nails which is seen. Their hands and feet
are also painted with a disagreeable black tincture; and the marks, or characters (cha-
■jnah), inscribed by nature on some persons are much valued. Artificial signs are also
sometimes made, callod Ichanut. Berbruggcr, part ill.

L _

, -

■" -- v."

—

J3
w
S
o

SOCIAL CONDITION OF THE MOORS. 329

Milton,* it is evidently incompatible with the highest spiritual and social
phases of humanity.

Marriaeres among the Moors, as with most other Mussulmans, are
contracted through third parties and gossips, the young people never
meeting till the wedding-day. The affair is a regular market, a bar-
gaining, like a London season. The gossip is bribed by a young man
to go and examine his ideal mistress, whom he knows only by report;
she goes, and gives a coloured report on her return, being bribed by
the parents. If the parties are agreeable, and the old folks think the
young man has a position, they close.

On the wedding-day she is bathed, painted, daubed with blackened
corks and henna, and decked out in her best attire. She is marched
through the streets, accompanied by lanterns; and all the women have
a grand feast at the bridegroom's house. The men, poor fellows, sup
together apart; the wretched bridegroom eating alone, that he may not
take too much and misdemean himself. At midnight, when the mosques
open, the unhappy pair are left alone, all the guests retiring.

The Moorish women are very fruitful, and marry ridiculously young,
being mothers at nine or ten. They nurse their children, and doat upon
them when young, but hate them when older, — particularly if they are
boys, as they think that they have inherited their father's harsh character.

The Moorish men are mild and lazy, gambling, smoking, and sipping
coffee all clay. The few that reside in the country live like the Arabs.
They do little work; and that little is mostly done by the women, who
bruise the corn in hand-mills, before it is sent to the public ovens. The
French occupation has ruined many, and injured most Moorish families,
by raising the prices of all commodities. The only trades practised by
the Moors ai-e those connected with luxury, requiring only dexterity and
little strength. Cross-legged, and smoking pipes made of jasmine-wood,
seated in little shops like boxes, they embroider, plait silk, or make
slippers. This industry cannot support their families; and they are under-
sold by Europeans. Hence their misery is great; and 8000 francs of
alms per month was given to 2000 Moors at Algiers in 1843. The
Moorish population of Algiers being 12,000, and many individuals repre-
senting families, we may infer that half the Moorish population required
charity. Crowds of naked beggar-children infested the streets. Thus
African society begins its acquaintance with civilisation where ours ends,
— with pauperism, prostitution, and mendicity.t

We shall next attend to the Turks, — that handful of stern Janissary
soldiery which held sway for three centuries at Algiers by the terror of

* The reader who may be curious to read Milton's clever defence of polygamy is re-
ferred to his Treatise on Christian Doctrine, translated by his Grace the Archbishop of
Canterbury, 1825, pp. 231-241.

f Berbrugger, part iii.

830 THE TURKS.

its arms or name. And now we pass from the Semitic to the Mogul va-
riety, or rather to a mixed race. In 1830, when the French landed at
Algiers, the Janissaries did not amount to 3000 men;* but we must re-
member that recruiting in the Levant had ceased for three years, owing
to the blockade of the French fleet, and that many Turks had perished.

From the statistical returns of the 1245th year of the Hegira, answer-
ing to a.d. 1829, there were 787G.+

The Moorish population in 1849 amounted to G0,928 souls.

Under the Turkish sway, the Arab and other tribes were made ac-
countable for the crimes of one of their members; nor was this unjust, as
the tribe had all the means of keeping up the police of its own district.^

The Turks, though so small a minority, goverued the whole country
despotically through the Janissaries; respecting no person, from the Jew
to the Dey. The service or duty of the place, the raising of taxes, and
piracy, were all carried on by the Turks, and with them; and though a
mere handful of men, the other troops of the regency obeyed them.

Their number has greatly diminished since the French conquest, and
they are fast disappearing. §

* At Algiers ....
Province of Oran
Do. of Tittery
Do. of Constantina .
Movable column to gather taxes .
Invalids ....

Total

*f* But there were many superannuated Janissaries besides these. The Odjak (properly
Oda), or Company of the Janissaries, only admitted, as is well known, Turks from the
Levant, or Christian renegades ; no native of the regency being permitted to enter its
ranks. Yet they were far from being all natives of Turkey, or true Osmanlis ; consisting
of a singular compound of Turks, Greeks, Corsicans, Circassians, Albanians, Maltese, &c,
and renegades from all Em-ope : forming an association of piracy abroad, and oppression
at home ; but acknowledging the sovereignty of the Porte, and speaking its idiom. Yet
the Turks had not come at first as masters, but as auxiliaries, like the Anglo-Saxons
nearer home. The Janissary force was recruited at Smyrna and Constantinople only,
in virtue of a treaty with the Sultan. Berbruggcr, part hi.

J In 1810, one fine morning, the Turks Lung thirty Biskris at Algiers, on account of
an insurrection of their compatriots in the oasis of Zaab; and in 1823 the Kabyles near
Bugia having made some Janissaries prisoners, the Dey seized all those in Algiers, thereby
saving the heads of his Turks. The latter kept with all the tribes kaids, who were over-
seers, like the missi dominici of Charlemagne ; and they only used violence to get what
was owed them when other means failed, after which a body of Janissaries was sent to
enforce compliance. These often disarmed the whole refractory tribe and pillaged it, but
i. pected the women. Baron Baude,

g Prince PUckler Muskau, who visited Algiers in 1835, and wrote a very amusing
account of his adventures in Algiers and Tunis, called Semilasso in Africa, saw them still
ere their feathers bad much drooped ; and relates, in glowing colours, the gallant bearing
of the spahis in their scarlet bournouse, and the dashing chivalry of Yousouf, a Janissary
from Tunis, whose adventures are almost fabulous, and may servo to freshen the dryness

Turks.

« ,

. 3976

. ,

. 1300

, ,

. 250

. .

. 1700

. ,

. 400

•

. 250

. 7876

THE TURKS — JANISSARIES. -J-il

We learn that those who remain at Algiers are generally fine men,
with fair skins, a stern look, and strong features. They live like the
Moors, with whom they may he easily confounded; and you may at times
meet them on the walks, in the cafes, bazaars, shops, &c. Their dies-,
is Dearly the same as that of the Moors; and they commonly like light-
coloured clothes, and a shirt of gauze with full sleeves, large trousers
scarcely reaching to the aukles, a silk girdle, and a caftan over it very
frequently. The sleeves of the caftan are very broad; the front is deco-
rated with agrafes, and gold and silver embroideries. Old Turks, or those
invested with dignities, wear a long pointed beard; the young men only
wear mustaches; but all shave the head. The younger Turks wear the
fez-cap and no turban; but with the Turks of a certain age, the turban is
a long and narrow roll of silk, muslin, or cachmere, wound round the
fez; and the arrangement of the folds, as well as the materials of this
article of dress, bespeaks the class or profession of the wearer.*

Captain hlozet, who visited Algeria soon after the conquest, has left
ample particulars respecting the Janissaries, whose morals do not appear
to have been very strict; for he states that, after exhausting all the volup-
tuous enjoyments natural to man, they were addicted to unnatural prac-
tices of classical notoriety; nor is this practice, unfortunately, confined to
the Turks.-)- Children of Turks and Christian women enjoyed the consi-
deration of Turks, and could become Janissaries; but children of Turks
and Moorish women were an inferior cast, excluded from the dignities of
their fathers, and named Koulouglis, — from the Turkish words koul, slave;
and oughli, sons.

Agriculture was despised by the Turks, whose beautiful gardens were
commonly cultivated by Kabyles, or Christian slaves. Most of the Turks
engaged or speculated in piracy, and some in trades, selling jewels, es-
sences, perfumes, and valuable stuffs. They also engage extensively in

of barren description. Yousouf is said to be a Christian and an Italian by birth,
kidnapped and brought to Tunis in earl}* childhood, when his beauty striking the I
he named him one of his pages. An ill-starred intimacy soon sprang up between the
handsome Yousouf and the Bey's daughter; and they were surprised in one of their in-
terviews by a slave, whom Yousouf killed, cut up, and concealed, to prevent detection.
Yet fearing disclosure and death, he left his Dido and the shores of Carthage by a vessel
bound to Algiers, where he was received with open arms by the French ; and at the head
of the spahis, after many dashing achievements, including the fabulous capture of Bona
in 1833 with the Baron d'Annandy, a most gallant French soldier of fortune, ho attained
the rank of brigadier - general. Yousouf visited Paris some years since, and again lately ;
and his short but well-knit frame and liquid yet fiery black eyes are said to have done
considerable execution among French hearts. In short, there was a Yousouf fever. —
Spahi, I may add, is the name of the yeomanry or irregular cavalry throughout the
Turkish empire. An excellent account of this gallant body of men, who 200 years ago
could have ridden over all the Russias in two months, occurs in Sir Paid Kycaut's Present
State of the Ottoman Empire, 1662, p. 347.

* Berbrugger, ubi supra.

•j* Rozet, Voyage dans la Regence d' Alger, 1833.

332 TURKISH CHARACTERISTICS.

the manufacture of carpets at Algiers, which are not so handsome, but
softer and more comfortable than those of Turkey. Honesty was always
the characteristic of the Turk. The hamal of Constantinople could be
trusted any where with your luggage; and the Algerian Turk never
cheated in trade. Friction with Christendom has probably taught them
by this time the arts of lying and cheating.*

Most human characters and institutions have two phases, light and
shade; nor are the Turks an exception to the rule; and we cannot bid
adieu to them without regretting the extinction of their virtues together
with their vices. Like the American Indians, it seems to be their fate to
fall before the sickle of European civilisation, or barbarism; and it may not
be unprofitable to dwell on their expiring agony, and reap some wisdom
from their ashes. Limb after limb of the mighty Ottoman empire has
been lopped off of late, and the axe now lies at the root of the tree. But
though Western somnolence and jealousies may suffer the city and land
of the Sultan to expire in the rude embrace of Eussia, we will not suffer
the majesty and energy of the children of Othman to go unchronicled in
these pages.

Though cruel and bigoted in the days of their pride, the Turks had a
mighty glowing faith, the secret of their power; while its want is the key
to our weakness. Deficient in science and its appliances, they were eman-
cipated from our scribblomania, and lived in happy ignorance of literary
indigestion and repletion, f Hence they had greater concentration aud
power of will, more freshness and originality of character. We have al-
luded to their honesty ; and though piracy would seem little compatible
with the love of truth, yet history has shown that the proud Osmanli
rarely stooped to lies. We must not forget their tenderness for the brute
creation; which, though apparently incompatible with their ferocity to
Christians and foes, is another of the anomalies and twofold phases of
national character.^

Nor can we suffer these few lines on the departed lights of Turkish life
to escape us, without expressing a regret that the friction with Indo-Ger-
manic civilisation has not been more profitable to them, and honourable to
us. It is unfortunate that Voltaire and Diderot should be our harbingers
in the East, and oracles with the Turkish youth ;§ and it savours more of
our barbarism than of our Christianity, that we cannot extend the march
of mind without abetting the spread of moral and physical poisons; or
inoculate the nations with our civilisation, without grasping their terri-

* For ample illustrations of the manly honesty and straightforwardness of the Turkish
character, the reader is referred to the pages of Dr. Walsh's Residence in Constantinople,
and to Miss Pardoe's City of the Sultan, 1838.

t Montaigne's Essays

t Dr. Walsh's Residence in Constantinople, 2 vols.

§ Macfarlane's Turkey.

TIIE KOULOUGLIS. 333

tory and enslaving their sons. But Christianity and politics are still wide
as the poles; and whilst Birmah and Scinde fall into our toils in the East,
we must not complain of the dungeons of Siheria, of the agony of Cir-
cassia, or of the northern tempest hanging over Stamboul.

We have observed that alliances frequently took place between the
Turks and Moorish women, and ultimately some of the most important
families of the regency became allied to them. From these relations
sprang the Koulouglis, or sons of slaves, who received this name from
their mothers. Filling a kind of transition position between the two
races, they occasionally gave much uneasiness to the Turks, and sometimes
did good service to both parties. They had enjoyed for GO years (to 1830)
a considerable share in the government, and began to form an imposing
military force; and in the last Turkish census, a.d. 1829, we find that the
number of Koulouglis fit to bear arms amounted to 8688.*

All the Koulouglis have shown themselves invariably well-disposed to
the French from the first, and have accordingly met with much persecu-
tion from Abd-el-Kader and the Arab race.

This race possesses many of the qualities of the Janissaries, and is se-
parated from the natives by manners, and by the use of the Turkish lan-
guage, which they speak almost universally. They answer excellently well
as mediators and channels of communication between the French and the
Arabs and Kabyles.t

They are generally very handsome men, having regular features, well-
shaped eyes, a fair and smooth skin, strongly developed muscles, and a
certain embonpoint, proceeding doubtless from their mothers. The mar-
riage of European with African blood can be detected in their appearance ;
for they have the nonchalence and haughtiness of the Turks, blended with
the lymphatic temperament of the Moorish women, — especially the girls,
who are also invariably brought up like their mothers. Their costume is
the same as that of the Moors and Turks ; but they pride themselves on

* At Alters ....... 2076

Province of Constantina ..... 1130

Ditto Oran . . . . .- . . 14i>2

Ditto Tittery 1415

On the Oued-Zeitoun ..... 2665

Total ...... 868S

t Baron Baudc, vol. iii. p. 231. The history of the Koulouglis, though much less inte-
resting than that of the Janissaries, has been intimately connected with the annals of the
regency, almost always sharing the good or evil fortune of their sires the Turks. Yet in
1626, under the reign of Maharan, they revolted against the Janissary militia, and de-
vised a conspiracy that almost overthrew the Turkish power at Algiers, and whose discovery
led to a horrible massacre. Though far from enjoying any high consideration under the
Dey, yet the corps of spahis (Turkish cavalry) was commonly recruited from amongst
them.

.834 THE JEWS.

extreme cleanliness, and even a kind of coquetry in their dress, which is
not unbecoming their character, and recalls the Asiatic tchelebis* Almost
all rich enough to do nothing, they follow no profession, scarcely taking
the trouble to work, and remain for days plunged in apathy, whilst their
slaves cultivate their gardens, and receive chastisement if they are not
satisfied with their work. The young men study attitudes in walking, to
display the beauty of their figure.

The Koulouglis are distinguished above all the races in Algeria for
excessive vanity and profound ignorance. In the social machinery,
before 1830, they were confounded with the Moors, and had no right
to the privileges of their sires ; yet they seldom had cause to fear any
persecution from the Janissaries, because of the affinity existing between
them. They were only required to take up arms in time of war; and
their pacific character has impeded the just appreciation of their natural
valour.

The Koulouglis profess the Mussulman religion, in which they are
brought up ; but their faith is characterised by the same indifference that
they display in all the acts of life. They are not superstitious, and
only attend to the forms of religion to show they believe in God. Ex-
ceeding the Turks in apathy, they do not make it a point of conscience
to attend the mosques. Whilst on this subject, we must not forget to
state that the Turks and Koulouglis, who are all Sunnites, or orthodox
Mahometans, observe the rite of Hanefi ; whilst the Arabs and Ber-
bers are Malekites. The Turkish tongue was only used in the odjak of
the Janissaries and amongst the Koulouglis, and was employed for all
official acts.-j-

There is yet another tribe of the Semitic race diffused in Algeria, as
throughout the world; a people of riveting interest, and yet generally
deficient in the nobler and more gallant characteristics of human nature :
I mean the Jews.

The children of Israel are scattered throughout Barbary, and have
managed, as usual, to thrive there, notwithstanding greater insults than
the Disabilities Act, and harsher persecution than the Ghetto. Those Jews
who live scattered among the Kabyle tribes differ from the other Israelites

* A Persian word for gentleman or dandy, used only in the East, and occurring in the
following Arabic proverb :

LT*!/**" l ~j'^ c lsV" 1 L5"° i * v LS^~

Hhalahi, tchalabi, chdmi, choumi, macri, hharami: tho Aleppian is a fop, the Damascan
cunning, the Egyptian a thief. A. Bellemaro's Gramirmire Arabe, p. 98.

t It is probable that in a few years this hybrid race, which seemed born for a gentle,
1 izy, and voluptuous life, will die out in Algeria, as the recruiting and immigration of
Turks, who kept up the stock, has ceased since tho conquest in 1830. Berbrugger's
Algeria, iii. pp. 8-9. Sco also Captain llozet's Voyage, &c.

JEWS A XI) JEWESSES. 335

of Algeria by the period of their establishment, by their manners and lan-
guage ; and all that they have in common consists chiefly, if not exclu-
sively, in the basis of their Hebrew faith.*

Under the sky of Africa, as in Europe, this wondrous people have
preserved their special type : an aquiline nose, a black beard, a magnifi-
cent but deceptive eye, a clear but colourless complexion. Their appear-
ance is less scriptural and engaging than the interesting characteristics of
the Lithuanian Jews, many of whom present a striking likeness to our
ideal of Christ-like and apostolic beauty, t

In Algeria, as in most countries, they can be recognised by their com-
bined look of cheating and humility, the result of the wrongs of ages ; and
by their stooping attitudes, their severe features, and the dark rings round
their eyes.

As always where they muster strong, they engross almost all the
commerce : bankers, brokers, and agents, they are the Rothschilds of Al-
geria. Nothing can be done without them. They attend to all branches
of industry, save agriculture. Active, intriguing, and versatile, they form
a great contrast to the apathy of the Moors.

The Jews are forbidden in Barbary to wear gay clothing ; and they con-
tinue their partiality for the sable, notwithstanding their emancipation
through the French conquest. Their dress consists of several vests, or
waistcoats, of grey cloth ; of wide trousers of the same colour, tied round
the waist by a blue belt ; and the majority go bare-legged, though a few
wear stockings.*

The Jewish women at Algiers have generally a greater freedom, and
are more confidentially treated by their husbands, than the Moorish wo-
men : they go out at option, and do their own commissions. They are
commonly pretty. Matrons or maids, they go with uncovered faces ; and
their coiffure consists of a sarmah, or conical head-dress resembling the
ancient hennin, and the cap of the French cauchoises. The rest of their

* Baron Baude, vol. iii. History has recorded the date and cause of the Israelitish
immigration into West Africa, after the destruction of Jerusalem ; but the immemo-
rial establishment of the Scenite Jews, who in the whole extent of Barbary are mixed
with the Berber population, would lead us to suppose that it forms the foundation of this
immigration from the East and Syria, which Sallust has related in these words : " After-
wards the Phoenicians — some for the sake of lessening the pressure at home, others from
motives of ambition and curiosity — built Adrumetum. Hippo, Leptis, and other cities on
the sea-shore." (Sallust. Bell. Jugurth. p. 77.) Numerous Jewish migrations occurred
during the persecutions of Adrian ; and in the third century these emigrants formed in-
dependent tribes in the Hedjaz near Medina, and near Mecca; and their religion spread
in Yemen. If we may believe the Arab historians, most of the African Berbers and
Arabs professed the Hebrew faith in the seventh and eighth centuries, and the preaching
of Mahometanism made no way amongst them. This would appear to explain the phe-
nomenon of the Jews forming till lately (1843) a fourth of the population of Algiers, and
more than foiu--fifths of that of Or an.

f Marquis de Custine's Voyage en Russie.

X Berbrugger, part hi.

336 POSITION OF THE JEWS UNDER THE FRENCH.

costume consists, with the common women, of a full blue cotton gown,
without being confined at the waist, with very short sleeves, letting
those of the chemise descend below them. The poorer sort put a kind
of cap on their head instead of the sarmah, letting the point fall back on
the neck. Like most of the men, they generally go bare-legged and bare-
footed.

The young girls wear their hair long and plaited in a tail, to which
they tie red and blue ribbons. As a coiffure, they wear a small but very
elegant cap of green velvet, adorned with a golden tassel, and with a bor-
der also of gold, forming the sides of that kind of Greek cap which passes
gracefully under their neck, where it is tied. Some sweet faces and regu-
lar features are often seen amongst them. Nothing can be more graceful
than a pretty Algerian Jewess going to the fountain, and carrying a pitcher
on her head. It is not improbable that it was a vision of this nature that
inspired the pencil of Horace Vernet, when he designed his admirable
Rebecca; in the same way that you find the prototype of his Eliezer,
with a parti-coloured white and grey burnouse, in many a Bedouin of the
Sahara.

In the kingdom of Fez, the Jews inhabit chiefly the northern provinces,
and are even now called Philistines.* Like the Kabyles among whom
they live, they take part in war, and are not withered by slavery.t

Under the Turks, the Jews formed a notable part of the population of
Algeria; but they suffered grievous burdens and mortifying insults. Hence
they gave the French a hearty welcome ; and their condition has been so
much improved, that they have turned the tables on their former tyrants,
whom they often treat with contumely and harshness. This circumstance,
by increasing the hatred of the other native races to them, has Jed the
Israelites to dread greatly the departure of the French, as the Ishmaelites
would not fail to revenge themselves bitterly upon them again if they
recovered the upper hand. In the present day they have a monopoly
of the land-trade and brokerage. Their children frequent the French
schools, speak the French tongue, and assume the Frank dress, Avithout
losing the spirit of caste. They readily become lawyers' clerks and em-
ployes of government ; they are already initiated into French legislation ;
and the natives have no other consulting advocates.

The populations of the East in general, and the Jews in particular, have
always shown too great a tendency to fence themselves into separate

* Berbrugger, part iii. p. 4.

t Kabyle Jews are also found in the regency of Algeria, especially in the Auress
mountain, in the province of Constantina. It is probable that th y shared the fate of the
Libyan, Gatulian, and Nuraidian populations, when thoy were conquered and driven back
into the mountains by the invasions of tho Vandals and Arabs; and this participation in
their fortunes gave them probably the right of naturalisation among the true aboriginal

ives. See Graberg d'Hcmso, Spccchio geografico-statistico dclT Inrperio di Marocco,
L836.

THE JEWS. 307

races and castes, treating each other as enemies and strangers, though
living under the same sceptre.'"'

Baron Baude found it difficult to ohtain a good census of the Jews in
ISil ; and he could not procure any of the Kabyle Jews.t

The whole Jewish population of the regency amounted in December
1849 to 19,0284

We rejoice to think that the sorrows of this mystical race are at an end
in Algeria, and that under the enlightened religious code of France, — a
model on this point to the nations, though a warning on so many others,
— they can once more retrace while they outgrow the steps of their mighty
ancestors, by securing that pedestal of all human greatness, self-respect. A
fair field is open to them there, and opening elsewhere. It will take time
for them to shake off the rust of ages ; but if they put their hands manfully
to the plough, and drop the convict's dress and mind, they may yet stand
forth once more as " a chosen generation and a peculiar people ;" and
should they see the wisdom of disencumbering themselves of their narrow
pride and bigotry, a bright future may very probably await this singular
people. The luxuriance of their eastern fancy, and the shrewdness of their
mother-wit, improved and chastened by an infusion of Germanic chivalry
and thought, might lead to massive and brilliant phases of humanity yet
unborn. A cross between the seers of Jutlah and the vikings of Odin
would beget a giant progeny.

Other populations, few in number but rich in interest, occur on this
soil of Algeria, which having been so long and so often the battle-field
and the high-road of nations', must naturally present the relics of sundry
warriors and wanderers in its sand-wastes and fastnesses. "We have visited
the Kabylea ; let us enter the oases, and scale the Great Atlas ; and among
the snows of Auress and the palms of Zaab we shall find pure and inde-
pendent tvpes of historical and mythical races. Thus, true Germanic sons
of the Vandal flood are still preserved in the far south as well as at Bugia.

Most of the great tribes that are not Arabs have representatives at
Algiers, where they are formed into corporations of workmen, subject to a
rigorous organization and hierarchv analogous to that of our ancient

* Baron Baude. vol. iii. Many of the Jews in Algeria have embraced useful trades;
those of tailoring, gold-drawing, and jewellering have the preference, and some are very
good masons. The commerce of supplying the tissues of Europe to the tribes is almost
entirely in their hands ; and those of Constantina carry on manufacturing industry on a
large scale, especially in the preparation of looms. Most of the rich families have houses
at Algiers.

f The following were the French returns of Jewish population in 1839 and 1849 : (Ba-
toii Baude, vol. iii.)

1S39. 1S49.

Algiers .... 6065 72S9

Oran 3364 7749

Constantina .... 69S 3990
J Tableau, 1850, p. 113.

1838.

1S39.

1849.

2258

2829

1817

185

273

206

702

803

861

814

756

116

110

338 THE CORPORATIONS.

guilds. These corporations consisted of 5599 souls in 1849.* The three
last corporations belong to the Zaab country, the others to the moun-
tain districts of the regency. At all times a great number of Saharians
have annually emigrated from the interior to the capital, — like the Auver-
gnats and the Savoyards in France, and the Tyrolese in Germany, —
in order to pocket a few earnings and better their condition at home.
These emigrant corporations at Algiers were governed by a chief named
Arum, who was charged with the police of the body. The amin was like
the agent of a commercial company, the magistrate of a little society,
and the father of a family. The three chief corporations are those of
the Biskris, the Mozabites, and the Aghrouaths.-j-

* Kabyles .....
Mzitas .....
Mozabites ....

Biskris .....
El-Aghrouaths ....

4097 4835 5599

f The Biskris live to the south of the great salt lake of Chott. They have sallow com-
plexions and sei-ious manners ; their customs, morals, and character differ essentially from
those of the Arabs and of the other tribes. Yet, from their language, a corrupt dialect of
the Arabic, it would seem that they are scattered relics of that celebrated people, and that
their customs have been affected by admixture with the aborigines. This hypothesis is
strengthened when we reflect, that the territory which they inhabit must needs have been
crossed by the tides of Arabs who conquered Africa in the seventh century. Their cha-
racter is complaisant and faithful ; they were employed in most houses as confidential
servants ; they monopolised the baking trade ; were the only commissaries at Algiers, and
the only employe's of the government on public works; and they were, moreover, the
commercial agents between Algiers and Gadamez. At presenl they are porters, and
even agricultural labourers, navvies, &c. Blindness is a very common disease in this small
nation, possibly proceeding from their propinquity to the glowing sands of the desert.
Their religion is Mahometanism. The Mozabites, or the Beni-Mozab, inhabit an oasis ill
the Sahara of the province of Algiers, at about twenty days' camel's march for a caravan,
part of the road passing through the desert, and without any wells. The Mozabites are
fair, but their features and type are those of the Arabs. (This statement, which we have
borrowed from Berbrugger, is slightly at variance with that of Castellane, who describes
the Mozabites as a different people from the Arabs. See p. 110 of the Souvenirs, and
p. 31 of the present work.) Their character is gentle and active ; and their probity is
almost proverbial at Algiers, of whose government they were quite independent. Their
privileges and commerce were protected by written covenants, with the sanction of the
government; and in civil affairs they only recognised the jurisdiction of their Amin at
Algiers. The benefits that they obtained from the Deys were considerable ; being privi-
leged agents of the commerce of Algiers with the interior of Africa, and enjoying the
monopoly of the baths, butcheries, and mills of the capital. They follow the law of Mo-
hammed, though deviating from it in several particulars ; refusing to perform their cere-
monies in the usual mosques, and having one of their own outside the town, appropriated
to their particular creed. The Biskris are handsomely paid for the services that they
perform for the French, and have gained as much as the Moors have lost by their con-
nection with our neighbours. With regard to tho native population, it is proper to add,
that the Turks and Koulouglis have dwindled down to a handful of men, lost in the body
of tho Moorish population. For farther particulars consult the Tableau, p. 110.

CHAPTER XVII.
CIjc £2rgrocsf.

UTILITY OF SLAVERY — MAHOMETAN AND CHRISTIAN SLAVERY DEGRADED STATE

OF THE NIGER BASIN THE SLAVE-TRADE IN AFRICA THE BLACKS IN MOROCCO

— UNFORTUNATE RESULTS OF THE ATTEMPT TO STOP THE SLAVE-TRADE THE

DJELEP NATIVE ARTS AND SCIENCES.

IT is with diffidence that we venture on the disputed question of slavery,
especially as we are led by our honest convictions to differ on certain
points from many venerable names and authorities.

Liberty is such a glorious thing, and the very term slavery is so
odious, that it requires some courage and much solid argument to advance,
and not a little patience to listen to, the advocacy of the comparative ad-
vantages of some forms of mitigated slavery. Yet it is only the force of
habit that blinds us to our own ; we are so inured to our chains that we
do not feel them ; while it is certain that the four historical phases of
humanity up to the present time — savage life, pastoral life, feudal life, and
civilised life — are nothing but comparative modifications of slavery. A
keener sense of justice, a higher relish for the ideal, a better ear for higher
harmonies, would dash the cup of all our present enjoyments with poison,
and banish content from every breast. Our perceptions of a possible
future arc blunted, though the chronic throws of revolution bespeak the
occasional awakening of the giant to a sense of his oppression. Revo-
lutions are the symbol and the offspring of the world's social slavery; and
whilst legislation mistakes their cause, and tries to doctor them with po-
litical treatment, instead of enlaro-ino; the social freedom of the individual,
the streets will grow barricades, and our cities crops of conspirators.

The social movement, like all others, has its scale of degrees, and
slavery admits a serial order. The negro in America is low in the scale
of slavery; in Africa he is often lower. We do not attempt here to sug-
gest the cure for the monstrous evil in the United States. We grant it
at once ; but St. Domingo and common sense prove that the evil existing
will be magnified instead of lessened by immediate and entire emancipa-

340 MAHOMETAN SLAVERY.

tion, — an injustice alike to the planter and the slave. Gradual transitions
are the law of nature ; and the only safe emancipation is that by degrees.

But slavery in America is not slavery every where ; and the system in
Barbary, like that of Circassians and Georgians at Constantinople, works
well.* It might seem unnatural for the Circassian parent to sell his lovely
daughter to the Turkish merchant; yet pride and ambition prompt him
to the act, for she may be the mother of sultans. Nor are we wanting
in examples of high-born parents in a place called Britain selling their
daughters, that they may wear a coronet.

Mahometanism has ever mitigated slavery ; and the Koran is a check
to the master and a comfort to the slave. It recommends manumission as
more efficacious for the salvation of souls than much fasting and many
pilgrimages; and the marriage of masters and slaves is encouraged by
custom, t In short, granting what circumstances have proved, that negro
nature cannot bear an immediate transition from the night of the Niger
to the comparative daylight of European civilisation, intermediate steps,
probations, and preparations are necessary; and of such, Mahometan slavery
offers a favourable example.

But since facts are ever more weighty than arguments, we will here
produce some evidence, which, with the inductions that may be thence
derived, appear to us conclusive.

We are informed, that on the banks of the Niger the average price of
a negro is four camels' loads of dates; and it is no uncommon thing there
for fifteen or twenty men to be given in exchange for a horse. + This is
rather a promising beginning, as showing the estimation in which black
souls are held at home. But to proceed; we learn from another authority,
that the negroes in Algeria possess excellent qualities as slaves, whilst
they are equally notorious for their defects when liberated. Immediately
that they are emancipated from the yoke, they become thiefs, traitors, liars,
bloodthirsty, and subject to the most desperate passions on the slightest
opposition. We can already perceive some obvious inductions, which we
leave to the reader's skill for the present. Before entering into an ex-
amination of the slave's position in Algeria, we will analyse the routes
taken by the caravans from Soudan. After having crossed, on leaving
Algiers, the Atlas chain and the territories of the nomadic tribes that live
to the south of Mcdeah, you arrive among the Mezzabites, who extend into
the Sahara and belong to the Djcridi, or palmers ; and beyond them
stretches away the vast tract of treeless country known as the Great De-
sert, infested by the rovers of the sands, two tribes called Touaths and
Tuaricks, the most southern of all the Berber race.§ The latter carry on

* See Miss Pardoe's City of the Sultan ; and Rovelations of Russia, vol. ii. the chapters
on Circassia and^Georgia.

t For the Mahometan code of slavery, seo Daumas' Grand DJscrt, p. 410.
£ Baron Bawlc, ch. xvii.; Berbrugger, part iii.; Lc Grand Desert.
§ Castollano, p. 280; Lo Grand Desert; Baron Baudo, ch. xvii.

THE SLAVE-TRADE. 341

their commerce and depredations as far as the Niger and into the vicinity
of Timbuctoo ; and their daring industry in robbing caravans and man-
catching constitutes all their riches. Some of them carry on the trade of
bagging the negroes who go to seek salt in the salt-lakes of the desert :
and more commonly they treat for them by purchase from the petty
princes of the basin of the Niger. But, however obtained, man-flesh is
always the staple of the goods brought back from these enterprises.
Thieving is not an easy trade on camel's backs ; hence the kidnappers
and conveyers of stolen men are different tribes, and a division of labour
is found in the heart of the desert. Those who carry off the slaves
do not exj)ort them ; they sell them to the Touaths, who carry on trade
with the Djeridi and the Sahara. The ordinary wholesale price of the
captives, at a rough estimate and without distinction of age or sex, is
four camels' loads of dates, or its equivalent in merchandise. Now these
sixteen quintals of dates, which amount, they say, in the Sahara to a value
of sixteen francs, may, at the moment of exchange, have reached a value
of forty francs by the carriage. The caravan performs a journey of seven-
teen days' march to reach the Mezzabites; and the nearer it comes to the
coast, the greater is the danger of being pillaged. At last they arrive at
Medeah, whence Algiers used to be supplied (before 1830); and the
current prices, on which the merchants gained about 100 per cent, were
200 boudjous for men and 120 for women (3G0 and 216 fr.).*

Hence what the negro has lost by importation into the regency is a
social state in which man is valued at much less than 40 fr. (1/. 15s.)
The treatment of the people by the chiefs of Central Africa shews a brutal
stupidity. They give twenty men for a horse ; their superstitions require
bloody sacrifices ; the animadversion of a priest is a condemnation to death;
and human sacrifices are thought to honour the funerals of their princes.
The prisoner of war, and also the man who does not pay his taxes, be-
come slaves ; it is not thought a crime to sell your relations in a family,
because being sold is not thought to be a misfortune ; fathers, elder bro-
thers, and even mothers do not scruple to sell their children, whose life is
of so little value; and the latter do not think it a misfortune, to judge
from their appearance in the bazaars, -j-

Moreover, no idea of degradation accompanies slavery among the Mus-

* The returns of the bazaars of Egypt, Morocco, Tunis, and Tripoli confirm these data.
The slaves brought to Gondar, in Abyssinia, most of them Gallas, are sold to the caravans
by the child-stealers for one or two talaris per head (1 talari is worth 5 fr. i cent.). Cas-
tellanc, p. 268 et seqq. ; Le Grand Desert ; Baron Baude, ch. xvii.

t Bai-on Baude, vol. hi. eh. xvii. on the Negroes. Gen. Daumas, at p. 8 of the preface
to Le Grand Desert, inserts letters that reached France from Gorea, dated March 18-17,
mentioning that a rigorous blockade of the coast had been adopted by the French and
British cruisers to stop the slave-trade; the latter undertaking to blockade Gallinas, where
a number of negroes were congregated, ready to be shipped off. The proprietors of these
slaves finding all means of evading the cruisers impossible, and being unable to feed them,

342 DANGER OF ABOLITION.

sulmans. The slave is the companion of his master ; he may reach (in
Morocco) the high dignities of the empire;'"' and if a woman, she enters
the family by giving birth to a chief. The faithful who manumits his
like, says the Koran, saves himself from the punishment of humanity and
the torments of hell. Affranchisements by will, after a certain number of
years, are very frequent ; marriages with slave-women are still more so;
and children born of black concubines belong to the condition of the
father. Compare this with American prejudices, and infer, reader, where
most Christianity is to be found.

Scrupulous Mussulmans think themselves bound to offer liberty to
their slaves after nine years' good service, because it is thought that after
that time they have paid their value in labour. Hence the law of Mo-
hammed has many ways by which the slave may attain to civil liberty ;
and thus it seems to bring the slave by violence into the heart of the
country, only to incorporate him in it at last by affranchisement. In this
manner, slaves brought from the Niger to Barbary have not fallen into
slavery, but have changed it. But between the slavery that they have
left and that which they have entered is all the difference from Fetichism
to Mahometanism, from perpetuity to transition. Thus, to interdict sla-
very in Barbary would be to throw back the negro into perpetual and
hopeless barbarism. -j~

The origin, history, and language, &c. of the slaves is still in a great
measure a mystery ; even their country is unknown. In all other coun-
tries tradition makes mention of a heavenly origin for man ; thus the
Indians have their paradise of Brahma, the Jews Eden, the Pagans a
golden age. But nothing like this occurs among the negroes. No divine
institution has consecrated marriage amongst them ; they are just as the
ancients left them, even in the shape of their brain. The difference be-
tween the whites and blacks seems to be, that we have the principle of
our perfectibility in us, whilst they only obey impressions from without.:}:
Immersion into white society seems a necessary step to prepare the negro
for liberty. But this must be done gradually, or it will lead to mischief;
hence the sudden abolition of slavery in Africa would be to desert public
duty. There exist plenty of facts to show that the abolition of slavery
among the white slave-owners in North Africa would only be to per-
petuate and consecrate it among the blacks. The regular army uf Morocco
consists of 20,000 blacks, regularly recruited by negroes brought by cara-

decapitatcd liOiii) of them, fixing their heads on poles raised on the shore. Some French
officers; who happened to bo on shoro, having bitterly complained of this to the chiefs, the
latter n plied : " What can you expect? If you no longer allow us to make money by our
prisoners of war, wo shall bo obliged to butcher them all." Comments on this fact are
unnecessary.

"" (Jn'iberg il'llcinso, Spocehio geografico-statistico dell' Imperio di Marocco, 1836.

i liaron Uaudo, chap. xvii. J Ibid.

MITIGATED SLAVERY. 343

vans from Soudan and Timbuctoo. Though purchased as slaves, as soon
as they enter the army they become free.

At Algiers they form a corporation under a kait-laus-fan, or chief. On
the 1st of January 1833 it reckoned 390 persons, and in 1840, 408; whilst
the census of 1849 gave a return of 5G3.* Scarcely one-fourth of them
are born in Barbary. In Algeria there were 4177 in 1849.

They become porters, domestics, syndics, or an amin of their own cor-
poration, who is answerable for their delinquencies. It would be impos-
sible to keep up a supply of them without women, experience having shown
the physical necessity of their society to prevent the ravages of nostalgia
among the male negroes when condemned to the most moderate con-
tinence, owing to the amorous idiosyncrasy of their temperaments. Their
numbers in Algeria amounted to 1800f in 1840, being principally females.
The French guaranteed the observance of their laws and customs to the
natives in Algeria at the time of the conquest ; yet, by French law, the
slave on crossing a French threshold is free. If the slave-trade had not
been interrupted, this distinction would have been illusory; many natives
would have been under-traders in slaves, and, eluding the law, would have
obtained employment for slave-labour from Europeans.

On a broad survey of the case, it appears to us that religion sanctions,
and prudence suggests, the adoption of a mild and organised system of
negro slavery in North Africa; that it is the only efficient means of inocu-
lating the negro race with a higher civilisation; that it increases the hap-
piness of those exported, and diminishes the fearful slavery of Central
African slaughter-houses; and that, if mitigated and checked by the clauses
of Christian laws, it could not fail, under God, to be a great instrument in
reclaiming the blacks from their brutal degradation, and in preparing
them for higher political and social phases. If such results have flowed
from Mahometan slavery, what might not be anticipated from a judicious
system tempered by a Christian spirit ! A superficial survey exclaims
against the whole thing as a base injustice ; but we are persuaded that a
more scrutinising examination will verify our inductions ; and that it will
be found that justice and expediency both advocate as well as tolerate
the practice of a mild system of slavery, as the most charitable and rea-
sonable transitive measure for the negro in his progression from a moral
and intellectual death in the basin of the Niger to the intelligence and
spiritual life of the Caucasian variety.

In 1815 the state of slavery in Algeria was as follows : The slaves of
natives remained in slavery, and when purchased by Europeans enjoyed
the full benefit of the French law of enfranchisement ;| but the caravans
to Medeah to supply Algiers had ceased, though the Arab tribes of the

* Tableau, 1849.

+ Graberg d'Hemso says that the negroes in the empire of Morocco amount to 120,000.

344 THE DJELEP.

Sahara bordering on the Great Desert still import kafilas of negroes from
Kachna Haoussa.'"' The number annually imported into the regency
before 1830 reached from COO to 800.

At present, owing to the check placed upon the importation of blacks
into Algeria, there is much greater outlet for this traffic at Tunis, Tripoli,
and in Morocco, into the latter of which countries 12,000 negroes are
annually imported, t

Lastly, we are assured by the latter authority, a man of liberal poli-
tics and philanthropic heart, personally and experimentally acquainted
with the subject, that the negroes are treated as members of the family
in Morocco, and are much superior to and better off than the free blacks
of Haiti ; and he adds, that the negroes regarded slavery among the Mus-
sulmans as a happiness. %

The negroes have many singular customs founded on the love of the
marvellous and mysterious, universal in man, by which they work on the
feelings and open the purses of the Arabs. Magic, witchcraft, mesmerism,
and fortune-telling are phases of a general truth and reality, connected
with the deepest mysteries of anthropology ; and the craAvling negro him-
self, though standing on the lowest platform of humanity, has been taught
by instinct the profoundest truths of science and philosophy. Thus ex-
tremes ever meet, and Quashy tramples on the stagnant prejudices of
Royal Societies and Academies of Science. The most remarkable of their
magical processes in Algeria is called djelej), whose object it is to make the
devil enter the patient's belly, whereby he foresees futurity. Those who
wish to obtain prevision consult the chief of the negroes (el hait-laus-fan),
ask him when the djelep will take place, and pay him a consideration to
be present, — a favour never accorded to Jews or Christians.

The process can only take place on forty days in the year, which arc
fixed by the kait-laus-fan. The period begins commonly at the Rhamadan •
and the night before, the intended patients, generally women, i-esort, in
company with an old man and woman, to a house set apart for negro
superstitious practices. They are put into a room furnished with cushions
and carpets, and concealed by a curtain. The old folks, with the help
of some people, make a kind of hell-broth of gum arabic, an essence
called sambel, and some pieces of wood called calcari, having pre-
viously killed four hens, with whose blood they anoint the joints of the

* Baron Baude says the importation of negroes has ceased, vol. iii. eh. xvii. Lcs N<5gres.
his remark docs not extend to the Arabs of Chamblct, &c. in the far south. Sec Le-
nd Desert, by General Daumas.

t The diversity in dialects is as great as that amongst tho physiognomies of the ne-

roes, some of whom, but especially of the negrcsses, arc very handsome, particularly in

figure. In the island of ( !uba alone, we are informed by Baron Baude that the languages

and types of tho black slaves amount to 27. Baude, vol. iii. ch. xvii.; Lc Grand Ddscrt,

preface.

J Baude, ubi supra.

THE DJELEP. 34-J

patients; they then perfume them with the hell-broth and dress them
variously — long caftans to the heels, belts and caps with shells that rattle
together on dancing. That night, or next morning, twenty or thirty musi-
cians arrive with negro instruments, crouch down under the gallery on the
ground-floor, and in front of them is placed a carpet for money. The
court is swept, but no mats are placed on it, and you must pass over it
bare-foot. Those who have asked to be present are brought in one after
the other; and one, or at most two of the possessed, accompanied by
several negresses dressed like them, are brought into the court where they
are perfumed, and then abandoned to themselves.

The musicians then strike up a terrific din, and the possessed begins to
dance, at first gently, keeping the measure, and imitated by the negresses.
But the movements of the chief dancer soon become quicker, and soon
furious ; he or she emits screams and displays contortions. This is the
moment when the devil enters his body. Those present who wish to share
the advantage then step forward, and throw down money, tapers, &c
The music becomes stunning, the dancer is more and more excited, till he
falls down in a swoon. Then the old folks advance to perfume him, like
the bottle-holders refreshing our prize-fighters, on their knees. The music
ceases during this interlude; but presently recovering, the dancer launches
forth again, the music recommences, and the same scene is repeated till our
Taglioni is utterly worn out, when the devil is thought to have obtained
an entrance.

Such is a ballet-dance and a seance magnetique among the negroes,
which would slightly astonish the coulisse of the Opera or the lecture-room
of a philosophical institution.

Learning has for many ages been in a great measure neglected by the
natives of Algeria, and hardly any education is found among the Bedouins.
Most human blessings have hitherto been curses, and most curses blessings,,
owing to the duality of all human concerns. The Arab has saved his faith
at the expense of science, the European has lost it.

The Moorish and Turkish boys, as we have seen, are sent to school,
where they learn to know, like Socrates, that they know nothing; but this
knowledge, instead of making them Solomons, makes them like our philo-
sophers, big with self-importance ; and amidst the miracles and mysteries
of creation, conceive themselves giants of learning. After some progress
in the Koran, they are initiated with the same care into the ceremonies of
their religion ; and here at least they are commonly sincere, except after
much friction with Europeans.

Their medical skill is small, like that of all allopathists ; but they have
the modesty not to lay claim to much. Eew severe diseases are cured,
predestination interfering with precautions, but helping to heal the sores
of the soul better than our infidelity. Many trust in magareah, or charms ;
the natural instincts of man impelling them, though blindly, to some great

346 NATIVE HYGIENE.

truths, such as the great power of metals over the animal economy. Public
baths are used in all diseases by these barbarians, who have condescended
to take hints from the Romans in hygiene, and who have invented the
Avater-cure long before Preissnitz. Like our hydropaths, the women are
rather too fond of dabbling in water ; but as they use it warm, it boils them
and soddens them into premature age, instead of turning them into icicles
and washing out their vitals.

In rheumatic and pleuritic cases they puncture the parts with red-hot
iron, and the operation is repeated if necessary. Decoctions of sandegourah
(ground-pine) or globularia fruticosa are administered for fevers ; and the
common scabious of Algeria, as a salad, frequently removes the ague. A
drachm or two of the root of round birthwort or borietum is always
given for colic and flatulency, and might be useful to certain gentlemen
in Exeter Hall ; the root of bookoke or arisarium, dried and powdered, is
used for stone and gravel. One drachm of a dark-coloured drop stone, or
the same quantity of the powder of the orobanche mauritanica, is reckoned
good in diarrhoea. Six or eight grains of alkermes in honey are used in
small-pox, and fresh butter is applied to prevent pitting. Inoculation and
vaccination are in small repute ; the Arabs not having more wit than our-
selves in welcoming new blessings, if they upset cherished prejudices and
canonical follies. They try to heal all simple and gun-shot wounds by
pouring fresh butter almost boiling hot into the part affected; a treatment
almost as absurd as the manly system of bleeding and purging employed
in England till lately with hysterical females and gentlemen of delicate
stamina.

For cases of swelling, bruises, inflammation, &c, the leaves of the
prickly pear are roasted a quarter of an hour in the ashes, and applied as
hot as possible to the part affected. This application is said to be use-
ful in the Algerian climate ; it brings the plague and other tumours to
maturity, and it is known to cure gout without any repelling quality.
Here is a windfall for the plethoric millionaires and used-up legislators and
senators of Christendom. We may shortly anticipate a tour to Algeria as
a substitute for the moors, after a gay session or season, for spurting mem-
bers who live too fast. In bruises, inflammations, &c, some take powder
of alhenna, and make it up in warm water into a cataplasm ; this tinges
the skin, and passes into the blood like iodine, mercury, and other bless-
ings of our pharmacopeia. In fresh wounds the leaves of the virga aurea
minor lbliis glutinosis, called by them madnunam, is found to have a good
effect ; and the root of toufailet or thapsia, roasted and applied hot to the
hips, is of use in sciatica. A few chief medicines or douwas are made use
of, in taking which no uniform practice is observed ; a counterpart to our
allopaths and allopathic treatment, the blind leading the blind, with blue-pill
and black-drauirht as nostrums. Not much more caution is used in their

administration than in ours, save that the preparations and infusions arc

NATIVE SCIENCE. 347

seldom certain death. A handful of dry or green herbs is the usual dose.
If taken in a decoction, they pound it in a mortar, and then pour, at a
venture, half a pint or a whole, or more, of boiling water upon it. The
Moors call these medicines traditional ; but the few ingredients in the shops
of their tibeels give reason to think that their doctors, like ours, are about
as ignorant as their victims.*

There is very little knowledge of mathematics among these sons
of algebra; astrolabes and other monuments of their sires' genius not
being understood or used by the present race. The calendars they pos-
sess arc the work of former ages ; but they are not much used, the hours
of prayer being commonly left to the will and option of the muezzin, or
crier. The thalebs, or savants, pretend to a great insight into the value
of numbers; nor are they singular in this respect, as Neo-Platonists and
orthodox prelates have united in attaching special virtues to a trinity.

They have a high opinion of the knowledge of Europeans, asking any
thing you like to write as charms.-f- Nor are they so idle in this supersti-
tion; for what wonders can exceed the every-day familiar doings by our
fireside ? The word was made flesh ; and language written or oral is a
heavenly telegraph and a standing miracle.

They have several musical instruments, but do not write down their
compositions. The music of the Bedouin is rarely more than one strain.
Social and domestic harmony is not unknown to the Arabs, though they
are innocent and ignorant of imperial spies and republican order ; but
it must be admitted that their musical harmony is a serious violation of
the organic laws of acoustics. £

* Elephantiasis and blindness are common afflictions in Algeria, as in Palestine. For
the native surgery, pathology, and pharmacopeia, see Blofeld; and the Vocabulaire
d'Histoirc Naturelle, by Dr. Lagger, at the end of Le Grand Desert of Gen. Daumas.

f Blofeld, p. 230.

I The araieVbah is composed of a bladder and string, and is the commonest instru-
ment ; it is very ancient, as well as the gaspah, or common reed, open at each end like
the German flute, with three or more holes on one side, according to the ability of the
person. Its compass does not extend beyond one octave. Strolling dervishes and Be-
douins arc chiefly conversant with this sort of music. After collecting a crowd of people,
they chant over the memorable actions of the Prophet and other worthies. The taar is
made like a sieve, consisting of a thin rim or hoop of wood, with a skin of parchment
stretched over the top of it. This is their double-bass ; they touch it skilfully with the
fingers or knuckles under the palms. It is the tympanum of tho ancients; is used all over
the Levant and Barbary ; and the shape is the same as that in the hands of the statues
representing priests of Cybele and Bacchanals. Blofeld, p. 2-jO ; Berbrugger, part iii.

CHAPTER XVIII.
(European population anU General Statistics.

EUROPEAN SETTLERS THE FRENCH COLONISTS GENERAL CHARACTER OF

EUROPEAN SETTLERS — LATEST TABLES THE COMPONENT NATIONS — SPANIARDS

MALTESE ITALIANS NATIVE POPULATION.

WE now pass from the Semitic, Mogul, and Ethiopic races of Algeria,
i. e. from the natives, to the Indo-Germanic inhabitants, viz. the
emigrants. The French army requires a special chapter.

From the days of Rome and Carthage to this hour, the Semitic and
Indo-Germanic races have been antipathic, and their agreement on the
soil of Algeria is yet a problem. The various European races living
together under French sway appear to harmonise very well, presenting
specimens of most Christian populations. England is represented by the
half-Arabic Maltese, who are equally industrious by night as by day,
picking pockets at all seasons, but cutting throats after sun-down. The
former propensity and talent they share with the true Briton, the latter
only with the people of Ireland. Of Spaniards there is, and has long
been, a goodly crop in the coast towns ; and the Mahonnese make very good
settlers. The vagabond Swiss are casting sheeps' eyes at the highlands
about Setif ; and la belle France has made a present of her scum or her
jewels to the marshes of Bona and the thistles of the Mitidja. Let us
examine this motley group, statistical minutiae being referred to another
page.

The European population in Algeria amounted on December 31, 1850,
to 125,903 persons, thus analysed: — Province of Algiers, 56,784; pro-
vince of Oran, 44,507; province of Constantina, 24,672.

In December 1849 the total population was 112,607: — Province of
Algiers, 57,810; province of Oran, 35,246; province of Constantina,
19,551. The 57,810 of Algiers arc nationally analysed as follows: —
30,897 French, 26,913 others. Oran, 35,246=15,959 French, and 19,287
others. Constantina, 19,551 =11,149 French, 8102 others.*

* Tableau, 1850, pp. 88-109-

FItENCH SETTLERS. o49

With regard to the French population in Algeria, that country lias
been a great issue to relieve the plethoric symptoms and bad humours of

the mother -country, by draining it of its mauvais sujets*

The French do not constitute more than three-fifths of the European
population, and are considered to be bad settlers, the only good agri-
culturists in the colony being foreigners. But, for a considerable period
after the conquest (1830), the only French civilians attracted to Algeria
were dealers in spirituous liquors, and men of bad lives, — in short, the
usual tail of an army, f

According to estimates drawn up in 1842, 1843, and 1845, out of 1000
Europeans thei-e were on the average 415 Frenchmen, 320 Spaniards, 116
Maltese, 103 Italians, and 46 Germans. J

We shall present the reader with a hopeful description of the European
population of Algiers in 1843 in a note below. §

We propose now to lay before our readers a concise tabular view of
the development and most recent state of the population throughout
Algeria; after which, we shall attend to the French army in Africa.
The European civil population of Algeria amounted only to 45,000 per-
sons in 1840, and on the 1st January, 1845, it had increased to 75,867 ;

* Baron Baude, to whom was confided the superintendence of the Paris police, soon
after 1830, found that the disturbances (emeutes) were occasioned in general by a floating-
population of from 15 to 20,000 individuals, consisting partly of men out of work, partly
of idle vagabonds. The prefecture of police organised a mode of enrolment for Algeria,
and thus attracted 4500 of the most energetic of these rascals, who served with great dis-
tinction, and did good service to France against the Arabs. Of this more anon. At pre-
sent we are concerned with the civil population.

f Baron Baude, vol. iii. p. 123.

J Dawson Borrer's Campaign in the Kabylie ; Baron Baudo ; St. Marie.

§ French, German, and Swiss agriculturists and artisans have gone to the promised
land of Algeria for profitable employment, but have found nothing but beggary, with the
immorality that attends it ; and depending vipon public support, they have become in-
capable of honest labour. A body of wretched lazzaroni threatens to spring from the
families of hardy peasants, who constituted the first emigrants. But the new system has
invited a far worse class of colonists than these to Algiers. They are the scum of the sea-
ports of France, Spain, Italy, and Greece : men who have forgotten home, and who speak
a jargon of all the languages in Europe ; men who have tried all professions, with equal
want of reputation and success. Every where and in every thing they have been unfor-
tunate. Each of them has a story to tell of his grievances, and the wrongs he has suf-
fered from his government ; and they are all martyrs to liberty. But the fraud is so gross,
that when these men meet, they fairly laugh in each other's faces. Such is tho higher
class of society brought to Algiers. These arc tho men whom Europe sends to enlighten
the poorer colonists, and to be an example to Africa. A third class follows, who will ruin
the place, because conduct is as indispensable to success as capital. They are men who
have been ruined over and over, by their folly, in all parts of the world. Speculators from
England, from the United States, and from Franco, have flocked to Algiers, contributing
nothing to its progress but their evil destiny ; and they are most assuredly fated to repeat
the failures which were the sole causes of their going there. Their wretched activity is
never satisfied, unless when adding to the sum of losses which has always distinguished
their career. These are the sorts of inhabitants which France has given to Algiers ; and
the result is only what might be expected from the acts of such agents. (Blofeld )

350 DEVELOPMENT OF POPULATION.

thus doubling itself in less than six years. Of the latter number, 38,646
were Frenchmen, and 37,221 foreigners.*

AVe have now brought down the development of European population
till 1840, after which it began to make rapid strides. Thus, on December
31, 1846, the total general amounted to 107,168 in the towns, and 2232
scattered over the interior.

The increase of the European population during the last three months
of 1846 was 3858 ; but the general increase was in 1845, 20,699 in-
dividuals, whereas in 1846 it was only 14,079. -j-

Baron Baude informs us that the European population of Algiers in
1840 differed from all others. It is chiefly parasitical, few families stay-
ing there from choice. £

Having brought down the movement of Algerian population to 1846,§
we shall proceed to lay before the reader the most recent official tables
of the French government, bringing the development down to the year
1850; which will close this branch of our subject.

General European population of Algeria :
Dec. 31, 1846 109,400

1847

103,893

decrease . . .

5,507

1848

115,101

increase on 1847

10,844

1849

11-2,607

decrease . . .

2,494

1850

125,963

increase . . .

13,356

* St. Marie ; Dawson Borrer. f Borrer, p. 226.

J Baron Baude, vol. iii. chap. xiv. on European population, observes that most of the
Germans in Algeria belong to the class of migrating journeymen, who pass into France,
Italy, &c. under the name of wa n dc rude Bursckenschaft. You have all temperatures in
Algeria. The Vandal race has continued thriving near Bugia ; and though the cactus
and the palm thrive near Algiers, the Alpine pine would grow on the edge of the snow at
the top of Mount Atlas. The climate at this elevation is like that of the south of Ger-
many, and it is there that the Vandal tribes have continued. We are glad to find that
the common sense of Baron Baude has told on foreign governments and speculators, and
that they are endeavouring to adapt the selection of the emigrants to the localities.
People from the Vosges are to be located in hilly districts ; and a Swiss company at
Geneva is agitating a grand system of emigration to the high cool table-lands round Setif,
the healthiest part of the colony.

§ M. Jucheran de St. Denis supposed that the regency at the beginning of the 18th
century did not contain more than 2,000.000 of inhabitants, the population of most of the
towns having decreased considerably up to 1830. The writer believes that, in stating the
number at 800,000, we are very near the mark ; but he does not include in this calculation
those who dwelt between the Little Atlas and the Sahara, who were never entirely subject
to the dey of Alders, and estimated at 230,000 souls, making a total of 1,030,000, or
scarcely 17 inhabitants to every square league, or 5760 acres.

The following comparative tables of European population in Algeria were published by
the French government in 1843: January 31st, 47,150; March 31st, 47,038; May 1st,
47,544 ; June 31st, 55,122 ; October 1st, 57,642.

At the latter date the European population was thus composed : French, 24,274 ;
Spaniards, 18,54S ; Maltese, 6402 ; Italians, 6332 ; Germans, 20S6 : total, 57,642. At the
id of June 1S42, there were only 40,000 European civilians in Algeria, the military amount-
ing to abotti 80,000, shortly to be increased to 94,000 or 95,000. Emigration, then
greatly on the increase, had more than doubled in the space of three years, as at the end
of 1840 there were only 28,736 civilians in the colony. (Blofeld.)

|| Tableau de la Situation, &c. 1849-50, pp. 88 to 109.

MORTALITY.

.351

The births in the three years from 1847 to 1849 were as follows :

iuces.

1847.

is is.

l- 19.
<

ft '

"S
a

2
ft

c*
.to
"3
o
ft

Algiers . . .
Oran ....

Constantina . .

Total ....

1380
540
500

1141

478
244

2521

1018
744

1307
659
45.5

974

660
292

2281
1319

747

1600
795
595

1080
832
304

2680
1627

...

42S3

...

4347

...

... 1 5206

This gives in 1847, 4-12 per cent; in 1848, 3-77 per cent; and in 1849,
4-G2 per cent of the total births; and in 1847, 4-50 French, and 3-71
foreign per cent; in 1848, 377 French, and 4-83 foreign; in 1849, 5-15
French, and 4-05 foreign births per cent; the mean being 4-47 French,
and 393 foreign per cent.

Passing to marriages, Ave find 1029 in 1847; 1052 in 1848; and 1097 in
1849; giving, in 1847, 0-99 per cent; in 1848, 0-91 per cent; and in 1849,
0-9G per cent. Of these marriages, in 1847, 553 were French, 175 mixed,
and 301 between people of other nations. In 1848, 553 French, 171 mixed,
and 328 foreign. In 1849, G19 French, 153 mixed, and 325 foreign.

The deaths from 1847 to 1849 were as follows :

Provinces.

1847.

L848.

1849.

73
a
8
ft

"Z
o
ft

z
s

O
.-

.- "3

c o
ft Eh

Algiers . . .
Oran ....

Constantina . .

1683
497
552

1283
722
426

2966

1219

978

1416
698
556

1097 i 2513
679 |1377
389 945

2112
: 1861
; 1916

1806
1697
1101

3,918
3,558
3,017

...

5163

...

4835

...

10,493

Hence the mean mortality was, in 1847, 5 per cent; in 1848, 4-25 per
cent; in 1849, 10-59 per cent. The increase in 1849 was caused by the
cholera and the distress of the colonies agricoles.*

* The mortality in some of the chief towns presents the following results :

Towns.

1847.

1848.

1849.

Per cent.

Algiers . . .

4-87

4-43

5-42

7-64

5-67

10-59

Oran

5-21

4-49

10-71

Tlemsen ....

4-72

3-29

3-52

Constantina ....

560

4-42

610

4-70

468

10-38

Phillippeville ....

8-20

10-

3-83

1-22

352 SPANIARDS.

Baron Baude states that the greatest vitality among the Europeans is
seen in the Spaniards, and the least in the Germans. The Spaniards have
also a greater proportion of women than any other European race in Al-
geria. They long occupied Oran, and have always had a more intimate
connection with the coast of Barhary than any other European people.

Algiers alone possessed more Spaniards in 1841 than all the Spanish
possessions founded hy Cardinal Ximenes in Africa, after an occupation
of 150 years. Though few in number at Bona, they form one-third of the
population of Algiers and Bugia, two-fifths of that of Mostaganem, and
one-half of the European population of Oran.* Most of the fiacre-drivers
in Algiers are Spaniards ; and several flourishing villages, peopled entirely
by industrious Mahonnese, have been established near the capital.

Turning to the Maltese, the next element of European population, we
find that this energetic little island alone has supplied more people to
Algeria than all Italy. Great numbers live at Bona, where they act as
porters, &c, and drive a thriving trade.t

As there is a surfeit on the island, which shows strong apoplectic
symptoms, many Maltese emigrate exoterically; and being Africans by
origin and language, they find themselves at home in Algeria. There are
4000 at Tunis, and their relative numbers diminish in proportion as you
advance to a distance from their island; they form more than two-fifths
of the European population at Bona, at Bugia one-sixth, at Algiers one-
twelfth, at Oran one-twenty-fourth.

As regards the Italians in Algiers, they appear formerly to have had
important relations with the regency during the bloom of Italian na-
tionality and commerce, fostered by the liberal and republican spirit of

The letter of the Times Paris Correspondent of Jan. 7, 1853, states, that the deaths among
civilians at Bona, from the 1st of July 1852 to the 21st of December, was 683 persons,
of whom 54-1 were Europeans. The mortality from the 1st of January to the 30th of June
1852 is stated to have only been 183 persons.

* Several interesting episodes occur in the Spanish occupation of Oran, displaying the
energy, valour, and discipline of the Spaniards in their better days. In April 1622, the
Arabs of the Habra assassinated three Spaniards ; and Don Juan de Manrique thereupon
•starts in the evening with 700 foot and 200 horse, falls on the Arabs at daybreak, and
brings back the following night to Oran 319 prisoners and 1200 head of oxen. The distance
of Oran from the plain of the Habra is sixty kilometres ; and Don Juan had traversed it
twice in the space of thirty hours. The following July the same spirited commander beat
in detail a body of 2700 Janissaries, 1400 horses, and a numerous Arab infantry. (Baude.)

f The Maltese population is one of tho most fruitful in the world. In 1530, when Malta
•was given over to the Knights of St. John by Charles V., it contained only 15,000 inha-
bitants ; and after the desperate siege of 1565 by the Turks, it had only 10,000. In 1590
it contained 27,000 ; in 1625, 40,000 ; the census of 1682 gave 51,750 ; in 1798 it had 90,000,
and Gozo 24,000 ; and now it reckons 120,000 Maltese alone ; whilst it contains only 30,000
hectares, i. e. about the same surface as tho ridge of hills behind Algiers (French massif
iPAlgerj Arab sahel). The specific population of" all France, by kilometres, is 60; for the
Departement du Nord, 171; for the arrondissements of Sceaux and St. Denis, 357; at
Malta it is 400. For these facts sec Chovalicr dc Boisgolin's Malte ancienne et moderne,
3 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1809 ; Dapper, Description de rAlriipic, Amstm. 1626; Voyagodu Due
de Etaguse, 4 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1838.

ITALIAN LIBERTY. 353

Pisa, Genoa, &c. Nothing can be more interesting than to trace the
spirit, intelligence, and industry of Italians under a national and liberal
flag, at a time when the rest of Europe, which owes to them its light, was
plunged in darkness. It is cheering to be able to produce facts to estab-
lish that a manly and industrious spirit is developed in Italy as else-
where, when its growth is not stunted or blighted by the poison of a
hypocritical hierarchy, or trampled on by the foot of the stranger. Dear
to us are all such memories of the fine qualities of this historical people, as
auguries of a better future yet in store for her.

As regards the present position of the Italian population in Algeria,
there is not quite one Italian to three Spaniards in the colony. The Ita-
lians form one-fourth of the European population of Mostaganem, one-
sixth of that of Bona and Oran, one-fifteenth of that of Algiers ; and they
are hardly seen at Bugia, whose commerce was in their hands in the middle
ages.*

* Native Population.

The sum of the indigenous population in 1345 was 1,9S3,91S; thus analysed : — Algiers,.
490,16S; Oran, 477,034 ; Constantina, 1,016,716. It was supposed that the whole native
population of Algeria amounted, at a rough estimate, to 3,00u,000. See Tableau, &c. for
1846, and Borrer, chap. xv.

Inhabitants of the Three Provinces.

The Negro slaves throughout the Regency were supposed to amount to 10,000 ; and
the number of free blacks was estimated to exceed that amount.

Coming down to the three years ending 1849, we find that, on the 31st Dec. 1S47, the
native population in the towns amounted to 87,505 ; and in Dec. 1849, to 84,133. The
floors have decreased, and the Jews have remained stationary. The Negroes have in-
creased from 334S to 4177 individuals. The Kabyles, Mozabites, Biskris, and other cor-
porations in the towns of the civil territories, amount to 10,742 ; a diminution from 1846.

Native Population of Towns, nationally and sexually.

Total of Mussulmans in the province of Algiers, 27,773 : in the province of Oran,
12,350 ; and in the province of Constantina, 20,805. Total of Negroes in the province of
Algiers, 1714; in that of Oran, 1531 ; iu that of Constantina, 932. Total of Jews in the
province of Algiers, 7289 ; in that of Oran, 7749 ; in that of Constantina, 3990. Hence

Mussulman population of the towns of Algeria amounted, in Dec. 1849, to 60,928 ; the
Negro population to 4177; and the Jewish population to 19,028 : general total of Algeria,
84,133.

With regard to the tribes, the reader has already been presented with the statement
of their general numbers in Algeria, and their particular numbers in the provinces.

According to the last census, the population of Algeria, on the 31st December 1852,
amounted to 246,431 individuals (this must mean without the tribes): namely, 124,401
Europeans; and 122,030 natives, inhabiting the territory occupied by the Europeans.
The former consisted of 69,9S0 French ; 35,129 Spaniards ; 740S Italians ; 5609 Maltese ;
: 125 Germans ; 1323 Swiss ; 526 Belgians and Dutch ; 483 Irish ; 258 Poles; 145 Portu-
guese ; and 515 others : and was composed of 29,451 men, 28,232 women, 40,073 boys, and
26,645 girls. There were 121,226 Catholics, 2561 Protestants, and 614 Israelites : 80,143
resided in towns, and 44,258 in the country. They were divided into 32,826 families, and
occupied 16,215 houses.

CHAPTER XIX.

GENERAL SURVEY OF COLONISATION — GOVERNMENT DECREES ON RURAL PROPERTY
CONCESSIONS IN LAND DECREE OF THE PRESIDENT, 1851 STATE OF GENE-
RAL COLONISATION IN THE COLONY PROVINCE OF ALGIERS CIVIL TERRITORY

MILITARY TERRITORY PROVINCE OF ORAN CIVIL TERRITORY — MILITARY

TERRITORY PROVINCE OF CONSTANTINA — CIVIL TERRITORY MILITARY TERRI-
TORY NEW PROJECTS PENITENTIAL COLONY AT LAMBESSA AGRICULTURAL

COLONIES — ST. DENIS AND ROBERTVILLE, ETC.

ttte shall now proceed to examine the important subject of concessions
\ ? of land, and of agricultural and other colonies established by the
French government or by private speculation in Algeria.

Though there was a sprinkling of emigrants every year after the con-
quest, offering a crop of ears and heads to the Hadjutes and other tribes
near Algiers, it was not till 1842, after the humiliation of Abd-el-Kader,
that the era of serious colonisation began. Before that time there were
only one or two villages, with large barracks and hospitals. In 1842 vil-
lages sprang up like mushrooms near Algiers, and the high land or massif
at the back of the city, forming a barrier between the Mediterranean and
Mitidja, was brought into a state of cultivation 3 whilst other emigrants
went to Boufarik and Beni-Mered, stations on the road to Blidah, five or
six hours south of Algiers, at the foot of the Little Atlas, across the Mitidja
plain."'

Several causes may be perceived for the slowness and dulness of the
current of colonisation in Algeria. The port of Algiers is not frce,f and
much of its trade has been driven to Tunis, Tripoli, Tangiers, &c. through
the short-sighted policy of the French government. Another drawback

* This plain contains 1,500,000 acres of arable- and pasture land, but only a small por-
tion of it is now under cultivation. Vast tracts are still lying waste, sacrificed to the
palmetta and squills; whereas, before the French came in 1830, it was cultivated by the
Arabs, who grew more com in it than thoy wanted. Now there is not sufficient for home
con umption, and the price of corn was enormous a1 Algiers in L846. Dawson Borrer's
Campaign, &c. chap. xiv. p. 222.

! Recent enactments have removed almost all duties on imports. See Appendix.

GOVERNMENT DECREES. 355

to colonisation has been the great tardiness of administrative forms neces-
sary for the establishment of emigrants. Though assignments of land
(concessions) are promised to the colonists, eighteen months will perhaps
elapse before you are put in possession of your property.'"' The calls of the
French army on the budget may account for the beggarly sums given to
colonisation, just as the heavy items of our sinecures may explain our
magnificent tribute to national education. The annual expenses of the
colony amount to 100,000,000 fr. ; and in 1847 the budget for Algeria
placed under the head of colonisation 1,734,000 fr.; but more was doubt-
less extracted by special projets de loi.-\

Let us now devote a few words to the machinery of colonisation in
Algeria, and then analyse the state of the colonies ; and we shall proceed
to consider first the decrees of the French government on rural property
in Algeria; secondly, the concessions or assignments of land; and thirdly,
the government or individual colonies.

The decree of July 21st, 184G, on rural property in Algeria had for its
aim the securing of the peopling of Algeria and the fertilising of its land,
by placing rural property, which had hitherto been in a vague and disputed
state, on a firm and sure foundation. To this end, it ordained the ascer-
taining, by enactments of the minister-of-war, of the extent of the territories
within which the title-deeds of property should be valid ; the returns to
the government of the names of the Europeans or natives who asserted
their claims to properties within those territories ; and the verifying of the
titles produced, by council of the disputant (at a later date by the councils
of prefecture in each province). The decree carefully defined the requisite
conditions for the titles to be held valid; and it ordained their applica-
tion on the spot through a councillor, and their sanction, if necessary?
through the council of prefecture. In cases where the property marked
out was claimed by many disputants, the council was enjoined to suspend
judgment till the civil tribunals could pronounce on the question of right.
Lastly, when the title produced did not fulfil the necessary conditions
of the decree, the council pronounced it null and void. Yet in this case
the government was bound to hand over to the evicted occupant, on his
request, a hectare (2-47 acres) of land for every 3 fr. of rent stipulated in
the last act of possession, if a certain period had elapsed previously to the

1 1 is a well-known fact, that men of capital coming' to Algeria, under the auspices of
the minister-of-war, have stayed six years before obtaining the original ci mcession. Others
provisionally established on a tract of land have built upon it ; and when at last a definite
answer came, the title-deed to it has been refused ; and not being able either to alienate
or mortgage it, they have been ruined. Hence many of the poor emigrants have been re-
duced to a very desolate state ; and the villages on the Sahel and Massif were in 18-16, with
one or two exceptions, the types of desolation. Perched upon most arid spots, distant
from water, victims of the sun and sirocco, they rose among endless tracts of palmetta and
prickly bushes. Visions of Utopia terminate in dwarf-palms and disease. Dawson Borrer,
chap. xiv. f Borrer, chap. xiv. p. 2:22.

3J6 GOVERNMENT DECREES.

promulgation of the decree of July 21st, 1846, relative to concessions in
land. These measures of the government were much complained of at
first in Algeria ; but being shortly better understood by the colonists, they
ended by submitting, without making any serious difficulties, which have
only originated in the ignorance of native proprietors, and the difficulty
experienced by the government in discovering the real state of their
property.

We shall submit to the reader the following brief outline of the state
of European and native properties in the three provinces.

Province of Algiers. — In 1850, the number of properties declared were
592, and marked out 492 ; but as most of the native properties were
claimed by a whole djemaa or assembly, and subdivided into small par-
cels, the real number of properties amounted nearly to 800 in all. Of
these, 359 had been fiually decided, including 109 connected with na-
tives; 162* were in suspense; 170 annulled: total number of decisions
by the councils of prefecture, 697. Only five properties had to be sur-
veyed and ascertained in Dec. 1851.t

Province o/Oran. — In this province, the civil territory only has been
subjected to the decree of 1846. The number of properties declared
amounted to 113; 54 belonging to Europeans, and 59 to natives. By
the rejection of the titles of some proprietors, the number of properties
whose limits are ascertained has been reduced to 87, 45 of which belong
to Europeans.

The properties whose titles have been verified and confirmed amount
to 73 ; whereof 40 are European, and 33 native. There are five in sus-
pense.

Province of Constant ina. — The arrondissement (hundred) of Bona, and
the banlieues (precincts) of Constantina and La Calle, had been brought
under the decree of 1846 in 1849. In December 1850, 425 properties
were ascertained in the arrondissement of Bona, — 53 European and 372
native, — covering 29,427 hectares (72,683-22 acres) of land. There re-
mained 131 — 11 European and 120 native — to ascertain. 48 titles had
been legally confirmed, 11 European and 37 native; and 277 protocols,

* Of these 162, 65 are native, the greater number of whom are competitors {copretendanU)
with the state. A special commission is engaged in trying to settle tho disputes, and
make 'partitions a /'aim able.

■\- The following table gives at a glance the state of property and of territory subject to
the decree in the province of Algiers : —

Plain of the Mitidja, 107,466 hect. 63 a. 40 c. ; Sahel, 29,716 .hect. 81 a. 27 o. ; ri i,t
bank of the Boudaou to tho Isser, 31,020 hect. 15 a. ; total, 168,203 hect. 59 a. 67 c.
(415,181*41 acres). Property accruing to Europeans, 36,875 hect. 46 a. 86 c. (91,081*25
ai r ) ; natives, 11,511 hect. 74 a. 57 c (28,500 acres) ; the State, 94,796 hect. 99 a. 1 c.
(234,146*12 acres) : total, 143,1S1 hect. 20 a. 44 c. (343, 664*4S acres). Disputed property
between individuals, 7,(166 hect. 86 a. 43c. (17,45302 acres) ; the state and individuals,
17,952 hect. 52 a. 80 c. (44,341*44 acres) ; total, 25,019 hect. 39 a. 23 c. (61,796*93 acras).

GOVERNMENT DECREES. 357

or registers, about delimitations, remained to be settled, 42 European
and 235 native : 5 were in suspense, referred to higher tribunals.

14,000 hectares (35,000 acres) of land were voted to the banlieue of
Constantina by a decree of the President of the Republic, March 1849.
The state of properties had not been finally determined, arranged, or as-
certained round La Callc, in November 1849.

The next point we shall analyse is the nature and state of concessions
in Algeria.

There are three distinct modes employed there for the alienation of
the government property of the colony : 1. Sale by public auction ; 2. Sale
by instalments ; 3. Concession.

All town property, cultivated land, or land built upon, is disposed of
by the first two methods ; the third only applying to new plots of ground
to be built upon in new villages, to uncultivated land, &c.

A decree of 1851 modifies the regulations of 1845 and 1847, accord-
ing to which, concessions of and under 24 hectares (60 acres) are autho-
rised in civil territories by the prefect, with the advice of the council
of prefecture ; and in military territories by the general of division, with
the advice of the consulting commission. The concessions of 100 hectares
(250 acres) were given by decree of the President of the Republic, with
the recommendation of the minister of war and the consultative com-
mittee of Algeria. Every concessionary, after a reasonable time, was
bound to pay a fluctuating but perpetual rent to the state. These con-
cessions were only given on condition of the grantee being able to fulfil
his engagements ; and before his entrance into possession, he had to give
10 fr. per hectare (8s. id. per 2'47 acres) caution-money.'"' Many evife
resulted from these regulations in practice, by multiplying formalities,
creating delays, &c, especially in the cases of small concessions. To re-
medy these evils, a project was submitted by the minister to the Council
of State in July 1850, intended as a substitute for the old arrangements
about concessions. But as it would take time to get this voted by the
Assembly, and a reform in the system of concessions was imperative, the
government determined to propose to the President a transitory modifica-
tion of the worst regulations. Hence originated the decree of the Presi-

* Every concessionary received, at the moment of being put in possession, a provisional
title indicating the conditions imposed, and the delay granted for their accomplishment.
During the whole period of this delay the concessionary was not able to consent to any
substitution, alienation, or mortgage, without the especial leave of the administration,
under penalty of forfeiture. At the expiration of the delay fixed by the provisional title,
or before if the concessionary demanded it, a valuation of the labours effected was
made. If all the conditions were fulfilled, the provision was converted into a final con-
cession. If the conditions were not, or were only partially fulfilled, the concessionary for-
feited, totally or partially, his land ; or, according to circumstances, he could obtain a
prolongation of the delay. In the latter case, a new valuation took place, as the prolon-
gation of the delay expired when the concessionary obtained a final title, or was ejected.

358 AGRICULTURAL COLONIES.

dent of the 2Gth April, 1851, of which the principal articles are inserted
below.*

During the four years from 1846 to 1850, we are informed that the
colonisation of Algeria by Europeans has slowly but surely progressed ;
though accidental circumstances, such as the Revolution of 1848 and the
cholera, have retarded and disturbed its advance. The peopling of the old
centres of colonisation has continued ; the territory of some of them has
been increased, and new creations have taken place ; finally, the concessions
that have been made outside the villages, and their occupation, have
stamped a new character on the colonisation of Algeria. One circum-
stance has especially affected it, i. e. the creation of agricultural colonies,
which took place in 1848. in consequence of a decree of the National As-
sembly of September 19th, and to which a credit of fifty millions of francs
(2,000,000Z.) had been voted. t

A full description of the state of European colonisation in Algeria
from 1847 to 1850 falls under two distinct heads. The first relates to
the centres of population and agricultural explorations established since
1847, down to the 31st December, 1850, excepting the agricultural co-
lonies. The second gives a statement of the situation of the agricultural
colonies in 1848 and 1849.

* By article 2, all concessions under 50 hectares (125 acres) could be authorised by
the prefect. By article 3, all future acts of concession in Algeria confer the immediate
possession, on condition of accomplishing the required steps. Article 5. If the conces-
sionary does not lay claim to immediate possession after the expiration of three months,
at the hands of the local authorities, his title is forfeited. By article 7, the concessionary
can mortgage or transmit all or part of his land. By article 8, in the month following the
expiration of the term granted for the fulfilment of the conditions, or sooner if wished, the
valuation is made by a commission of three members. By article 9, if all the conditions
are found fulfilled, the prefect declares the property freed from the conditions exposing
the title-deed to be cancelled. If differences arise between the directeur des domaines and
the prefect, the matter is set at rest by the minister-of-war. If ejected, the property re-
verts to the state ; but if it has been improved, it will be put up to auction. The prices of
the auction, deducting the charges, revert to the concessionary.

If no one bids, the property reverts to the state. Provisional concessions made before
1847 can be exchanged for another title-deed, conformable to the clauses of the decree of
1851, in which the delay for the accomplishment of the conditions imposed will be deter-
mined by the original decree. The same regulations are applied to the military territo-
ries, the general commanding the division taking the place of the prefect.

+ A report of these establishments was laid before the Assembly, at the end ofl849,
by a special commission sent to the spot to examine into them. From this report it ap-
pears that these establishments have had as results : 1st. to rcsti-ict, on economical grounds,
*.he new creation of centres, which would otherwise have been undertaken in greater num.-
bar on the ordinary credits of colonisation ; 2d. to bring in a check to the demands for
concessions of small extent, because the claimants who seek to obtain them are bound to
support, their claim by pecuniary resources, which 1ms caused many to seek in preference
an entrance into the above-mentioned agricultural colonies.

PROVINCE OE ALGIERS. 359

Province of Algiers.
I. Colonisation in the Civil Territory.

1. Centres created by the administration : —

Since 184G, five centres of population have been created in the civil
territory of the province of Algiers ; i. e. Mouzaia, La Chiffa, Arba, the
Fort de l'Eau, and Affreville.

Mouzaia. This centre is situated to the west of Blidah, and at the
foot of the northern slope of the Atlas. Its population is nearly com-
pleted, and its sanitary condition is very satisfactory. Great advances
have been made in clearing the land, and the colonists have also planted
a great deal. In short, the encouragement that they have received has
given birth to favourable results. — La Chiffa has the same topographical
situation as Mouzaia. The village is in good condition, and the colonists
are able to dispense with the assistance of the state. — Arba. This place,
which was founded in 1819, to the east of Blidah, is a centre intended to
continue on this side the colonisation of the area of the Mitidja plain, in
connection with Dalmatia, Souina, and Fondouk, which are already created.
Though so recently founded, Arba has already made very remarkable
advances; it is one of the villages that holds out the most promising
hopes. — The Fort de VEau. This village, situated to the north-west of
Fondouk, on the sea-shore, was founded in 1850, and is entirely peopled
by Mahonnese. These colonists labour with zeal and diligence, and their
produce is already very considerable. — Affreville. This centre is situated
in the vicinity of Milianah, and its colonists arc chiefly devoted to the cul-
tivation of gardens. The colonisation of the surrounding country, which
has already commenced, is calculated to secure the prosperity of this vil-
lage.

The centres created previous to 1847 in the civil territory of Algiers
amounted to 32, including seven towns : — Algiers and its banlieue,
Cherchell, Tenes, Koleah, Blidah, Medeah, Milianah ; and the 25 following
villages: — Ain-Benian, Sidi-Ferruch, Cheragas, Ouled-Fayet, Dely-Ibra-
him, LAchour, Drariah, Saoula, Notre-Darne de Fouka, Fouka, Douaouda,
Zeradia, Mahelma, Sainte Amelie, Saint Ferdinand, Douera, Baba-Hassen,
Crescia, Boufarik, Beni-Mered, Joinville, Montpensier, Dalmatie, Souma,
and the Fondouk.

The administration has been engaged in completing the Avorks at
these centres, and in securing their peopling.

We shall here give a rapid survey of their present state in what relates
to colonisation.

Algiers. — Fertile market-gardens stretch around this town in a radius
of from eight to ten kilometres from the sea ; but agriculture, properly

360 PROVINCE OF ALGIEDS.

speaking, only begins beyond and amongst the Sahel hills. — Ain-Benian.
The present state of this village is satisfactory enough : it is a half-agri-
cultural, half-maritime station. It had been originally built to receive
twenty families of fishermen; but experience having shown that the colo-
nists could not subsist on the mere produce of their fishery, a certain
amount of land was conceded to them. — Sidi-Ferruch is a maritime vil-
lage, created, like Ain-Benian, by commercial speculation. Some land has
been brought into cultivation and planted in its vicinity. — Cheragas is in
a flourishing condition. The state of property among the colonists is very
good; and those who are the least well off find work among their rich
neighbours, which improves their condition greatly. Some colonists, who
are natives of the department of the Var in France, have introduced a
branch of industry into this colony that has already become somewhat
spread, i. e. the manufacture of scents. This village has also obtained
great importance through the number of isolated farms scattered around
it. — Ouled Fayet. This village is completely settled, and succeeds well;
its prosperity being chiefly due to the presence of several concessionaries
in easy circumstances, who give employment to the less-favoured families.
— Lehj Ibrahim is in a satisfactory state, but the development of cultiva-
tion is there impeded by the inadequate supply of water, and by the insuf-
ficiency of its territory. — L 'Achour is one of the villages that were earliest
created in the Sahel, and its territory is well cultivated. — Drariah is one
of the oldest colonies, and is also perfectly settled, its success being entirely
secured. — Saoida is in the same state. — Fouka is a centre that was origi-
nally peopled by liberated soldiers, on the system of Marshal Bugeaud;
at a later date civil colonists have been settled, there. Hitherto their
situation is rather unsatisfactory; but it will probably improve when the
road from Blidah to the sea shall be opened, and the works at the mari-
time creek of Fouka shall be finished. — Notre Dame de Fouka is in a very
prosperous condition, and is principally inhabited by a population of fisher-
men, who do not, however, neglect agriculture. The soil is of a good qua-
lity, and it is very productive in cork-trees and oaks. The breeding of
swine and the preparation of charcoal constitute the principal elements of
its thriving state. — Douaouda is a village situated near Koleah, on the
road to Algiei-s; is in a flourishing state, and finds an easy market for its
produce. Its chief prosperity is centred in the breeding of cattle; and
endeavours are being made at the present moment to extend its territory
by the addition of some meadow-lands. The soil is good, although covered
with brushwood. — Zeradia is not as yet in a very thriving condition, owing
to its distance from the great centres of population. The system of irri-
gation likewise needs studying; but the sanitary state of the place has
been improved by the draining of the marshes that exist on its territory. —
Mulielma is partly peopled by liberated soldiers, and partly by civil colo-
nists. The soil is good, the land is being fast cleared and brought into

PROVINCE OF ALGIERS. 301

cultivation, and tlie future promises well. — Saint Ferdinand is a village
that lias been formed by military convicts. The nearness to Algiers, and
the facility it enjoys of getting rid of its produce, are considerable ele-
ments of success. Efforts are now being made to increase its territory,
so that it may receive other concessionaries. — The same remarks apply to
the village of Sainte Amelie. — The town of Koleah has been entirely re-
peopled; the state of the colonists is satisfactory; its territory is well cul-
tivated, and attempts are being made to extend it. — Douera. In the first
instance, this centre was devoted to manufacturing industry, and it suf-
fered greatly by the opening of the road from Algiers to Llidah through
the plain. At a later date the colonists have pursued agriculture, and
have laid the foundations of a more solid prosperity. The territory is
covered with dwarf-palms, but it is well adapted to most kinds of culti-
vation. The local authorities are preparing to erect near this place two
hamlets, by handing over to the purposes of colonisation a considerable
stretch of country situated not far from Douera, and previously set apart
for the service of the army. — The village of Baba Hassen is entirely
settled, and on the high-road to prosperity. The dwelling-houses are,
generally speaking, substantially erected, with land attached to them,
to which additions are made every year. The colonists cultivate, be-
sides corn, olive-trees, vines, and especially tobacco ; and they already
possess considerable flocks of sheep. — Crescia is also in an excellent
condition ; the colonists are steady and industrious workmen, having
opened several quarries, formed several long and difficult roads, and made
numerous clearances. — Boufarik was formerly an unhealthy locality, but it
has recovered its salubrity, owing to the numerous plantations that have
been made, and the draining that has been carried out by the exertions of
the government. The buildings are substantial and handsome, and it is
surrouuded with numerous farm-houses. — Blidah is an old Moorish city
containing within its circuit several handsome European structures. Colo-
nisation has made rapid strides in the neighbourhood of this town, which
has four Avell-settled villages close at hand. — Beni-Mered is a village pro-
gressing very prosperously; the surrounding cultivation yields excellent
produce, and the colonists are able to support themselves; the clearances
and cultivation that they have effected are considerable, and their private
dwellings are daily increasing in number. — Joiwville is an extremely
thriving village, whose territory is scarcely extensive enough to meet the
wants of its energetic inhabitants; but it is difficult to procure additional
land there. The houses are generally well built, and the future prosperity
of this colony is cmite certain. — Jlontpensier is likewise in a good situa-
tion in every respect, such as cultivation, buildings, and plantations. The
proximity of Blidah provides it with an easy channel for disposing of its
produce. — The colonists of Dalmatic work hard and successfully ; the vil-
lage is surrounded with extensive tracts of arable land and plantations; and

362 PEOVJTNCB OF ALGIERS.

the implements of labour are in general sufficient to meet the demand.
This village possesses two flour-mills on the Oued-Beni-Aza. — The village
of Souma is in a prosperous state as regards clearances and cultivation, and
building is increasing. — The Fondouk has advanced slowly, owing to its
isolated position in the Mitidja. The approaching continuation of coloni-
sation in the eastern circumference of the plain will rescue this village from
its languid state. — Medeah. Colonisation begins to extend around this
town, to which a territory for settlements has been annexed. — Some capi-
talists have founded near this town the village of Mouzaia-les- Mines,
occupied by miners' families engaged in the neighbouring copper-mines.
These people are housed in dwellings built with the funds of the company;
and there is room at this spot for an agricultural population, which would
favour the settlement of 500 workmen united in this village.

Agriculture has somewhat extended around MUiomah; several farms
are being established in its vicinity ; and the district affords numerous and
abundant springs, which may be turned to account. Two water-courses,
the Oued Boutau and the Oued Anasseur, turn several flour-mills in this
district. — Cultivation is developing around Cherchell in a territory of
3000 hectares (7500 acres) ; and its prosperity will be secured when it is
bound to Algiers and Blidah by a series of villages. This undertaking
was begun in 1848, by the creation of several agricultural colonies, of
which more anon. — Tenes still suffers from the isolation of its position;
the accumulation of troops on this point a few years ago having given
birth to an ephemeral activity that departed with its cause. Hence there
has resulted some distress. Some plantations of vines, fruit-trees, and
mulberries were made in 1849 and 1850, and the growth of cotton has
been attempted. The recent annexation of an agricultural territory to
Tenes will shortly permit the development of this branch of culture
there.*

* Besides the state, several private capitalists have forwarded the work of emigration
especially in the Sahel, where there are many scattered farms. The concession of the
Trappists at Staoucli deserves a special mention. Its extant is 1020 hectares (2519-40
acres), whereof about 300 hectares (741 acres) were sown or meadow land in 1849 ; the
value of the buildings having risen to 300,000 fr. (12,000^.) Several fountains flow in the
property; and it contains an orangery of nearly 1100 feet in length, and a pSpiniOre
(nursery-ground).

That part of the Mitidja, near Arba, called Beni-Moussa, was the first peopled by colo-

: and though long afflicted with various plagues and scourges, the perseverance of

the colonists has at length overcome tin: Arabs, mosquitoes, and droughts. Most of these

□ are in a very good state now. Free colonisation has extended on the left bank of

; [aratch ; and the quarter of the Krachenas, to the cast of the Beni-Moussa, contained

eighteen European farms at the end of 1S49. It has also extended in the plain, in the

arrond t of Blidah. At the end of 1819 these undertakings embraced about 14,000

bares (:;i/»so acres), and 380 individuals,

PROVINCE OF ORAN. 363

II. Military Territory.

1. Administrative centres : —

There are no new creations in this territory ; but the old centres now
form little, chiefly European, towns. They are the following :

( Irleansville. This is an important town, founded in 1843, which suf-
fered, like Tenes, from the crisis of the last few years. Cultivation, how-
ever, is beginning to extend around the town, and it is anticipated that
the creation of the agricultural colonies in 1S-4G will give a new impulse
to cultivation. — Aumale, Bogliar, and Teniet-el-Had contain but few fami-
lies of colonists, and the surface to be colonised requires extension there.
— Dellys. Down to 1849 the colonists of this place had given more atten-
tion to town constructions than to agriculture. The concessible territory
extra muros was of small extent ; but lately 197 hectares, given up by
the Arabs, have been conceded to colonists and valued. A centre of colo-
nisation is projected at some distance from Dellys, in the fertile valley of
the Oued-Neca.

2. Free colonisation :

Since 1848 free colonisation has extended, in the military territory,
chiefly in the subdivision of Blidah, and in those of Orleansville, of Medeah,
and of Milianah.

Province op Oran.
I. Colonisation in the Civil Territory.

1. Centres created by the administration :

Three centres of population have been founded in this territory since
1847, i. e. Valmy, Arcole, and Ain-Turk.

Valmy. The colonists of this centre are successfully engaged in
breeding cattle. Special branches of culture, such as those of cotton,
tobacco, and the mulberry-tree, have also been the object of particular
and experienced care. To sum up all in a word, the state of this centre
is good. — Arcole. The same may be said of this village, though it suffered
much from drought in 18.30. Public plantations are in the act of being
laid out there. — Ain-Turk. This centre, situated in the plaine ties Andalous,
has been created within a year. About thirty families have settled down
there ; and it is anticipated that the fertility of the territory will recom-
pense the labours of the colonists.

The centres that existed on the civil territory previous to 1847 were
nine, i. e. four towns, — Oran, Mostaganem, Arzeu, and Mascara; and five
villages, — La Senia, Misserghin, Sidi-Chami, Mazagran, and Mers-el-Kebir.
The present condition of these villages is as follows : La Senia. Culti-

?G4 PROVINCE OF ORAN.

vation is very flourishing- in this centre, and the colonists were favour-
ably mentioned at the exhibition of 1850 for the fine fruits that they had
grown. They also attend with success to the care of silk-worms ; and the
favourable state of the public as well as private plantations completes the
prosperity of this village. — Misserghin. Some public works have still to
be carried out in this village, which has suffered greatly from bad crops
within the last few years. — Sidi-Chami. This village has likewise been
unlucky during the last year (1849); but this state of things is only
transitory. The colonists are in possession of good implements and a
great number of cattle ; their future prosperity is secured. — Mers-el-Kebir.
This is the port of, and an appendage to, Oran. — Mazagran. Near the
town of Mostaganem. The state of this village is satisfactory ; the ground
is cleared, and most of it tilled. The success of this centre is secured by
the fertility of its territory, and the facility it offers to the colonists for
getting rid of their produce.

2. Free colonisation :

The number of farms or private properties founded beyond the centres,
in the precincts, or banlieue, of Oran, has more than doubled since the end
of 1846. They amounted to 195 in 1850. Some of them proceed from pur-
chases made from the natives, and the others from concessions granted by
the state.

This evident increase in agricultural undertakings has resulted chiefly
from the creation of villages, where the concessionaries are sure to find
work, and which afford a protection to individuals in case of war. All
seems to show that this movement, which has set in within the last few
years, will not slacken, but rather increase as population pours in. The
same movement has set-in in the banlieue of Mostaganem. The number
of concessionaries in the Valley of the Gardens, which was inconsiderable in
1845-46, amounted in 1850 to 30, and has increased still more since
that date. There has also been a proportional increase of buildings and
of cultivation. A certain number of concessions have been granted like-
wise in the banlieues of Arzeu and of Mascara, towns which in the course
of last year (1849) were attached to the civil territory.

II. Colonisation in the Military Territory.

1. Centres created by the administration :

Seven new stations have been created in the military territory since
the end of 1846, i. e. :

Sidi-bd-Abbes. As this centre, where some colonists had already set-
tled for several years, appeared to be an important strategical position,
a town was founded there by a decree of Jan. 5, 1849. It is 20 leagues
(50 miles) from Oran, and the chef lieu, or capital, of a military sub-

PROVINCE OF OBAN. 3GJ

division, possesses an important agricultural territory, and is being peopled
rapidly. — St. Andre and St. Hlppohjte are two villages near Mascara,
founded some time since, and their territory is mostly cultivated ; they
are both well situated for health and accessibility, and the neighbourhood
of Mascara offers a good market for the produce of the land. — Near
Tlemsen are four villages : Brea and Negrier, each intended to contain
fifty families, and peopling rapidly • JIansourah and the Seysaf, built on a
fine rich soil, peopled partly by old colonists of Tlemsen and veteran sol-
diers. Though only founded in 1850, these villages are progressing rapidly.

There are twelve other centres in this territory, founded before 1847.
1. St. Denis du Sig placed on the road from Oran to Mascara, and watered
by the Sig; both great advantages. In 1850 cultivation had much in-
creased, and many fine plantations had been made here. 2. La Stidia is
peopled chiefly by Prussian families, who came in 1846, and were long in
a precarious condition; but by the assistance of government they have
recovered heart, and are doing tolerably well. 3. St. Leonie, also a Prus-
sian village, whose present condition is much improved. 4. A village of
discharged soldiers exists in the subdivision of Mostaganem, to whom
concessions in land were granted ; and by help of the state, they are in
a satisfactory condition. The territory round Tlemsen is very fertile and
well cultivated, all kinds of growth succeeding well there. Most of the
colonists are old soldiers of the garrison of Tlemsen, who, on the expira-
tion of their term of service, asked permission to settle there. The civil
population of Nemours is still inconsiderable, and it offers little interest in
an agricultural point of view ; but its commercial position is good, its port
being frequented by numerous merchant-ships, which might supply, if
necessary, Lalla-Maghnia, Sebdou, and Tlemsen.

Cultivation begins to extend round the military posts of Tiaret, Saida
Daya, Sebdou, Ain-Temouchen, and Lalla-Maghnia. These spots offer,
moreover, excellent resources in timber, lime, freestone, and clay ; and
the only obstacles to their progress are the dearness of provisions, and the
distance from the coast.*

* General Lanioriciere had vast projects in this territory, which, though made as pub-
lic as possible, have been chiefly confined to paper. (Castellane's Souvenirs, 1S52. Tableau,
1849-50.) 80,000 hectares (200,000 acres) were to be given to 5000 colonists, government
helping them in the most essential work; but only one village, Sainte Barbe, with 284]
hectares, has been founded, and that is a failure. Another decree, in February 1847,
created between Oran and Arzeu three new communes, or parishes, — Christina, St. Ferdi-
nand, and St. Isabel. In March 1S47 they were given up to French and Spanish capi-
talists, who undertook to establish 170 families in them ; but they are also likely to prove
failures.

In short, colonisation, as a commercial speculation, has failed there, owing to the great
calls on capital, and the risks incurred.

A few private undertakings have been accomplished the last few years in the subdi-
vision of Oran ; and the property of H. Dupre de St. Mam - , 27 kilometres (17n miles) from
Oran, and containing 910 hectares (2170 acres), to be peopled by twenty families, is pro-

3CG PROVINCE OF CONSTANT! NA.

Pjrovince of Constaxtina.
I. Colonisation in the Civil Territory.

1. Centres created by the government:

The only new creations in this territory since 1847 are the villages of
Bugeaud and D'Uzerville.

Bugeaud is a woodland rather than an agricultural centre, situated at
the entrance of the forest of Edough. It is intended to receive some fa-
milies of wood-cutters, whereof some were already settled and employed
by the government in 1850; and the others were shortly expected from
the department of the Yosges. As these families are too poor to settle in
the village and erect houses at their own cost, the minister- of-war decided
that eight workmen's dwellings should be built at the expense of the state,
and that a part of the territory should be appropriated to the construction
of villas. This twofold measure will rapidly advance the prosperity of
the village. — D' Uzerville. The creation of this centre is already of some
standing; but its progress had been retarded by local causes, and by the
necessity of drainage as a preliminary measure. It was in the last three
months of 1850 that the colonists began to settle there. The territory
is excellent, and the vicinity of Bona must secure its eventual prosperity.

The old centres in the civil territory are nine in number, i.e. Constan-
tina, Bona, Philippeville, Valee, Damremont, Saint-Antoine, Guelma, La
Calle, and Bugia.

Constcmtina. The territory of this centre was long confined to the
circuit of the town; but since 1849 it embraces a district of 14,000 hec-
tares (34,580 acres). A portion of land has been conceded, and is on
sale. Five groups of habitations have spontaneously arisen in it, corres-
ponding to the principal divisions of the territory; namely, Sidi-Mabrouck,
Oued-Yacoub, Cherakat-Bou-azen, Hamma, and Constantina. At the end
of 1850 there were 78 undertakings of private enterprise in this district.

Cultivation begins to extend around the town of Boiuv. A certain
number of proprietors, instead of confining themselves, as heretofore, to
stacking hay and forage, have seriously applied themselves to agriculture.
The success of these undertakings must depend entirely on the completion
of roads and drainage, which have been hitherto crippled for want of
funds.

grossing the best. A few other concessions. ami fifteen farms, have been granted and
Led in this subdivision; but the whole affair seems throughout slow, though more
sure, in this province. The Valley of the Gardens at Mostaganem is the most nourishing
spot in the province. Further particulars relating to colonisation in the province of Orau
will be found at pp. 214-15 of the Tableau for L849-50.

PROVINCE OP CONSTANTINA. 3G7

Philippeville. The territory surrounding this town is almost entirely
conceded, is in good order, and fetches a good price; and it is desirable to
enlarge it. Independently of the cultivation of the valley of Zeramna, the
hilly country situated between Philippeville and the port of Stora, and
known as the ravine of Beni-Melek, contains a great number of very pro-
ductive small farms, where the cultivation of vegetables, fruit-trees, and
vines is daily increasing. — Valee, Damreniont, Saint Antoine. These three
centres, which are situated near and in a radius round Philippeville, have
very good j->rospects. The colonists continue to attend to the breeding of
cattle, which is in a thriving state; and the amount of tillage and plant-
ing is continually on the increase.

Colonisation had made rapid strides round Guelma in 1849-50. In-
dependently of three agricultural colonies that were created in 1848 in its
vicinity, the town has continued to spread, and numerous concessions have
been made in its district. The colonists have built dwellings, and founded
oil and flour mills; and the cultivation of olive-trees is one of the great
sources of wealth in this part of the country, admitting of unlimited ex-
tension.*

La Calle. We have already observed that there is no opening for the
erection of a village near this place, where the only development that colo-
nisation can take is the working of mines and the care of the cork-forests,
as there is an entire deficiency of arable land in that part of the country.

Two little centres have already arisen spontaneously at spots named
Le Melah, 12 kilometres (7£ miles) from La Calle; and at Oum-Thaboul,
16 kilometres (10 miles) from that town.t

* An agricultural territory has lately been formed round Bugia, in which tillage has
begun to make rapid strides, after being kept in check for many years by the hostile
Kabyles of the vicinity. European colonists can now find safe and desirable settlements
in this district, since the submission of the Kabyle tribes, and the opening of a road to
Setif.

t The preceding remarks will give a notion of the results obtained, in matters of culti-
vation, by private capital, in places under the civil jurisdiction. These results are the
most remarkable in the vicinity of Philippeville ; but the territory of Bona, almost entirely
in the possession of private individuals, and so long in a stationary condition, is beginning
at last to be cultivated in real earnest ; and Guelma, whoso advance was long thwarted by
its isolated position, presents a continual progress in the cultivation of its fertile territory.
Lastly, within a recent date, numerous concessionaries or grantees have been established
in the district of Constantina, and are in a thriving condition. Thus this phase of the
colonisation of the province is in a satisfactory state.

Many future plans are, moreover, in agitation for the promotion of colonisation in the
civil territory. Thus it is proposed to make Guelma the centre of a great network of colo-
nisation, by the erect ; on of six villages ; and it is also projected to build a village near
Bugia.

3GS mOVINCE OF constantina.

II. Colonisation in the Military Territory.

1. Centres created by the government:

Three villages have been created since 1847 in the military territory,
i.e. Saint-Charles, Conde, and Penthievre.

Saint- diaries is situated in the valley of the Safsaf, on the road from
Philippeville to Constantina; and building as well as agriculture are pro-
gressing there. The territory of this centre has been allotted in such Avise
as to admit of the establishment of large, middling, and small estates.
Situated about half-way from Philippeville to El-Arrouch, traversed by
an excellent road, and surrounded by a rich district of wood, arable, and
meadow land, the village of Saint-Charles enjoys great advantages. — Gondfi
stands a few kilometres from Constantina, on the road to Philippeville;
but as yet it has not been much developed; and though a few houses have
been built, and some concessions have been made to colonists, cultivation
is hitherto not far advanced. This village being, moreover, a halting-
place for travellers, the colonists have, up to the present time, devoted
themselves chiefly to trading. — Penthievre has been hitherto in a very
backward condition, although its position is most favourable, both on the
score of farming and traffic. It stands almost midway between Guelma
and Bona, which are separated by a distance of GG kilometres (41-01
miles) ; and it is an indispensable halting and baiting place for man and
beast. Water and wood are abundant in the district, which contains much
very fertile land. The only thing needful to secure the prosperity of this
village is a good road to unite it with Bona and Guelma.

The other centres, existing before 1847, in the military territory, are :
El-Arrouch, Setif, Djidjelli, Batna, and Biskara.

The territory of El-Arrouch is, at the present time, almost entirely
granted and cultivated, and is remai'kable for its fertility. The state of
the colonists at this spot is satisfactory.

St 'if. Colonisation begins to extend in the district of this town, which
contained in 1850 twelve private farms, independently of a great number
of small dwelling-houses and cottages in the gardens near the town.
Hands have been hitherto wanting for agriculture; but it is anticipated
that the pacification of Kabylia, and the opening of the road from Setif
to Bugia, will attract a numerous population to this centre. At a few
kilometres from Setif, a centre of population, called Ain-Sefia, was created
in 184G; whose inhabitants possess a number of beautiful gardens and
fine plantations, while the .surrounding land is extremely rich." — Djidjelli

* Four other little villages arc in the process of formation around Setif, at spots named
I- 1 ■. Kalfoun, Mezloug, and Fcrmatou. Neither of them has hitherto been regularly

constituted.

PROVINCE OF CONSTANTINOPLE 309

having been in a constant state of blockade since its first occupation, the
farming in the vicinity is very limited; but the subjection of Kabylia will
give breathing-time and a fair field for colonisation. Batna has just re-
ceived the grant of a farming district of 8700 hectares (21,489 acres), con-
sisting of very fertile land, covered with an abundance of wood. A certain
number of concessions have been already made, some of which are in a
very thriving state. But the future prospects of this spot are as inti-
mately associated with traffic as with tillage; since, owing to its position
between the mountains of the Aouress and of the Ouled-Sultan, on the
passage from the Tell to the Sahara, it is destined to become some day an
important emporium for goods coming from the north and south.

It will be necessary to annex a district for colonisation to Bislcara, in
order to secure the settlement of those colonists who are at present at-
tracted to the spot by the demand for engineer labour, and by the presence
of the troops. The soil and climate of Biskara seem well adapted to the
culture of tropical plants; and it is intended to establish there shortly a
jardln cVacclimatatiort, (nursery-ground for exotics). This town forms,
moreover, a good channel for French commerce with the interior of Africa."

Four centres of population already existed in 1850 in the valley of the
Safsaf, i.e. St. Charles, El-Arrouch, Gastonville, and Kobertville.j

Between El-Arrouch and Conde are already two little agglomerations

* In 1846 it was proposed to colonise the valleys of the Safsaf and of the Bon-Merzoug.

The first, which was given up to colonisation in 1847, contains about 20,000 hectares
(49,400 acres). It has been divided into two parts : 8000 hectares (19,760 acres) on the
right bank of the river have been given up to the tribe of the Beni-Mehenna, who were
previously dispersed over the valley ; whilst 12,000 hectares (29,640 acres) have been re-
served for, and distributed amongst, European concessionaries.

It was first attempted to adopt the system of largo concessions, many of which were
granted, and are still occupied and cultivated ; but here, as in the province of Oran, ex-
perience has proved that thej- are not so successful as those on a smaller scale. It has
been found necessary to execute a good many evictions ; and the greater part of the great
lots of land, subdivided into fractions of from 25 to 100 hectares (62 J to 250 acres), are now
in process of cultivation. Some of these farms have become notorious for the breeding of
cattle in large numbers.

As for the valley of Bon-Merzoug, beyond Constantina, it contained, at the end of
1S50, 53 concessions, embracing each from 40 to 100 hectares (100 to 250 acres). Some of
these concessionaries have already undertaken very important works.

A system of colonisation is now in process of execution in this district, of which the
following are the principal features : first, the creation of two villages as foci of industry,
and seats of middling and small properties ; whilst nine hamlets, inhabited by petty culti-
vators, are to irradiate round these villages ; isolated farms covering the rest of the valley,
containing each from 80 to 100 hectares (200 to 250 acres).

Several private farms in a thriving state are now in existence around Setif. Lastly,
colonists arc now established in the district of Batna, and their number increases daily.

*T A new village and some hamlets were being surveyed at the end of 1850, intended to
complete the plan of colonisation in that territory. There was also a plan for colonising a
vast territory around Constantina in the form of a polygon, to contain five European towns,
each possessing a territory of 1S00 or 2000 hectares (4500 or 5000 acres), and 120 families ;
the towns to stand at the angles of the polygon, on the roads to Setif, Msila, Philippe-
ville, Haractas, and Batna ; the interior of the polygon to be filled with farms of all sizes.

A A

370 THE PENAL COLONY OF LAMBESSA.

of population — Touniiettes and Kantours — the nucleus of future vil-
lages.

The road traced out from Bona to Philippeville, by the valley of Fen-
deck, coasts along the north bank of Lake Fetzara, passes the valley of
Oued-Ensa, and abuts at St. Charles, in the valley of the Safsaf. The
entrance of the valley of Fendeck being a favourable site for a colony,
the village of Jemmapes has been established there,

A little centre of population called Atnienia has also been formed on
the road from Constantina to Setif. Lastly, a penitential colony has
been formed on the site of the Koman town Lambessa, whose name it
bears. This colony has been devoted to the political convicts who were
condemned and transported after the June insurrection in 1848, and was
founded in conformity with the law of the 24th of January 1850. It
stands near Batna; the climate is very healthy, water is very abundant,
and the local administration comprises above 3000 hectares (7401 acres)
of excellent land.'"'

This establishment, which seems to combine many advantages and
some defects, directs our thoughts naturally to that fatality in French
governments and economists, which leads them to- conceive wonders on
paper, and bring forth abortions or monsters in practice. Parturiunt
monies, nascitur mus. Bravely do they theorise of national workshops,
national banks, Icarias, Harmonies, and Utopias; governments talk of
progress ; presidents and emperors spout much about order and La Belle
France; and yet, with a noble colony at their doors, once the granary of
Europe, they cannot keep peace at home, and they send a few half-starved
skeletons, yclept socialists, from the Faubourg de St. Antoine, to perish
miserably in the marshes of Bona. Verily, prevention is better than
cure.

Never yet has France fairly faced the subject of colonisation. The
Turks kept Algeria with 10,000 men, the French require 100,000. Here

* This penitential colony has been founded on the following principles : 1. The crea-
tion of a penitential establishment, carrying on external labour in common in the day-
time, "and separately at night. 2. The addition of a certain plot of land to it, for the
purpose of the agricultural department connected with it. The land was intended to be
extensive enough to occupy 600 convicts. 3. Other land to be attached to the establish-
ment, on which might ultimately be erected two or three villages, with provisional conces-
sions to the convicts.

The plan'for tho building, designed by military engineers, was approved by the minister ;
but, the works only began in March 1851. In July 1851 all the foundations of the vast

&ce were completed, four buildings int ended 6 »r stables were occupied, and the barracks
were finished to tho first story. The main building was in process of erection, to contain
600 cells, in three stories : it was expected to be roofed at tho end of 1851. The govern-

Li offices were only to bo begun in 1852 ; but it was hoped that all would be finished in
tin! course of that year.

1 1 was expected that the building would be sufficiently advanced to receive 200 con-
victs in October 1651.

FRENCH UTOPIAS. 371

is a large screw loose; and money that ought to go to establish emigrants
is swallowed up by a preventible evil.*

The best cure for the barricade is emigration, and over-pressure at
home will ever beget explosions in mercurial Paris. Let the French
government export sundry cargoes of blouses to Algeria, and we shall
hear no more, I ween, of la lanterne, coups d'etat, and glorious three
days. French Africa is the true issue to relieve the humours of the
mother-country j and a little common sense could preserve order at home,
without showers of bullets, hedges of bayonets, and legions of priests, by a
spirited, liberal, and earnest encouragement and promotion of emigration
among the proletaires of the large cities of France. It is evidently the
divine intention, that man should go forth and replenish the earth and
subdue it ; and should the womb of time bring forth difficulties, and the
globe be in danger of a glut, let our brave French theorists muster their
Icarias, their Phalansteries, and their ateliers, or national workshops, and
make the experiment in the field, and not upon paper, of giving, as they
promise, a nouveau monde (new world).

Nay, we are far from flattering ourselves that our present social system
is perfection ; and when China itself is breaking up, that a new world may
rise from her ashes, we may safely infer that we are still growing, till we
reach our proper and perfect stature. Only we say, instead of breaking
windows, heads, and hearts in old Europe, give our visionaries a fair
field, and let them work out their problems of economy and fight out
their quarrels in a new world, and not in old Europe. If they fail, their
folly will have received a sufficient punishment ; if they stand, we shall
profit by their wisdom.

To complete our description of the state of colonisation in Algeria, it
remains for us to speak of the agricultural colonies (colonies agricoles),
founded by a law of the National Assembly dated September 19th, 1848,
by which a sum of fifty millions of francs (2,000,000£.) was voted for their
establishment. |

The emigrants, amounting to about 135,000, were disseminated
amongst forty-two agricultural centres, which are thus analysed between
the three provinces :

The province of Algiers comprises twelve colonies, forming successive
steps (eclielons) along the roads, or placed near centres destined to acquire
some importance. %

* A remarkable contrast to the inertia of French colonial administration is presented
in the rise and progress of the enterprising Rajah o£ Sarawak, Sir James Brooke. See
Hugh Low's Sarawak, 184S.

f These colonies were to be formed of farmers and of mechanics : the former being made
admissible to receive concessions of land of from two to ten hectares (5 to 25 acres), with a
dwelling-house, and funds necessary for their establishment ; the latter might enjoy the
same advantages, if they showed their intention of settling in the country.

X Thus, L'Afroun, the Bou-Roumi, Marengo, and Zurich, are situated on the road from

372 AGRICULTURAL COLONIES.

The twenty-one agricultural colonies founded in the province of Oran
are grouped into three principal circles, those of Mostaganem, of Arzeu,,
and of Oran. They gravitate in a small radius round these points ; and
the colony that stands furthest from the sea is separated from it by an
interval of about twenty-five kilometres (lof- miles).'"'

The agricultural colonies of the province of Constantina are nine in
number, concentrated in the three circles of Bona, of Guelma, and of
Philippeville. They are placed in the vicinity of the roads that lead from
Bona to Guelma, and from Philippeville to Constantina, save a few that
are at present rather more remotely situated from the great arteries of
transit. |

Before any new bodies of emigrants were sent off, the National Assem-
bly wished to learn the state of the colonies of 1848 ; and a commission
having been sent by the minister of war to examine them, gave in its
report on the 30th June, 1849. From this document it appears that the
greatest difficulty found in organising these colonies resulted from the
improper choice of the colonists, most of whom, coming from the work-
shops of Paris, were not fit for farm- labourers; and also from the presence
of some idle men, who unsettled the minds of the others.

This state of things has been greatly improved since, chiefly by the
dismissal of those unfit, and their substitution by families of agriculturists,
and old soldiers inured to Africa. The latest accounts bear witness to the
happy change resulting from this arrangement. J

Independently of the physical wants of the colonists, the administra-
tion has not been unmindful of their moral and spiritual necessities. Pro-

Blidah to Cherchell ; Castiglione and Tefeschoun on the projected road from Algiers to
Chcrchell along the shore ; Lodi on the road from Modeah to Milianah ; Damiette and
Novi, the first near Medeah, the last near Cherchell ; finally, more to the west, on the
road from Tenes to Orleansville, Montenotte ; and near Orleansvillo, La Ferme and
Ponteba.

* Near Mostaganem are Aboukir. Rivoli, 'Ain-Nouisy, Tounin, Karonba, Ain-Tidoles,
Souk-el-Mitou. Round Arzeu you find St. Leu, Damesme, Arzcu, Muloy-Magoun, Kleber,
Mefessour, St. Cloud. In the neighbourhood of Oran have been created, Fleurus, Assi-
Ameur, Assi-ben-Ferrah, St. Louis, Assi-bcn-Okba, Assi-bou-Nif, and Mangin.

+ In the circle of Philippeville you meet with Jemmapcs, Gastonville, and Robertville ;
near Guelma you find Hcliopolis, Guelma, Millesimo, and Petit ; and in the circle of
Bona, Mondovi and BarraL

J The supplii s '.'-ranted by the state to these colonies arc analysed as follows : —

1. A storehouse of one story, containing two rooms, each of from 3 metres 50 centi-
metres (11-78 feet) to 5 metres (16 - 40 fee.t), and a tile roof.

2. To each family have been plotted from 8 to 20 hectares (20 to 25 acres) of land,
besides a garden.

3. Ploughs, &c, seed and cattle, have been distributed amongst the colonists.

4. A daily ration has been allowed, since ISIS, to all persons of both sexes; half rations
to children. All these supplies were to cease December 31st, 1851. The construction of
roads, and the supply of water in these new colonics, have occupied the attention, and
swallowed up considerable sums, of the government; but they were indispensable.

AGRICULTURAL COLONIES. •>~'-'>

visional buildings have been consecrated for divine worship, and provided
with ministers and assistants.

Schools for boys and girls were also founded at the end of 1849,
several of them confided to the care of nuns and sisters of mercy of
Algiers, who also take charge of the local infirmaries. This arrangement
has naturally had the most happy results.

In virtue of a decree of the 20th July, 1850, justices of peace are to
be established in the most important of these colonies; St. Cloud enjoyed
this privilege in 1850.

These colonics were in such a forward state at the end of that year,
that it is supposed they might have dispensed with the supplies from
government, but for the deficient crops and the ravages of locusts in
1851. It was therefore thought probable that it would be desirable to
continue the government supplies for some months in 1852.

The law of* the 19th of May, 1819, decreed that 6000 additional emi-
grants should be sent out, for whose reception twelve villages were pre-
pared, and 734 houses built. These labours were suspended by a new
law, of July 20th, 1850, decreeing five millions of francs to continue the
colonies of 184S, and people those of 1849. On March 13th, 1851, the
minister of war demanded of the assembly a grant of five millions to
finish the public works in the twelve villages begun in 1849. The govern-
ment decided to renounce the law of September 1848, and to people them
with French or Algerian farmers ; granting them the house and land, but
no further supplies. It was determined to send people of the same depart-
ment to the same place, and to appropriate the mountainous districts, such
as the colonies of Abd-el-Kader-Bou-Medfa, Ain-Benian, and Ain-Sultan,
on the lofty plateaux, near Milianah, to French highlanders, while the
Boeotians should settle in the plain. This project received the sanction of
the assembly July 10th, 1851, when the sum demanded by the executive
was voted.

The last official accounts are, that they were hastening the works in
the colony, preparatory to the reception of the colonists, who were being
carefully and appropriately selected by the prefects of the departments in
France. It was hoped that they would be installed in October 1851.

The completion of the colonies of 1849 would bring into cultivation a
territory of 18,000 hectares (44,460 acres).'"'

* The twelve villages of 1849 are distributed as follows: — Province of Algiers: Arneur-
el-Ain and La Bourkika, on the left bank of the China ; Ain-Benianand the marabout of Sidi
Abd-el-Kader-Bou-Medfa, on the read from Blidah to Milianah and Ain-Sultan, at 16UU
metres (about a mile) from the same road, on one of the outliers to the south-west of the
Gontas. Produce of Gran: Bled-Touaria, Ain-Sidi-Cheri, Ain-Boudinar, and the Pont-
du-Cheli, in the subdivision of Mostaganem ; and Bon-Tlelis, distant thirty kilometres
(lS'b' miles) from Oran, on the road from that town to Tlemsen. In the province of Con-
stantino,, Ahmed - ben - Ali and Sidi-Nassar, at some kilometres from the village of
Jemmapes.

374

AGRICULTURAL COLONIES.

State of the Agricultural Colonies, December 31, 1850*
PROVINCE OF ALGIERS.

Names. Population.

Houses.

Land.

Boiiroumi

Marengo ....

Zurick c

Novi ....

Castig-lione

Tefeschoun . . .
Lodi ....
Damiette ....
Montenotte ....

Total ....

292
26
555
185
345
255
189
365
344
323
188
119

61
15

•Jin)
90

110
75
56

120

120
71
93
55

Hectares.
603
134

1180
515
397
154
118

1019
909

1004
516
413

Acres.

1489-41

330 98

2914 60

1272-05

98059

380-38

291-46

2516-93

2245-23

2479-88

1274-52

102011

3243

1066

6962

17,196-14

The 3423 colonists are analysed into 1533 men, 1221 women, and 489 children. Of the
6962 hectares of land granted, 3375 (8336-15 acres) have been cleared, and the number of
trees planted amount to 173,762.

PROVINCE OF ORAN

Names. Population.

Houses.

Land.

Hectares.

Acres.

Aboukir

221

537

1,332

Rivoli . . .

224

412

1.030

Ain-Nouisy . .

164

420

1.260

Tounin . . .

143

327

817

Karouba . .

100

250

Ain-Tideles

312

107

819

2,047

Souck-el-Mitou

241

881

2,202

Saint Leu . .

134

282

705

Damesme .

125

168

420

Arzeu . . .

135

141

Muley-Magoun

KJeber . . .

274

167

Mefessour . .

138

211

527

Saint Cloud . ,

789

280

2,689

6,722

Fleurus .

207

532

1,330

Assi-Ameur

192

242

605

Assi-ben-Ferrah .

154

41i>

1,025

Saint Louis .

345

148

1,122

2,805

Assi-ben-Okba. .

196

612

1,530

Assr-Bounif. .

143

520

1,300

Mangin ....

118

471

235

Total . .

•

4308

1635

11,086

26,357

Of these 11,086 hectares, 4205 (10,386-35 acres) have been cultivated, and SS,961 trees
have been planted. Of the 4308 colonists, 2001 are men, 1544 women, and 763 children.

* It may be acceptable to th reader to be presented with a sketch of some of these
French colonics from the pen of recent French visitors ; and we shall begin with St. Denis
du SIl', in the provini-:- of'Oran.

tlane was there in 1846, at its birth. "The general" (Lamoriciere), he says,

lied to ascertain the cause why a village so well placid should not have succeeded

better; hence he announced that ho would see any of the colonists at live o'clock. As

AGRICULTURAL COLONIES.

•J to

PROVINCE OF CONSTANTINA.

Names.

Population.

Houses.

Land.

Hectares.

Ac 1 1

Jcmniapcs

512

185

914

2,257-58

350

136

290

716-30

420

147

865

2,136-55

Heliopolis

195

100

532

1,314-04

265

74i.;

1,842-62

208

639

1,578-33

Petit

184

538

1,328-86

376

145

667

1,647-49

Total ....

315

113

489

1,207-83

2825

1044

5680

14,019-60

Of these 2825 colonists, 12S7 are men, 973 women, and 565 children. Of the 5680 hec-
tares of land, 2911 have been cleared, and the number of trees planted by the colonists
amount to 48,626.

The grand total for the three provinces is, 10,376 inhabitants; 3745 houses; 23,937
hectares (59,124-3 acres) of land; 10,491 hectares (25,912-77 acres) of land cleared ; trees
planted, 311,349.

But it is evident that French colonisation in Africa has hitherto been
oppressed by the nightmare of bureaucratic interference; and that the
French have hitherto shown a much greater aptitude to destroy than to
construct. The razzia has heralded the progress of liberty and equality;
whilst dreams on paper have been the fruit and ornament of their colonial
empire in Algeria.

Hardships are the lot of all new settlers; but it seems surprising that
with the example of the Romans, who covered Numidia with flourishing
cities, and with the additional light of science, France should be blind
enough to her own interests and to the interests of humanity, to offer up
her sons, civilians or soldiers, by hecatombs to the demon of fever, for
want of judicious outlay and precautions. If some of the millions lavished
on triumphal arches, imperial progresses, illuminations, and corruption, had
been devoted to great works of national utility in the colony, it would
have been more honourable to the crown, and more acceptable to the
people of Paris and the enlightened part of the provinces.*

soon as the general had finished his cross-questioning, his mind was made up. Orders
were issued to Commandant Chabran to come and bivouac at St. Denis with his battalion ;
and the soldiers turning carpenters, masons, bricklayers, &c, soon rescued this miserable
population from distress. A few months later, the traveller passing through St. Denis
could no longer have recognised it, so greatly was it improved." Such is the statement of
Castcllane. (Castellane, pp. 317, 318.) According to Madame Prus, the colony of Robcrt-
villeh as been entirely destroyed, and the site it occupied is now a vast wilderness ; that
of Penthievre can hardly support one quarter of its population ; that of the Golden River
has filled the hospital of Guelma with its inhabitants ; and Mondovi will soon be a desert.
Madame Prus, Residence in Algeria, 1850.

* Baron Baude observed, in 1840, that the only workmen who could get good employ-
ment in Algeria were the builders and the carpenters : mechanics, who suffer most at home,
would be subject to the same fluctuations there ; and they are not calculated to change
their professional habits, which alone would enable them to get on there. (Vol. hi. p. 123.)

37G COLONIAL GOVERNMENT.

Sanitary and social reform, and colonial empire, are a demand of the
age; and the ruler who is indifferent to these matters can never be said to
have deserved well of his country, and stands far behind the Romans in
public spirit and discernment. Nor are our censures confined to imperial
France, the Republican Assembly having lacked the energy and judgment
of an experienced senate.*

* On Colonisation, see Diary of a Lady's Tour in Barbary, Madame Prus, and the
Tableau for 1S50, sect. 6.

--^^JP^^*^-

THE OOL-AMA — THREE CLASSES OF THEM SHEIKHS KHATEBS AND IMAMS THE

MUFTI THE SANTONS, AND OTHER ORDERS THE DEY's MINISTERS THE

KAIDS — THE KADIS — FRENCH CIVIL ADMINISTRATION FRENCH TRIBUNALS

MUSSULMAN TRIBUNALS AND SCHOOLS.

Justice, like religion, lias worn many strange faces on the shores of
North-west Africa. Praetors have succeeded suffetes,, and made way
for kaids and kadis; whilst bishops have given up their chairs, once shrines
of Apollo or Venus, to imams and muftis.

We do not pretend here to analyse the various phases of faith and
forms of law historically developed in Algeria. We shall confine ourselves
to the code of the Koran under the Turks and the French, and the present
civil and justiciary administration of the French.

The Koran being a civil and legal as well as a religious code, we
unite the secular and religious in one view in treating of the code and
canon of Islam; and following a chronological order, we shall commence
our analysis by researches into the civil and religious administration under
the Turks; and we shall simplify our statements by presenting a sum-
mary enumeration of the names, office, and power of the different au-
thorities.

Beginning with Religion, the basis of every thing in the East and
North Africa — though it is the weathercock in modern European state-
structures, — we find that the califs were pontiffs, judges, and doctors of
the law, having vicars under them named Ool-ama \^clz (learned men),
divided into three classes : 1st, the Imams, or ministers of religion ; 2d,
Muftis, or doctors of law; and 3d, the Kadis, or judges.*

The Mohammedan divine worship being a more serious and essential
part of life than ours, five prayers are repeated daily in the mosques and
in the country by all faithful believers; and a portion of the Koran, which
is so divided as to be read through monthly, is read daily in the mosques,

* Tableau, 1850, p. 205. Blofeld's Algeria, p. 222-4. Pananti, vol. ii. p. 252.

378 THE OOL-AMA.

which are always open, like the venerable fanes of our ancestors and the
beautiful temple of Zion, as a refuge and consolation for the afflicted. The
Khotba, or profession of faith and prayer, is recited every Friday before
the sermon.

The Mesgjeds are always built near cities; and the Khotba cannot be
recited in oratories (marabouts), &c. The Ool-ama, consecrated to the
service of religion, are divided into three classes. 1st, Sheikhs : the mufti
and kadi take this title ; they are the preachers; and in their exhortations
on Friday they sometimes even attack the sovereign, in a way that would
alarm court chaplains and pet parsons nearer home. 2d, the Khatebs,
who preside at the solemn prayer on Fridays, and recite the Khotba.
3d, the Imams, who assist at the daily prayers, excepting on Fridays, and
read a portion of the Koran. The chief Imam assists at circumcisions,
marriages, and funerals. The Mueddins or Muezzins call the faithful to
prayer from the minarets, answering the purpose of incarnate bells; and
their sonorous voice sounds solemnly through the tranquil air as it cries,
" There is no God but Allah; and Mohammed is his Prophet." The mufti
is the head of the code and canon of Islam, at once bishop and judge, —
a dangerous union in Christendom.

The expenses of religion are paid out of the proceeds of estates be-
longing to mosques, in virtue of donations, &c. made by the founders or
others from motives of piety. The Imams also receive various fees.

There is no public Mohammedan worship out of the towns, where
the people are left to the care of the marabouts, divided into three orders
— Santons, Cavalists, and Sunaquites.*

The Santons are under different rules. Some only wear rags; some
go about naked, with fanatical gestures; some, of a more composed and
rational order, despise these extravagances, only maintaining that good
works, fasting, and self-denial refine their minds to the purity of angels;
and others maintain that, when they have arrived at a certain degree of
perfection, they can no longer sin; which has occasioned many vicious
practices, analogous to the excrescences of Evangelic Christianity, Avhen
our religion has gone to seed.

The Cavalists are very strict in fasting, never eating animal food.
They have a form of prayer for every month, day, and hour. They speak
of heavenly visions and conversations with angels, by whom these privi-
leged men, like the saints of other creeds and days, are instructed in the
suhlimest secrets, and who solve all their questions. Who shall draw the
limit between hallucination and reality in these raptures'? The negative

* Blof Id's Algeria, pp. 222-4 ; Pananti, p. 249. Pananti says, p. 247., thai Marabout
means men bound by a cord. The sensual Italian has his eye on the Capuchin, and thought
of physical binding. The more spiritual Arabs attach to tb ■ < pression the idea of a moral
obligation, a spiritual tie. Religio cum.' from religare, and is a corresponding term. Henco
Marabout answers to tho French religieux.

THE MARABOUTS. 3/9

prose of European criticism will never root out the instincts of the heart,
or extinguish the poetry of Orient faith. A universal conviction must he
based on truth. This order, conformably with the science or superstition
of all ages, always wear talismans; and they were founded by Beni, an
Arabian doctor.

The Sunaquites are misanthropes, go into deserts, and fly the cities of
men, living on vegetables. Their doctrine is represented as a compound
of Mahometanism, Judaism, Christianity, and Paganism; a coalition appa-
rently formed of the most antagonistic elements, and yet admitting of
fusion in the common religiosity of our nature. These vegetarians sa-
crifice animals, like our modern Platonists,* and do not circumcise before
the age of thirty. They say that all religions are originally inspirations
from God. Having been guided to the pinnacle of wisdom, and the key
of all ecclesiastical history, by the religious instincts of a pure life, they
coolly add that they are the most perfect of men, and that they save the
world with their prayers; showing the invariable alliance of sublimest con-
victions and puerile conceits in the heart of man. Some of these men, it
is said, deserve the veneration they inspire by their virtues; but a great
portion of them, as in other churches, are hypocrites, fanatics, or idiots,
vindicating the old story of the noblest institutions ending in tinkling
cymbals and whited sepulchres.

The marabouts are not recognised by the Mahometan hierarchy. There
are few religious edifices left at Algiers since the French conquest, but
enough for the wants of the population. The ministers of their religion
have been respected, temples built, and their contents protected (even the
entry forbidden to Christians). The French are not now wanting in
charity, but in faith; and they might learn to keep one and gain the other,
by taking a Christian lesson from a Mahometan priest. "j"

* The reader may recollect the case of the amiable translator of Plato, Thomas Taylor,
who was credibly reported to be a gallicide.

f The reader who wishes to obtain a complete insight into th3 dey's government is
referred to the third volume of Pananti's Awt nture. His council of state consisted of his
creatures and slaves : his ministers were the khaznadji, or treasurer ; the michelacci, or
secretary for foreign affairs and the marine ; the admiral ; the kaja, who often acted as
vice-dey ; the field-aga, or commander-in-chief; the horse coggia, or chief of cavalry ; and
the aga baston, who inliicted bastinading. There were four hojas, or secretaries of state,
registering the decrees of the dey : their advice had much weight with the sovereign.
There were also four inferior hojas, who acted as paymasters to the troops, presided over
the receipts of customs; some remaining at court, and others accompanying the armies
and fleets, &c. There were besides, the doletri, or head of justice, who signed treaties;
the mezovard, a warden attending to the police of the city; the checkebcM. who looked
after the noble slaves, and punished Moorish women ; the pitremelgi, or public registrar of
deaths, who looked after the property of deceased persons, and gave certificates of burial ;
the dragoman, the interpreter of the palace, a man familiar with Turkish and Arabic ; and
the rais, or captain of the port, noting the arrival of vessels, &c. All these functions
being honorary, these worthies, like Austrian and Eussian employes, were not scrupulous
about bribes, &c. See Pananti, vol. hi. pp. 25-27 ; Revelations of Piussia, vol. i. ch. vii.
and viii.

380 THE DIVAN.

We shall next analyse the administration of justice among the na-
tives, 1st, before, 2dly, since 1830, — begging the reader to remember
that Mahometan priests are also judges.'"'

The divan at Algiers was their parliament and chambers, representing,
as with us, a small minority of the dominant caste. It was composed of
the old agas, of the yiack bashaws, of 300 boulouchi bashaws, and of 200
oldak or odjak bashaws, — in all about 700pei-sons; and on some momentous
occasions all the old manzoul, or retired agas, and the whole Turkish mi-
litia, attended : in fact, it became a Norsk thing. The oldest aga was pre-
sident. It sat every Saturday at the Casbah, and on the summons of the
dey. The members were unarmed ; and business w T as transacted in the
Turkish tongue. When proceeding to vote, they bawled out together,
creating a confusion to match the Frankfort diet. At one period, all
decrees required the sanction of the diet ; but latterly, like the French
senate of to-day, it became a mockery. The kaja pronounced the will of
the dey, which was law to the members. Coups d'etat were frequent
and unscrupulous at Algiers, as at Paris. The beys governed the pro-
vinces, Avere appointed by the dey, and were almost absolute. Every two
or three years they had to give an account of themselves, and pay in
money to the dey's coffers; but they looked after themselves when at
home, and fleeced their unhappy subjects unmercifully, to heap up the
immense wealth which they sometimes accumulated.

The reader will be prepared now to receive some strange disclosures
concerning Algerian justice.

Next to the beys came the kaids, or governors of towns, who were in
the habit of buying and selling all posts. Thus their political machinery
was much like that of imperial France, and of most churches in Christen-
dom. What the beys had spared was devoured by the kaids. Like mas-
ter, like man : the country was a nest of petty despots and thieves, pass-
ing from the dey, through the beys and kaids, to the chiaous, governed by
two bashaws. The chiaous were Bow-street runners — Turks for Turks
and Arabs for Arabs ; and though unarmed, such was the prestige of their
name and power, that all bent the neck to their mandate, be it death or a
bastinado.

There is honour among thieves ; and the government of Algeria had

* The danger that might seem to result from this powerful combination is much neu-
tralised in the cities, because it is not the man but the office that is respected in the
Mahometan church, where man has never taken the place of God, as with us. Moreover,
thepayofthe priests is so small, that they need not dread the oppression of a golden
hierarchy like that of our Christian Brahmins. 'J lie mollahs, or parish priests, in Aff-
ghanistan are so poor, that, like our curates, they have to keep school to support their
families; and the imams, unlike our pluralists, are men of narrow finances. (See Elphin-
stone's Travels in CaiuL, 1809.) As regards the tribes, tho marabouts, as we have seen,
are paramount ; but the institution is democratic, open to all, and humanising in its
effects.

THE KADIS. 381

its bright side, in escaping the spirit of caste and the exclusive selfishness
of oligarchies ; but it combined the usual anarchy and despotism of demo-
cracies. Yet this applies only to the Turks ; for the latter were to the
Arabs like the Norman nobles to the feudal serfs of the middle ages.
Nevertheless, their administration was firm, and they secured that panacea
of modern civilisation, order. They might smother resistance in tear-,
and silence it in blood ; but as long as this result was obtained, it was no
doubt very desirable, like the coup d'etat of 1851.

We have said that the Koran is the law of Mussulmans; and the sanc-
tion of the mufti, called tefta, is necessary for the validity of a law.

The kadi studied, at Stamboul or Cairo, the Arabic pandects, &c., and
administered justice, or rather injustice, once or twice per day; but he was
open to bribery," and therefore the dey and his officers commonly settled
affairs of importance. All causes were quickly, we may say summarily,
decided.'"

There was a kadi for the Turks and a kadi for the Moors ; and they
both had clerks called paips, who acted as judges in the villages. All
matters of property were referred to them. The kadi traded in justice ;
for there is a law for the rich and another for the poor in Algeria as well
as in England.

In civil processes the decisions were venal, summary, and unjust ; an
irritable kadi before dinner being apt to administer a hundred blows in-
discriminately to both parties, — like some of our magistrates, who, when
somewhat touchy, will lock a man up in a hurry, without benefit of clergy
or bail. Yet even at Algiers Christeudom might learn some useful lessons
in jurisprudence. The dey sat all day to hear all complaints and petitions.
All causes were carried on in public; there were no ruinous delays, no
chancery, no quibbles. The law was clear, and there were no solicitors;
and the litigious spirit was kept down by the fear of the bastinado ; just as
blackguards were taught good manners a few years back by fear of twelve
paces and hair triggers.

Criminal jurisprudence in Algeria had two good qualities : it was
prompt and sure. For murder, death. Robbers were mounted on asses
and had one hand docked. Christian and Jewish familiarities with Mussul-
man women were punished with death, if the guilty pair were taken in
flagranti delicto; otherwise, the man was well thrashed. The guilty wo-
man, seated on an ass, facing the tail, was paraded through the town, then
put into a sack, and drowned or smothered in mud. Conspirators were
strangled : feigned bankrupts, if Christians, strangled ; if Moors, impaled ;
if Jews, burned. If a debtor was willing to pay, he had to pay double. A
debtor refusing to pay was shut up, and his goods and chattels sold, the

* See Bbfeld (pp. 222-4), who appears to have copied Pananti's observations, and to
have very unhandsomely abstained from acknowledging his authority. Compare Pauanti,
vol. hi. p. 44.

382 FKENCH ADMINISTRATION.

surplus, if any, being given to him ; after 1 00 days lie was flogged and
released, but if he still owed his creditor, the latter could stop and strip
him till repaid. Tribes and districts were answerable for the crimes within
their pi-ecincts.

Justice in Barbary was unaccompanied by clemency. They avoided
the inconvenience of sending monsters pleasure-trips to the Pacific, and of
giving regicides comfortable berths in Bedlam ; but theirs was a reign of
terror. u Crucify him ! crucify him !" was the chorus of all the kadis and
muftis.

Their punishments were as severe as those of China, but their basti-
nades do not seem to have been so vigorous as the flogging of royal and
noble colonels nearer home; and they never equalled the gallantry of Aus-
trian butchers and British mechanics, in stripping and lashing the fair sex.*

We shall add an outline of the French civil administration of Algeria.

The colony has been variously organised and analysed since 1 830 ; but
we shall here confine ourselves to a comjiendious statement of its present
organisation. Since 1848 many of the colonial departments are attached
to the government at home. Thus the service of the domaines, or go-
vernment property, and of registering, as well as the levying of taxes,
are effected direct through the minister of finance and his agents. The
ministry of Avar in France is invested with the following functions: the
interior, public works, agriculture, commerce and finances, save the cus-
tom-houses. The other French ministers exercising a direct authority
on Algeria are those of justice, of public instruction and worship, of ma-
rine, and of finance through the customs.

A new order of things in the interior organisation of Algeria was pro-
mulgated on the 9th and 16th of December, 1848. Algeria is divided
into three provinces, subdivided into three departments and three mili-
tary territories. The governor-general has the supreme command of the

* Pananti's Avventure, The best and fullest account of native jurisprudence will be
found in the Exploration sdentifique. Interesting particulars relating to their administra-
tion under the Turks occur in the Nachrichten und Bemerhungen iiler den Algierischen
Stoat, by Eebinder. Altona, 1798-1801, 3 vols.

In a former place we have suggested the expediency of a mild slavery as an elevating
transition from the basin of the Niger ; and it is now our intention to attack a cruel slavery
as :i degrading transition for the nations of Christendom. The negro, by slavery in
Alters., became a man ; the Christian a beast. An elevation for the former was a degra-
dation for the latter ; but the absolute condition of the negroes in the Regency was para-
dise to that of Christians, and I might add Jews.

The Christian slaves were of two classes: first, thoso of the deylikj secondly, those of
private houses. They were frequently immersed in debauchery, but were more respected
tl Vlgii re than the free Christians.

The redemption of slaves was effected in three ways : first, by the public redemption at

the charge of the state of which tho slaves were subjects ; secondly, by the media of such

religious societies as made collections for that purpose ; and by the orders of private per-

. There were various other duties to pay, such as ten per cent on the ransom to the

custom-house.

MUNICIPAL INSTITUTIONS. 383

army and the high administration, especially all relating to colonisation.
He governs the military territories through the generals commanding
there; and he has with him a secretary-general, centralising the adminis-
trative correspondence, and a council of government. The three depart-
ments are governed by prefects, with sub-prefects in each arrondissement,
civil commissioners and maires in the communes. There is a council of
prefecture with each prefect. The prefects correspond with the governor-
general and with the ministers at home. The military territories are ad-
ministered, under the generals-in-chief, by subordinate generals command-
ing subdivisions and circles. There are still consultative commissions at
the chief towns of these subdivisions. The judicial functions in this terri-
tory are filled either by a juge de paix or by the officer in command;
and under them, the functions of magistrates and police-officers either
by the commandants or maires. The settled natives are administered by
the prefects, who name the village sheikhs (16th December, 1848). The
wandering Arabs are subject to military administrations.

As regards the municipal institutions. In August 1848 Algeria was
subdivided into communes, each having elective municipal councils. Elec-
tors are all French and naturalised foreigners, or foreigners and natives
holding concessions and above twenty-one. Members of the council are
generally all French, but strangers and natives are admitted under certain
restrictions. The ballot is used, and answers admirably of course, as at
the election of the emperor. At Algiers the council reckons twenty-four
members ; elsewhere, fifteen, twelve, and nine. Maires are named for
three years by the governor-general or the executive ; and the municipal
councils can be suspended, but cannot be dissolved, by the governor.

On the 16th December, 1848, the nomination of the maires was given
over to the prefects, and their appointment has been suffered even in the
military territories.

On the 31st December, 1849, there were in Algeria six great parishes
with municipal councils. Several other places have been erected into
communes, and have maires; and in other localities in the civil territory
the civil commissaries take their place. The commandants de place usually
fill their place in the military territories ; and five new civil commissariats
were appointed, on the 4th of November, 1850, in the towns of the in-
terior, till then subject to military rule.*

At present General Random minister of war under the Republic, still
remains governor-general of the colony.

* By recent accounts, it appears that the praetorian government of Louis Napoleon is
about to make some sweeping alterations in the administration ; and a brood of hungry
Bonapartes are to be let loose, like a plague of locusts, on the promised land. It is
reported that Prince Napoleon Jerome is named viceroy, with General Pelissier as com-
mander-in-chief; but the sucking Coesar has delayed his departure, preferring to sport his
plumes among the Elysian Fields, rather than encounter the fever of Bona and the
sirocco.

384

FRENCH TRIBUNALS.

In 1S48 the service of justice, -which had hitherto remained in the
hands of the minister of war, was attributed to the minister of justice by
decrees of the 30th May and 20th August, which conferred on the latter
what had previously been given to the minister of war, in matters of jus-
tice relating to the French and European population of the civil terri-
tories. Native jurisprudence remains subject to the minister of war.
Two civil commissariats were established the same year, one at Tenes,
the other at Bugia. They filled the same functions then as juges de paix,
who were wanting. Lastly, in 1849 the administration of justice received
a considerable extension. By a presidential decree of July 9th, a tribu-
nal de premiere instance was established at Constantina. Four juges
de paix were also created by the same decree, each attached to a tribunal ;
their functions extend over a radius of 2000 metres round the chef lieu.
They are the juges de paix of Medeah, belonging to the tribunal of
Blidah ; of Tenes, belonging to the tribunal of Algiers ; of Guelma, be-
longing to the tribunal of Constantina ; of Tlemsen, belonging to the
tribunal of Oran.

In 1850 Tenes and Guelma were brought into the civil territory.

The following table gives a view of the state of the French tribunals
and officers of justice on the 31st December, 1849 :

Court of Appeal.

Algiers

Tribunals of the
First Instance.

Justices of Peace.

Civil Commissaries

exercising judicial

functions.

"Algiers . .

Blidah . .

Constantina .
Bona .
Philippeville .

Oran

••■I

Algiers, north canton
Algiers, south canton

Douera \ Cherchel]

Tenes

Blidah.
Koleah.

Medeah.

Constantina.

Bona

Guelma

Philippeville

Oran.

M "stagaiiem.

Tlemsen.

| La Callc.
Bugia.

One commercial tribunal existed at Algiers before 1847; another was
established at Oran on the 1st of July of that year. On the 24th Novem-
ber, 1847, the elective principle of French legislation was applied to the
formation of the Algerian tribunals. As regards penal jurisprudence, no
modification has been effected in it of late years. According to the decree
of September 2G, 1842, the French tribunals take cognisance of all crimes
committed by men of all nations and religions, in all cases falling under
French law. But the Mussulmans remain subject to the jurisdiction of
their kadis in cases that constitute crimes according to their law and not

FRENCH TRIBUNALS. 385

to French law. The court of appeal of Algiers judges directly the crimes
committed in the civil territory of the province of Algiers; the tribunals of
Bona, riiilippeville, Oran, and Constantina, give a first judgment in crimes
committed within their jurisdiction, but appeals are made from their deci-
sion to the court at Algiers. Hence these courts have the same cogni-
sance in criminal matters as the courts of assizes in France. In correc-
tional matters, all the tribunals of the first instance are cognisant of the
crimes committed in their ressorts. The tribunal of Algiers alone has a
special correctional chamber ; and the court of appeal of Algiers decides
on appeals from the judgment of the correctional tribunals. Lastly, the
juges de paix, or, in default of them, the civil commissaries, decide con-
cerning the infractions of police regulations in their canton or district.

The tribunals of simple police gave 7607 judgments in 1849, of which
1100 were acquittals. The correctional police tribunals gave judgment in
1062 cases in 1840.

The court of appeal of Algiers, and the tribunals of Bona, Philippe-
ville, Constantina, and Oran, condemned 180 criminal affairs in 1849.'"'
In 1842 the governor-general had the nomination of the kadis and muftis,
who are all paid by the state, according to the admirable code of the
French administration, on this point worthy rivals of the Romans. It was
only slowly, and by dint of great efforts, that the kadis were brought in
1846 to give an exact account of the administration of justice in their
districts.

A new organisation was given to the Mussulman tribunals in the civil
territory in 1848. A decree of the governor -general, dated July 29,
1848, regulated the composition of the midjeles, or superior tribunal,
and of the tribunals of the kadis of the two sects Maleki and Hanefi.t

The cases that most commonly appear before the kadi for settlement
are those for payment of money, supplies or labour due, demands for di-
vorce ; whilst there are few law-suits about disputed landed property.

The commonest cases in penal matters are drunkenness, which are
much the most numerous ; breaking the fasts, blasphemy, and improper
behaviour in religious edifices.

* Of the 180 affairs, 57 crimes were against persons, and 123 against property. The
number of persons condemned was 273 ; 83 prosecuted for crimes against persons, and 190
against property ; 245 men and 28 women, or 11 women to 100 men.

Of the 273, 43 were French, 78 foreigners, and 152 natives; and in matters of reli-
gion, 120 Christians, 117 Mussulmans, and 3b' Israelites. They present 15 minors of 16
years, 51 minors under 21, above 16, and 207 of and over age. See Tableau de la Situa-
tion, &c, 1850, pp. 1G4-5 and following tables.

f Another decree of the same date appointed oukila, or agents, and pleaders, who
defended the natives gratis on trial. A third decree settled the charges of suits in tho
native courts of law, which had led to many abuses. All cases are ordered to be registers I
now ; but this cannot always be effected, and tho present accounts of judicial operations
among the natives are still very uncertain. The kadi of Blidah has calculated the number
of unrecorded decisions in 184(j at from 400 to 500.

B B

3S0 MUSSULMAN SCHOOLS.

The kadis still inflict the hastinade, which is admitted hy the customs
of the country; and might be advantageously administered in England, in
our cases of numerous cowardly assaults on females. But in the towns,
the fatal example of European indulgence has led them to substitute, for
thrashing, imprisonment, which was formerly very rare.*

The number of individuals in the towns imprisoned in 1819 was 124 ;
bastinadoed, 15; fined, 7. The number of judgments in litigious cases
{en matiere civile), 2333.-J-

We have long heard that the schoolmaster is abroad ; and it seems
that he has stalked over the Mediterranean, and is prowling about the
Sahara. Young Arabs are trying to square the circle, and young Turks
are studying perpetual motion.

Primary schools are called mecids (s*~~o, m'syd), and the masters are
named maallem (JU,*, professors). These gentlemen have a long stick for
the refractory; and the pupils have each a little board (louhhah), on
which the subject of the day's lesson is written.;};

After acquiring preliminary notions, the children learn to read and
write the Koran, according to prescribed rules of a technical poem called
Nalidm-el-Kharraz.

To know the Koran by heart is the aim of these primary schools ; but
this is seldom attained now. Poverty prevents many parents from afford-
ing the meagre stipend to the maallem, and makes them take away their
children soon, if sent at all.

Tf boys know a part of the Koran, without understanding it, they cele-
brate a fete called khothmah, or seal. There were once maalemat for
girls too; but scarcely any of them remain, and most native women are
in absolute ignorance.

Secondary schools, medregah {(j~j\* rn'dres), whose master is named
mondeviice or chikh (*+£> chyk, elder), the disciple being called thaleb. These
institutions were numerous, and had many manuscripts ; but the French
conquest has almost destroyed them. A few remain, and are preserved in
the library of Algiers. Unfortunately many bivouac fires have been lighted
with manuscripts taken at the rhazyahs.

* These remarks only apply U > the Mussulman tribunals ; as the rabbinical tribunals,
which were also kept up by the decree of 1842, were suppressed on the 9th of November,
1845, only leaving to the rabbis purely religious and administrative functions.

t Tableau, 1850, p. 187.

+ The first thing taught is the points, called noqathj when masters of this alphabet,
they are taught to write the letters, t< rkibott-i 1-hJiorouf; and then they learn the hkan iat,
or vowel-points. Instead of " Our Father, which art iu heaven," the master's text is :

El /ihamdou lillah, reull-el-dlamin ,-j*cLxIl ' »i <Lj Juc^Ul, Praise to God, Lord
of the world.

MUSSULMAN SCHOOLS. 3S7

Constantiua had many medregahs, especially that of El-Salahhyah,
founded by Salahh Bay, a philanthropic man.*

The French government have offered to the Arab youth the entrance
into its own collegc;j- but lew take advantage of its liberality.

* It was, besides, the little mosque of Sidi-Kettani, in the street or gouq ( /^o souq,

street) called Djema. It had many Mss., now in the library of Algiers. The studies in
the medrecah were grammar, rhetoric, logic, metaphysics, theology, and law; as also
the calendar, in order to know the times of day for the five lawful prayers, in a little book
of astronomy called K< rufn/i-i Irii-Siijar ; arithmetic; and versification in the El-khaz-
radjigah, a book on rules of poetry, was also studied by the tolbas. Some studied the
grammar of Ebn-cina (Avicenna), a kind of corpus medicum, and the little treatise of
Dawoud-el-AutaM. The works on grammar used were : El Djemimiyak by Ben Dawoud-
el-Sanhadji el Adjeroumi, and the Elfiyah of Ebn-Malek, besides a poem on verbs called
; it-tl-A/dl. A poem called Nadhan gave some knowledge on religion : this cate-
chism is by Ebn-Atsir.

Divines also study the last great work, El-Bedhawi's commentaiy on the Koran, and
the Sahhabb of El-Boukhani.

In law the student uses the Rigalah, or treatise of Abou-Zid; the JfaoutJta of Ebn-
Malek, and the MoWiassar of Sidi-Khelil.

The Zaouias (& : \y \> zaouya, monaster)/) are the highest schools ; that of Gnerronmah,
among the Beni-Djad, east of Algiers, on the road to Constantiua. is very famous. One of
the hotels attached to the zaouias was Zaouia-rnta-el-Kechahb, ll ue des Consuls, No. 35
(built a.d. 1223) ; another is now in No. 24 Street or Couq el- Djema.

•)* Berbrugger, part i. There is now an Arab college at Paris.

^^^OXl^iC^VV^^-^

CHAPTER XXI.
Oje Jfrtncfj 3imn.

ROMAN RAZZIAS STRENGTH — NATIVE TROOPS ZOUAVES — SPAHIS — FRENCH

CHASSEURS d'aFRIQUE SANITARY STATISTICS, ETC. THE AFRICAN CHIEFS

CHANGARNIER CAVAIGNAC CANROBERT.

T is with pleasure that we turn our backs on the statistical tables and
the beaten highways of Algeria, to fraternise with the gallant French
soldier in the romantic bivouac, or under the friendly shelter of the mar-
quee. Notwithstanding that war is ever a scourge, and desolation has
too often marked the track of its columns, the French army has ever
upheld its high reputation for prowess in the valleys of Atlas; though it
has not always united the humanising spirit of civilised warfare with the
innate gallantry of its race. We are fully aware of the fact, that long-
service in Africa, as elsewhere, has hardened the men into soldiers of for-
tune, whose regiment is their country, and who do not scruple to trample
on liberty at home or elsewhere, in mechanical obedience to their com-
manding officer. Yet intelligence has ever formed an important ingre-
dient in the French army; and we do not believe that it could long be
handled as an engine of barbarous despotism without wounding the
engineer. Recent events at Home and elsewhere might seem to con-

o O

tradict this assertion; yet we have confidence in the ultimate return of
the French army to a sense of duty, self-respect, and patriotism. But
though the march of mind may ultimately rescue the French arms from
national and individual disgrace, we arc far from countenancing an idle
trust in their present moderation and forbearance. Ambition is evi-
dently now their vital principle, glory their vital air; and they would
march to hell to-morrow under a Bonaparte, to wreathe their bayonets in
infernal laurels. Justice requires us to admit their gallantry; prudence
bids us stand prepared; and now to facts.

The numbers, nature, and composition of the French army in Africa
have fluctuated greatly since 1830. At the conquest it amounted to
30,000 French soldiers; in 1848 to 87,704; and in 1850 to 70,771 men.*

* Tableau, i>. 14.

THE DECLINE OF TURKEY. 389

In order to give the reader a historical view of the nature of African
warfare, and the character ot the troops, it requires that we should go
back to the Romans, having already described Spanish razzias.

Caesar changed the manoeuvres of his veteran legions in African war-
fare.'"' He says, "Caesar instructed his troops to fight an enemy of this
nature," i.e. the Libyans, " not like the commander of veteran troops, and
like the victor in the most important actions, but as the trainer educates
his gladiatorial tyros."+

The present precarious position of Turkey, exposed to the insidious
thrusts of Russia and the secret venom of Austria, appears to justify the
following digression on the military spirit and institutions that formerly
caused and upheld her greatness. The spirit must chiefly be sought in
the firm principle of religious conviction, which will always secure the
triumph of its possessors ; and in the decay of this spirit must we princi-
pally trace the abject state of Turkey, and most other empires that have
lost their faith. Many of the institutions that contributed to the early
glory of the Ottoman name have vanished, though some remain. The
fierce Janissary and the dashing Mameluke are no more; but the gallant
Spahis still remain in a few remote districts to parry the thrusts of the
Czar, to form a bulwark against the strides of Cossack despotism; and
to shield the hallowed martyrs of Hungary and Poland. Yet it must be
admitted that Mahmoud and Mohamed Ali struck down some of the main
pillars of Islam, the keystones of Osmanli empire. The heroic beys of

* De Bell. Afr. 71.

+ It appears that the natives were in the times of Sallust, Caesar, Livy, Strabo, and
Procopius, as now, capable of being bent to European discipline. In the army of Han-
nibal the officers were Carthaginians, but the majority of the troops were Kabyles or
Libyans ; and in his great expedition to Italy, he left in Spain a guard of 15,000 Africans.
Thus Polybius informs us that "he left with Asdrubal 450 Libyphcenician and African
horse (a mixed Punic and African race), 300 Lorgitas, 1800 Numidians, Massylians,
Massassilians, and Mauritanians from the shores of the ocean, besides 11,000 African
foot.

After the fall of Carthage, the Pomans encouraged the enlistment of these same men ;
and before he took Gaulish horse into Africa, Caesar had taken Numidians into Gaul.
" Cassar sent Numidian and Cretan archers and Balearic slingers as a succour to the
citizens ;" and again, " Ca>sar led over the bridge the whole cavalry, and the light-armed
Numidian slingers and archers. (De Bell. Oall.i. n. c. 7, 10.) The war ending with the
death of Cato showed how profitable their organisation had been to the party in power.
In the battle before Euspina, Labienus and the two Pacidius's caused the Numidian
auxiliaries, consisting of more than 9000 horse and 3(5,000 infantry, to sustain the chief
shock. (Be Bell. Afr. 13-15, 18, 19.)

At a later period, the Grctulians and Numidians favouringXiesar made the scales turn
on his side, by passing over in bands from the camp of Scipio. Cato made levies in the
province of Utica, and Considius besieged Achilla with eight cohorts of natives. Scipio
occupied Uzita with considerable Numidian forces, and Juba had adopted the Roman or-
ganisation for his forces. (Ibid. 32, 30, 42, 43, 59.) Thus the army of Pompey, as pre.
viously that of Hannibal, was composed chiefly of Africans, Romans alone being the
officers. The zouaves and spahis of modem Algeria, officered by Frenchmen, are much
the same thing.

90 THE JANISSARIES,

Kahira, with the noble Circassian blood coursing in their veins, were
splendid specimens of that chivalrous race which, in defiance of the bribes,
the snares, and the blows of the Czar, has resisted the advance of Kussia
into Turkey and Persia for the last fifty years, converting the Caucasus
into a theatre of imperishable glory, and dying its snows and torrents with
the blood of heroic generations.

It cannot be doubted that the Sultan and the Pasha bought the ad-
vantages of civilisation at a high price. The Turk has been drilled,
dressed in frock-coat and fez, taught to drink brandy, and to steal or
commit adultery ; but it is a cpiestion if these advantages are a compensa-
tion for the sincerity, simplicity, reverence, and honesty that they have
lost. True it is that the Deys had a sly affection for their neighbours'
goods; but Christendom had set them a good example long before; and
the cool partition of the Ottoman Empire by the great Christian powers
in the present century, — awarding Greece to Bavaria (a signal blessing
to that classic land) ; Algiers to France, with her liberty, fraternity, and
equality ; and the Danubian Principalities to Russia, with its knout, secret
police, and Siberia, — must be admitted as creditable specimens of the self-
denial, equity, and honesty of Christendom. The Turkish force at Algiers
consisted of Janissaries, forming the infantry, with a few Spahi troopers.
The Spahis are described by Sir Paul Eycaut as the gentry of the Ottoman
empire, 12,000 in number. The principal officers of the Janissaries, Odas
or Chambers, of which there were 162, were — 1. the Odabashee, lieutenant;
2. the Wekilharg, commissary ; 3. the Bairacktar, ensign ; 4. the Tchor-
bagi, or captain. The general was called the Janizar-Agasi ; the lieu-
tenant-general the Kirhaia Begh.

Previously to laying before our readers the nature of the French and
native troops in French pay, we shall insert a few curious particulars re-
lating to the militia of the Dey — a title signifying patron, or uncle.

In former times the number of Turks in Algiers did not often exceed
5000 men; in 1826 it was less than 4000, most of whom were super-
annuated. At the same time the whole military force of the Algerian
government consisted of about 15,000 men in all — Turks, Koulouglis,
Arabs, &c. The former were infantry, the latter cavalry ; and the Koul-
ouglis were seldom called out except in cases of emergency. They were
excluded from the honour of being deys, aghas, or holding any other
official rank. The Arabs, Kaliyles, &c. were of little value, though kept
in pay, being hereditary enemies of the Turks. Divide et impera was
the maxim of the Turkish government j and it succeeded there, as in
Paris in December 1851. The Arab cavalry could never stand the Turk-
ish infantry. Recruits arrived every five or six years from the Levant,
consisting of shepherds, outlaws, &c, all of whom could become dey; for
never did the sun see so much democracy and equality, united with so
little fraternity, as in every Turkish commonwealth. The officers were,

THE FRENCH ARMY. 391

first, the agha or general, 30 yia-bashees or colonels, 800 balluck-
basliees or captains, and above half that number of oda-bashees or lieu-
tenants."

Before we proceed to analyse the most remarkable corps of the French
army in Africa, we shall present the reader with the following picture of its
personnel, &c.

The total expenditure of the French army amounted in 1845-6 (a
heavy year) to 74,-105,527 fr. (2,978,6217. Is. Sd.) for 60,000 men and
13,890 horses.

The largest army that France has ever had in Algeria was that voted
to Marshal Bugeaud in 1846, amounting to 100,000 French and 25,000
natives. The first article of the budget of 1840 placed at the disposal of
Tthe minister of war 24,000,000 fr. (960.000Z.), for the maintenance of
34,000 additional men and 3800 additional horses, over and above the
effective force of the army, as fixed by the third article of the law of
1845.t

The cavalry in Africa are all well mounted, and the Chasseurs
d'Afrique especially, their horses being of the country, and far better
suited to the climate and fatigue than the French and Sardinian horses.
The Arab horse partakes of the abstemious habits of his master. A little
green meat or chopped straw, or even a few leaves of the wild artichoke,
will sustain his courage for a great length of time, and a ration of barley
is a luxury to him ; whereas the European horse sighs for the leeks and
onions of his native laud, his city of delights. He must have three rations
a day ; and cannot stand the sirocco and want of water. Oats are un-

* Blofeld, p. 212. Walsh's Residence at Constantinople, 2 vols. 8vo. Miss Pardoe's
City of the Sultan, 3 vols. Svo, 1838. Eton's Survey of the Turkish Empire, 179S. Sir
Paul Ryeaut's Present State of the Turkish Empire, 10^2. Aukljo's Visit to Constan-
tinople, 1836.

+ In 1838, the foreign troops in the pay of the French in Algeria cost 7,284,147 francs
(291,365/. IS*, id.). The Arab soldier in French pay receives 1 franc (10d. ) per day, and
maintains himself and his horse. In 1837, the Gendarmes Maurus amounted to 116 men :
infantry 96 ; cavalry 50. They are employed as guides; and they cost, in 1837, 113,000
francs (4,520?.). Tableau, 1839.

With regard to the supplies for the army in the years 1S46-1S49, we hnd that the
total amount of corn consumed by the army in 1846 was 45,326 kilog. 06 q. 2 gr. ^1662
bushels). In 1848 it was 41,714 kilogr. 92 q. 2 gr. ( 1529-51 bushels).

The amount of meat consumed in 1816 amounted to 146,975 quintals 20 kilogr.
(32, 7 74.. 540 lbs.).

In 1848 it was 115,721 quint. 60 kilogr. 4 gr. (25,458,720 lbs.).

These estimates, however, include the whole of the carcass or raw material [poids
brut). The amount of butcher's meat in Ibis was 07,Ul9 quint. 74 kilogr. 2 gr.
(14,744,328 lbs.).

The wood consumed by the army in 1S38 was valued at 520,280 fr. (20,S11Z.).
The negligence of the French government is apparent even in the management of
woods. In 1845 the fire-wood for the army cost 374,000 fr., and was brought almost en-
tirely from other countries ; yet the lentisk, the carob, olive, cork-tree, &c. flourish well in
Algeria if cultivated, besides all the trees of the south of Europe. St. Marie.

392 THE ZOUAVES.

known in Algeria, being too heating for the horses, and probably for the
men ; barley is used instead.*

The native troops in French pay in Algeria are divided into various
classes, according to their organisation and their arms. Some are irregu-
lars, and some regulars ; some infantry, and others cavalry. Like the
Romans before them, and the British in India, the French have found it
expedient to support their power in the conquered territory on native
bayonets or lances ; but they have hung fire in extending the system,
and begotten a hybrid force by sprinkling native regiments with French
soldiers. -j-

" The most historical, and I might add fabulous, of the native troops
are the Zouaves, a bodv of men renowned alike for extravagant daring
and for disorderly behaviour and rascality. They were organised by M.
de Lamoricicre soon after the conquest; and their uniform is much the
same as the Turkish costume, with green turbans. On all occasions they
have been invariably triumphant ; and it is related, that when the Duke
of Orleans wished to reward a private with the cross of the Legion of
Honour, Cavaignac, then colonel of the corps, said : ' If your royal high-
ness wishes to recompense acts of bravery in this corps, you must provide
decorations for every man in the regiment.' "J

-According to Castellane, the regiment was partly formed out of bodies
of French troops called volontaires Parisiens and batailhns de la Charte;
and he adds, that these fire-eaters were led up the breach at Constantina,
in 1837, by Lamoriciere, amidst a tempest of bullets, through springing
mines, and a chaos of ruins. § There is scarcely a valley or a hill but has
borne witness to their gallantry, and re-echoed the report of their muskets;
but we shall only give one more specimen of the stuff they were made of.
At the siege of Zaatcha, in 1848, Colonel Canrobert addressed them thus:

* The average price of the remonte for cavalry in the French army in Africa was said
to be about 425 fr. (17^.) per head in 1S46 ; whereas in 1830 the usual price given was 280
fr. (111. 4s. 2d.). This increased value of horses may be ascribed to tho devastation of the
country by war, and to the rapid decrease of the animals, as well as the retirement of
those who breed them, though this effect has been somewhat neutralised by vast importa-
tions from France and Tunis.

f We shall first pass in review and dismiss tho native irregulars. The Arabs, Desides
paying taxes, have either to furnish a military contingent or means of transport to the
Fren . Immediately that the tribes wcre t subdued, the victors required them to suppiy
irregular horsemen, called ma/ckzt n or gown, to attack the refractory. Ill-armed and un-
disciplined, without_any military organisation, they were often useless, and sometimes dan-
gerous in a body ; but they^supplied excellent spies and scouts. After victory they were
invaluable in hunting: down tho foe. The goums would never tight without the support of
the regular cavalry, through fear of the fanaticism and vengeance of the patriotic party.
As to the requisitions for beasts of transport, they were very imperfectly obeyed till the
final conquest of Algeria ; but after the fall of Abd-el-Ead< r, the goums fought with more
willingness for the French, the transport service was regularly attended to, and now all is
organised. The goums have latterly dene good service, especially in the Sahara, and
appi ar to answer admirably as policemen among the tril i s. (Tableau, 1850, p. 723.)
J St. .Marie. § Souvenirs, p. J6,

the zouaves. 393

" Whatever happens, we must scale these walls ; and if the retreat is
sounded, remember, zouaves, it is not for you."*

Mr. Borrer informs us that the regiment of zouaves was formed by
General Clauzel in 1830, and that it was originally composed entirely of
natives of Algeria ; but that it consists now partly of French and partly
of natives, but chiefly of the former. It is divided into three battalions,
each composed of nine companies ; and the oriental costume of these
troops is picturesque and convenient, consisting of leathern buskins and
loose oriental trousers. Their arms consist of the musket, bayonet, and
a short sword much resembling the ancient Roman yladius. These troops
scale rocks with the agility of mountain goats, combining the utmost en-
durance with great hardiness and strength ; for they are all picked men,
and generally of rather short stature, broad-shouldered, deep-breasted, and
bull-necked ; much more serviceable men for such fighting than our six-
foot grenadiers. They are, however, superlatively cruel, bloodthirsty, and
eager for plunder, if we may believe Borrer ; neither do they give or ob-
tain quarter. t So much for the zouaves, who remind one of the ragged
rascals (88th Connaught Rangers) of Picton.J

The next native corps we shall describe is the Spahis, a body of light
cavalry, whose name is taken from that applied to all Turkish cavalry.
The spahis existed under the deys; and now form a body of regular troops,
divided into four regiments, under Yussuf, who was made a general under
restrictions, to prevent his competing with other generals for promotion
in the French army. We have already described the history and ap-
pearance of this remarkable man. The Romans had their spahis in Africa;
and the Turks never employed more than 16,000 Ottoman troops, govern-
ing Algeria in a great measure through natives, analogous to our sepoys,

* Souvenirs. On the zouaves, see Captain Kennedy, vol. i. p. 49, 50.

t Campaign in the Kabylie. The same authority states, that it was in cheering on
the zouaves during the murderous struggle on the breach at Constantina, that Lamoriciers,
then then- colonel, so narrowly escaped a hideous death from the explosion of numerous
magazines, the fire from which, falling upon the bags of powder borne by the engineer sol-
diers, grievously wounded him, blew half his men into eternity, and rendered a portion
of the venerable Cirta an infernal chaos of ruins, flames, and dying wretches vainly strug-
gling to draw their mangled bodies from the devouring lire. St. Marie bears witness
to the rascality of the zouaves. He says they are mauvais suj'M, and tells many amusing
anecdotes of the clever 'plants that they have performed on honest cits in Algeria, beari a
family likeness to the nugget-frauds and sly doings of old hands at the Australian diggings.
As an evidence of then- desperate valour, he relates that a stand of colours having been made
for the regiment by the Queen of France, Marie Amelie, was pierced by fifteen bullets in
the first engagement, where it was baptised in powder, and made four lieutenants on the
field of battle, three ensigns having been killed there. Mr. Borrer describes their unsteady
behaviour at Bugia thus : "The zouaves especially conducted themselves in a most out-
rageous manner ; all discipline was forgotten by them, and they may be said almost to
have sacked the town (then friendly). Not only did they violently attack and clean out
the wine and liquor shops vi ct amis, and commit other gross outrages, but they sacri-
legiously broke into the French chapel, and robbed it of the sacred plate." Borrer, p. 96.

J See Memoirs of Sir T. Pic ton.

394 THE SrAHIS.

The following is the history of the spahis : In 1830 some squadrons of
Arabs and French were mixed, and after 1G months' service, separated into
three regiments of chasseurs d'Afrique. As this plan was defective, the
spahis were separated in 1834 from the chasseurs, and concentrated into a
native corps of three squadrons, with a sprinkling of Frenchmen dressed
like natives. This arrangement has been found to succeed best. In 1836
the corps of spahis consisted of six squadrons. French may be admitted
in the proportion of one-fourth ; and as a general rule, the chief of each
corps ought to be French, as well as the captain of every squadron, but
in exceptional cases he may be a Turk or native. The pay of the sous-
officiers and spahis is from 3 fr. 50 cents, to 4fr. 90 cents, (from 3s to
4s.), all included. Contingents of Arab allies, &c. can be temporarily
incorporated in the spahis ; and the knowledge of the two languages,
French and Arabic, gives advancement.*

Castellane observes : " Two elements unite in the African cavalry to
insure success — the French and the Arab, the chasseur and the spahi.
Those tall soldiers in blue jackets, notwithstanding their valour, could not
alone have achieved their bold strokes. The Indian was found neces-
sary to drive the Indians out of the American forests ; and the Arab was
wanted to contend with the Arab in Africa. The arm that strikes well
home requires the quick eye and the cunning thought. Such was the ori-
gin of the spahis. Good pay attracted the Arabs, whose discipline Avas
less severe than the French ; and their only uniform was made to consist
in a red burnouse, dropped in a moment. An Arab still, though in French
pay, the spahi could do much, unsuspected, as courier, spy, &c. French
officers, and a sprinkling of European privates, completed the corps ; and
it has often made itself useful. It has been called often, with a smile, the
' refuge of sinners ;' and many free-and-easy characters, who would have
kicked at French discipline, are in its ranks, — adventurous spirits, fabulous
men, whose history is like an old legend."-j~

The other regulars consist of the tirailleurs indigenes or Turkish bat-
talion, who are admirable skirmishers. From M. Borrer we learn that
the French and native regular troops in French pay were analysed as
follows in 18IG: —

1818.

1850.

Men.

Horses.

Men. Horses.

French . .

. . 87,7<»1

18,71-2

70,771 13,189

Native . .

6,653

3,767

6,l:!7 3,422

Total . . . 94,357 22,509 77,2ns 16,611

* Berbrugger, page 48. Tlio ihvss is ■uniform for the officers and men in the Algiers
squadrons, the harness being Arab. Officers in the spahis are obliged to stay in the corps
nt l.;ist two years. Their dress is a dark-blue full trouser ; a djebadoli, or red vest, under
which an: the oedriga (blue waistcoats); ami for their head-dress they have a red cap
(/i i, called in Arabic chachiah, an. I a red turban. Berbrugger; Capt. Kennedy, v. i. p. 99.

■(• Souvenirs, p. I'">.

p. 391.

FRENCH INFANTRY ON THE MARCH.

396 THE CIIASSEUItS D'AFRIQUE.

We read in the work, Studies on the French Army, by Captain Guy
de Vernon, of the 8th chasseurs a cheval, the following article upon the
African chasseurs :

" The chasseurs dAfrique have been, ever since their creation, the van-
guard of the military movements and operations which have signalised
our conquest. . . . Placed as vedettes of our warlike colony, they are
posted at the extremity of the thousand arms, armed with fire and steel,
of that gigantic occupation, which, covering a surface equal to the half of
the territory of the continent of France, will repose for a long time yet
under the shadow of our sabres and bayonets. Chasseurs and spahis 1
their numbers are written in all epochs, and in the most glorious pages of
this modern Iliad. . . . The chasseurs of Africa are real light cavalry in
the full extent of the term, and the highest acceptation which it admits.
These regiments recruit in a most exceptional manner, by means of young
soldiers of two years' service, of sundry other experienced materials,
and even of military convicts whose punishments may be remitted
without danger. They have thus the advantages of previous training
and renewal, which would be sought for in vain elsewhere ; and that de-
gree of force which, in all organised bodies, is the principle and the cause
of extreme agility. Mounted on horses of native races, supple, skilful,
nervous, bold, indefatigable, and from i feet inches to 4 feet 7 inches in
height, they will go from 15 to 20 leagues, always at a trot or gallop,
without resting and without unbridling. Their equipment is light, since
they have diminished the weight and number of the pieces of the harness,
and have even suppressed useless effects — the heavy schabra of sheepskin
and the heavy portmanteau. A sabre in the belt, a gun slung upon the
shoulder, and a pistol in his fonte decouverte, such are the arms of the
chasseur d'Afrique ; armed as a pilgrim, he has his gun for his stick and
cudgel.

Their discipline and instruction are according to the services expected
from them, and they are allowed to enjoy certain salutary irregularities.
At Constantina and at Oran there are no vain parades, no military spec-
tacles to amuse the curiosity of the public, but exercises and labours
suited to adapt the soldiers for a state of war. ... If the African chas-
seurs are skilful scouts, dexterous marksmen, and bold and intelligent
partisans ; if they perform wonders in plundering ; if they know how to
march and fight scattered, — they know also, as well, how to unite in a
body, inarch in order, and charge in line upon two compact ranks.

>Scc them set out for distant razzias : nothing impedes their columns.
A little corn for the horse, a little rice for the chasseur : these arc the
only provisions for the route. No obstacle stops them ; they go on, on :
nor neglect one of the skilful precautions of the lion on chase ; and as
soon as they perceive the enemy, they spring forward ; for to them, an
enemy seen is an enemy gained, overthrown, destroyed. The habit of

COLONEL COOMBES. ' 397

conquest has rendered them invincible. The Arabs, who have felt in a
hundred rencontres the terrible qualities of our chasseurs, their strength
and agility, their address, their bravery in action, and still more their
generosity after victory, have named them the lions of the desert."*

From official documents, -J- we find that the number of sick in the mili-
tary hospitals of Algeria in 1840 was as follows : Entered, 10-5,409 ; dead,
9745 ; discharged, 1)1,097.+

Notwithstanding the important studies and publications of the French
medical officers on hygiene, the mortality amongst the French troops in the
unhealthy districts, such as Bona, seems proportionally as great as ever.S

The fate of Colonel Coombes, of the foreign legion, the day of the
storming of Constantina, is a fine specimen of gallantry and discipline.
Mortally wounded by two bullets, one of which had passed through his
body, he fought at the breach until assured of success ; then, marching
tranquilly up to the general-in-chief, he rendered his account of the pro-
gress of affairs ; and exclaiming, " Heureux ceux qui ne sont pas blesses

* Mr. Dawson Borrcr (p. 18) informs us that the chasseurs d'Afrique are the elite of
the French cavalry in Algeria, consisting of picked men, well mounted. Their arms are
the carbine, sword, and pistol ; their uniform and accoutrements being neat, plain, and
useful. No portion of the army has distinguished itself more than these bold riders, who
are thus described by Castellane : "'Bronzed faces with long mustaches, tall men proudly
seated on little horses, this regiment was worthy of that cavalry whose name alone appals
the enemy. ' Sassours ! sassours ! ' cry the Arabs, as soon as they catch sight of them,
without daring to stand ; and this prestige they owe to their impetuous courage and their
firmness. The features of these soldiers, waving their swords as we passed, recalled those
manly iron squadrons painted by Horace Vernet at Versailles, and the men whom, at the
Oued-Foddha, Changarnier launched against the Arabs, saying, 'That is my artillery'"
(p. 316). See also Capt. Kennedy, vol. i. pp. 31, 32.

The average loss of the army up to 1810 was 1 soldier in 12-8, and 1 officer in 54 "4.
This estimate does not include those fallen in battle. But in battle the losses have been
proportionally greater among the officers than the men. The mortality among the Janis-
saries was not so great as it has been among the French, and each of them was reckoned
as equal to 20 Arabs in action. The Spanish occupation of Oran was also less destructive
to their troops than Algiers has been to the French ; but the Spanish army consisted
chiefly of brave adventurous gentlemen, and not of poor conscripts. Baude, hi. 244.

t Tableau, 1850, p. 70.

J The proportion of doaths to the number of sick was, in 1S46, five 6-10ths ; 1849,
nine 2-10ths. The mean stay in hospital was in lSi6, 20 days ; 1849, 17 days. The mean
daily movement was in 1846, 6841 ; 1849, 5110.

§ The French correspondent of the Times, of January 7th, 1S53, whose letter is dated
January 5th and 6th, says that " A letter from Bona, in Algeria, of the 23d ultimo,
states that the epidemic of that town rages with fatal violence. It has extended out of
the town to Edough, situated on a high mountain. There were 730 soldiers and 7 officers
confined in the military hospital, and the civil hospital was so crowded that the governor
was compelled to refuse further admittance. Four of the attendant physicians were at-
tacked with the malady." It was estimated in 1846 that 21,000 French soldiers perish
annually in maintaining the interior of Algeria ; and Baron Baude informs us (p. 296,
vol. iii.) that from 1831 to 1839, 22,495 men died in hospitals, whereas only 1412 fell in
battle. Some authorities assert the annual loss of the French army in Africa to be
36,500 men and its loss during 15 years' occupation to have been 347,500 men (up to 1845).
See St. Marie.

398 'MARSHAL BUGEAUD.

mortellement, Us jouiront du triompke" he fell dead at the feet of the Due
de Nemours. On the hill Condiat-Alj, whence the French batteries
played upon the Bab-el-Djedid (new gate), on the west side of the city,
stands a pyramid erected to the memory of General Damrernont and
other gallant officers who fell there. The former was killed by a cannon-
ball, just before the final assault up the breach, and close to the above-
mentioned gate."""

Let us now pass in review the Algerian generals.

Describing Bugeaud's campaigns, Castellane says : " Blows like these
can only be struck by an army that has more than reliance in its com-
mander. It must have respect and love for him. Such were, in fact, the
sentiments that Marshal Bugeaudhad succeeded in inspiring in his soldiers.
Who amongst us has been able to forget his noble countenance and his-
noble heart 1 In their familiar way of speaking, the soldiers had christened
him Pere Bugeaud. And they were right; for his solicitude for their wel-
fare equalled his affection for them. Easy and communicative, he felt
happy among his troops, as in the bosom of his family; his language, full
of good humour, went at once to the heart of the soldiers. They all felt
indebted to him for losing sight occasionally of his high rank; and the
respect they bore him was only increased by this condescension. It
was in times of danger that 'Richard was himself again.' In those sea-
sons all eyes were turned towards him, being certain to find a direction
and precise orders; or, if the danger became imminent for all, common
safety, "-j-

The name of Bugeaud is associated with many of the most important
successes of the French arms in Africa. He beat Abd-el-Kader on the
Sikkak, near Tlemsen, in 1836; he overthrew the army of Morocco at
Isly in 1844; and he subdued the greater part of Kabylia Proper in 1846;
showing the greatest decision and the most determined courage through-
out. Marshal Bugeaud, who was created Duke of Isly after his victory,
had served under Napoleon at Saragossa (1809), as we have previously
seen, and presided over Algeria as governor-general from 1841 to 1846.
He died at Paris, of cholera, in 1849. %

" I still remember/' says Castellane, " that on our way from Milianah
to Algiers, the Arab chiefs came to salute General Changarnier on his

* St. Mario.

f Castellane, p. 247. St. Mario admits that Marshal I'.uuvaud had p;reat military ability,
and that he was a man of perfect integrity ; but he adds that ho was alt..;:, tin;- a soldier,
and jealous of his autnority. The minister of war himself did not know always how to
deal 'with him. He was heard to say, "L'Afrique e'est moi." 1 1 e used to be the terror
of the Arabs ; and he received Colonel Pelissier with great cordiality, after the latter had
burnt 1200 victims in the caves of Dahra in 1845. The staff-officers who surrounded him
imitated Ins rough manners; and one of Ms aide-de-camps is reported to have thrown a
plate, in a cafe" at Algiers, at a dilatory waiter, who thereupon throw back an omelet on
the officer. Other ungcntlemanly tricks are recorded of the French officers. St. Marie.

i Borrer.

CHANGARNIER. 399

passage; and among them I met a kaid of the Hadjonteo, an old acquaint-
ance of mine. We spoke of the numerous razzias and mighty strokes that
had subdued his warlike tribe. 'His name amongst us,' said the kaid,
speaking of the general, 'means the leveller of pride, the subduer of ene-
mies; and he has justified his name.' Pointing to the long line of moun-
tains bordering the Alitidja, he added : 'When the storm comes, the light-
ning darts in a second over all these mountains, and sounds their cavities.
Such was Ins look in searching us. When once he had seen us, the ball
does not reach its quarry quicker than his blow smote us.' And the old
Aia 1 1 chief was riarht. The distingruishine characteristic of General Chan-
gamier in war is a sure and rapid judgment, and an indomitable energy;
he knows how to command. In face of danger, his courage rises; then, if
you draw near him, his vigour becomes infectious, and you no longer doubt
the event. He first showed himself at Constantina, and since then he has
not once failed in supporting his glorious reputation. If ever you visit
the bivouac of one of the old African bands, and enter the soldier's little
tent, listen to the numerous excursions they have made with him, and
you will hear what they will say about him."'

Perhaps the most brilliant of Changarnier" s achievements was the
forcing of the Pass of the Oued-Fodha, near Milianah, in .Sept. 1842.
Never did a French column run such risks. With a thousand men he was
enveloped in frightful ravines, while whole populations of hostile Arabs
and Kabyles rushed upon him. But Cavaignac was there; the zouaves,
the chasseurs d'Orleans, and the chasseurs d'Afrique were there; and Chan-
garnier commanded. " Calm and impassible," says Castellane, "General
Changarnier was at the rear-guard, enveloped in his little caban of white
wool,* a target for all the bullets; and giving his orders with a coolness
and distinctness that gave confidence to the troops, and doubled their
ardour. Not a moment's wavering was seen in that daring eye; his heart
seemed to swell with the danger. The column advanced, the mountains
re-echoing to the tempest of battle. He led a charmed life amidst the
showers of bullets, that seemed to increase his coolness. Seldom have
soldiers shown more courage; but the chief knew how to command, and
his men to obey.f

Lamping informs us (1841) that " General Changarnier, who com-
manded us, is known by the whole army as a brave soldier, who exacts
the very utmost from others as well as from himself, and who accordingly
most commonly succeeds in his enterprises. He is more feared than loved
by the men, who say, ' C'est un homme dur ce Changarnier.' He appears
to be a few years above 50, powerfully built, but with a face somewhat
weather-beaten by the storms of life. He has been fighting in Africa
ever since the first occupation. "J

* Light white coats worn in Africa winter and summer. f Souvenirs, p. 74.

J The Foreign Legion, part i. of the French in Africa.

400 CAYAIGXAC.

Changarnier has since shown the same stern inflexible will and decision
at the barricades of the Faubourg St. Antoine and in exile. Whatever his
political opinions or errors may be, he has valiantly supported the reputa-
tion of the French arms.

Equally brave, more dashing, and less cool, the gallant Lamoriciere
is the perfection of a hussar officer. Flis very conversation has all the
entrain, the lightning speed of a charge of cavalry. As governor of the
province of Oran, he was remarkable for the incessant activity, prompti-
tude, and rapidity of his intelligence ; and his bold spirit loved to indulge
in brilliant paradoxes, in discussing and studying the questions of colonial
empire and emigration.* Appointed governor in 1841, in that and the
following year he sapped the power of Abd-el-Kader in the west, his
stronghold, by his indefatigable razzias ; while Changarnier, the montag-
nard, as Bugeaud christened him, subdued the province of Algiers.

The name of Lamoriciere appears early on the lists of fame after 1830.
He engaged in daring exploits at the capture of Bugia in 1833, when he
was an officer of zouaves.-)- We have seen him eating fire on the breach
at Constantina ; and he appears again, ever foremost, in the fray at the Col
de Moussaia under the eyes of the Duke of Orleans.^

Cavaignac is a man of very different stamp; austere, silent, embittered,
full of the glowing but concealed fire of disappointed ambition. A repub-
lican to the back-bone, he won his most glorious laurels under a king; and
he committed his greatest fault as dictator of a republic. " Absolute in
command, energetic in action, slow in deciding because slow of compre-
hension, but concealing the laborious working of his mind under a
solemn silence, and only speaking when decided, General Cavaignac was
esteemed by all, loved by some, feai-ed by many. Those, however, who had
had any relations with him, were unanimous in allowing that if you ap-
pealed to his heart, the haughty dignity with which he loved to surround
himself disappeared, to make room for a quite paternal kindness ; but
these moments of forgetfulncss were rare. The silence in which he lived,
the separation from others in which he liked to move, elevated his imagi-
nation; and the smothered fire of his eye disclosed a man who thought his
life a sacrifice, even when the rank and dignities of the state were thrust
iipon him; for we must do him the justice to say that those dignities were
received, but that he had far too much pride to seek them. Thus Cavai-
gnac, by raising before his mind an ideal to imitate and worship, and by
preferring his own esteem to that of others, ended by giving a false deve-
lopment to his naturally frank and kindly disposition. In his military
career, Cavaignac has given many proofs of his cool obstinacy. Pie ob-
tained his rank of commandant at Tlemson in 1836, at the time of the
expedition of Marshal Clauzel, when he held the place for six months, de-

* Souvenirs, p. 302. t La Grande Kabylie, p. 83. J Bcrbrugger.

GENERAL CAN ROBERT. 401

prived of all succour and news. This was one of the bright actions of his
soldier's life; and it is but fair to add, that though he sadly mistook his
mission as a politician, he was never found wanting in war, in the day of
danger and strife. In 1840 he held out the whole winter at Medeah,
with two battalions of zouaves, and was relieved in April, after five
months' imprisonment, by General Bugeaud: his firmness, his noble ex-
ample, the paternal encouragement of his advice, had been their great sup-
port.* "We have seen his name in the gorges of the Oued Foddha, when,
amidst a hail-storm of shot, Changarnier handed him some splendid wild
grapes that he had just picked, with the words, " Here, my dear colonel,
take this; you must want refreshment after such glorious fatigues."

We have still one more of the exiles, Bedeau, to consider, ere we pass
to the Imperial generals. We have heard Borrer's opinion of Bedeau,
whom he met in 1846, when governor of Constantina. (See Chap. XII.)

In 1841-2, General Bedeau was made commandant of the subdivision
of Tlemsen. " Established in Tlemsen," says Castellane, " General Bedeau
showed that regular and methodical spirit which makes such a useful in-
strument, as soon as the precise nature of his duties, and limit of his
authority, have been accurately determined. To prove this, it is only
necessary to observe, that -Tlemsen soon rose again from its ruins, that
barracks were built as it were by magic, and that the whole country re-
ceived a wise and systematic organisation. General Bedeau was obliged
to fight several times; but as there was no hesitation in his mind, his suc-
cess was never doubtful."-)- We have ouly to add, that since Dec. 2d, 1851,
General Bedeau, finding the air of France too close for him, has sought
for a freer atmosphere amongst people who have a more vigorous con-
stitution.

It was a lucky thing for the Chasseurs d'Orleans to have as their chief
commandant Canrobert (April 1845). The quickness of his coujy-tVoeil,
the precision of his orders, his energetic enthusiasm, the reliance that he
had long inspired in all, rescued them from danger.

Commandant Canrobert was particularly distinguished for his pre-
sence of mind in critical circumstances. The following anecdote is a good
specimen of his coolness. In 1848, being colonel of the zouaves, he was
on his march from Aumale to Zaatcha to take part in the siege. The
cholera had infected and was decimating his column ; and they advanced
with difficulty, so laden were the mules with the dying soldiers. At the
most trying moment he was informed that the nomadic tribes of the south
were preparing to attack him. An engagement was, above all things, to
be avoided, for they would have no means of transport for the wounded.
The colonel immediately made his arrangements for fighting, and then
marched forth alone to meet the nomades with his interpreter, and ad-

* Castellane, pp. 71, 103. t Souvenirs, p. 3~3.

C C

402 MARSHAL ST. ARNAUD.

dressed them thus : " Know, good people, that I carry the plague about
me ; and if you do not suffer me and mine to pass, I shall throw it amongst
you." The Arabs, who had traced the column for many days byihe
newly-made graves it left behind it, were seized with terror, did not dare
to attack, and let them pass.*

General (now Marshal) St. Arnaud appears first on the stage as a colonel,
in which capacity he assisted at the judicious razzia which so happily re-
duced the Darha to order. We shall shortly allude to this brilliant affair
(1845), which was far from ending in smoke. He was naturally promoted
for his prowess and chivalry in smothering old men, women, and children
in a cave ; and he made a wholesome example of all rebels who troubled
the reign of order in the subdivision of Mostaganem in Great Kabylia,
and in the Elysian Fields.

Appointed governor of Paris by the Prince President, he was quite at
home in the night razzia which swept away the liberties, honour, and
ornaments of France. He is one of the pillars of the imperial throne,
and holds the portfolio of war. He was greatly opposed to the marriage
of the emperor, and also to the liberation of Abd-el-Kader ; and when
offered the command of another expedition against his old friends the
Kabyles, he refused to go unless he obtained unlimited discretion, or in
other words, license to extinguish the last spark of liberty in smoke.
Being refused, disappointment nearly broke his gentle heart ; but he has
since recovered and returned to the war-office, whence he proposes shortly
to make a trip to our Horse Guards, which are sadly out of order.

General Pelissier is another of the African chiefs who has attained
fame as well as infamy in Algeria, but who, unlike his peers, has not
danced a hornpipe on the barricades of Paris. Not satisfied with being a
fire-eater himself, he seems to have wished to diet the refractory Arabs on
smoke, suffocating 800 men, women, and children in a cave in the Darha
in 1845. Nor did the affair end in smoke, as it materially broke down
the spirit of the Arabs, and built up his notoriety as a man of decision
and cruelty.

We find him a general, and the commandant of the subdivision of
Mostaganem, in November 1846.

In the autumn of 1852 we find General Pelissier besieging Laghouat,
in the Sahara of the province of Algiers, which he stormed (Dec. 2) with
some loss. The flags taken at Laghouat by General Pelissier were de-
posited on the 30th December, 1852, at the Invalidea.f

Marshal Count de Castellane commands at present at Lyons, where he
* Castellane, p. 133.

t Accounts received from Algeria in January 1S53 announced the death of General

ho .:is wounded at the taking of Laghouat, and expired on the 19th Deo i -

1 about half, an hour after the operation of amputation had been performed. M. de Per-

!. his aid' de camp, caused the heart of the general to ho embalmed, in order to be
bent to his sister in France. (The Times Tans Correspondent, Jan. 1, 1853.)

COUNT DE CASTBLLAKE. 403

gave Abd-el-Kader a grand review the other day, on the Emir's passage
to Broussa via Marseilles.

Thus the boys of African warfare reach the highest dignities; while
the grey-headed warriors live in poverty, exile, and disgrace, because they
were true tu their country and themselves, and kidnapped in the dead of
night, while wrapped in slumber, by the cut-throats of a tyrant.

As for Lieutenant-general Canrobert, he had an infamous share in
the coup-d'etat, and enjoys the unenviable notoriety of having his name
coupled with one of the basest crimes recorded in history. Yet he has of
late slightly redeemed his blasted character by refusing the portfolio of
war, when thrust upon him during St. Arnaud's illness, unless a free am-
nesty were granted to his old comrades Changarnier, Lamoriciere, Arc.

We have been loth to condemn such brave spirits; but truth and jus-
tice pronounce the verdict against them. Nor do we take up the gloves.
in favour of the selfish bourgeoisie and re-actionary Assembly, which sealed
the fate of France by trampling on liberty at home and abroad, by strang-
ling the infant republic at Rome, by staining the streets of Paris with the
blood of its gallant sons, and by putting up a low adventurer and a bas-
tard prince as its president.

The coup d'etat was the expiation of the reaction ; and when Cavai-
gnac, Changarnier, and Lamoriciere extinguished democracy at the barri-
cades, they paved the way for their own downfall.

A cloud hangs over France; but science must eventually demolish the
chains of praetorian and Jesuitical despotism."

* On the French Army in Africa, see Captain Kennedy's Algeria and Tunis.

t&£j? $£$&*&*?--

OHAPTEB XXII.

r.-: > ".;::r;:p of 3Igrru ana Sartarp.

THE REIGN OF MTTHOS THE SEMITIC AND ^TXV-GERMANIC CONFLICT THE

PHOENICIANS THE SPffirT OF CAETHAGE — THE FTEST PUNIC AVAR THE

MERCENARIES TE3 PUNIC WAR HANNIBAL CASK* SCIPIO

ZAMA THE FALL OF CARTHAGE JUGCETHA METELLUS MARK'S JUBA

CHRISTIAN AFRICA DONATISTS CI?.CUMCELLI0>"S TEF.TULLL\N — CYPRIAN

ST. AUGUSTINE THE VANDALS BELISAEIUS THE ARABS THEIR DYNAS-
TIES THE TWO BARBAE 5SA HAELES V. PIRACY LORD EXUOUTH

THE >: ISVASIOS BOYIGO TREZEL ABD-EL-EADEE THE CAVE

OF KHA~: ahi 3APIURE f abd-el-kadee HIS LIBERATION ZAATCHA

Previous : :• the colonisation of Carthage, the history of North-west
Africa is involved in mystery and deformed by fables. The story of
Hercules* leading a mythical host from the far East to the pillars that bear
his " calculated to iigure in the stanzas of some African Ossian

than to bear the stern test of modern criticism. The theory of an abori-
.1 race is equally unpalatable to scientific ethnography : and though we
may be unwilling to attach much or it to the obscure traditions of the
highlanders of the . - the most plausible theory of the original popula-
tion of this region is that which coincides with the legends of the Kabyles,

* This African Hercules must not be confounded with the Greek. There were several
Hercules, some say forty. The travelling Hercules was the Tynan or Phoenician, who is
said to have founded many cities on the coast of Mauritania, including Tangiers. The
Libyan Hercules is less known, and is probably the same as the Tyrian. President de
Broses, however, thinks that the founder of Capsa was a different Hercules from the
founder of Torigis, because the ancients call all great adventurers Hercules. Bochart and
De Brasses assert that the name was given by the Greeks to the Tyrian Hercules, because
Phoenicians in their tongue called him Harokel, meaning the merchant or traveller.
Barbie" era Bocage thinks, with French scepticism, that he was nothing more than a mer-
chant or shipowner, pure and simple. Diodorus Siculus makes him travel in Gaul and
Italy, after the conquest of Spain ; but Sallust says he died in Spain, where his tomb was
highly venerated by the Phoenicians. The mythical expedition attributed to him must
have taken place as far back as the entrance of the Israelites into Canaan, for at that time
a part of the Phoenicians was forced to emigrate and colonise the north coast of Africa.
Barbie dn Bocage 's Sallust, Gcogr. Diet.

THE BEIGS OF MTTHOE.

in attributing an Eastern origin to the earliest occupants of the soil, who,
under the name of Libyans and Berbers, were partially or totally subdued
by succeeding waves of population.

It would be equally unprofitable and unpalatable to dire deep into the
ocean of ancient umbos ■ and we shall pass on to the clearer fight of au-
thentic history, after casting a transient glance at the poetical legend that
has attempted to link its earliest history with the heroic age of Greece.
Little aid. it has been justly observed, can be derived from the dasrifal
authors, who took more delight in gratifying their imaginations than in
storing their minds with knowledge. To them Africa appeared much in
the same light as India and China did to the writers of the middle, ages :
and while they crowded it with wonders of magnificence and splendour,
they introduced into it all the monstrous and most terrific productions of
nature.* Ye: while we naturally feel disposed to smile at the tradition
recorded by Sallust. of Hercules passing from the Levant with a host of
Persians to the Straits of Gibraltar, inverting their barks on the desolate
shore in the shape of the later Xumidian hnts,t we cannot avoid bearing our
testimony to the frequent accuracy and value of the descriptions handed
down by the father of bistory.I Many of the facts which he has related
have been verified by recent discoveries ; and races of Hon and dog ea
are still found to people its valleys and oases. Thus it was that the glow-
ing or monstrous descriptions of Marco Polo met with ridicule, and ob-
tained him the epithet of JfSBione, till a more searching inquiry, in a more
enlightened age. substantiated most of his statemen: -

But though we are disposed to justify many of the relations of Hero-
dotus, we cannot attach much credit to the authority of Procopius when
he stakes his credit on his having seen, in the time of the war with the
V./- '.. '-. ' ■ ". . .:. '..-: :..:::_' :-rJ.-. '. '.'. _t-. .: 1 -..._- :i: ..:... :~ . :;■"
of secretarv, near a fountain at Tangier, two columns of white stone, where-
on were inscribed, in the Phoenician tongue, the following word? e fly
from the robber Joshua, the son of Nun.' || - . : _. : . r r
physical impossibilitv in the existence of such an inscription, or its having
been seen by Procopius, it would be worse than idle to attach any value to
it. That Africa was very early peopled by emigrants from Asia, belonging
to the Semitic variety, can scarcely admit of any dou I ^--Jinography, and
the natural tendency of an established and populous district to
into its more vacant contiguous districts, are sufficient and powerful t
ments in favour of this view : and though we are not prone to attach i
historical value to vague traditions, it may slightly tend to corroborate

* Dr. BosseF s Barbaiy Stales, chap. L

f r.ilL BeiL Jog:, c. rriii. "Jjqne alreos navfann iaToaos pro fcmgmifiti halmpre.*

I Her: ::: .«. '.'..'■ ■. ^.l-..

| rie Trards of Marco Polo abridged.

H Procopras de Beilo Yand, Kb. M.

40G

THE REIGN OF MYTHOS.

view, that the Moors narrate that their origin may be traced to Sabsea, a
district of Arabia, whence their ancestors, under their king Ifricki, were
expelled by a superior force, and reduced to the necessity of seeking a new
home in the remote regions of the West.* They would probably drive the
older inhabitants from the more fertile districts to the tracts bordering on
the desert, or to the mountains, where they would seek a natural refuge in
caverns. Even at the present day there are found in southern Numidia
the remains of toAvns and castles which present an air of very great anti-
quity. Arabian populations have generally preferred a more erratic mode
of life ; hence the earlier inhabitants expelled by this Sabsean invasion
must have belonged to a different race, though still probably members of
the Semitic variety. Experience and analogy warrant us, therefore, in
arriving at the conclusion, that from the earliest periods waves of Asiatic
invaders have immigrated successively into the plains of North-western
Africa, belonging chiefly, in all probability, to the Semitic variety ; but the
time when these early arrivals occurred, the tribes that composed them,
and the places whence they came, must remain involved in uncertainty, f

* Morgan's Complete History of Algiers, p. 9, in Dr. Russel's Barbary States, p. 27.
Sallust, in one of his fragments preserved by Priscian, informs us that the Moors, a vain
and lying nation, like all those of Africa, maintain that beyond Ethiopia there are anti-
podic peoples, just and beneficent, whose manners and usages resemble those of the Per-
sians. It is certainly possible that the Moors may have had some knowledge of central
and southern Africa, but this matter must remain involved in mystery.

The Gsetuli, who inhabited the whole of Africa with the Libyans in the most ancient
times, were driven south by the invasion of the Phoenician Hercides, and their territory
corresponded in some measure to the modern Sahara. They were very numerous and
barbarous at the time of Jugurtha, who, when he lost Xumidia, retired amongst them, and
instructed them in military dis Spline ; but they were ultimately subjugated by the Romans.
Barbie' du Bocage is of opinion that their race has been preserved in the present Berbers ;
but it is evident that the latter people are the descendants of all the aborigines of north-
west Africa previous to the Arab invasion, including the Gsetuli and the subsequent in-
fusions of Phoenician, Vandal, and other blood.

President de Brosses derives the name of Gsetuli from the Phoenician geth, meaning
cattle ; but Barbie" du Bocage is of opinion that the Berber tongue had no analogy with
the Phoenician. Though this may be true as regards the fundamental roots of the two
tongues, the names of numerous places shew that the Berber had been a good deal in-
fluenced by Phoenician or Punic. Diet. Geogr. p. 204.

t Sahust describes the invading army under Hercules as consisting of Medes, Persians,
and Armenians; that the Persians formed the Numidian nation, and the Modes and Arme-
nians the Moors. But Abbe Mignot and President de Brosses think that Sallust was pro-
bably mistaken, owing to the errors of the translator of the Punic works of Hiempsal.
They think that the Amoritcs or Arameans were confounded by him with the Armenians,
and the Pherescans with the Persians. President de Brosses asserts that the name Lib;
comes from the Phoenician Ih aba, signifying burning climate ; but the term may be derived
from the Greek. The Moors were called -Mauri by the Latins, and Maurusn by bhe Greeks :
and Sallust relates that the Modes and Armenians remaining nearer the sea united with
fcne Libyans, forming a nation called Moors, by altering the name Medes; whereas the
i nis united with the Gsetulians, and formed the Numidians.
Strabo says that, according to some authors, Hercules brought the Moors from India
into Alii.a, which is not very probable. Bochart derives the name Moors from the Phoe-
nician mauharm, signifying postremi, the last- the western people. It is certain that the

THE SEMITIC RACE. 407

The first immigration of 'which we have any certain, though still a dis-
torted knowledge, is that of the Phoenician colonists who founded Carthage.
The general voice of history represents this event to have occurred B.< . 900 :
hut hefore we launch forth into Carthaginian history, we must warn the
reader that almost every particular relating to that Semitic people has
come down to us through the medium of classical, i- e. Indo-European
writers, who have necessarily given it a foreign and often unfavourable
colouring. At the taking of Carthage almost all their records perished;
and though Niebuhr may have heen wrong to strike out all Roman history
hefore the burning, because of the loss of her records, we may safely follow
him at a respectful distance, and conclude that the whole of Carthaginian
history has been an ex parte statement, owing to the medium through which
it has been handed doAvn.

With this proviso, we shall pass to the shores of Syria, and examine
that remarkable Semitic race whose sons went forth to raise the walls and
man the fleets of Carthage.

The Semitic race'" does not appear in rainbow colours on the coast of
Syria and Carthage. God chose cruel and ignoble and impure vessels
for channels and instruments of his purposes. On the narrow beach
overlooked by the cedars of Lebanon swarmed a numerous people crowded
into the islands and close maritime cities.-)- Their religion was coloured

Phoenicians had colonies all along the coast of Mauritania ; but President de Brosses says
the name conies from the African (Berber) word mare, meaning merchant. Barbie du
Bocage's Sallust. Diet. Geogr. pp. 252, 239, 238, 1

* The two pillars of history are undoubtedly the Semitic and Indo-Germanic varieties.
Each, in a different walk, has crowned us with honour and glory, and marie us little lower
than the angels. On the one side, the heroic genius, and that of art and legislation ; on
the other, the spirit of industry, navigation, and commerce. In Europe, the prose and
philosophy of a critical, negative, and analytical spirit ; in Aramsa and Syria, the halo
and aureole of an atmosphere of poetry, the realisation of the ideal, the union of earth and
heaven. Greece and Germany have given us the revelation of the head, Syria and Arabia
of the heart. (Sebold.) Providence has worked through both to a great end ; and though
antagonistic, the two varieties have acted and reacted on each other. Greece got her
alphabet from Tyre, which she ruined. Rome conquered Carthage ; but her spirit fell from
that hour, emasculated by southern luxury. The struggle between the Semitic and Indo-
Germanic races has rolled through the ages and re-echoed to our times. The Arabs, bursting
like a hurricane from the desert, swept over Africa, grasped Sicily, Corsica, Spain, Magna
Grcecia; and penetrating as far as Tour, held Em-ope in suspense, till a hammar (Charles
Martel) turned the scale. It was a mere accident, or rather Providence, that prevented
Em-ope now bowing to the crescent, our being circumcised, and muftis sitting at Canter-
bury and York. See Sismondi's Hist, of the Fall of the Roman Empire.

+ On the rock of Aradus, to cite only one example, the houses had more stories than
even at Rome. This impure race, flying before the sword of Sesostris or the exterminating
knife of the Jews, had found themselves driven to the sea, and had taken it for their country.
Like our noble ancestors the ancient Britons (Milton's History of England, — Prose Works,
iv. 6S 1 ), the immoderate licentiousness of modern Malabar can alone recall the abomina-
tions of these Phoenicians. There generations multiplied without certain family, each
ignorant who was his father, like the happy population of La Belle France, multiplying

408 THE SEMITIC RACE.

with the licentiousness and cruelty of the age and people; nor can we
wonder at the extravagances of the faith of Moloch, when we find even
the Jews, with divine daguerreotypes, worshipping the calf, and turning
the temple into a broker's shop. The Phoenicians had the sins and vir-
tues of their time and race; and though Moloch loved human victims, and
the T}a-ians many wives, Ave find that Christian hierarchies have had the
same appetite, and that modern as well as ancient Solomons have been
prone to display the latter weakness.

Let us now jn'oceed to examine the principal events of their history
in a chronological order.*

We shall present the reader, first, with a compendious history of Car-
thage^ and thereupon make a few reflections.

When the Romans, conquerors of Tarentum and masters of Magna
Grsecia, arrived on the shores of the strait, they found themselves front to
front with the Carthaginian armies. Thereupon several treaties were
concluded between the two republics. J

Three powers, Carthage, Syracuse, and the Mamertini, shared Sicily.
Eonie, called on by one faction of the latter, hesitated not to protect at
Messina those whom she had just punished at Rhegium. The consul
Appius passed legions into Sicily; and Hiero, tyrant of Syracuse, was

promiscuously, like the insects and reptiles which after rain-storms crawl about in myriads
on their burning shores. Michelet's History of the Roman Republic, p. 138, Bogue's
European Library. Ezekiel xxvi. 27.

* Herder's Ideen zur Philosophic der Geschichte, vol. ii. pp. 65-6, 1841. Michelet's-
History of the Roman Republic, ch. iii. p. 140. Montesquieu's Grandeur et Decadence des
Romains, ch. iv. When the Phoenician colonists first landed in Africa, the whole of N.W.
Africa, from the Gulf of Leptis, near Barca in Tripoli, to the Mulucha river in Morocco,
was called Numidia. One encroachment after another was made on this broad territory :
first by Carthage, whose territory was bought or gained from the Numidians ; secondly^
by Bocchus, who was given one-third of Numidia after his surrender of Jugurtha, his share
extending as far as the river Ampsagas, between Igilgilis and Cullu, in long. 32° east from
Ferro. Its government was confided, under Cassar, to our historian Sallust, who, like
many other literary stars, is reported to have done a little sly business there in pillage and
piracy on his own account. Ancient Numidia corresponded originally, in most respects,
with modern Algeria, the regency of Tunis, and part of Tripoli. Barbie du Bocage's
Sallust. Diet. Geogr. p. 250.

t Carthage was styled in the Phoenician tongue Cartkadt or Cartha Hadatli, which
means 'new town,' to distinguish it from Utica, properly Ytica in Phoenician, meaning the
' old town,' and which was actually much older than the city of Dido. The Greeks cor-
rupted the name into Carchcdon (Xapxnouv), the Latins into Carthage, which was founded
sixty-five years before Rome, or 819 B.C., if we may trust tradition like the Puseyites.
There was, however, it appears, before this time, a collection of habitations on the same
spot, called Cadmcia and Caccabo, and attributed to Cadmus, whose origin may have
dated from a period anterior to the Trojan war. Barbie du Bocage's Sallust. Diet. Geogr.
p. PJO.

X The first was of the age of Lucius Junius Brutus and Marcus Horatius, created con-
suls after the expulsion of the kings, twenty-eight years before Xerxes invaded Greece.
'Ihr Fair Promontory, north of Carthage, was generally made the limit of Roman navi-
gation in those treaties. Michelet's Roman Republic, c. iii. p. 148.

TIIE FIRST PUNIC WAR. 409

conquered by the Romans before he Iwd time to see them. He became
the most faithful ally of Home. In eighteen months the Romans seized
sixty-seven places, including Agrigentum with its 000,000 inhabitants;
for the democratic forms of Sicily had converted that lovely island into a
garden, teeming with a happy population, whose capital, Syracuse, 400
years B.C., was larger and richer than imperial Paris. But the Romans
wanted a fleet; and copying a wrecked Carthage galley, in sixty days
they put to sea with 1G0 ships, and beat the Carthaginians. Duillius, the
victorious consul, was caressed with life-long torch-light processions and
serenades, enough to satiate even a German professor at his jubilee,
and a young lady in her teens.*

Rome next cast envious looks at Africa, and soon invaded it under
Regulus. A huge boa was the first foe they met, speedily followed br-
others, who, though as wise as serpents, were not as harmless as doves.
But the Carthaginians had no peace-society to teach them to kiss the
foot that tramples on them ; and happily their Manchester men were not
able to talk down common sense and outvote militia-bills.

Two victories gave 200 cities to the Romans. Carthage, at the
eleventh hour, was delivered by Xantippus, a Lacedaemonian mercenary,
who beat the Romans and took Regulus prisoner. Mutual reverses in
Sicily and at sea disposed both rjarties to peace. Regulus was sent to
Rome; dissuaded the senate from coming to terms, though to his own
cost; and returning to Carthage, died like a hero.t

For eight years the Romans were conquered in Sicily, successively
losing four fleets. At length Hamilcar, Hannibal's father, threw himself
on Mount Eryx, a steep huge mass! between Drepanum and Lilyba?um,
and stood firm against the Romans for three years, like Wellington at
Torres Vedras.

A naval victory of the Romans decided the Carthaginians to sue for
peace. § The merchants of Carthage, like the Dutch and British, weigh-
ing the war by its profits, determined that they were great losers by it,
and ceded Sicily to the Romans, agreeing to pay 3000 talents (720,000/.)
within ten years. ||

Though exhausted, the two republics, in the interval between the two
Punic wars (241-219 B.C.), grasped right and left, like the Yankees, the

* Sardinia and Corsica, where Carthaginian monopoly had forbidden the cultivation of
land, soon bowed to Rome. Michelet, ubi supra, c. iii. p. 152. Grandeur ct Decadence,
c. iv. p. 33.

+ The Romans, whose testimony, the only one we possess, is not very trustworthy, re-
cord the savage vengeance inflicted by Punic spite on the gallant Regulus, which, if true,
does not exceed the equivocal charity of Britain to her mighty foe at St. Helena. Dr.
Russel, c. i. pp. 38-9. Michelet, c. iii. p. 152.

J Polybius, in Michelet, p. 154.

§ They had lost 500, the Romans 700 galleys in the war.

|| Michelet, c. iii. p. 154.

410 THE MERCENARIES' WAR.

Directory, and all free and independent commonwealths. Hamilcar sub-
dued Africa to the Straits, and part of Spain ; while Home conquered the
Gauls and Ligurians.*

Then came the Mercenaries' war. Like other trading countries, in-
cluding Britain, the Carthaginians, themselves no military people, sub-
sidised foreign horse and foot to fight their battles and save their country.
They paid dearly for this piece of folly ; and their Punic faith in with-
holding payment met with its due reward. The mercenaries were masters
of Carthage, which trembled at its peril. + The fate of Carthage seemed
sealed; but the war-party happily triumphing over the peace-society,
Hamilcar was made general, and cut off provisions from the mercenaries,
hemmed them in, and forced them to cannibalism. The war ended in a
blood-bath. % But Hamilcar was a troublesome customer, and seemed an
embryo tyrant. Goaded and worried on all sides, the senate gave him no
rest, accusing him of infamous morals, — a strange charge to make in im-
maculate Carthage. But Hamilcar s soul was too lofty to stoop to empire ;
and unlike a French autocrat, he was satisfied with saving, without aspir-
ing to ruin his country.§

Boldly pushing his way in the peninsula, he was beaten and slain.
Like many honourable members, Hamilcar had his weak side, and bribed
suffrages at home. Golden influence obtained the choice of his son-in-
law, the handsome Hasdrubal, as his successor, who founded Carthagena
in Spain, a town still extant, the Portsmouth of their rotting navy. Has-
drubal being soon after killed by a slave, the army named for its chief
Hannibal, twenty-one years of age, the prince of condottieri, the child of
camps, the greatest captain of the Fore-world, a man of one idea — ven-
geance. || We cannot profess to detail his achievements, much less ana-
lyse his strategy, in these pages. The implacable hatred he swore to Rome
on the paternal knee, if a myth, is too descriptive of the man's pith and
marrow to be dropped before the lancet of a negative criticism. We

* Dr. Russel, c. i. p. 37. Michelet, pp. 154-5. Herder's Idoen, vol. ii. p. 156, a noble
censure on the grasping, demoniacal spirit of Roman conquest.

f Spaniards, Gauls, Ligurians, Baleares, Greeks, Italians, Africans, made a confusion
worse than Babel ; and all was uproar and confusion when Hanno, sent by the republic,
tried to obtain a remission of part of the debt. The men marched on Tunis 20,000 in
number. Carthage tried to soothe them through Gisco, promising every thing ; but the
mercenaries became overbearing; they were joined by the African provincials to the
number of 700,00(1. Utica, Hippo, and Zarytis massacred the Carthaginian garrisons;
the same was done in Sardinia and Corsica; and Hanno was crucified. Michelet, c. iv.
pp. 158-164, an eloquent passage. Grandeur et Decadence, c. iv. p. 29. Dr. Russel,
p. 34. Poly bins, lib. i. C. 0.

t In that san u ,. orld of the successors of Alexander, in that age of iron, the war

of the mercenaries still horrified all nations, Greeks and barbarians; and it was called the
inexpiable war. .Michelet, e. iv. pp. 163-4.

§ He went forth to subdue distant nations to the Punic flag, and in one year he tra-
versed all the coasts of Africa and passed into Spain. The Punic courser held sway to the
ocean. Michelet, c. iv. p. 165. || Michelet, c. iv. p. 166.

HANNIBAL. 411

accept it. Saguntum,* his first exploit, his Montenotte, dazzled Carthage
and stunned Rome; it stamped him one of Plutarch's men. He brought
150,000 men to the siege of Saguntum, only 80,000 to invade Italy. A
splendid monument this to the valour of the sires of the defenders of
Saragossa, a gallant people, once free as the ocean, the soul of prowess
and chivalry, laughed into commonplace by their greatest ornament and
pride, Don Quixote, and emasculated by a bastard breed of nobles and
Bourbons. Saguntum taken, the gauntlet was thrown, the sword was
drawn, the scabbard cast away.-j- Meanwhile Hannibal had marched
for Italy. His army, like Wellington's, was a mosaic; like the bastard
emperor's, it was gained and gorged with wealth. Like Austria, he kept
up his empire by playing off nationalities.^:

Like the march on Moscow, Alexander's invasion of India, and Caesar's
of Britain, Hannibal's passage of the Alps is one of those fabulous feats
that resound through ages. Weighing the army he had in hand, the bar-
barous population through whom he fought his way, the mighty piles he
■scaled, this march of Hannibal's is probably the greatest triumph of mili-
tary genius ever achieved. § Like the Crusades and the revolutionary
wars, who can measure the push thus given to humanity by the opening
up of the highways of nations 1 The only great tourists, till lately, have
been conquerors. ||

We shall not discuss the pass that he took.^j It suffices to know that
he dared and overcame the icy horror of those regions ; that with his swarthy
soldiers scaling the pine-clad steeps, he dispersed the mountaineers who
sought to oppose him ; and spurning the glaciers, plunged into the smiling
plains of Italy, five months after his departure from Carthagena, with
26,000 men— 8000 Spanish infantry, 12,000 Africans, and 6000 horse,
mostly Numidians.**

* On the siege of Saguntum, see Lin', xxx. 21. Michelet's Eoman Republic, p. 168.

+ Quintus Fabius called on the senate to ask them then- intentions, and demand an
apology. Raising the flap of his toga, he said, " I bring war or peace— choose." The
Carthaginians replied, divided between fear and hatred, " Choose yourself." He let fall
the toga and replied, " I give you war." " We accept it, and we shall know how to
maintain it." Michelet, p. 169. Polyb. iii. Livy, xvi. 18.

X He drew Moors and Numidians from Africa, and sent over 15,000 Spaniards to
guard the metropolis ; 16,000 men were left in Spain.

§ Michelet, pp. 172-4. Dr. Russel, p. 41.

|| The march from Carthagena to Italy reckoned 9000 stadia. He studied the route
well beforehand, and paved the way with gold, yet had he to cut his way through hostile
tribes from the outset. The passage of the Rhine with his elephants and swarthy Moors
beats that of the Berezina by Napoleon's European train.

TP Mount Cenis, the Little St. Bernard, and St. Genevieve have disputed the honour.
See the subject discussed in Gillies' Visit to the Waldenses; Eustace's Italy, &c. ; Appen-
dix to Michelet's Rome, xxviii. He thinks Mount Cenis the pass taken by Hannibal.

The entire number of men capable of bearing arms among the Romans and their
allies amounted to 700,000 foot and 70,000 horse ; and the armies disposed on the several
frontiers consisted of 150,000 foot and 7000 horse. Michelet, p. 175.

412 CANNJl.

Tt is probable that the confidence and daring of Hannibal, in thus
bearding the Roman eagle in its nest, have never been matched. Yet
we must recollect that Hannibal appeared as the liberator of Italy from
the Romans.

Hannibal soon trapped and beat Sempronius on the Trebbia, the ele-
phants doing good service.'"'

Flaminius awaited him at Arretium ; his army plied with prodigies,
and himself with persecutions from the senate, being a liberal in politics.
The armies met at Lake Thrasymenus, and after a fierce battle, the Re-
mans were cut to pieces ; not without much loss to the Africans, whose
beloved horses also suffered severely from hardships, as well as their
riders.-f

Terror prevailed at Rome, and gave the reins to the aristocratic party,
which put forward the cautious Fabius, a man whose coolness foiled the
dashing genius of Hannibal, who was neaidy entrapped and ruined by him,
being saved by the stratagem of burning fagots tied to oxen's horns. Ro-
man impatience, however, could not long suffer this procrastination ; and
M. Terentius Varro the plebeian, against the counsel of his rival, Paulus
iEmilius the patrician, dared a pitched battle with the Punic chief.:):

The Romans, blinded by dust and wind, met the Carthagenians at
Cannae, and were crushed, as at Thrasymenus, between the two wings,
besides being taken in rear by Numidians.§

Rome seemed lost; but she stood firm, as centuries of political and
ecclesiastical despotism had not then tamed her high spirit, as they have
done since. She scorned to sue for peace. Hannibal wintered at Capua,
and Carthage was lost ; his troops, laden with spoil, would have found a
Capua everywhere. Rome was saved by the sacrifice of her sons at Cannae,
as Russia at Moscow. ||

Hannibal was beaten at Nola by the gallant Marcellus ; and Hanno, at
Beneventum, lost 1G,000 men. Yet the mighty Hannibal wrested Taren-
tum and a great part of Sicily from the Romans. The year 213 was a
period of repose to both parties ; but in 214 Rome levied 335,000 men, to
finish the war. A tremendous struggle ensued; but the Romans recovered

* This victory gave him 90,000 Gaulish auxiliaries ; and he was forced to pass the winter
in Cisalpine Gaul, exposed to constant risk of assassination. In March 217 he marched to
Arretium, and soon after lost an eye, through exposure and fatigue. Michelet, pp. 177-8.
Dr. Russel, p. 41.

-f- Michelet, p. 179. Dr. Russel, p. 41. Polyb. hi. Livy, xxii.

I Hannibal's situation was at this time critical ; at the end of two years he had not a
town or castle in Italy, and only corn for ten days left.

§ Paulus fell with 50,000 men, 2 questors, 21 tribunes, nearly 100 senators, and
numberless knights. Hannibal lost 4000 Gauls, and 1500 Spaniards and Africans.
Grandeur ct Decadence, c. iv. pp. 34-5. Michelet, p. 182. rolyb. iii. Livy, xxii.

II The Scipios, like Wellington, were in Spain ; victory followed their path. Carthage
was jealous of Hannibal's success, and would give him no aid; and his army, weakened
and corrupted, was successfully encountered by the Romans.

scipio. 413

Capua and Syracuse, though Hannibal made a dash up to the very walls
of Rome.*

Sicily was recovered by Rome, but the two Scipios were beaten and
killed in Spain. Young Scipio, the son of Publius, was still alive ; and
the Roman people, scenting a hero, named him its saviour at twenty-four.
A man of gentle temper and lion's heart, he was an advance on the old
Roman angular character, though accused of irregular morals — not an un-
common failing with great captains. t

It was Scipio's eye that saw where the death-wound to Carthage should
be struck. Though opposed by the senile conservatism of Fabius, he car-
ried his point, and invaded Africa with a gallant army, whilst the Cartha-
ginians were disputing about his projects. All Italy had furnished him
with troops and supplies at Syracuse. Scipio hoped to secure the friend-
ship of Syphax, the Numidian chief, whom he had gained during a tempo-
rary visit to Barbary.J

The Roman consul feigned to listen to his propositions ; but, through
spies, learning the combustible nature of the camps of Syjdtax and Has-
drubal, he attacked and burnt them in one night, though containing 90,000
men.§ The Roman soldiers were satiated with plunder. ||

The Carthaginians, deprived of Syphax, recalled Hannibal, who left
Italy, shedding tears of rage. We cannot agree with Michelet in think-

* It was Marcellus who stormed Syracuse ; and Archimedes, after aiding his country-
men with his genius, paid the penalty of his patriotism with his death. Michelet, pp.
184-91.

+ He described himself as inspired by Neptune ; he seems to have possessed the gift
of prevision ; and we shall soon see him turn the tables. Carthagena was taken, and tho
head of Hasdrubal cast into the camp of Hannibal, who retired sullenly amidst the Brutii.
Michelet, p. 197.

X Since then Syphax had married Sophonisba, the daughter of the Carthaginian general
Hasdrubal Gisco. The African races, like the French, had the amiable weakness of fre-
quently changing their opinions ; the idol of to-day was the victim of to-morrow. Sopho-
nisba flattered Syphax with the proud idea of becoming arbitrator between the two most
powerful states in the world.

§ Michelet, pp. 195-6. Dr. Eussel, p. 42. Livy, lib. xxi. c. i.-liv.

|| Scipio had brought over with him Massinissa, the Numidian king. The latter, who
was the best horseman in Africa, and who, up to eighty, could remain a whole day on his
horse, always succeeded in eluding his enemy. Once, when closely pressed by Syphax,
he hid himself, like David and Mahomet, in a cave. Massinissa, brought back by the
enemies of Numidia, enjoyed the cruel pleasure of taking his enemy, of entering his capital,
and taking Sophonisba from him. This African Catharine of Medicis, formerly promised
to Massinissa, secretly sent to excuse herself from a forced marriage. The young Nu-
midian, with the levity of his age and country, promised to protect her, and the same
night took her for his wife. The unfortunate Syphax, not knowing how to avenge him-
self, secretly intimated to Scipio that she who had drawn him from his alliance to Rome
might do the same to Massinissa. Scipio saw the soundness of the suggestion, and claimed
Sophonisba as his part of the booty. Massinissa thereupon gave her a poisoned goblet,
which she drank off calmly, saying, "I accept the nuptial present;" whilst he fled. For
this he was highly lauded and crowned by Scipio, — honours somewhat dearly bought.
Michelet, p. 196. Dr. Russel, p. 43 See the tragedy of Sophonisba in Livy, lib. xxx. c.
iii.-xii. Alfieri has closely followed his narrative in the tragedy of Sophonisba.

414 ZAMA.

ing him guilty of such atrocities in the latter part of his sojourn, or his
presence so odious, as the Roman historians have related.* If all his-
torical documents, save the French, relating to the last war had perished,
we should have a strange version of the Peninsular war arid of Waterloo,
of Enghien and of Andrew Hofer.

A few days after his return, he encamped at Zama, five days' journey
west of Carthage. He tried first diplomacy on Scipio ; but this failing, he
was forced to fight, and suffered the most disastrous defeat of ancient
times, +

Scipio seeing the strength of Carthage, did not push it to extremities.
He took their navy from them, and brought the territory of Massinissa,
their ambitious foe, to their gates. When these terms were proposed in
the senate, Hasdrubal Cisco advised their rejection ; but Hannibal went
up to him, seized him, and threw him down. There was much uproar;
and it appears from this, that the Punic senate occasionally emulated
an American congress, a French assembly, and a British parliament, in
unseemly irritation and disorderly tumult.

Carthage gave up 5U0 vessels, which were burned in the open sea
within sight of the citizens. Though equally distressing to them, it was
less dishonourable to the perpetrators than the national burglary com-
mitted by Britain on her brother Danes. | What distressed the Cartha-
ginians most was, however, paying the first term of the tribute, — as
great a national curse, and as foolishly encountered, as the national debt
of Britain. § Hannibal entered Carthage as a master, with a clear field
before him ; was named suffete ; and directed his attention and care to the
prosperity of the state, agriculture, commerce, and pacific measures. Thus,
after he had obtained supreme power, like Sylla, he was too noble to stoop
to titles, and he bestowed his mind and means on repairing the disasters
of his country; — a noble example, and a bitter criticism on those modern
autocrats who grind their people to powder to fill their coffers, and who
make use of the popularity of borrowed plumes, and take advantage of
a nation's divisions, to cover their country with bloodshed, their pockets
with gold, and their name with infamy.

* Michelet, p. 197. Dr. Russel, p. 43.

f In the front rank he placed the foreigners, in the second the Carthaginians ; the
reserve was composed of the veterans of the army of Italy. The mercenaries were first
alarmed and overthrown ; the second line fell back on the reserve, who drove them away
with their spears ; and the veterans themselves were at last broken by the Numidians in
the service of Rome, who had already conquered the two wings, and who, turning, took
the reserve in rear. This same cavalry, the cause of Hannibal's conquests in Italy, de-
cided his fate and that of Carthage at Zama in 202 B.C. Grandeur et Decadence, p. 31.
Michelet, ubi supra, p. L99.

X Michelet, p. 109. trigs tildragelserne i Sjoelland paa Major Blom. Kjoebnhocvn,

§ For what have England and Europe derived from the overthrow of Napoleon? — out-
I in Spain, and a fair field for Austrian gibbets and the knout.

THE FALL OF CARTHAGE. 415

Hannibal still lived, but Cato was also alive ; and, showing the figs of
Africa to the senate, "he thought, moreover, that Carthage ought to be de-
stroyed.''''* Nor was it difficult to achieve, for the spirit of faction was
rampant in the senate and the streets. The Romans found an excuse
in an infraction of the treaty by the Carthaginians, when they drove out
the Xumidian faction and went to war with Massinissa, who beat them,
killing 58,000 men.f

Utica was betrayed to Rome, and 84,000 men thundered against Car-
thage. Her doom was sealed. The senate decreed that its citizens should
reside more than three leagues from the sea, and that their town should
be entirely destroyed ! The senate had promised to respect the city, — that
is to say, the citizens, — but not the tovii.

This unworthy equivocation restored to the Carthaginians rage and
strength. They called their slaves to liberty ; they made 300 swords, 500
lances, 100 bucklers, a day. The women cut off their long hair to make
cords for the machines of war. We are reminded of the bullying Duke of
Brunswick and the outburst of enthusiasm in France in 1792. There is
sublimity in a nation roused to rage by wrongs, like Turkey now.

A desperate defence was made, and the Roman army was thrice nearly
exterminated.^: Scipio, however, carried all before him, entered Carthage;
and after a street-fight of six days and nights, Rome's rival sank into a
heap of ashes. §

We read of Marius sitting alone amidst the ruins of Carthage; but this
city rose again under Augustus, and eventually surpassed its former splen-
dour, as a Roman colony and provincial capital. So great, indeed, was
its luxury, corruption, and effeminacy during the latter centuries of the Ro-
man empire, that a monk could not be seen in its streets without ridicule ;
crowds of men walked about in the garb and character of women ; and it
is almost with joy that we hail the arrival of the rough stern Xorthmen
of Genseric, trampling under foot this Sodom with their iron heeL||

* An analogy has often been traced between Rome and Carthage, France and Britain.
There are several points of resemblance, but more of difference. Carthage was an oligar-
chical commonwealth, a nation of merchants and shopkeepers, but she had not British
tars or British faith. Carthage fell ; but save by the predominance of peace-societies, or
the party-spirit of protectionism, no breach can be made in our bulwarks. Borne vowed
the downfall of Carthage, — lajiire Albion of that day.

+ Miehelet, p. 238.

I Young Scipio JSmilianus, the son of Paulus .-Emilius, adopted by the son of the great
Scipio, having saved the army once, was made consul. He walled off Carthage from the
land, and dammed it off from, the sea. But the Carthaginians pierced another channel
through the rock, and launched a fleet made of the wreck of their houses.

§ Miehelet, pp. 238-9. Dr. Bussel, p. 46.

| Herder truly remarks : " With Carthage fell a state that Rome could never replace.
Commerce departed from its coast, and pirates took its place, which they still occupy,
(he wrote about 1800). Corn-growing Africa was no longer under the Romans what it had
been so long under Carthage ; it sank into a granary for the Roman people, a hunting-
ground for their amphitheatres, and an emporium for slaves. Still desolate lie the shores

41G CARTHAGINIAN LAWS.

Having briefly run over the principal events of Carthaginian history in
a chronological order, we shall, in a note, present a few remarks on the
organic laws that held sway in the same.*

and plains of the most beautiful land in the world, which the Romans first stripped of its
inland culture. The very letters of the Punic writing are lost to us; for iEmilianus handed
it over to the grandson of Massinissa, one enemy of Carthage to another," — like Poland
and Turkey dissected by the northern powers. See Herder's Ideen, vol. ii. p. 157.

* I. It is manifest that the sjnirit of monopoly [on the Carthaginian spirit of monopoly,
see Montesquieu's Esprit des Lois, c. xxi.-ii.] was a chief element of the Cai-thagmian
laws ; as is proved by then- commercial treaties with Rome, and from the fact of its having
been the custom to drown the crews of such vessels belonging to other nations as were
found in the vicinity of those places with which they carried on the most lucrative trade.

The same principle that led to her rise and prosperity occasioned her decline, by sever-
ing from her the sympathy of her neighbours, and leaving her alone in her distresses.
Such is the invariable result of the spirit of monopoly in every matter connected with
man.

II. At the time of the expedition of Hanno and Hamilcar, 480 years before the time of
Augustus, her progress in wealth, population, and refinement must have been very con-
siderable. (See Diodorus on the wealth of Carthage, p. 79; Polybius, p. 80. Herodotus on
the land-trade of Carthage, p. 80. Heeren's Historical Researches. Heeren's Reflections
on the Politics, Intercourse, and Trade of the Ancient Nations of Africa. See Aristotle;
Pol. lib. ii. c. xi. on the polity and constitution of Carthage. )

The limit of Carthage was fixed finally, on the side of Cyrene, at the altars of the Phi-
leni, whose legend respecting the self-sacrifice and inhumation of the two brothers is too
beautiful to be soiled by criticism. Later this limit was much contracted, and the kings
of Numidia, profiting by the disasters of the republic, recovered much territory that had
been lost Under Roman sway, the territory proper of Carthage was styled Pro vincia,
including a country called Emporia; and Byzacium, which had been a great bone of con-
tention between the Numidians and Carthaginians; but Pliny informs us that the last
Scipio Africanus separated the Roman province from the kingdom of Massinissa by a
ditch running from the mountains to the sea, near the town of Thenre. The town of
Taphnera also stood on this ditch. The province had little depth in the time of Jugurtha;
its limits running from the Tusca along the mountains between Hippo and Vacca, crossing
the Bagradas twelve leagues S. W. of Carthage, and ending on the sea at Thenar By-
zacium was afterwords erected into a special province. (Barbie" du Bocage, p. 260.)
Sixty large ships with 3000 emigrants sailed under Hanno to form a colony on the N.W.
coast of Africa in the ocean. The works of Mago alone, one of the suffetes, on all branches
of agriculture, amounted to twenty-eight, a few remains of which are found in Pliny;
whilst most of their works have been lost through the neglect or rage of Roman bar-
barism, only matched by that of Ximenes in destroying Arabic Mss. after the capture of
Granada. These treatises were translated into Latin by Solinus. Hence it appears that
there was a Carthaginian literature patronised by the great, and which had passed from
poetry to prose. How great has been the waste occasioned by human ignorance and fa-
naticism ! and how zealously should we endeavour to preserve the little progress we have
made in civilisation from the inroads of Croats and Kossacks, who cannot be regarded as
men of taste, save in horseflesh, nor very discriminating in criticism !

III. The government of Carthage was an oligarchy. (Montesquieu; Grandeur et De-
cadence, p. 25.) That was bad. But it had two advantages to counterbalance this: it

rned itself, and it had republican forms. The worst native government is better than
the oppression of foreigners; and a republic in any form has more vitality than any other
form of government.

IV. An eminent historian and philosopher, comparing Rome and Carthage, remarks
that the latter had become rich and corrupt; whilst the former still remained immaculate,
and rewarded merit instead of accepting bribes. In this circumstance he justly traces

jugurtha. 417

And now to other matters.

From the ruin of Carthage, and even during the lifetime of the faithful
Massinissa, the Romans eyed with suspicion Numidia, the ladder whereby
they had entered Africa. Micipsa, the son of Massinissa, was too weak
and soft to be feared by the senate, but he was obliged to share his
kingdom at his death between his two sons, and his nephew Jugurtha, a
bold and crafty Numidian, who aimed at empire, and had the suffrages of
his countrymen.' 11 ' Unlike other imperial nephews, he did not shelter his
insignificance under the greatness of his name; and his being the nephew
of his uncle was not a sufficient passport for office, or guarantee of honour
and honesty. He had worked his own way up, doing wonders at the siege
of Numantia in Spain. He was the best horseman in Africa; and his
heart was as brave as the lions he slew in multitudes. Barbarian nations
have generally had the wisdom or folly of choosing the most worthy of a
family for king. Hereditary right did not suffice with them to crown
idiots, as with modern czars and kaisers. Like Clovis, Jugurtha was
made sovereign by the source of all power, the voice of the people. The
Numidians saw that the division of their country was its ruin, and would
end in subjection to Rome; and they fought like heroes for their chief and
country, t

The people of Rome charged the aristocracy with being bought to
acquiesce in Jugurtha's rise, and sent C. Piso into Africa with an army.
He took a few towns, but was bribed to retire. The tribune Memmius,

a chief cause of the triumph of Rome, and the downfall of her rival ; and, as history is a
school for the nations, it would be well to remember, that by the same sin fell Rome her-
self, and the Orleans dynasty; and that two empires are now festering under the same
disease. It is to be hoped that England will avert such calamities, by abolishing the pur-
chase of commissions.

V. Strangely does the wheel of fortune rise and fall, and time plays a curious game
of see-saw with the nations.

The early intercourse of Carthage with Gaid is proved by the great number of Gaulish
mercenaries, which, during the time of the Sicilian wars, fought in the Carthaginian
armies. (Dr. Russel's Barbary States, p. 69. Michelet, p. 147.) Thus Africa once held
sway in Spain; and Frenchmen fought her battles, who now bring the blessings of im-
perial despotism, Christian law chicanery, and philosophic infidelity into the solitudes of
the Desert.

VI. The fall of Carthage has been attributed to the neglect of her maritime defence, and
to the party spirit in her walls. (Dr. Russel's Barbary States, p. 82. ) It were well if Peace-
Societies, Protectionists, and Manchester men would attend the school of Pythagoras for a
season, and in silence study history, ere they expose our national independence and our
constitution, passable with all its faults, by the extravagant theories of disarmament and
the selfish contentions of parties. (See some admirable observations and reflections on
the strategy and polity of Carthage in Montesquieu's Parallele do Carthage et de Rome,
c, iv. of the Grandeur et Decadence des Romains.)

* Michelet, p. 274. Dr. Russel, p. 48. Sail. Bell. Jugurth. c. vi.

f Jugurtha, assassinating Heimpsal, divided the sway between himself and Adherbal
the surviving brother; and he soon threw off the mask, attacked and murdered the latter!
as well as all the Italian traders with Cirtha. Michelet, p, 27u.

418 JUGURTHA.

backed by the indignant people, summoned Jugurtha to Kome, to justify
himself. Eelying on the judge's venality, the Numidian went and came.*

Unhappy the land, which, like Spain and Russia, is eaten up with
venal employes! When justice may be bought, Circassian and Polish
triumphs are of no avail ; and Peruvian gold is rubbish, with a death-
wound in the heart of the empire, -j-

Aulus,t the consul's lieutenant, had to pass under the yoke.§ This
disgrace roused the Senate, which, seizing the reins from the doating and
flagitious party of the aristocracy then in power, sent over Cecilius Metel-
lus with a new army. (b.c. 109.) Having re-established discipline, he
faced Jugurtha, after taking Vacca; but was nearly beaten by the Nunii-
dian's able tactics, which raised the siege of Sicca, and foiled the Roman
consul, who sought to bribe assassins to dispatch him. This led Jugurtha
to negotiate. He submitted to every thing, giving Metellus 200,000
pounds' weight of silver, all his elephants, <fcc.||

Jugurtha soon recommenced the war ;^[ but Marius snatched victory and
consulship from his commander Metellus, who, jealous, insulted him.**
Gaining and disciplining his own army, he took Caspa amidst desert soli-
tudes, the inaccessible peak where the ISTumidian treasures were placed,
and beat Bocchus and Jugurtha twice. The former delivered up his son-
in-law, rather than perish, to young Sylla, praetor of Mauritania, who, in his
first campaign, had the honour of receiving the important captive. His
success was the result of his coolness, when Bocchus hesitated a moment
if he should not deliver up Sylla to Jugurtha. -j-j-

* Bribing again, and assassinating competitors, Jugurtha left Rome in safety, exclaim-
ing, " O venal city, and only awaiting a purchaser /"— -Dr. Russel, p. 50. Michelet, p. 275.
Sallust, Bell. Jug. c. xxxv.

f Revelations of Russia, vol. i. See the chapters on the Secret and Common Police,
and on the Tribunals.

J Albinus, brother of Aulus, who was first sent, did nothing against Jugurtha.
§ Dr. Russel, p. 50. Bell. Jug. c. xxxviii. Michelet, p. 275.

II Baron Baude is of opinion that the road followed by the French army in 1836 up the
valley of the Seybouse, by the Ras-cl-Akba and the Ouad Sheriff to the Hammam Mes-
khoutin, was the same as that of the proprietor Aulus, when he coveted the treasures
which Jugurtha had placed in Suthul, and let himself be drawn by the cunning Numidian
into the defiles, where being conquered without fighting, the Roman army was forced to
pass under the jugum. It is undoubtedly beyond Mjez-Amar, in the gorges of Hammam
Meskhoutin, or in those of the Ouad-Sheriff, that the snare was laid into which Aulus fell ;
the precipitous rocks that enclose them, and their tortuous character, ought to have
warned him of his danger ; but blinded by cupidity, or jealous of the good fortune of ( !al-
purnius, the propraetor, like many modern generals, ran after the money, without caring
for the honour of his eagles. Baude, c. ix. p. 2.

^[ Metellus met him by putting to death all adidt males, treating thus Vacca and Thala,
the repository of the treasures of Jugurtha, who retired to the confines of the Great
Desert, disciplined the Gfetulians, and (sailed to assist him against the Romans his father-
in-law Bocchus, the king of Mauritania, who was vanquished with him near Cirtha.

** A violent dispute arose at Rome between the partisans of the chiefs; but Marius
returned triumphant to Africa. Michelet, p. 276. Bell. Jug. c. 54, 55, 56.

ft Numidia was divided between Bocchus and the two natural grandsons of Massinissa.

CATO. 419

The hero or rebel was dragged in triumph through the mob of Home
after Marius, and was starved to death in the prison, Bhivering with his
African blood in the chill climate of an Italian dungeon.* With the vir-
tues of the Italian exiles, he joined the vices of his age and race ; yet the
heart swells with rage as we think of the chronic injustice of man in exo-
teric oppressions. Home, like Austria, has had her Spielberg; and Kos-
suths and Mazzinis have groaned for ages under the thumbscrew of bloody
idiots or gladiatorial republics.

Carthage, Numidia, and the two Mauritanias were gradually subduedt
by the Roman arms, and groaned or nourished under the gentle or op-
pressive administration of Italian praetors.

The expiring effort of Home to avoid the disgrace of praetorian des-
potism was defeated in Africa. J The other Scipio, to whom Cato had
unwisely yielded the command, had interested in his cause the Maurita-
nian Juba, by promising him the whole of Africa. This alliance gave him
all the Numidians, and with their cavalry the means of starving Caesar's
army; but the latter, by a rapid march, separately attacked the three
camps of the Pompeians, and destroyed 50,000 men, without losing 50 of
his own soldiers. §

Cato had remained in Utica, a town indisposed to risk the slaves, who
were its riches, by arming them to defend it. Cato seeing no hope, sent
away the senators Avho were with him, and resolved to die in conformity
with the precepts and practice of the stoical philosophy. ||

* Plutarch, Life of Marius. Eutropius, lib. iv. c. 28. Dr. Russcl, p. 51. Michclet,
p. 278.

f Tho Romans at first pursued the usual magnanimous practice of conquerors, in pa-
tronising dependant kings of Numidia and Mauritania, in order to swallow them up at the
proper season, like Poland and Turkey, for which a modern Caesar seems to have an
inordinate appetite. Hierupsal II., grandson of Massinissa, was the first king whom the
Quirites restored to the throne of Numidia, a learned prince, who composed several his-
torical works in the Punic tongue, which Sallust professes to have caused to be translated
for his own use, and which he appears to have incorporated neck and crojs into his
original history, after the fashion of modern historiographers. Hiempsal II.'s grandson,
Juba, who reigned over Mauritania, was a piince equally conspicuous for his erudition.
The eastern part of Numidia was reduced to a Roman province first under Julius Czesar,
who intrusted its administration to Sallust. Barbie" du Socage, p. 250.

+ The Pompeians had assembled in Africa under Scipio, father-in law of Pompey. The
Scipios, it was said, would always conquer in Africa. Csesar accordingly announced that
a Scipio should also command his army. He declared that ho gave up the command to
a Scipio Sallutio, a poor soldier of his, obscure, and altogether despised.

§ Dr. Paissel, p. 59. Michelet, p. 361, 362. Plutarch, Life of Csesar. Dion Cass. xlii.
3S6. App. de Bell. Civ. 1. iv. ch. 108 and following. Montesquieu, Grandeur, &c. p. 96.

|| This man, whom Cicero and Seneca justly style holy (saiictus, Amm. Marcel.),
in his life approached nearer to the Christian ideal than most Christians, though his
death was not that of a saint. Cato, the last of the Romans, read through Plato's Phaedo
(on the Immortality of the Soul,) twice tho night previous to his suicide, and slept so
soundly between his lectures, that he was heard snoring from the next room. When his
time had come, he ran his sword coolly into his body ; but being found still alive, and his
wounds being bound up, while he was insensible he tore them off, and expired as soon as
he came to himself. B.C. 47. Michelet. Dr. Russel, ubi supra.

420 THE NORTH-AFRICAN CHURCH.

"We shall now attend to the Christian church in Africa.

The vitality of the Christian church in Africa'' 5 ' is attested hy its coun-
cils, its schisms, and its monuments. Like all other communities of the
faithful, they quarrelled fiercely about words and stones ; but in the day
of persecution they exceeded the courage and endurance of homoeopathic
students, mesmeric professors, and rappists. Whilst the majority was
against them, they were, of course, a band of visionaries or impostors, and
their system a gross piece of insanity or fraud, from which no good could
he derived ; but when Catholic Christianity was established, it fulminated
the same charges against all innovation from which it had so grievously
suffered itself. Such has ever been the history of human wisdom and
charity.

Orthodox pens have recorded gross excesses in the dissenters of North
Africa ; but we feel doubtful how far we may trust them.T The Anabaptists'
and the Suabian peasants' war of the Reformation were probably extrava-
gant in some respects ; but the reformers, who provoked and exterminated
these men, are not the most trustworthy authorities in recording them.t
Luther was not so conspicuous for charity as zeal; and if Munzer had
succeeded, it is not improbable that he would only be remembered as a
harsh, violent, and turbulent monk, who sought to rise, like Ronge, on
the ruins of the church. §

* Neander is of opinion that Christianity was early introduced into the province of
Africa. This church at Carthage becomes known to us first about the last years of tho
second century, through the presbyter Tertullian ; but even then it appears to have been
in a very flourishing condition. In his tract to the governor, Scapula, he spoke already
of a persecution of Christians in Mauritania. After the middle of the third century,
Christianity had made such progress in Mauritania and Numidia, that under Cyprian,
bishop of Carthage, a synod was held consisting of 87 bishops. P. 114, vol. i. Clark's edi-
tion of Ncander's History of the Christian Church.

f We cannot even coincide with the mild judgment passed by Neander on the North.
African heretics.

J D'Aubigne" himself, and Luther's Autobiography by Michelet (po .180-181), show the
human frailties and excesses of the monk of Eisleben, and give us gleams of a brighter
light in Munzer's followers and the Anabaptists of Munster and Leyden,

§ We find that there met together, in the Donatist conference of Carthage, A.D. 411,
286 bishops of tho Catholics and 279 of the Donatist party. St. Augustine was the chief
speaker on the Catholic, and Petilianus on the heretic side. Tho imperial tribune and
notary, Flavius Marcellinus, a friend of Augustine, presided. This took place under the
Emperor Honorius. Among the bishops wo find the following: Donatus bishop of Casa
Nigra in Numidia, the primate of Numidia, Secundus bishop of Tigisis; and a Catholic
bishop near Carthage, Felix ofAptungis, Aptugnensis, Aptungitanus, or Autumnitanus,
figured largely in tho controversy between the two factions of the North- African church.
(For these facts see Neander, vol. iii.) We find that in the year 305, tho Numidian
bishops, under the presidency of the above-named Secundus. assembled at Cirta in Nu-
a, for the pur] ose of ordaining a now bishop for this city (Neander, p. 247.) Ne-

i i- says, "The Donatists were inclined to a separation of church and state, and

preached against the ambition and avarice of the Catholic bishops. This inflamed the
of th I ircumcellions, &c." (vol. iii. p. 260.)

The r ader will recollect that the Donatist heresy originated in what has been repre-
d by the Catholics as the abuse of the spirit of martyrdom, or the extension of the

THE DONATISTS. 421

The most eminent lights of the North-African church were Tcrtullian
the Montanist, St. Cyprian, and St. Augustine. The principal feature in

spirit of saintship, to too large a number of faithful. A strange charge to proceed from
Catholics, reminding one of the beam and the mote in the two brothers' eyes. But the
fact is, that the Catholic hierarchy was then a proud aristocracy, and aimed at a despotic
autocracy, and the too democratic tendency of the Donatist principle was displeasing to
it. Resistance and persecution, as usual, begat opposition and extravagance ; hence arose
a singular sect, the Fakirs and Jogis of Christendom, who must have affixed the stigma of
madness to Christianity in the minds of all sober pagans.

There existed in North Africa, says Neander, a band of fanatical ascetics, who, de-
spising all labour, wandered about the country among the huts of the peasants (whence
they were called by their adversaries, the Cireumcellions), and supported themselves by beg-
ging ; a very Catholic and orthodox mode of life thus far. They styled themselves the Chris-
tian champions, agonistici. Under the pagan power, parties of them had often, for no useful
purpose, demolished the idols on their estates, and thus run the risk of martyrdom, which
they sought. These men were roused by the persecution of the Donatists to all kinds of
violence. (Neander, vol. iii. p. 257. In Fritzsche's Ketzer-Lexicon the reader will find a
full account of these fiery heretics.) Constantine always treated them with mildness;
and when they demolished a church that he had built for the Catholics of Constantina, he
had it rebuilt at his own expense, and demanded no indemnification. But under Con-
stans forcible measures were adopted to convert the Donatists, under the imperial com-
missioners, Paid and Macariua. (Neander, vol. iii. p. 260 ) This drove the Cireumcel-
lions to further extravagance. They traced all corruption in the church to worldly
wealth and power, exaggerating an eternal and apostolic truth. The Cireumcellions
breathed hatred against all who possessed power, rank, and wealth, — the democrats and
socialists of that age. They roved about the country, pretending to be protectors of the
oppressed, — a sacred band fighting for the rights of God. Probably, like Munzer's peasants
in Germany, they have been much calumniated, for they were not successful. (See the
Autobiography of Luther, edited by Michelet. Bohn's edition.) They may have per-
•cived that there was much in the relation of masters and slaves at variance with Christi-
anity ; but the cautious Neander insinuates that, in the way they wished to alter matters,
all civil order must have been upset. (Neander.) They took the part of all debtors
against creditors ; their chiefs, Fasir and Axid, styling themselves leaders of the
sons of the Holy One, sent threatening letters to all creditors. Whenever they met a
master with his slave, they obliged the former to take the place of the latter;— this would
not suit American stomachs. They compelled venerable heads of families to perform the
most menial services, — a gross indignity of course, though Christ washed his disciples' feet.
All slaves who complained of their masters were sure to find assistance, &c. Even many
of the Donatist bishops, probably pluralists or incumbents of fat livings, applied to the
civil power against them. But Donatus, and men of his stamp, encouraged them, and the
Catholics, like all powers that be, sought to compel them to worship with them. (Neander.)
Here we have the Test Act and Nonconformists in the third century, injustice being ever
the law and gospel of all civil and religious polity. Many Donatist bishops and clergymen
fell victims to this persecution ; but they must have deserved this, for they were the weaker
party. Certain it is, says Neander, that many Cireumcellions sought only the glory of
martyrdom ; finally it came to j>ass that they threw themselves from precipices, into the
fire, and hired others to kill them ; so anxious were these unhappy men to exchange the
weariness of earthly proletaries for the rest of heaven. (Neander. Gibbon gives, as usual,
a mutilation of the Donatist movement. ) In this we see the reaction of over-spiritualism
against the excessive materialistic depression of an age of fleshly doubt, analogous to the
phantasies or visions of modern supernal philosophy turning the tables on Strauss and
Voltaire.

Many eminent Donatist bishops were exiled till the reaction of charity or tolerance took
place under Julian in 361. Their situation, however, became worse under the emperors

422

TERTULLIAN.

its history was the Donatist heresy, which, having been chronicled by
orthodox bishops alone, is as imperfectly known as Carthage through the
medium of her rival's historians. The unsuccessful party is ever wrong ;
and if Christianity had failed, we should brand it as an infamous imposture.
The hero of Hungary is, of course, a visionary and a conspirator, for he
has failed ; but men begin to think that the imperial perjurer is a Solomon
and patriot, for he succeeded.*

The North- African church was one of the earliest offshoots from metro-
politan Rome, and soon rivalled its parent in heroism, fanaticism, and fac-
tions. Tertullian, + according to Neander, was the first scientific organ of
Western Christendom ;% but Augustine had more of the logical Indo-Ger-
manic critical element; and Tertullian's chief feature was the sway of mys-
tical oriental idealism in his mind, the Semitic element. A great impres-
sion was made on his rapturous spirit by Montanism, whose ecstasies and
divine dreams were chilled to death when they reached the icy atmosphere
of European prose.

The study of Tertullian's writings had manifestly an important influence
on the development of Cyprian,§ as a doctrinal writer. Jerome states,
after a tradition which was said to have come from a secretary of Cyprian,
that the latter was in the habit of reading something daily from the writ-
ings of Tertullian, whom he was accustomed to call emphatically the
Teacher. And who is original amongst us 1 Education and tradition are
the chief ingredients in the infusion called human character ; and Cyprian,
on the Ganges or at Siam, would have worshipped cows|| and carried gold
umbrellas.^ Cyprian's most remarkable work is his Book of Testimony, to

succeeding Honorius, when they were put down in the conference, like Galileo, Harvey,
Columbus, Thomas Grey, Mesmer, and all men who have a very long sight.

When the Vandals, in the fifth century, made themselves masters of the country, the
Donatists, as such, had no persecutions to suffer. It was only as Trinitarians that they
suffered in that formidable controversy, which had almost established the unity of God as-
the key-stone of orthodox Christianity. They continued to survive as a distinct party till
the sixth century, as may be seen from the letters of the Roman bishop, Gregory the
Great. (Sismondi's Fall of the Roman Empire, p 81.)

* See Schlcsingcr's War in Hungary, 1850, 2 vols., and Schalcher's Histoirc du Coup
d'Etat, published in French by John Chapman.

f He wanted the chaste sobriety of mind of Ircnams, and though a foe to speculation,
he could not resist the impulses of a profound speculative intellect. He was destitute of
regular logical forms of thought, and his genius was chiefly emotional, practical as well as
speculative, which remained the principle of the North- African Church till Augustine, in
whom Tertullian once more appears under a transfigured form.

X Neandcr's Church History. II use's Church History. Gieseler's Church History.
Dr. Russel's Barbary States, p. 133.

§ For a full account of St. Cyprian, see Ncandcr, vol. i. p. 302-323 ; Clarke's edition.
In A.i). 253 or 254, according to his own account, ho had administered the episcopal office
for six yea rs.

Major Skinner's Excursions in India.

Tf See Ruschcnberger's Voyage round the World.

. ST. AUGUSTINE. 423

prove from Scripture that Christ is the Messiah. We commend the hook
to the advocates of the Jewish disabilities and to Rothschild. Cyprian was
arrested, like a Hungarian or Italian, for thinking for himself, and put to
death by the Francis Josephs and Haynaus of the Roman Empire. He
had persecuted heretics like a man, but he met death like a Christian
(a.d. 258).*

St. Augustine (of whom more anon) was born a.d. 356, and was the
glory or the misfortune of Christendom. Original sin has been an un-
lucky legacy, hardly redeemed by the candour of his Confessions. He was
thirty-six years old, and had been born again for four years, when he was
ordained priest at Hippo, in 390, with the acclamations of the people, by
Bishop Valerius.t St. Augustine wrote his Confessions at Hippo in 397 ;
his City of God in 413 to 426; and the same year he began his Book of
Retractations. On the invasion of the Vandals, he wrote that Epistle
ccxxviii. to Bishop Honoratus, Avhich displays a humility, patience, and
courage that would not disgrace the Vatican. % He died in 429.

Returning to the secular history of North-western Africa under the
Romans, the paucity of remarkable events previous to the Vandal invasion
is an evidence of the material prosperity of the proconsulate.

Juba king of Mauritania was conquered and taken at Pharsalia, but
was restored and protected by the generosity of Julius Caesar, who, unlike
modern Christians, saw the policy of clemency. Caligula, however, put to
death Juba's son, took possession of his states, and made a Roman pro-
vince of them ; and Claudius divided them into two provinces — the
Caesarian and Tingitanian Mauritanias.§

* Our space prevents us from dwelling on Lactantius the Christian Cicero, for an ac -
count of whom the reader is referred to Neander, vol. i. and Dr. Kussel, r£ 135. He was
intrusted with the education of Crispus, a son of the Emperor Constantine.

t In 394 he founded a community there, from which the most learned and illustrious
bishops of Spain issued, including Alipius of Tagaste, Evode of Uzale, Possidius ofCala-
ma, Prefecturus and Fortunatus of Cirta, Severus of Mileve, Urban of Sicca, &c. Valerius
adopted him as his coadjutor in 395, and died the following year.

X It would be dangerous to pronounce the verdict on this orthodox man. Nor would
it be easy to say if the influence has been more beneficial or hurtful to Christendom. The
elevation and brightness of some of his views are clouded by a considerable infusion of
Manichasan views ; yet though he has disturbed the transparency of the waters of life, the
purity of his life has partly compensated for the turbulence of his doctrine. A Christian
bishop, who lives a mendicant and dies a pauper, is now so refreshing a novelty, that his
self-denial covers a multitude of sins. (On St. Augustine and the church of Carthago
and Numidia, see a full account in Nachrichten und Bemerkungen iiber den Algierischen
Staat, 3 vols. 1798-1802 ; Dr. Kussel, p. 136 ; Neander, vol. hi. ; Gibbon ; Baron Baude,
vol. ii. p. 41 ; and Possidius de Vita Augustini.)

§ Dion Cassius, hb. lix. ; Seneca de tranquillitate animi ; Plin. lib. v. e. i. ii. ; Suetonius
in vita Calig. sect. xxvi. ; Nachrichten und Bemerkungen, vol. ii. ; Gibbon; and Dr. Eussel,
pp. 53-6.

Our space prevents us from dwelling on the rebellion of Ternius, the son of Nabal, a
Moorish prince, in the third century; who, after considerable successes, being hard pressed
by Komanus, and still harder by Theodosius, put an end to himself in the Atlas. The

424 THE VANDALS.

But Eome was approaching her fall ; for liberty had expired with Cato,
and a praetorian government had disgraced the majesty of the Roman peo-
ple, which even two Antonini and a Hadrian were unable to rescue. A
fresher, healthier spirit of freedom was to descend from the North with
healing on its wings, though by a rough treatment. The race of Odin,
Sigurd, and the vikings, drew the s'word, throwing away the scabbard, and
carved out Europe anew. The Vandals,' :: " forcing their way through France,
entered Spain with the Suevi and Alani ; and after eighteen years' posses-
sion of the coast of Andalusia, hard pressed by the Goths (a.d. 427), passed
over into Africa (where they were invited by the Roman Count Boniface)
under their king Genseric, and subdued the greatest part of what the Ro-
mans then possessed thei'e. A contemporary writer has left us a description
of the devastation which they occasioned, of which the sceptical Gibbon
seems to doubt the accuracy.t

The Emperor Justinian, X after having consolidated his empire in the
East, wished to restore it to its ancient splendour by recovering its finest
provinces ; and the renowned Belisarius was sent with this view, in 534,
into Africa. He attacked the Vandals, weakened by divisions and ener-
vated by luxury, conquered their last king (Gelimer), and reduced the
whole of that country under the power of the Lower Empire. It remained
one hundred years subject to the oppressions of the Greek prefects; but
in 647, Othman, third Caliph of the Saracens, sent Hucha,§ his general,

second rebel was Gildo, his brother, who announced himself sovereign of Africa ; but
Stiticho, A. D. 398, crushed him by an overwhelming force among the Atlas ; and the
usurper, trying to escape, was secured, imprisoned, and committed suicide, like his
brother. Again, a.d. 413, Heraclian raised the standard of rebellion, and made an at-
tempt to invade Rome, which failed ; and on his return, the Africans had deserted liis
cause, confiscated his property, 200,000^., and cut off his head. Dr. Russel, p. 95.

* See Dr. Russel, p. 97 ; Procopius, &c. The best account of the Vandals will be found
in Gibbon's Decline and Fall, c. xliii., and also in Sismondi's Fall of the Roman Empire,
c. vii. pp. 152 to 156.

f Scarcely any part of this beautiful region escaped their ravages. They found a
highly cultivated country, they left it a desert. They rooted up the vines, pulled down
the buildings, and demolished the temples. They collected crowds before the cities, and
butchered them, that the infected air might cause the besieged to surrender. Procopius
.says, that when the army of the Greek Empire invaded Africa 100 years after, you might
travel for three days without meeting a human being.

+ Excellent remarks on Justinian's conquest and administration are found in Montes-
quieu's Grandeur ct De"cadenco des Romains, c. xx. Dr. Russcl's Barbary States, p. 10(3.
Gibbon, c. xliv. Cardenne's History of Africa. Sismondi's Fall of the Roman Empire.

§ Dr. Russel calls him Abdallah, and states that he advanced from Egypt by Barca
with 40,000 men, and met the Greek prefect Gregory in front of Tripoli. The latter was
killed, his daughter taken, and his army beaten; but the loss of Abdallah was so great,
that he had to fall back on the Nile. Vie de Mahomet, par Gagnier, t. iii. p. 45. Leo
Afrieanus, p. 585, cd. 1032. Akbah, a brave commander, was sent again in 680, and
in:in-hrd through .Mauritania with little opposition, but perished, as well as his successor,
Zobeir, in an insurrection of the natives.

Akbar founded Kairouan; and Hassan, a.d. 698, attacked Carthage, but had to retire

TIIE AGLABITES. 425

with a large army into this province. He wrested it from the hands of the
Eomans, who, in the open country, unprovided with strong fortresses and
armies, were unable to resist the Arabs, animated by ambition and convic-
tion. Christianity and paganism yielded to the Crescent, and the power
•of the caliphs and the authority of the Koran prevailed in the whole region.
The caliphs of Bagdad held it till a.d. 800, when the African Arabs shook
off their yoke, and set up an independent sovereignty under the Emir
Almoumeuim.

Having launched the reader on the tide of Arabian history, we shall
give a tabular view of the dynasties in North-west Africa, adding a few
remarks on the most eminent sovereigns and revolutions.""'

Africa was governed by the caliphs, through their lieutenants and vice-
roys, from 709 to 800. Alwalid sent Musa, in the first instance, with
10,000 men, who completely subdued Bai-bary, and in 712 passed into
Spain. The followers of Musa i - uled over Africa, dependent on the ca-
liphs; and from 720 to 800, they remained subject to the house of Abbas.
The last of the followers of Musa who submitted to the caliphs was
Ibrahim-Ben-el-Aglab, founder of the Aglabites. Many Christians had
fled to Europe in this period. In 750 the lieutenant of the caliphs, called
Abdoulrahman, rebelled, without success ; but under Caliph Haroun-el-
Baschid, in S00, Aglab made himself independent. Haudenis-Ben-Ab-

before a large Greek force; which was, however, ultimately entirely discomfited; when the
city of Dido and Utica fell into the hands of the Arabs.

An attempt of the aborigines to resist the invaders, under a princess and prophetess
named Catrina, was equally unsuccessful. Leo Afric. p. 575. Africa; Descriptio. Mor-
gan's History of Algiers, p. 162. Nachrichten und Bemerkungen, &c. vol. ii. Dr. Rus-
sel, p. 116, &c.

* The history of Africa under the Mussulman comprises three periods — 1st, the Arab
period, from a.d. 647 (Hegira 27) to a.d. 971 (Hegira 361) embracing two dynasties. The
Fatimite Khalif Moez Ziddin then leaves Kairouan to go to Egypt, leaving the go-
vernment of Africa in the hands of Ben-Zivi-ben-Mnad of the Berber tribe of the Sanhadja.
The Arab period lasted 321 years. The Berber period embraces three dynasties, and ter-
minates in Morocco in 1519, in Algiers in 1515, in Tunis in 1570. This period lasted for
Morocco 518 years, for Algiers 542, and for Tunis 599. The third period lasts from 1515
to our times. In Morocco it has been Arab throughout ; in Tunis modified Turkish ; and
in Algeria since 1830 French. The modern period in Morocco has lasted 32S years, in
Algeria 315, in Tunis 277. The Mussulman rule in Bai-bary has thus lasted about twelve
centuries. The Arab period is divided into two orthodox d3'nasties, the Omuiiades and
Abassides; and one schismatic African, the Fatimites. The Berber period embraces, 1st,
the dynasty of the Sanhadja ; 2, the dynasty of the Almoravides, or the Lemtouna San-
hadja ; 3d, the dynasty of the Almohades, a combination of the Zenata and the Mas-
monda. The first dynasty is divided into two branches, a, the Beni-Mnad from a.d. 971
to 1087 (480 Heg.); duration 126 years, b, that of the Beni-Hammad from A.D. 996 (Heg.
3S6) to 1149 (Heg. 544); duration 153 years.

The third period embraces the praetorian sway of Turkish and French Janissaries.

Under the Arab period, the capital under the Asiatic khalifs was at Kairouan in Tunis;
under the African caliphs at Mehadia; under the Sanhadja Berbers, first branch at Aehir,
on the road from Ben-Sada to Bugia, then at Kairouan. The second branch at Bugia,
the Almoravides at Morocco, and also the Almohades, till the division of their empire.

426

THE EDKISITES.

doulrahman, an Arab chief, opposed him ; he was, however, beaten and
killed in a battle, and his followers submitted to Aglab, who is represented
as a great patron of learning and the arts. About this time the empire of
Morocco was also founded by a reputed descendant of the Prophet. Ali-
Edris, such was his name, was poisoned ; but the Edrisites held his empire
long.*

Then the branch of the Beni-Mrin made Morocco and Fez their capital; that of the Beni-
Zeian settled at Tlemcen; and that of the Beni-Hafes at Tunis.

The following tree (extracted from the Exploration Scientifique) representing the Ara-
bian conquests and dynasties, may make it still clearer.

Oriental Caliphs.
Damascus. Bagdad. Al-Walid. Ommiads. Abassides.

Tarik and Musa conquer
Spain, 712.

The Ommiad Abderrah-
man, 755, founds an in-
dependent caliphate in
Spain.

The Spanish caliphate
split up into ten king-
doms.

Fatimites in Egypt de-
posed in 1211 by Sala-
din. Kurdic aud Mam-
luk kingdom founded in
Egypt, 1250. The Bag-
dad caliphate melts gra-
dually into the jm-ctorian
protectorate of the Seld-
juk Turks, till Bagdad
itself is stormed, sacked,
and ruined by the Mo-
guls, 125S.

Tarik and Musa conquer
Africa, which remains
dependent till 788.

I
In 78S the Edrisites, fol-
lowers of Ali, found an
independent empire at
Fez.

Under Haroun-al-Rasckid,
Kairouan and Tunis be-
come independent under
the Aglabites, a.d. 800.

Edrisites and Aglabites
swallowed up by the Fa-
timite caliphs of Egypt,
90S.

Fatimite empire broken up
in 1211. Africa a prey
to the Zeirites, Mora-
beths, and Almohades,
1250 to 1517.
(See Herder's Philosophy of History, vol. ii. p. 372. Schlotzer's Geschichte von Nord
Afrika. Cardonne's History of the Arabs in Africa and Spain. )

* The followers of Aglab were his son Abil- Abbas- Abdoulah, 811; his brother Ziade-
toullah, 815 ; his brother Abou-Akkal, 837 ; bis son Aboul- Abbas, 846 ; his son Ishak,
875; his son Aboul- Abbas- Abdoulah, and his son Ziadotoullah, till 90S. The Edrisites
also ruled till the year 908. (Eebuhner, vol. ii. Herder's Philosophy of History, vol. ii.
Geschichte von nord-westlichcn Africa. Exploration Scientifique.)

The new empire of the Aglabites lasted for moro than a century, having for its capital
Kairouan, and including the ancient kingdoms of Mauritania and Massy lia, with the re-
public of Carthage. Several of these Aglabite caliphs assumed the title of Mohammed,
and signal] led their reigns by military and naval achievements not unworthy of the apos-
tolic age of Moslem history. Largo bodies of their troops served occasionally in the mer-
cenary armies of Bagdad, helping the Abassides to uphold their tottering authority in the
East. Crichton's Arabia, vol. ii. p. 48.

The same author also informs us that, in 909 Aim Abdallah, emir or governor of Sicily,

defeated the caliph of Kairouan, and drove the Aglabites from the throne, bestowing the

ant caliphate on ObeidaHah, one of the posterity of Ali, who assumed the title of Ma-

THE FATIM1TES. 427

Many insurrections occurred in their reigns ; and separate provinces
"were formed into separate independent states. Under Ishak, Algiers re-
volted. Excepting Abou-Akkal, and Aboul-Abbas-Abdoulah, they were
princes unworthy of the throne 3 — Ishak was a monster. The body-
guards of these regents were Negros ; and Ishak is said to have had
100,000, according to Cardonne.*

The armies of the caliph of Bagdad, which invaded West Africa at this
time to reduce it, were beaten back. Ziadetoullah, the last of the Ag-
labites, being a weak prince, was deserted by his subjects, and fled ; and
Obeidoullah usurped his authority. Obeidoullah left it to his son Aboul-
Cassem-Mahomet-Ben-Obeidoullah, who took the name of Mahadi, and
was the head of the Fatimites, giving out that he was descended from
Ali. The Edrisites, in 908, were put down and extirpated by him, and
he recovered much of Sicily ; in 9 1 2 he even attacked Egypt, but could
retain only Alexandria. He built the town of Mahadi on the ruins of
Aphrodisimus. In 933 he died, having reigned twenty-five years,-)- leav-
ing the government to his son, who was much inferior to him in capacity.
Zeir, a man of distinguished family, founded under him by degrees a
powerful state in Morocco. He built a city called Ashir, by the help of
the regent Biemlillah, who gave him an eminent architect. In 935 Abu-
Jezid, the king's prime-minister, conspired against him; and he fled to
Mahadi, where he died during the siege in 945. His son, who beat the
consjiirators, was a distinguished orator, according to Arabian authorities,
and reigned seven years. His son Moez-Ledmillah succeeded him in 952.
He was a man of talent, conquered Egypt in 968, and reigned seventeen
years. He gave his African dominions as a fief to Jussuf-Ben-Zeiri, the
son of Zeir, when he went to Egypt ; and Jussuf was invested with them
as a dependency on the caliphs of Egypt. This was an act of unparalleled
liberality on the part of Moez, as he had a large family himself. The
Zeirites possessed the greatest part of North Africa till the year 1148. J

Manj r insurrections occurred under the Fatimite dynasty ; they were,
however, none of them such monsters as the Aglabites, though the taste
for piracy increased amongst the Arabs at this period. The Barbary king-

hadi, or Director of the Faithful, built a new city, winch he called Mahadia, and claimed
the distinction of being the founder of the Fatimite dynasty in Africa, when he soon put
an end to the Edrisites. f

* Under Ziadetoullah, in 827, Euphemius, a Greek fugitive, led 10,000 Arabs, 700
horse, and 100 ships into Sicily. He himself died; but most of the island was sub-
dued ; and Syracuse at last was conquered, together with Crete. Afterwards the Arabs
lost ground, and Syracuse. Ishak, in 880, sent a great army to Sicily. Syracuse was re-
taken, after which they abandoned Sicily, and returned to Africa laden with booty.

•|- Nachrichten und Bemerkungen, vol. ii.

J YusufZeiri reigned from 972-983; Abil-Cassem-Mansour, 983-996; Abou-Menad-Badis,
996-1017; Moaz, 1017-1107; Yahia, 1107-1115; Ali, 1115-1121 ; Hassan-Ben- AH, 1121-1148.

428 THE ALMOHADES.

dom was a dependency of Egypt under these sovereigns ; but under Moez,
the caliph tried to recover Egypt, and a war ensued. Troubles occurred
in the reign of Jussuf, who put them down, and conquered Fez and all
the possessions of the Spanish caliphs in Africa, except Ceuta. It is said
his wives were 1000 in number, and that seventeen children were born
to him in one day. Fez rebelled under his son, and the Beni-Hamads
got possession of the Fez territory, and maintained it 160 years. The
followers of Ali — Mohamedan dissenters, or heretics — were much perse-
cuted during the minority of Moaz-Temin, who had many wars in his
reign ; and though a great king, could not preserve order in his kingdom.
Under him the Almoravides, led by Abubeker, began to conquer a part of
West Africa, and extended their power under his son Jussuf-Tesfin to the
Straits of Gibraltar. *

The Sicilians conquered the coast of Africa from Tripoli to Tunis,
under the last of the Fatimites, Hassan-Ben-Ali. The different states
were now split into separate kingdoms. For 300 years their history is
nothing but a chronicle of petty Avars between petty states. We shall,
therefore, here turn to notice the Almoravides, or Morabites.-j-

The Almohades arose under the son of Jussuf. Mohammed-ben- Abd-
allah, their founder, under the mask of sanctity, obtained much reputation.
He was of the race of MossanidesJ among the Atlas chain ; he had studied
theology in the East, and he taught a new system of divinity at Morocco
(1129), where he became popular, and began to abuse the Almoravides.
He got possession of Telmin by treachery. After this he died, and was
succeeded by his friend Abdelmoumein, with the title of prince of the
orthodox, who conquered Oran (1163), Fez, and Tremesen, afterwards
Morocco ; and ultimately became lord of all the state. Ishak, the last
of the Almoravides, was beheaded by his orders. He then took Budschia,
and the last of the Beni-Hamads, who had been kings of a territory called
Jajah for 160 years. §

This race of orthodox Unitarian priests was ultimately expelled by
Abdulac, governor of Fez ; and he, in the thirteenth century, was deprived
of his new conquests by the sharifs of Hascen, the descendants of those
Arabian princes whom Texefien had expelled. ||

* Nachrichten tind Bemerkungen, v. ii.

t They wore an important race, and the following is their genealogy : — Abubeker-
Jusuf-Ben-Tesfin, his son; Ali-Ben-Jusuf, Tesfin-Ben-Ali, and Ishak-Tcsfin; the last in
1149. *

J He was a native of Cordova. Hist, of Spain : Lardner's Cab. Cyclop, vol. ii. p. 25.

§ Here follows the list of the Almohade kings :— " Abdelmoumein, 1149-1160. Abu-
Jakub, 11(30-1184. Jakub-el-Mansur, 1185-1199. Mohammed-Ennasar, 1199-1211. Mo-
bam] l-Elmostamir, 1211-1223. Abdelwahid, 1223. Abdoulah-Aladel, 1224. Jahia,

L224 L226. Edria-ben-Jakub, 1226-1231. Abd-Eluahed-Ben-Edris, 1231-1242. Said-Abi-
Elhassan, Ali-Ben-Edria, 1242-1248. Omer-Ben-Ibrahim-Ben-Jakub-Mosteda, 1248-12b'6.
Abu-Dabus, 1269." (Nachrichten und Bemerkungen, v. ii.)

| The sharifs divided his kingdom into a number of small ones — Algeria alone being

CARDINAL XIMENES. 429

Spain, taking advantage of their dissensions, under the influence of
Catholic charity, sent a powerful fleet and army against Barbary, under
the Count Pedro of Navarre, in 1500; the churchman Ximenes accom-
panying the expedition, and inspiring the troops in the holy work of
slaughter, crucifix in hand. The Christian host conquered Oran, Bugia,
and some other places, and so alarmed the Algerines, that they put them-
selves under the protection of Selim-Eutemi. The Spaniards, however,,
succeeded in building a castle on the penon of the Mole in 1509, prevent-
ing the corsairs from going in or out; and they made the town of Algiers,
itself tributary to them. The territory of Algiers was at this time very
limited, though it had already made itself independent of Bugia.

"When Barbarossa arrived to help the natives against the Christians,
Salem -Aben-Toumi, or Eutemi, the Arab sheikh, had been appointed
king. Like our noble Saxon ancestors, the Turkish chief put to death
the sheikh whom he had come to assist, and Algiers found itself at the
mercy of the praetorians, who, as usual, established order by a Beign of
Terror.*

Algerine piracy owes its origin in part to the Christian charities of
Cardinal Ximenes and the Spanish Catholics, who, not satisfied with ruin-
ing Spain by expelling the Moors, strove to Christianise Africa by fire
and sword. t Ferdinand the Catholic and the cardinal captured Oran,

divided into 4: Tremecen, Tenez, Algiers, and Bngia. These petty monarchies continued
for some centuries in comparative peace and amity, till at length the king of Tremecen
violated some articles; and Abul-Ferez king of Tenez made him tributary to himself.
The latter dying, left three sons, which gave rise to new discords.

Xachriehten imd Bemerkungen, v. ii. Leo Africanus informs us that, about 1215, a
nourishing kingdom was founded at Timbuctoo, by a Moorish chief. Some of its rulers-
bad the reputation of warlike princes, who maintained a splendid court, encouraged com-
merce, and extended their frontiers in all directions. Crichton's Arabia, vol. ii. p. 56.

It was during this period, i. e. in the year 1270, that St. Louis, an honour to
Christendom and to France, inspired by the pious but mistaken prejudices of his age, led
an army into Africa to co-operate in the great work of the Crusades against the infidels.
Though a gloomy bigotry disfigured the faith of the Christian host, and its gentle saintly
king, yet Europe had not attained at that early period at the happy conclusion that
nothing is worthy of belief but what falls under the senses.

St. Louis landed near Carthage, where a few buildings stood, which he began to in-
vest, and captured in 1270, with a considerable host. But Africa even tben seems to
have been the grave of European adventurers; a violent plague and pestilential wind
decimated the Christian army, and its beloved commander breathed his pure soul away
on a heap of ashes, near the ruins of Carthage, just as a powerful reinforcement arrived
from Sicily, under his brother the king of Sicily, who, piously collecting the earthly re-
mains of the best king France ever saw, brought them back to Europe with the relics of
his army. Dr. Russel's Barbary States, pp. 265-266.

* For this part of Algerian history, consult Kebuhner's Nachrichten mid Beobachtun-
gen liber den Algieriscben Staat, Bremen, 1798-1800. v. ii., containing the fullest account
of Algerian history that the author has seen. Hist, of Spain : Lardner's Cyclop, vol. ii.

f Crithton remarks :— " This detested nation, whose conquest and expulsion were at-
tended with such atrocities, and such triumphs to the Catholic Church, were by far the
most industrious and skilful part of the Spanish population; and then- loss w a s a blow to

430 BARBAROSSA.

the island of the Mole {Penon) of Algiers, and Bugia, and drove the Arabs
into the arms of the Turks. It is true that the towns on the Barbary coast
had occasionally before driven a sly trade in privateering, but it had not
become an organised system before the Turks arrived.

Two adventurers, the sons of renegades and corsairs, Baba- Aroudj*
and Khair-ed-Din,f courting fortune under the Mussulman flag, spread their
adventurous sails to the winds, which bore them to the coast of Algiers,
where they soon after became two celebrated pashas, and founded a praeto-
rian sway of Janissaries. J

We cannot enter here into a minute enumeration of the deys in
chronological order, and an analysis of their government has been already
o-iven. Charles V., unlike modern emperors, aspired to be the guardian
and saviour, rather than the scourge of Christendom. In 1535 he led a
powerful armament, comprising the flower of Christian chivalry to Tunis,
and after meeting some resistance, found his way into the town, dis-
gracing his triumph by the massacre of the population, who had spared
the Christian slaves when safety and the governor advised their extermi-
nation. Having liberated the slaves and humbled Tunis, Charles V. re-
turned to Europe, where new trials and triumphs awaited him till 1541,
when he resolved to chastise the insolence of Algiers. He led a noble
squadron and army against the pirate city in the worst season of the year,
against the advice of the Admiral Doria, and landing the armament, made
his approaches. But the fleet was shattered by a storm, and the army

the greatness and prosperity of that kingdom, from which it has never recovered."
Arabia, vol. ii. p. 62.

France is paying a similar penalty for the murder or expulsion of her Huguenots and
Socialists.

* Baba- Aroudj slew Eutemi, and governed the Moors in his stead, with the usual
brutal ferocity of praetorian soldiery. At length, after the sack of Tlemsen, which he had
taken by treachery also, flying from the Spaniards, who, jealous of his progress, were in-
vesting the place, he was killed on the banks of the Tafna, though he scattered gold
and treasure by the way to retard the pursuit of his foes. His brother Khaireddin, who
put himself under the protection of the Sidtan, Selim I., was afterwards made Capudan
Pasha, and assisted by his Janissaries retook the Penon opposite Algiers, which has ever
since acknowledged the sovereignty of the Porte till 1S30. (Nachrichten u. Bemerkungen,
v. ii. Dr. Piussel, p. 267. La Grande Kabylie, p. 9 et seqq.

t These men are reported to have been the sons of a potter in the Isle of Lesbos in the
Archipelago. That they sprung from the Greek, and not from the Turkish population of
the Levant, is evident from their names. See Bussel's Barbary States, p. 267. For a full
account of them, see Von Hammer's Geschickte des Osmanischen Reichs, 3ter Band.

Algiers was reduced by Baba- Aroudj in 1511, and the armament commanded by
the corsair was supplied by Solyman the Magnificent, Sultan of Turkey. Robertson's
: !harles V. v. ii.

% But these terrible rovers were not always and every whoro successful. Twice did
idj appoar beforo Bugia (1512-14), ami twice was he repulsed, notwithstanding
the co-operation of the Kabyles of the interior; but forty years afterwards Salah-Rais, his
second successor, gloriously avenged those checks (1555).

DUQUESNE. 431

discomfited by the foe and the elements, though the gallant Ponce de
Balaguer plunged his sword in the Gate of Babazoun. Forced to ret in •
Charles, in bitterness of soul, embarked with difficulty at Cape Matifou,
and returned in sorrow to Europe. Algerine insolence increased and con-
tinued till 1830, though the powers of Europe sent many armaments to
batter and humble Algiers, most of which were complete failures.*

The only occurrences in the history of Algeria sufficiently important to
deserve a special notice during the Turkish rule, after the expedition of
Charles V., and before that of Exmouth, are the bombardment of Du-
quesne and the attempt of O'Reilly. Louis XIV., provoked by the out-
rages committed by the pirates on the coast of Provence, &c, sent Admiral
Duquesne in 1682 with a considerable force to chastise these outlaws, who,
unlike the Grand Monarque, cai-ried on robbery on a small scale. The
town assailed by bombs, — a recent blessing invented in Christendom, — was
soon enveloped in flames ; but a change of wind prevented Duquesne from
fully accomplishing his purpose, and it was not till the following summer
that he emptied his vials of wrath on the devoted regency. Sending
showers of bombs into the city, he reduced the inhabitants and authorities
to the greatest distress and to terms. These were the surrender of French
slaves and hostages ; but a revolution in the government and the murder
of the dey prolonged the hostilities. Duquesne, enraged at this, reduced
the greater part of the city to ashes with his shells ; yet the dey was un-
daunted and unmoved, and after putting to death all the French in his

A full and eloquent description of the two expeditions of Charles V. to Tunis and
Algiers will be found in .Robertson's History of Charles V., voL ii. ; also Dr. Eussel,
p. 325-330. Nachriehten u. Bernerkungen, vol. ii. Von Hammer, p. 239, 3ter Band.

"We shall now also present the reader with a table of the marine force of Algiers imder
the pirate government in a chronological order. The port of Algiers possessed, in 1568,
80 piratical vessels. (Gramaye, Africa Illustrata.) In 1581 it had 35 galleys manned
by from 18 to 20 benches of rowers, and 30 brigantines. (Haedo, Topografia y Istoria
General de Argel. Valladolid, 1612.) In 15S8, independently of some frigates, the num-
ber of galleys amounted to 25. (Pierre Dan gives, with his habitual exactness, the nume-
rical state of these. Galleys, 35 ; benches of rowers, 708. The bench contained, at a mean
estimate, 8 men, and the number of combatants was half that of the rowers, so that the
service of the galleys alone at Algiers employed 2800 of the first, and 5600 of the second ;
the latter were Kabyles and Christian slaves. A modification was introduced into their
armaments and tactics, in 1634, through the progress of European artillery. In that year
there were at Algiers only 9 galleys, with 131 benches of rowers ; but it had 70 ships, with
from 25 to 50 guns of different calibres. Haedo, c. 11.) In 1659, the Algerine cruisers
consisted of 23 vessels of a uniform class, each mounting 50 guns, and with a complement
of 400 men. In 1662, the celebrated Dutch admiral De Ruyter blew up 22 Algerine
frigates ; but notwithstanding this disaster, the naval power of Algiers was maintained on
the same menacing footing as previously, imtil the time of the expeditions of Duquesne and
D'Estrees, under Lotus XIY. In 1825, the port of Algiers possessed 14 vessels of war of
different classes, carrying collectively 336 guns. Now nothing exists in the shape of a
native marine, excepting a few small sandals, used as fighting vessels.

Our space forbids our inserting here the substance of a curious document drawn up by
the Regency, before the French conquest, on the subject of the tributes levied on European
powers. The reader will find it in Baron Baude and St. Marie.

432 LORD EXMOUTH.

power, he blew their consul to atoms at the mouth of a gun. The admiral,
exasperated now beyond measure, reduced the fortifications, shipping,
arsenals, and stores to a heap of rubbish.

>Such was the first occasion on which a French and Algerian force
learnt to appreciate each other's gentleness and forbearance. They have
both made considerable progress in these amenities of war at a more recent
date.

As regards the expedition of O'Reilly, it was not so creditable to the
strategy and science of Christendom as that of Duquesne. In 1775 this
general landed with a Spanish host near the town, but owing to the vacil-
lation and misunderstandings of the chiefs and the unsteadiness of the
troops, he was compelled to re-embark in haste and with considerable loss,
though he commanded a force amply sufficient to have reduced Algiers, if
well officered and well disciplined. But Barrosa, Talavera, and the national
debt have enabled us to appreciate the skill of Spanish strategy and the
conciliatory character of Spanish commanders.*

When Waterloo gave Europe breathing time, it started on surveying
the audacity of the Algiers pirates, who, while the Christians were mur-
dering each other, had carried their special branch of industry to great
perfection. The coasts of Italy were in perpetual terror, and the pirate
state was the scourge and bully of the Mediterranean, invading Elba,
Calabria, Malaga, &c. At length they bearded the British lion by in-
sulting our flag, whereupon General Maitland was sent to Tunis and Lord
Exmouth to Algiers to ask for satisfaction. Though a few Christian slaves
(1816) were liberated on this occasion, the pirates soon resumed their old
attitude and practices. AVhen Lord Exmouth went up almost unattended
to the dey's levee, the Janissaries were on the point of cutting him to
pieces ; and no sooner had his squadron left than the British consul was-
loaded with chains, and Captain Dashwood and a British surgeon, Avho
attempted to rescue his wife and son, were dragged away amidst insults
and blows. Greater atrocities followed at Oran, and the massacre of coral
fishers near Bona filled up the measure of iniquity. Britain, Avhose ear
used to be ever open to the cry of oppression, till Austrian gold and inso-
lence, with the Peace Society, emasculated her foreign policy, was roused to
magnanimous wrath by these outrages. A powerful armament sailed for
Algiers under the gallant Exmouth, t and was joined at Gibraltar by a
Dutch squadron under Rear-Admiral Capellen. The Dey Omar, an iron
man of stern will, threw away the scabbard and prepared to meet his foe.
The batteries of Algiers were mounted with a thousand guns, and 30,000
Arabs were encamped under the walls, when Exmouth drew nigh (August
26, 1816). But Omar did not know British seamen. The fleet sailed

* Dr. Russcl, pp. 332-334. Nachrichten mid Bomerkungon, vol. ii.
+ Dr. Russcl, p. 340. Salame's Expedition to Algiers.

LORD EXMOUTH.

433

majestically up within pistol-shot of the mole, crowded with Turks, and at
a given signal discharged one of those crashing broadsides that has never
yet seen a peer. Crumbling walls and crying wretches attested the weight
of British metal; and though the Turks fought well, after a hard conflict
of some hours, the wreck of walls and towers, the explosion of powder-
niagazines, and the burning of the Algerine ships, gave the dey a taste of
the British navy. The Turks had held out bravely, and their loss was
great; when the dey, seeing that Algiers was about to be a heap of rubbish,
lowered his tone, proposed negotiation, and came to terms. Algiers was
forced to refund the money extorted from the little Italian states, to
restore without ransom all Christian slaves, and to promise from hence-
forth to abstain from her iniquitous industry. British cannon had once
again spoken to the purpose in favour of justice and charity. But the
dey's promise was not more binding than a Russian Czar's oath, and
rapine was as dear to the praetorians of Algiers as to those of Paris. Omar
was strangled because he had been unfortunate; and Hussein showed himself
as partial to his neighbours' goods as the free and independent citizens of
the United States.

FRENCH LANDING AT TOKRE CHICA (1330).

Our limited space obliges us to compress the account of the French
conquest* into a chronological sketch, with a few notes on the most

* There is reason to believe that Charles X. and his minister, Prince Polignac, were
quite sincere in the assurances given to Lord Aberdeen, that the only object of the

E E

434 CAPTURE OF ALGIERS.

stirring episodes of the war. The landing of the troops took place, almost
without opposition, on the 14th June, 1830. On the 19th they were
vigorously attacked at Staoueli in the Sahel by the Turks, who were de-
feated, though mustering 50,000 men. The French loss was 60 killed, 450
wounded. Other skirmishes took place, and on the 29th the trenches
were opened in front of Algiers. July 4th, the Emperor's Fort was bat-
tered in breach, and partly demolished; and July the 5th, Algiers was de-
livered into the hands of the French, who captured 15,000 brass cannon,
and about 2,028,500?.* The Turkish troops were disbanded, and the Dey
suffered to go to Naples. f

French expedition was the thorough extinction of Algerian piracy, so long the scourge
and terror of feeble commercial states ; but it was one of the cruel necessities of Louis
Philippe's precarious position — resting, as it did, wellnigh exclusively upon the timid sym-
pathies of the moneyed and middle classes, instead of upon those far more powerful but-
tresses of continental thrones, the traditions and instincts of a numerous army, and the
passions and prejudices of the great bulk of the population, — that he was compelled to
temporise with every whim and vanity of the popular mind that happened to be in any
way associated with the military glory of France. Compelled by this pressure, the citizen-
king's government, after the exhibition of much vacillation and infirmity of purpose, finally
repudiated the engagement with Great Britain, and, admittedly against their better
judgment, prosecuted the war, sometimes with languid irresolution, at others with re-
morseless violence, till French Africa, as it is called, nominally comprised an area of
100,000 square miles (ultimately 160,000, as we have seen).

In 18-14, after the battle of Isly, an understanding was come to with Great Britain, by
which the retention of Algeria by France was acquiesced in, upon the agreed condition
that the French dominion should not be extended either east or west ; in other words,
that the independence of Morocco and Tunis should be respected.

Our space prevents us from chronicling the particulars of the rupture between France
and Algiers in 1827-30. Suffice it to say that, as usual, France had promised the liquida-
tion of a debt contracted under the empire, which she refused to pay after the restora-
tion, though there is generally said to be honour among thieves. Deval, the French
consul, being pressed on the subject by Hassan the Dey, at a levee, and giving a somewhat
sharp reply, was gratified with a coup Weventail, or box on the ear. The mercurial
Frenchman could ill endure this attentat, and leaving Algiers, reported his griefs at home.
The French government, on the plea of chastising the piratical insolence, but in reality to
support the tottering throne of Charles X. by a coup d' 'eclat, determined, after a three-
years' unsuccessful blockade of Algiers by their fleet, to reduce it with an army of 30,000
men under General Bourmont, a Frenchman, and naturally a man of accommodating prin-
ciples, like Ney, &C, first an imperialist and then a royalist. The fleet was commanded
I y Admiral Dupcrrd. They left Toulon on the 25th of May, 1830 ; and cruising off Algiers
on the 14th June, determined to land on the peninsula of Sidi-Feredge, or Torre Chica.
(Blofeld gives us a minute English version, the Tableau for 1S39 the official French ver-
sion of the invasion.)

* Since the French conquest a great decay has taken place in the Algerian marine,
owing to the blockade from 1827 to 1830, and the constant troubles during an occupation
of twenty-three years. There are now only about 1000 native sailors left. (Baron Baude,
vol. i. p. 61.) Before the conquest the port of Algiers alone reckoned more than three
times as many. In 1826, the last good year for Algiers, the port had 14 ships of war of
different kinds, carrying together 336 guns.

f On the news of the revolution of 1830, Bourmont, the traitor, proposed to return with
the expedition to France ; but Duperre opposed this, and Bourmont fled in a trader to
Trieste.

DEFEAT OF TREZEL. 435

The command was next bestowed on Clauzel, who arrived Sept. 10th,
the army amounting at that time to 37,357 men and 3094 horses. Medeah
was conquered in November, and Oran occupied Dec. 10th. In Feb.
1831 General Berthezene was appointed commander- in chief; but he was
superseded in Nov. 1831 by General Savaiy, Due de Rovigo.* Bona was
reoccupied (May 1832) by General Yousouf and Captain Armandy.

The French army in Africa consisted in 1833 of 23,545 men and
1800 horses. Abd-el-Kader, who about this time had been appointed
Bey of the province of Oran, not without violent opposition from many
rival chiefs, is reported by French authorities to have been beaten by
them, Oct. 10th, 1833, at Ain-Beida, and at Tamozanat on the 3d of
September, after he had raised an insurrection against the French among
the tribes. General Trezel was appointed governor Sept. 1833. After
a determined attack and defence, Bugia was taken (Sept. 29th, 1833); and
Sept. 26th a treaty had been concluded in the west between General
Desmichels and Abd-el-Kader. But the French complain, probably with-
out any reason, as usual, that the convention of Sept. 26th was not well
observed by Abd-el-Kader; whereupon a remonstrance and fresh hosti-
lities ensued (June 1835), and Trezel was discomfited, and forced to re-
treat with loss, during this campaign. + It is proper to add, that he had

* The Duke of Rovigo (Savary) conferred additional lustre on his name by his brilliant
administration in Africa. Trained in a good school, he was aware of the expediency of
making an example of the refractory, and he resolved to bring the Arabs to order by a
master-stroke. He enjoys the enviable distinction of introducing razzias into French
strategy ; and by teaching the noble youth of France to murder the unprotected and the
sleeping in the holy stillness of night, he had the merit of preparing the glorious era when
a French razzia strewed the boulevards of Paris with the corpses of women and cliildren,
and the thief in the night stole the liberties of his country.

On the night of the 6th of April, 1833, a battalion of the foi-eign legion and a squadron
of chasseurs fell suddenly on the unsuspecting Ben-Ouffias, and the morning's sim rose
on the mangled bodies of the entire tribe, surprised and slain whilst they slept! Tidings
of this Christian massacre flew, as on the wings of fire, through the land, everywhere
kindling into flame the yet smouldering passions of the vast majority of the country popu-
lation, and lighting up the tierce war of despair, which has since cost France so dear alike
in men, money, and reputation. So universal was the outbreak, that, in the opinion of the
Duke of Rovigo himself, his great lesson necessitated immediate and powerful reinforce-
ments. They were granted ; and when the duke's love of order was severely censured by
the turbulent and factious deputies, his conduct was defended on the plea of necessity.
It is refreshing to find, however, that many French ofiicers entitled to a share of the spoil
obtained from the Ben-Ouffias razzia refused to contaminate themselves by its acceptance ;
and that Savary arrived death-stricken in Paris, and died there in the June following the
example of the Ben-Ouffias. The reader will be reminded by this accident of Lactantius'
idle superstitions recorded in his book De Mortibus Persecutorum.

+ It was in this campaign (1S35) that General Trezel was tempted into an ambush by
an Arab spy, who led the army into a morass, when it was met by a shower of balls from
Abd-el-Kader's troops, and whence it was with difficulty rescued by the rear-guard.
Trezel also lost his way on the road back to Arzeu, and became involved in a narrow and
dangerous defile, in the midst of which his troops were assailed with an avalanche of stones
from the Arabs on the heights, presenting a parallel scene to the war in the Tyrol in 1809.
A granite hail- tempest rained on the devoted column, which was entirely broken. Sav/oz

43G SIEGE OF CONSTANTINA.

been superseded by Drouet d'Erlon (Sept. 26th, 1834), who was the
founder of the Spahis, an auxiliary native force, but who was himself
superseded by Trezel again in 1835;* the French government of that clay
betraying the hesitation and imbecility of the Tory ministry at the time
of the Convention of Cintra.

Marshal Clauzel succeeded Trezel in August 1835, the French power
having lost ground in Algeria at this time. The Hadjoutes, a turbulent
tribe in the Sahel, obeyed Abd-el-Kader, who had concentrated a formi-
dable force in the west of Algeria, which the French government sought
to intimidate by an expedition to Mascara, that was projected notwith-
standing the absence of the foreign legion, which had been lent to Spain
at this period. In Oct. 1835 the island of Harchgoun, opposite the mouth
of the Taafna, Avas occupied ; Mascara was taken Dec. 5th, and Tlemsen
itself .about the same time.

A camp was established on the Taafna in April 1836, and an action
took place there on the 25th, when the Tableau states that 3000 French
engaged 10,000 natives; and some of the enemies being troops of Mo-
rocco, an explanation was required of Muley-Abd-er-Eachman, the em-
peror, who said that the assistance was given to the Algerines without
his knowledge. On July 6th, 1836, Abd-el-Kader suffered a disastrous
defeat on the river Sikkak, near Tlemsen, at the hands of Marshal Bu-
geaud.-j-

November 1836, the first expedition was formed against Constan-
tina, and on the 9th, as we have seen before in another place. After the
failure of Clauzel, General Damremont was appointed governor, Feb.
12th, 1837; and on the 30th of May the treaty of the Taafna between
General Bugeaud and Abd-el-Kader left the French government at liberty
to direct all their attention against Constantina, a camp being formed at
Medjoy-el-Ahmar in that direction.^

An army of 10,000 men set out thence on the 1st of October, 1837, for
Constantina. On the 6th it arrived before Constantina; and on the 13th
the town was taken with a severe loss, including Damremont. Marshal
Vallee succeeded Damremont as governor.

The fall of Constantina destroyed the last relic of the old Turkish ^go-
vernment. The garrison of Constantina consisted first of 2500 men, and

q ■"' />< tit became the order of tho day, and the French troops ran for their life, with the
I ss of 1200 men, caissons, cannon, baggage, &c. ; nor would a man have escaped, had not
the Arab3 been detained by the plunder. This murderous business was Abd-el-Kader' s
1 1 battle of the Makta ; nor is it the first time that tho tricolor has been trampled in
I ist by freemen fighting for their homes and rights. (Alison's Europe. Chambers's
Tracts 1 353. The Tableau gives a palliating version of the aflair.)
* Tableau de la Situation, 1839 : Precis historique.
t Tableau, L839 : ibid.

Clauzel's pamphlet. Baudc, vol. ii. chap. ix. Bcrbrugger, &c. Tableau, 1S39.

RISE OF ABD-EL-KADER. 437

then was raised to 5000, the Bataillon de Constantiue being formed of
native Arabs by Marshal Yallee.

By the 27th January, 1838, 100 tribes had submitted to the French.

A road was cleared in April by General Negrier from Constantiue to
Stoi'a on the sea. This road, passing by the camps of Smendou and the
Arrouch, was 22 leagues in length. The coast of the Bay of Stora, on the
site of the ancient Busicada, became covered with French settlers; and
Philippeville was founded Oct. 1838, threatening to supplant Bona.

Abd el-Kader advancing in December 1837 to the province of Con-
stantina, the French advanced also to observe him; then both retired,
without coming to blows. A misunderstanding which arose respecting
the second article of the treaty of Taafna was settled in the beginning
of 1S38.

The province of Constantina was divided into arrondissements by
M. Vallee.

1st Jan. 1839. General tranquillity prevailed.

The Semitic spirit and genius have found a fitting representative in
Abd-el-Kader, * the man of brave and gentle heart, the Avarrior-prophet of
Islam, a man of the true Saladin stamp. With a rapture of devotion
foreign to our icy fogs, and a purity of life unknown to Christian sultans,
he has upheld the glory and independence of his race and country with a
gallantry and endurance worthy of a Tell, and has yielded to the frowns
of fate with the resignation of a Magyar, j His elocution is brilliant and
lively, his voice hollow, and his utterance interrupted by ejaculations of
Ensholla (God willing). He never ventures, like so many Christians, to
build on the future without deferring to a Higher Power. Always modest
in manner and humble in apparel, he is a living criticism on the Tuile-
ries and George IV. Frenchmen call him an ambitious fanatic; Christen-
dom a visionary adventurer; and Islam a hero-saint. Time will decide
which verdict is nearest the truth.

* The most graphic account of Abd-el-Kader is given in Berbrugger's Algt'rie, part il
See also Blofeld, p. 389, &c; Lieut.-Col. Scott's Visit to the Esmailla of Abd-el-Kader;
and Les Prisonniers d'Abd-el-Kader, being the second part of Lady Duff Gordon's
French in Algiers, 1845.

+ Abd-el-Kader is about five feet seven inches in height, and is far from being the
Bluebeard that many French authorities have described. He is remarkable for an air of
melancholy gentleness, which can be seen even through the severity that he was some-
times forced to assume. The prevailing expression of his countenance is profoundly reli-
gious; and he has a certain ascetic appearance that 2-ecalls the noble heads of warrior
monks handed down to us from the middle ages, — those men who were not too cultivated
to feel, or too fashionable to express, the emphasis of a sincere faith. His Arab coat and
burnouse give an additional force to this resemblance. His face is long and very pale, his
beard black and bushy, his eyes blue and very beautiful; and he has contracted a stoop
from the pressure of his cowl.

The name Abd-el-Kader f . jlj \\ j^e'x means 'the servant of the powerful.' He
was one of six children, five boys and one girl; and his place of birth, in 1806, was in the

438 THE TAAFNA TREATY.

When Abd-el-Kader assumed the royal title of Sultan and the com-
mand of a numerous arm)', the French, with republican charity and frater-
nal sympathy, sought to infringe the Taafna treaty, and embroil the Arab
hero, in order to ruin his rising empire, and found their own on its ashes.
The Emir had been recognised by the whole country, from the gates of
Ouchda to the river Mijerda; and not being implicated in any foreign

vicinity of Mascara. His mother, Leila Zahara, who is still living, and shared his captivity
in France, was said to be a beautiful girl. Mahl-ed-Din-Hadj was the name of his father.
It is related that on visiting the tomb of a celebrated marabout relative, not far from Bag-
dad, one Mulei- Abd-el-Kader, who had lived a century, half of which on the pinnacle of a
rock, a kind of Stylites, fed by a starling, the departed saint appeared to them, and pre-
sented the young hero with a remarkable apple. Abd-el-Kader, on returning home and
beginning to eat it, the same halo of azure light encircled his brows that had been wit-
nessed at his birth. Whether this was an odylic or a mythical light, we leave as a pro-
blem to the learned to solve. He married Leila Kheira, said to be a beauty according to
the Arab standard. Blofeld, p. 389.

We now proceed to analyse the native power hostile to France. Abd-el-Kader,
once mighty, is now sadly fallen. In 1840 he was in his zenith. He had at that period
500 infantry and 250 horse paid and clothed by himself; his tent was guarded by a body
of 30 negroes; and 100 camels followed the army, carrying the provisions, &c. The
principal strength of Abd-el-Kader has always been in cavalry; and he has never had
any artillery worth mentioning. The Aga laboured hard to discipline the army, but
never succeeded. The Arab tribes always supported Abd-el-Kader with a tribute in kind.

The family of Abd-el-Kader is one of the most ancient of Arab, some say Berber, de-
scent in Algeria. He is the third son of a patriarchal chief, who was a highly-venerated
marabout, who made twice a pilgrimage to Mecca; and took his son, then eight years
old, with him in his second journey. He also resided in Italy, and young Abd-el-Kader
was there with him; and was taught, in the course of his education, Italian, Arabic, read-
ing and writing, and the interpretation of the Koran. At the time that the tribes re-
volted from the French, they begged the father to place himself at their head; but he
referred them to Abd-el-Kader, being too old himself for military duties. (See, for these
facts, Col. Scott's Visit to the Esmailla of Abd-el-Kader, &c. 1839.)

Abd-el-Kader being chosen, raised a certain number of cavalry from each tribe, com-
posing the Union of Defence formed by the insurrectionary movement. These tribes
amounted then to 400 in number. With these levies he commenced his attacks upon
the French. Immediately after the Treaty of Taafna, 30th May 1837, between General
Bugeaud and Abd-el-Kader, the latter was made Emir. This dignity is identical with
prince,— religious and secular chief. Soon after he was made Sidtan of the whole territory,
from Ouchda (a frontier-town of Morocco) to the river Mijerda. The emir established all
things on the European system. Each province had a khalifa, who had a regiment of re-
gular infantry, consisting of about 1200 or 1300 men, and a company of French deserters
and renegades, sometimes amounting to 200 men; they had each also about 500 regular
cavalry. This system is, of course, now entirely overthrown. Milianah was first chosen
as his residence by the Sultan, and with great judgment; as the place is strong, and sup-
plied with water. Being driven out of Milianah by the French in 1840, he retired with his
property and treasure to Tekedcmpta, a rocky fastness of the Great Atlas beyond Mas-
cara. Abd-el-Kader planned to rebuild Tekedcmpta, which is a ruinous ancient city,
and to make it the capital of his dominions. The enclosure of the ancient town is 1800
feet long and 1150 broad. On a hill arc seen the ruins of the Casbah. At the foot of
\\\\- hill flows the Oued-Mina, which is a tributary of the SheUif. The Emir administered
justice in a very simple and summary manner. The contending parties were brought to his
t' ni ; the complaint was first made, witnesses were then called, the defence was next con-
ducted; ami at the end of these proceedings the Sultan decided singly and without appeal.

THE TAAFNA TREATY. 439

war, he had established every thing on the European system, save his church
and faith, which were as yet innocent of atheism and pluralists.* Marshal
Valine was then governor; and Abd-el-Kader complaining to him of breach
of faith, was informed that the Marshal had unlimited authority to act as
he thought best. The Duke of Orleans, we are told, also wishing to make
recomioissance to Constantina as safely as possible, soiled his noble name
and character by causing a Jew at Oran to make a seal of the sultan, which
was put on passports for that purpose, and given to the kaids of the coun-
try through which the French troops went. The deception being found
out, the Arabs attacked them in all directions, not approving of such mis-
sionaries of Christian truth and honour. The sultan, still unwilling to
commence hostilities, assembled his khalifas, to hold a council as to what
was best to be done. One of his khalifas (Ben-allel) was absent, and
thought it useless to debate about the matter, and, while the sultan was
consulting, attacked the French convoy between Milianah and Algiers, and
put an end to all debates by taking off 200 heads. French authorities
give a different version of the rupture, but we are familiar with the vera-
city of French bulletins and Moniteurs; and though we believe the govern-
ment of Louis Philippe to have had more principle than is common in
Gaul, his satraps were never over-scrupulous, j-

The war was resumed, and many French razzias took place. They
once marched a large force from Algiers on Milianah to surprise the sultan's
camp. They failed in their chief object, but nearly captured the sultan
himself. He was surrounded in the middle of a French square, which
thought itself sure of the reward of 100,000 francs (4000J.) offered for
him ; but uttering his favourite " enskallah" (with the will of God), he
gave his white horse the spur, and came over their bayonets unwounded.
He lost, however, thirty of his body-guard and friends, but killed six
Frenchmen with his own hand 4

Still, notwithstanding his successes, Abd-el-Kader had beeu losing

* By the 7th article of the Taafna treaty, Abd-el-Kader was to be furnished with what-
ever arms or ammunition he required ; notwithstanding which, his oukil or agent at Algiers
was put in irons and sent to prison in France for having furnished him with the supplies
he had a right to demand, and also for having sent over to him some mechanics, which was
An infraction of the 10th article.

t These events are differently represented by Blofeld and the Tableau, 1S46.

J The French suffered severely at this time from sickness and the sword. In December
1841, Marshal Bugeaud (then governor) said to the minister of war, that only 4000 men out
of 60,000 were fit for active service. Some time before this, the French, following the frank
and manly plan of overreaching Spain in 1807, landed 4000 French soldiers dressed as
Turks, with bands of music in the Turkish style, commanded by Omar, son of the former
dey of Algiers. They issued proclamations, saying that France had given up Algeria, and
that Omar was appointed dey by the Porte ; that the war was no longer against infidels,
but the faithful ; and inviting the tribes to return to their old masters. Some deluded tribes
came in ; and then- grain, which they could not remove, was taken by Abd-el-Kader, whilst
they, as then - reward, found out the deception.

440 THE BATTLE OF ISLT.

all his former power, as bis Arabs, though brave, could not match 80,000
French troops, with artillery and all the other ornaments of civilised
warfare. Seven actions were fought at the Col de Mouzaia, where the
Arabs were overthrown by the royal dukes, in 1841; and at the Oued
Foddha, where Changarnier, with a handful of troops, defeated a whole
population in a frightful gorge. It was on this occasion that, having no
guns, he launched his Chasseurs d'Afrique against the fort, saying, "Voila
mon artillerie ! " *

Abd-el-Kader had then only two chances, — the support of Muley-Abd-
er-Eahman, Emperor of Morocco; or the peace that the latter might con-
clude with France for him.t

General Bugeaud, who had replaced Marshal Vallee, organised a plan
of campaign by movable columns radiating from Algiers, Oran, and Con-
stantina; and having 100,000 excellent soldiers at his disposal, the results
as against the Emir were slowly but surely effective. General Negrier at
Constantina, Changarnier amongst the Hadjouts about Medeah and Mi-
lianah, Cavaignac and Lamoriciere in Oran, — carried out the commander-
in-chief's instructions with untiring energy and perseverance; and in the
spring of 1843 the Due d'Aumale, in company with General Changarnier,
surprised the Emir's camp 'in the absence of the greatest part of his force,
and it was with difficulty that he himself escaped. Not long afterwards
he took refuge in Morocco, excited the fanatical passions of the populace
of that empire, and thereby forced its ruler, Muley-Abd-er-Rahman, much
against his own inclination, into a war with France ; a Avar very speedily
terminated by General Bugeaud's victory of Isly, with some slight assist-
ance from the bombardment of Tangier and Mogador by the Prince de
Joinville.|

In 1845 the struggle was maintained amidst the hills by the partisans
of Abd-el-Kader; but our limits prevent us from dwelling on its parti-

* In 1844, the occupation of Algeria had cost 26,800,000/. Government had received-
first, the treasure taken at Algiers, 2,189. 480/. ; secondly, the proceeds of the revenue from
1831 to 1844, 1,840,000Z. The total loss, therefore, had been, up to 1S44, 22,670,520;. (Cas-
tellane, Souvenirs; Berbrugger; Blofeld, p. 389; Tableau, 1846.)

The Monitew AlgSrUn of the 15th February, 1844, said that the last account; placed
the esmaillah of Abd-el-Kader at Kesdir, the west point of the Chott-el-Gharbi (West
Chott), eighteen or twenty leagues south ofOuchda, containing barely 1200 tents. The
Balleb, a tribe subject to Morocco, supplied them with grain, and the Heumrianes with
dates. All the remaining troops of the Emir have assembled in a part of tho empire of
M..n.cco called Beni-Jala, consisting of about 320 foot and 120 horse. The tribes faithful
bo lis cause, exclusive of those of the Dahra, were dispersed on the frontier of Morocco, and
scarcely reckoned 1000 tents.
I :lofeld, p. 389 et seqq.
:,': Chambers's Tracts. In September 1S44. Abd-el-Kader had taken refuge in the in-
accessible chain of mountains called Er-Rif, running 200 miles along the whole line of the
Dortb coast of Morocco,— a region that was never yet subdued by the sovereigns of that
empire. (Blofeld, ubi 8 tprja.)

THE CAVE OP KIIARTAXI. 441

eulars, save in one instance, honourable alike to the Christian temper of
the French commanders, and the civilised spirit of Christian warfare.*

The most remarkable events of IS J 7 were — 1st, the surrender of Bou-
Maza at Orleansville, 13th April; and L'd, Marshal Bugeaud's expedition
to Great Kabylia in May, detailed by M. Borrer, who accompanied him,
and by Colonel Daumas. This was the coup-de-thedtre of Bugeaud, who,
after conferring the blessings of capital punishment and infidelity on the
Kabyles, embarked for France to aid in strangling liberty at home and
throughout the Continent in 1 848-9. t

* On the night of the 12th of June, 1845, about three months before Marshal Bugeaud
left Algeria, Colonels Pelissier and St. Arnaud, at the head of a considerable force, at-
tempted a razzia upon the tribe of the Beni-Ouled-Riah, numbering, in men, women, and
children, about 700 persons. This was in the Dahra. The Arabs escaped the first clutch
of their pursuers; and when hard pressed, as they soon were, took refuge in the cave of
Khartani, which had some odour of sanctity about it : some holy man or marabout had
lived and died there, we believe. The French troops came up quickly to the entrance, and
the Arabs were summoned to surrender. They made no reply. Possibly they did not
hear the summons ; or perhaps the courage of despair had steeled them to await the attack
of their foes, however numerous and sure of victory those foes might be, and endeavour to
sell their lives as dearly as possible in the holy and vantage ground they had happily
reached. Colonels Pelissier and St. Arnaud would certainly not have been justified in
sacrificing the lives of the soldiers under their command by attempting to force a passage
through windings and intricacies thronged with armed and desiderate men ; but as there
was no other outlet from the cave than that by which the Arabs entered, a few hours'
patience must have boen rewarded by the unconditional surrender of the imprisoned tribe.
Colonels Pelissier and St. Arnaud were desirous of a speedier residt ; and by their order an
immense fire was kindled at the mouth of the cave, and fed sedulously during the summer
night with wood, grass, reeds, any thing that would help to keep up the volume of smoke
and flame which the wind drove, in roaring, whirling eddies, into the mouth of the cavern.
It was too late now for the unfortunate Arabs to offer to surrender ; the discharge of a
cannon would not have been heard in the roar of that huge blast-furnace, much less smoke-
strangled cries of human agony. The fire was kept up throughout the night ; and when
the day had fully dawned, the then expiring embers were kicked aside, and as soon as a
sufficient time had elapsed to render the air of the silent cave breathable, some soldiers were
directed to ascertain how matters were within. They were gone but a few minutes; and
they came back, we are told, pale, trembling, terrified, hardly daring, it seemed, to con-
front the light of day. No wonder they trembled and looked pale. They had found all
the Arabs dead — men, women, children, all dead! — had beheld them lying just as death
had found and left them : the old man grasping his grey beard ; the younger one grim,
rigid, stern as iron, with fanatic hatred and despair ; the dead mother clasping her dead
child with the steel gripe of the last struggle, when all gave way hut her strong love !
(Chambers's Tracts ; Tableau, 1846.)

St. Arnaud and Pelissier were rewarded by the French minister; and Marshal Soult
observed, that "what would he a crime against civilisation in Europe might le a justifiable
necessity in Africa." It is in this manner that Algeria has proved an efficient school for
praetorian excesses and imperial incendiarism. The razzia has paved the way for the coup
d'ttat, and France has forged her own chains in Africa; but it can neither astonish the
chief nor the crowd of the gallant French army, if, with these illustrations before them,
their neighbours are not anxious to welcome an irruption, and are alive to the propriety of
taking due precautions to avoid a more familar acquaintance with the refined humanity of
French strategy. (Compare Southey's History of the Peninsular War, and Alison's History
of Europe. )

-T The Arabs used to call Marshal Bugeaud the white-headed warrior. Borrer. (See
La Grande Kabylie, by General Daumas, chap, xi.)

442 THE PALL OF ABD-EL-KADER.

For fifteen months part of the troops of the division of Oran were
watching the deira of Ahd-el-Kader. The situation of this noble chief
had been very precarious in 1846, at the time of the purchase of the
prisoners ; but had since improved, through his magical influence over the
glowing hearts and minds of the tribes bordering on Morocco. His elo-
quence, like that of the great Magyar, — fabulous to a hard-cash cotton-
spinning age, and a stumbling-block to steam-press and patent reviews,
overthrowing the logic and sneers of positivism and mythical theories, —
went direct to the manly hearts and faith of the free sons of the desert
and puszta, ignorant and innocent of court and cant, and stirred up the
mighty embers left within them by the burning enthusiasm of their Sa-
racen sires. The Arabs could not yet be brought to see the blessings of
private landed property, of law-suits, of stock-jobbing, of income-taxes, of
the reign of order, or of Jesuitical infidelity.

However, the march of intellect could not be stayed; the progress of
French civilisation was decreed, though based on treachery and bathed in
blood; and Abd-el-Kader, like Rome, had to bow to liberty, fraternity,
and equality.

A taste of French bayonets at Isly, and the booming of French guns
at Mogadore, had brought Morocco to reason, by that best of arguments
which has since put the curb in the mouth of the French people. Mo-
rocco sided with France, and threatened Abd-el-Kader, who cut one of
their corps to pieces, and was in June on the point of coming to blows with
Muley-Abd-er-llahman, the emperor.* But the Emperor of Morocco took
vigorous measures to oppose him, nearly exterminating the tribes friendly
to him; which drew off many partisans from the Emir, who tried to pacify
the emperor, but unsuccessfully. Three columns of Morocco troops pressed
on him, whilst Lamoriciere with 3000 men and 1000 horses aided them
on the side of Oran.t

Abd-el-Kader receiving the emperor's ultimatum, to which he would
not submit, determined on a desperate effort for liberty, worthy of his gal-
lant spirit. He resolved to attack the nearest camp to the deira, under
the orders of Muley- Ahmed, one of the emperor's sons. He failed, how-
ever, in surprising it, as the first camp had retired on the sound, on which
the Emir rushed with desperate valour. Many bit the dust ; but crushed

* A camp of Morocco troojis was formed by the emperor's nephew and the Kaid El-
Hamar in the Ta/.a district, to operate against the emir, who, anticipating them with
1200 regulars, 400 infantry, and 2000 irregular horse, reached the camp in the Oued-Aslif
by a forced march at night. The Moroccans, surprised, ran away, the emperor's nephew
escaping to Fas. El-Ffamar being captured, had his head cut off by Abd-el-Kader, who
tried, according to the French accounts, to gam the tribes by representing himself as
named to the sovereignty by the king of France. (Tableau, 1849, pp. 3, 4.)

t The colouring given to these facts in the Tableau i* somewhat questionable; as Na-
poleon I. had introduced a chronic system of lying into French official documents, and the
nephew of his uncle is too dutiful to depart from so good an example.

ABD-EL-KADER.

443

by a force ten times liis own, he escaped with difficulty. He did not halt
till he reached Aguedin, near the Moulouia. The Duke of Aumale landed
at Nemours on the 23d of Dec, and the troops of Morocco being supplied
with ammunition by the French, hemmed in Abd-el-Kader again, who was
forced to leave the territory of Morocco ; but, in passing the Moulouia, the
Meucer Kabyles rushed on his deira, which seemed lost. By a gallant
effort, in which he lost half his best men, Abd-el-Kader covered its passage,
and reached the Oued-Kiss on the French frontier. And now he was lost.
He asked to negotiate, offered to surrender; and after 24 hours' discus-
sion he came to Sidi Brahim, the scene of his last exploits against the
French, where he was received with military honours, aud conducted to
the Duke of Aumale at Nemours.*

France has been severely abused for the detention of Abd-el-Kader
in Ham, yet perhaps ungraciously by the jailors of Napoleon, though the
latter was the terror of Europe, and the former the defender of his faith
and home. Never shall we deny the meed of praise when it is due to
generous friends or foes, and a gallant marquis and imperial swindler are
alike entitled to our laudations for their liberation of the high-minded
marabout, especially when we remember that the intimate friends of the
conservative soldier and praetorian leader are wont to flog refractory ladies
like cattle, and to string up obstinate gentlemen as innocently as if they
were dried herrings.-j-

Thus fell Abd-el-Kader, the modern Jugurtha, who united many of the
vices with most of the virtues of his race and faith. Though absolute, his
ear was open to justice, his heart to pity. Though a Mussulman, his life
was chaste and pure. A patriot, he did not see the sin of drawing the
sword in self-defence, notwithstanding the protests of the Peace Society.
Though an Arab and a conservative, he did not object to learn discipline
and arts from Christians and republicans; and though familiar with Euro-
pean thoughts and manners, he was not ashamed to feel and own a glowing
faith like his fathers. In him we behold a fabulous, meteoric character,
one of those dreamy beings whom it has not entered into the heart of
critics to conceive. The austerity of the Carthusian and the chivalry of
Bayard are married in this mysterious being, who looks on with his calm
melancholy eyes on the fall of his country and the stagnant faith of Chris-

* Depositing his sandals outside the apartment, he awaited the duke's signal to sit
down; and then observed in Arabic, " I should have wished to have done this sooner, but
I have awaited the hour decreed by God. I ask the aman of the king of the French for my
family and for me."

The ex-emir employed the 24th for the settlement of his personal affairs. In the even-
ing he embarked for Oran with the governor-general, and was thence sent on at once to
Toulon, with his mother, his wives, his children, and a suite of friends, &c; in all 97 per-
sons. (Tableau, 1849-50, pp. 3, 4.)

f Schlesinger's History of the War in Hungary, vol. ii. p. 229 and following. Prid-
ham's Kossuth, p. 198.

444 ABD-EL-KADER.

tendom and Islam, with the unutterable sadness of the man of sorrows, and
the noble melancholy of the Magyar.

Saladins and Sidneys are rare in this age of loans, unsteady sceptres,
and tottering crowns ; and it is with regret we bid adieu at present to this
modern incarnation of chivalry and poetry, — the Star of the South.*

The year 1848 opened well for France, Bou-Maza and Abd-el-Kader
having submitted ; but the revolution of February, misunderstood both at
home and abroad, occasioned some troubles in the colony on the part of
the natives. The Kabyles and the Darha were the theatres of petty in-
surrections speedily quieted; and whilst Algerian generals were making
razzias on the Faubourg St. Antoine because its blouses wished to be free,
the burnouses of Algeria were fraternising with the advocates of liberty and
equality in the plains of the Tell and the uplands of Sahara.

But in 1849, whilst the friends of order were administering a quietus

* As surely as time rolls on and Europe goes ahead, under sovereign people or sove-
reign purple, it seems the fate of Indo-Germanic progress to grind individual soarings to
powder, and to crush original greatness into the undistinguishable conglomerate of a dull
uniformity. Oriental life has hitherto held aloof from this levelling process; but we much
fear that the infection of a mechanical, unspiritual hemisphere will shortly clip and square
Semitic notions, emotions, and sensations, according to the patent verdict of Berlin pro-
fessors and Paris academies. The aristocracy of nature is being levelled and surveyed by
economist theodolites, and all eccentricity will probably give up the ghost under the in-
fliction.

We have given the French official version of the surrender of Abd-el-Kader in the
text, which we propose to neutralise by an infusion of British bluntness.

The fallen Emir determined on surrendering himself to General Lamoriciere on certain
conditions, which were negotiated through the cadi of Tlemsen, who, General Lamoriciere
states, was of great service to him in this affair. The terms were first agreed upon verb-
ally, afterwards written and subscribed by both parties ; only one condition appeared in it
in reality, i. e. that the Emir and his family should be conveyed to Alexandria or to St.
Jean d'Acre, places indicated by himself. When the Due d'Aumale heard the news, he
personally assured the Emir that he entirely aj}proved and confirmed the terms, and that
they would be religiously respected. The Due d'Aumale had perfect good faith in this ;
but the reply of the French government to his announcement was, that he should be sent
over directly to France ! Hence they arrived at Toulon in the Asmodee, December 30th,
1847, and were shut up close prisoners at Amboise chateau, on the left bank of the Loire,
between Tours and Blois. Five weary years did he pass there, while monarchy, republic,
and empire ebbed and flowed without the castle's walls. At. last Louis Napoleon releases
him — an act of tardy justice, dictated perhaps by policy, Londonderry, and memory. A
captive himself in Amboise, he had shortly before escaped as a day-labourer with a plank
on his shoulder. Abd-el-Kader left France just as the news of the capture of Laghouat by
General Pelissier reached France. Almost on the spot where Themistocles and Hannibal
tasted the bitterness of exile, this noble chief finds comfort in his deep and glowing faith,
amidst the fall of dynasties and the wreck of creeds. He is reported to be engaged in
writing meditations on the Koran. That Abd-el-Kader signed the vote for Louis Na-
poleon's election to the empire cannot be laid to his charge. He was a prisoner, and gra-
de biassed his judgment. We know not tho future that awaits this brave spirit; but
though Turkey should crumble into dust, and [slam vanish in vapour, we feel assured that
'I! be true to himself, his God, and his country. Glad are we to find that the gallant

> has offered his sword to the sultan in the day of Turkey's humiliation ; and come

what may, we feel sure that if God preserves his life, he will be seen, and his blows resound,
amidst the thickest storm of battle in tho coming struggle in the East. Later accounts

ZAATCHA. 44a

to Rome, Venice, and Rastadt, the Saharians made a vigorous resistance to
the inroads of civilisation. The Kabyles also, especially the Beni-Slimans,
at the exhortation of Si-Djoudy, the Zouaoua chief, showed an unaccount-
able antipathy to registers and taxes, but they were brought to order by
the gallant praetorian bands of Bugia.

But the most serious insurrection was near Biskara and Batna, excited
by the Chcrif Bou-Zian, against whom the French had many complaints,
probably as well founded as those of Hapsburg against Hungary. Bou-
Zian fled to Zaatcha in the oases, which was unsuccessfully attacked by the
French, who were forced to retire, as they pretend, through want of stores
and material. This was on July 16th. After the heats were passed, the
moment arrived to make an example of Zaatcha,* like Saragossa and Tar-
ragona in the Peninsular war, whose conquest was so creditable to the arms
of the uncle. The expeditionary column left Biskara October 6th, and
reached the rebellious oasis next day.-j-

After two secondary actions to preserve their convoys, and two assaults
(20th of October and 20th of November), Zaatcha was carried. The houses
were defended and carried one after the other, and destroyed ; and all the
defenders, without exception, including Bou-Zian and the marabout Si-
Moussa, fell amidst the ruins of Zaatcha ! What impartial pen shall
chronicle the panting despair of those dauntless Saharians, fighting to the
death for wives and home, and waving palms and liberty ! what pen do
justice to the gallantry of European discipline, establishing order amidst
blazing temples and blood-stained gardens ! The sweet South will continue
to sigh its perfumes over that oasis; but its gardens are a wilderness, its
homes a desolation, for the spirit of freedom has left it. And Canrobert,
with his brows crowned with the laurels of Zaatcha, returns to Paris and
perpetrates the coup-d'etat. These are the men to command the army
of England. Bou-Sada also raised barricades in 1849, but was also reduced
to order, and spared for a consideration. J

Nothing worth record transpired in 18.50, save a few razzias against
the Abaidia, near Tlemsen, and the Beni-Immel Kabyles, on which occasion

state that he has abjured all thought of worldly distinction, and lives retired at Broussa,
devoted to study. Perhaps, like Solomon, he has found out that all on earth is vanity.

* Tableau, 1849, p. IS. See the siege of Saragossa in Count Toreno's Istoria del Sa-
vantamiento, Guerra, y Revolucion de Espana, 1835.

f The Zaouia, or cloister college, at the north of the oasis, was stormed forthwith, and
probably razed to the ground; but the labyrinth of palms was so impracticable, and the
defence so energetic, that the French were forced to carry on a regular siege on a new
plan. Reinforcements were sent from Constantina, Aumale, and Oran ; and it took fifty-
one days and nights in open trenches, with continual fighting, to reduce the place. They
had, moreover, four serious engagements on the 25th of October against Arabs seeking to
oppose the cutting down of their beloved palms ; and the 30th and 31st of October, and
16th November, against the insurgent nomads of the Sahara.

J Tableau, 1849, pp. 10, 11. M. Borrer informs us that the French nation is looked
upon as a mere passing cloud in Algeria, and that the Moslem only bides his time.

446 EUROPEAN AGGRESSION.

the French lost General Barral, and killed 200 men (May 21) and a few
other insignificant tribes. The great event of the year was the first race
at Algiers, at which 1500 Arabs assisted with their khalifas, back-aghas,
&c., winding up the whole with an immense fantasia (29th September).
Thus we may shortly anticipate the introduction of thimble-rigs and odds
in the oases.

Since 1850 the only foes the French have had to encounter in Algeria
have been the Saharians and the Kabyles, i. e. the most intelligent and
industrious population of the country. Pelissier and the Zouaves taught
the former at Laghouat,'" in November 1852, the ingratitude of resisting
the blessings of French order and law; and the governor-general was
last spring engaged in eradicating republican equality, primitive faith,
and a merciful jurisprudence in Kabylia, by reducing their homesteads to
ashes and bathing their altars in blood. The French papers add, that bright
sunshine was smiling on the gallant host as it left Setif in May 1853, to
teach the barbarians the humanity of Christian Avarfare.-j-

The conquest and occupation of Algeria is another specimen of Christian
justice, another honour added to the lustre of our civilisation ; and will pass
down with the oppi-ession of Poland and Circassia, and the annexation of
Sind and Texas, to the admiration or execration of a discriminating pos-
terity.!

* Laghouat, or rather El-Aghrouath, was stormed by the French (December 2, 1852),
with severe loss, including General Bouscaren, who died of his wounds, and whose heart
was saved and preserved for his sister. Among the latest novelties from Algiers, we hear
of corps of French gendarmes mounted on dromedaries, reducing the Sahara to order and
fraternity. (Le Pays, Journal de l'Empire.)

*t Le Pays, Journal de l'Empire, May 1853.

J The most important intelligence relating to Algiers, within the present year, applies
to two particulars: first, the project of the formation of a French company analogous to
our East India Company, and the framing of a constitution for the administration of Al-
geria (Times) ; secondly, the passing of a law in the legislative council, by a majority of
200 to 1, for the establishment of an electric submarine telegraph from France, through
Corsica and Sardinia, to Algeria (Le Pays). The undertaking is given to Mr. J. Brett, to
whom the exclusive right of management and ownership is granted for a course of years.
Objections were raised to the plan in France, on the score of its giving England an insight
into the colony ; but the objection is evidently groundless, as she possesses that already.
It is talked of extending the telegraph to India ; in which case we may shortly anticipate
that the same wire which informs us of the Christianising of Kabylia and the Sahara by fire
and sword, will record the generous self-denial of Britain in annexing Birmah or a slice of
China. Recent accounts state that the Beni-Mzab tribes arc just annexed, after being long
protected.

-^e^^Sr^^fifcadf^^-

APPENDIX.

SECTION I.
SfattijuttieS of !3lgma.

Nature and man both change, and act and react, though a day to one is as centuries
to the other. Man, though an earthworm on his planet, and a monad to the starry uni-
verse, does not depart without leaving a trace behind. He has done much, though he
might do much more; and the influence that he has exerted has been the child of combi-
nation and conviction. The giant works of Rome were wrought by combination ; and
the dazzling path of Arab conquest was the work of faith. Mighty men have strode
across this little span of earth, and left their godlike foot-prints to the ages ; but the
monumental voice too often falls on unheeding ears, and Christendom has still much to
learn from the past. Natural science has still many truths to tell of Elysian fields and
summer climes of yore at the Poles, and of wondrous forms of men and beast long
gathered to their fathers, yet pregnant with instruction to us, who might tame leviathan
and lead the lion captive. So also archaeology, with her hieroglyphs, has much wisdom
in her womb, and is at hand to teach our paltry sickly race how to recover some of the
lost sap of our constitutions, and the beauty of our climates.

The glories of the Vega, the Alhambra, and the Alcasar, might give a touch of
life to palsied Spain and the splendours of Roman Africa, might stimulate a noble
rivalry in French legislators and warriors. Each age has a mission, and ours may not im-
probably be that of stokers, pokers, and nuggets : yet there is somewhat more godlike in
man than to wield the hammer of Thor, and belabour this hard reality without; and the
soul soars and swells as it dwells in the magnetic sphere of aCato, or hovers round the me-
mory of Scipio. The simple sublimity and massiveness of ancient thought and art must
command the reverence of the ages ; and the cosmopolitan munificence of Roman muni-
cipal works put to shame the piecemeal economy and extravagance of Christendom.

Falling back 2000 years up the stream of time, we take ship at Baiae, or glorious
Sicily, and our vigorous rowers soon pull us over to Carthage, and land us amidst golden
harvests, waving dates, and gorgeous villas. Magnificent temples, stately porticos, and
verdant bowers, are reflected in the deep blue waters along that sunny shore : its valleys
are crowded with an industrious population, and its ports with countless masts. We are
in the granary of the Roman Empire. Elegant baths and fountains refreshed the cities;
massive drains and aqueducts supplied them with pure water, and removed all insalubrity
from their streets. The plains and valleys, drained of all stagnant .vater, were the parents
of plenty, and the homes of health and content ; and the well- wooded hills supplied their
nourishing streams, conducted by innumerable channels amongst the verdant pastures and

448 APPENDIX.

waving cornfields.* In short, Africa and Numidia were once a promised land flowing with
milk and honey. f

Barhary, as we have previously seen, comprises what was anciently called the two
Mauritanias,J Numidia, Libya ; the country of the Massassili, Gaetuli, and Garamantes;
and Africa Proper, containing Carthage. Algeria, as the reader is aware, corresponds
to Numidia, part of Mauritania, and Gsetulia ; and it is with this portion of the Roman
settlements in Africa that we are more immediately concerned.§ We shall begin our sur-
vey with the province of Algiers, which corresponds to apart of Csesarean Mauritania
and of Gsetulia ; and its principal ancient cities were : 1st. Jol or Julia Ceesarea (now
Scherchell), which was the capital of Csesarean Mauritania and of Juba II.; and the ruins
of the old town are described as not inferior to those of Carthage. Numerous remains of
pillars, capitals, cisterns, &c. give a high idea of its splendour. The water of the river
Hasham, according tb its present name, was conducted to the city in a noble aqueduct not
much inferior to those of Carthage, as is proved by the fragments of its arches in the val-
leys to the south-east. Other small conduits are still perfect, and supply Scherchell with
good water. A tradition reports that the ancient city, as well as its successor, was erected
by Andalusian Moors. Earthquakes account for the demolition of most of its noble
edifices. ||

The whole coast from Scherchell to Algiers is strewed with ruins, proving the former
salubrity, populousness, and opulence of this region.^

* See an eloquent passage in Baron Baude's Algerie on the vicissitudes of Numidia. Also Dawson
Borrer's reflections on the past of Kalama.

The reader who wishes to obtain minute information relating to the archaeology of Algeria is
referred to the Exploration Scientifique, to Blofeld's Algeria, and Dr. Shaw.

t It was, next to Egypt, the most fruitful province of the empire ; was styled by the Romans the
soul of the Republic, and in the corrupt Latin of the lower empire, speciositas totivs terra florentis.
The greatest luxury of Roman extravagance was to have a villa on the coast of Africa; for the land was
then a paradise, like Sicily while free. (Pananti, Avventure, ri. p. 4.)

% Mauritania was originally separated from Numidia by the river Mulucha, was a fertile country
containing some arid spots, and whose mountains were covered with large forests infested by lions,
elephants, S:c. The Moors resembled the Numidians in pride and treachery, and in dexterity as horse-
men, their army consisting chiefly of cavalry. They were governed by kings, who, like those of Numidia,
affected to be descended from Hercules. As a reward for bis treachery in giving up Jugurtha, the
Romans added one-third of Numidia to the Mauritanian kingdom of Rocchus, which, under Bocchus
II., was divided into two kingdoms : 1st, that of Bogud, to the west ; 2d, the Mauritania of Bocchus.
In the civil war of Octavian and Antony, Bogud, siding with Antony, was slain in Greece, and Boc-
chus occupied the whole of Mauritania, which after his death was given to Juba, of the race of Mas-
sinissa. His successor, Ptolemy, was put to death by Caligula because he appeared in the circus at
Rome in a purple robe ; and two years later Claudius divided Mauritania into two Roman provinces :
1st, the Csesarean ; 2d, the Tingitanian Mauritanias. Barbie du Bocage, Sallust, p. 238.

§ This country, once so renowned, contains fewer massive remains than might be supposed, having
suffered severely from the fury of wars and revolutions. The relics of ancient Christianity and Pagan-
ism have alike fallen a sacrifice to the Gothicism of Vandals and the iconoclast convictions of the Mos-
lems. The principal coins, which are few, are those of Claudius, of the Antonines, of Alexander Severus,
and of the two Gordians. The Punic and Numkliau coins are scarce and almost illegible, save to
German and Runic professors, who arc clever at discovering sermons in unhewn stones.

The Roman remains can be generally recognised by the terra-cotta materials, and hy the idols and
implements of bronze. The Moorish antiquities are known hy their neglect and dirt. Blofeld ; Pa-
nanti, ii. p. 13.

|| Blofeld, p. 73.

IT Berbrngger, part i. Dr. Russel, p. 364. Pananti, ii. p. 16, says that the archpriest Borghi,
a man of vast learning, proved to him that Julia Caesarea could not have been situated at Scherchell,
as Dr. Shaw slates, but at a little village half a day's journey distant. When doctors disagree, the
patient has no chance.

The Kabyles of Chenouah used to call it contemptuously, Tekedemt, i.e. an oidthlng, from the
Vrabic word kedim, which they have borrowed and altered by prefixing and affixing, as usual, their
favourite t or tli. This designation is common to many old towns, as well as that of Khourbah (ruins),
which lias been corrupted into Herba in our maps. Berbrngger, parti. Rozet, Voyage dans la Re-
gence d'Alger, iii. p. 258. Dr. Russel, p. 304.

ANTIQUITIES OF ALGERIA. 449

Farther east, following the coast, was situated Oppidum Novum, a colony of veterans
sent into Africa by the Emperor Claudius. Yet nearer to Sidi-Ferruch was Tipasa,
whose ruins may be still traced not far from Tefessad ; and a little beyond them you come
to the celebrated Koubber Romeah, which is most likely the monumentum commune
regit gentis, being the common place of sepulture of the kings of Mauritania.*

Algiers presents but few Roman remains ; and it is still uncertain what name it bore
under Latin sway, some thinking it Icosium, and others Jomnium.f Mr. Blofeld says
that there are Roman ruins on the banks of the Savus (Haratch), south-east of Algiers ;
and he thinks this more probably the site of Icosium than Algiers. M. Berbrugger
mentions the remains of a Roman via, Rue de la Marine, near the port of the capital,
which he thinks must have corresponded in most respects with the old Moorish harbour
before 1830. St. Marie informs us that at the quarter of the Gate of Victory, in the old
town, there stood on one side of the gate, in 1845, a fountain of white marble, constructed
among the ruins of a Roman aqueduct.^

The ruined town on the promontory of Matifou, eastward of the Bay of Algiers, is
sometimes known by the name of Rustonium, and Ptolemy calls it 'Vuvo-rovtov. Baron
Baude and most of the French savants make it Rusguniae, from inscriptions found on
the spot.§ When Charles V. embarked at Rusguniae in 1541, there were more remains of
the ancient city than at present ; and in the twelfth century, according to Edrisi, the Arab
town on the site of the Roman city was in a state of decay. " Tamendfos," he writes, " is
a fine port, near a small ruinous town., The enclosing walls are almost overthrown, and the
population is small: you. see nothing but remains of houses, of large buildings, and of
idols in stone. It is said to have been once a large town."|| There are still traces there of
an ancient cothon, with several heaps of ruins of the same extent as those of Tefessad, and
which have also contributed to the fortifications of Algiers. The distance of 15 Roman
miles between these ruins and those upon the Haratch is the same as that of the Itinerary
between Rusguniae Colonia and Icosium. Rusguniae is the same as the Ruthesia of
Mela, and the Rusconia of Pliny. ^f

Oran contains few, if any, vestiges of antiquities ; yet Marmol** informs us that it
stands on the site of Ulrica Colonia.jf

- * It stands on a mountainous part of the sea-coast (Sahel), seven miles to the east of Tefessad, con-
sisting of a solid and compact edifice built-with the finest freestone, 100 feet high, with a diameter of
90. It is of a circular shape, rising with steps quite up to the top, like the Egyptian pyiamids. The
elegance and beauty of the shape and materials snow it to be older than the Mahometan conquests ; and
it is thought, not improbably, by some to be the monument which Mela places between Jol and Icosium,
and which he attributes to the royal family of the Numidian kings. Berbrugger, part i. Dr. Itussel,
p. 365. Blofeld. Dr. Shaw.

Not far from the mouth of the Masafran, below Coleah, and near the marabout of Sidi-Fouqa, are
the remains of Casa; Calventi. Indeed, the whole of this region may be justly styled a classical soil.
Berbrugger, part i.

t Blofeld. Berbrugger, part i. Pananti says (ii. p. 16), " Algeri non e, qual comunemente si
crede, Jol o Julia Ccesarea, edificata da Julio Cesare, ma bensi l'antica J omnium."

I The Moorish antiquities of Algiers are rapidly melting away before the march of intellect and the
reign of order; but the most ancient are comparatively new. Rozet, in visiting the garden of Mustapha
Pasha, in the neighbourhood of Algiers, observed a superb aqueduct carried across a parched valley,
and constructed for the purpose of conveying water to the city. The architecture is decidedly Moorish,
presenting two tiers of arches, &c. D.r..Kussel, p. 366: and Berbrugger, part i.

§ Baton Baude, i. p. 47.

|| Edrisi.

^T Baron Baude, p 72. Dellys stands on the site of Rusucurrum, which was united to Rusgunia?
and Saldae, or Bugia, by Homan roads that are still traceable. Blofeld. Baude, vol. i. p. 129.

** Africa Illustrata.

ft This name does not occur in the best classical authors; they only speak of Portus Magnus, so
named because of its size, — so rare a circumstance on the exposedcoast of Africa, which Sallust named
maie importuosum. This characteristic also attracted the attention of the Arabs, who have recorded it

F F

450 APPENDIX.

The province of Oran, as far as the Macta (Amnis Mulucha) corresponds to the an-
cient kingdom of Bocchus, the grandson of Jugurtha : it was then inhabited by Moors
and Massysylians.* After passing the Mulucha began the kingdom of Juba, which, under
the Roman Empire, was comprised in Caasarean Mauritania. If we might draw an in-
ference from the small number of ruins that are found in this province, we should say that
it is the portion of Algeria in which the Romans have left the fewest traces. Nor is this
surprising : their conquest advanced from east to west, and their stay in the latter region
was less protracted ; hence they had not the time to form great establishments there.
Moreover, the Vandals smote Csesarean Mauritania first, and their maiden fury vented itself
first on this unhappy shore.

The most numerous Roman stations are on the coast. From the Oued-Moulouyahf
(Maloua), marking the limits of Tingitanian and Cesarean Mauritania, to the Moqtha,
or ford of the united Sig and Habrah (called by the French the Macta), — that is, for a
space of about 108 j leagues according to the Itinerary, but really of about 60 leagues,^ —
sixteen Roman establishments, more or less considerable, are found.

The points that appear to be the most accurately determined are, Siga mttnicipium,
styled by Pliny a royal town of Syphax (regia Syp/iacis).§ It must have stood about a
league west from the mouth of the Tafna, probably where are now some ruins called by
the natives Tikambrit. The bay where the Tafna falls into the sea, and the island of Acra
facing it, formed the Portus Sigensis. The Tafna is named by Ptolemy Assara, corre-
sponding to the Isser of modern times, which falls into the Tafna some leagues before its
mouth, and which may at that remote date have preserved its name down to the sea. In
digging the intrenchments (1836) of the camp, they found there a medal of Tiberius.

Opposite Portus Sigensis was, as we have just said, Acra insula, which corresponds to
the little island now called Rasgoun or Rachgoun, which is occupied by a small French
garrison. The chef (Teseadron, M. Tatareau, who visited this spot (1832), picked up a gold
medal bearing the stamp of a Greek cross ; and he attributed this coin to the Lower
Empire.||

in the name Mers-el-Kebir _*£)) s~> y< tne literal translation of Portus Magnus. Pliny,

describing this locality, says : " Portus Magnus, spatio appellatus, civium Romanorum oppidum." The
characteristics of the place at once determine the site of the great port, but what Oran represents is un-
certain.

Some persons have thought that Oran stands on the site of the municipium of Quiza (Boniza ac-
cording to Ptolemy), or Quiza xenitana pereyrinorum oppidum (citadel of strangers), whose name, as the
reader will perceive, is accompanied by two epithets stating precisely the same thing, one Greek and
the other Latin. The Itinerary places Quiza at 40 miles (\3\ leagues) from Portus Magnus or Mers-el-
Ktbir, whilst Oran is only one league from that place : hence this hypothesis is evidently untenable.

* The Mulucha separated the Moors from Numidia till the time of Marius and Metellus, and served
as a limit to the kingdoms of Jugurtha and Bocchus. Some authors spell the name Molochath and
Malua: it is now styled Maluia, flowing near the frontier between Algeria and Morocco. The word
Molochath, of which Mulucha is a corruption, means in Phoenician the royul river. Barbie du Bocage's
Sallust, p. 240.

t This stream is generally called Malva or Malvana in ancient geographies ; but it is probable that
Maloua, as Ptolemy writes it, is more correct, because this appellation comes nearer to the name given
to it now, and especially because ar is inadmissible in the names of places evidently belonging to the
language of the natives, since the latter (both Berbers and Arabs) have no v in their language.

X M Berbrugger says that the Itinerary of Antoninus, in giving the distances between the towns
from the Maloua Flumen to tbe Mulucha, or Macta, almost always doubles them ; whereas in Eastern
Mauritania the distances are made less than the truth. The Itinerary was probably drawn up by diffe-
rent persons using different measures, and the compiler was not careful to rectify the differences. M.
Berbrugger also thinks it possible that, instead of understanding here the passtis generally used in the
Itinerary, a double pace of 5 feet, we ought to understand the yraclus, or single pace of 2i feet. This
would make the distances correct. Berbrugger, part ii.

§ Pliny.

|| Whilst speaking of Rasgoun, we shall notice the resemblance of the name to Rasgonia, a Roman
town whose ruins still exist at the eastern point of the Bay of Algiers (Cape Matifou). The syllable ras

ANTIQUITIES OF ALGERIA. 451

The Salsum flumen, placed by the Itinerary 8 leagues from Portus Sigensis, must be
the Oued-el-Malahh, called by the Spaniards llio-Salado.*

Beyond Portus Magnus stood Qitiza, of which we have already spoken as 131 leagues
from Mers-el-Kebir, which would place it on the spot where you now find old Arzeu,
the Arsenaria of the ancients. M. Berbrugger imagines tbat instead of 40, which you
find in the Itinerary, you ought to read 11 miles, which gives 3§ leagues, and brings us to
a place called Canastel, where there exist some ancient remains at the present time. A
tradition records that St. Augustine was born in this place.

After passing this place, you come to Portus Deorum (the bay of Arzeu), Arsenaria
(ancient Arzeu), where considerable ruins are still found ; then you reach the Amnis
Mulucha (the Macta), which Ptolemy calls Cartennus flumen; and a little beyond it the
colony of Cartenna, which must have stood near Masagran or Mostaganem.f

We shall now pass to the province of Constantina, formerly part of the kingdom of
Numidia.J

It is somewhat remarkable that Hippo§ was the first spot in Africa visited by the

or rus (pronounced rous) /*»« t (.<~lj signifies clearly enough cape, having the same meaning as

caput both in Kabyle and in Arabic ; and if you wish a proof of its having had the same sense formerly,
you need only follow the nomenclature of all the Roman establishments situated along the coast, and
it is striking to find the syllable ras or rus prefixed to the names of all towns standing near capes.
Going from west to east, we meet in this manner Rusadir, Rusibricari, Rusucurru, RusipUir, Rusgonia,
Rusasus, Rusicada, &c. This proves that the Romans almost always adopted the local designations,
which they latinised, and also sometimes mutilated, as the French do at present with the native names.

The ancient Libyan and modern Arabic term ras /i«ii head, is not improbably derived from the
Sanskr. raj ^~ | Si to shine, whence rajah, prince, Lat. rex, Goth, reiks, &c. EichofF, p. 242. Gesenius

(Lex. p. 916) identifies (j~\j with E7S'") the Syr. j«_i5 and the ^Ethiop C,i\ft'.

* A name adopted by the French, and a literal translation of the Arabic appellation. The identity of
meaning (Salsum Flumen, Oued-Malahh, and Rio Salado) gives a great probability to this conjecture.

t Part ii. p. 6, of Berbrugger's Algerie. Captain Despointes says that a very perfect ancient temple
is still standing near Arzeu. See Baron Baude, St. Marie, and Blofeld.

In the interior of the province, Tlemsen and its vicinity contain several interesting monuments of
antiquity, chiefly Moorish. We have already alluded to the Mechouar and the reservoirs of Tlemsen ;
and we have still to mention the beautiful tomb or marabout of Sidi Bou-Medina, near Tlemsen, which
has been greatly injured and defaced by the assthetical charities of the French army. Blofeld.

Not far from Tlemsen you also find the beautiful remains of an ancient mosque (Berbrugger),
which must date from an age when learning and art flourished on the sunny shores of Barbary, and
cast their lustre and breathed their harmony over the faith of Islam and its magic productions.

J Numidia extended originally from the Leptis (in Tripoli, near Cyrene) to the river Mulucha,
containing at the time of Jugurtha vast tracts of fertile corn-lands, and also deserts. To the south it
bordered on the Gaetulians. The Numidians, who are described as a hardy, brave, industrious, and
temperate, but treacherous and versatile race, were excellent horsemen, great hunters, practised poly-
gamy, and had despotic kings. Sallust refers their origin to the Persians, who came under the Libyan
or Phoenician Hercules, and mixed with the Gsetuli. Some derive the word ' nomadic' from the
Numidians ; others, the name Numidian from nomad. At the time of the second Punic war they
were still a very savage people, divided into two sections : first, the Massa?syli to the west, occupying
modern Algeria; secondly, to the east, the Massyli, in the province of Constantina and part of Tunis.
Syphax commanded the Masssesyli, and Massinissa, son of Gala, the Massyli.

§ The reader should be careful not to confound Hippo-Regius with another Hippo situated more to
the eastward on the northern coast of Africa, and known by the name of Hippo-Dirutus, Zarritus, or
Diarrhytus (Bizerta).

The Hippo with which we are now concerned had been named Ubbo by the Phoenicians ; a word
meaning ' pond' or ' bay' in their language. The ancient name of the Seybouse,f76«s, is probably referable
to the same etymology. The Romans changed the name of Ubbo into Hippo, and added the epithet
Regius because it was a favourite residence with the native kings of Numidia. A Latin poet has ex-
pressed this circumstance in the following terms:

" Antiquis dilectus regibus Hippo."

4.52

APPENDIX.

Romans, and the last place that they lost in the two invasions of the Vandals and Arabs.
Bona has also at all times shewn itself more disposed to submit to the sway of the Franks
than any other town on the coast of Barbary. It may, indeed, be laid down as a maxim, —
that the resistance to European conquest and rule increases in proportion as you advance
west in Barbary, and reaches its maximum in Morocco, whereas its minimum is found in
the province of Constantina.

In May 428 the Vandals came over to Africa, on the invitation of Count Boniface ;
and the description of their invasion from the pen of Bishop Possidius will remove all
wonder that the term Vandal has become a synonym for ruthless destruction.*

Genseric soon drew nigh, and laid siege to Hippo about June 430. The Vandals had
besieged the town three months, when St. Austin fell dangerously ill. The misfortunes of
his people and flock hastened his end, after a sickness of three weeks, f

Save these ruins, some remains scattered at the foot of Mount Edough, the aqueduct
of the valley of Kharesas, and the cisterns, no trace of Hippo Regius is left above ground.
This classic soil is, however, full of foundations of houses, of remains of ways, of tombs,
and of fragments of statues. £

The most remarkable ruins at Hippo are the cisterns, that cover the top of a hillock.
They form a square building 78 feet by 70, which, besides rain-water, was probably a
receptacle of the stream brought by the aqueduct from Mount Edough. A narrow corridor
bisects the building lengthways, having a staircase at one end descending to the bottom
of the reservoir. The section towards the bay is farther divided by another passage. The
division of the edifice into stories is only applicable to these corridors, as the reservoirs
rise to the whole height of the monument.

One of the longitudinal halves of this building is divided into compartments by seven
partition-walls, whose materials have an extraordinary adherence and solidity ; since,
while the lower part of the walls is destroyed, the upper continues to stand, though it
has to support the weight of the vaults and terraces. The other half, which is not sub-
divided, has been invaded by fig-trees, wild olives, and bushes of jujubes, which form
quite a thicket On this side the terrace has almost entirely fallen down, whereas on
the other it is in tolerable preservation, though overgrown with plants and trees. The
remains of several small cisterns are scattered round the large one.

These are the only remains of the once opulent and powerful Hippo, the rival of
Cirtha. The traveller who paces this classic strand is in, danger of missing its few and

On the Punic tongue see the Section on Language. The Phoenician ubbo appears to have some
affinity with the Sansk. ap, water, apnus, fluidity, — from ab or amb, to move; and hence also with the

♦
Lithuanian uppe and the Greek ctro;. From the Sanskrit ^^j Gj oi, vi-j <5j amb, also come the Latin

*\ *\

agua, imber, vmbra, and the Greek o.a^joj. Eichoff 's Vergleichung der Sprachen v. Europen u. Indien.
Gr. edit. p. G!)8. Bochart and De Brasses agree with Berbrugger in giving to the word ubbo the
meaning of 'bay.' Barbie du Bocage, Diet. Geogr. to his Sallust, p. 214.

* This description will be found in the Chapter on History. Boniface, regretting his folly when too
late, and facing the Vandals in the field, was worsted and forced to seek refuge in Hippo, then thought
to be very strong. The town was crowded with fugitives, including many bishops.

t He lived 72 years, and had been priest or bishop at Hippo for 40. He made no will, having
nothing to bequeath but the episcopal library and his Mss. After 14 months' siege, the Vandals de-
sisted ; and when they returned after the second defeat of Boniface, the town was deserted, and they
destroyed it by fire. The only monument that escaped was the library of St. Austin, in the basilica of
Peace. If we may trust tradition, the remains now seen near the Cattle Hun belong to that edifice.
The resistance of Hippone lasted 14 months ; St. Augustine died August 28th, 42!) ; and the city was
taken in December 430. Most of the place was burnt, but the bishop's house and library were spared.
Belisarius retook it in 534, and it fell to the Arabs in (>y7. After that it was removed to Bona, 2000
metres to the north. On Augustine see Possidius de Vita Augustini; Berbrugger; Nachrichten u.
Bemerkungen ; Dr. Russel, pp. 130, 137; Baude, vol. ii. p. 42.

I Baron Baude. Dawson Borrer. St. Marie.

ANTIQUITIES OF ALGERIA. 453

insignificant remains, so thickly are they shaded hy the luxuriant African vegetation.
^\ ith difficulty can he realise the existence of sacerdotal fanes and lordly porticoes on
this wild and tangled spot. Yet future researches will doubtless bring to light much
antiquarian wealth concealed beneath this pregnant soil.*

The ruins of Kalama are situated about half a league from the Ford of the Seybouse.f
To the left of the path leading from the camp to the ruins, you perceive a small square
edifice, of which a few stone pillars are still standing. The ground is scattered over with
broken shafts of columns, and with marble capitals of rather bad quality.

On the slope of an undulation which is met before reaching the site of the old city,
and whose base is laved by the river of Guelma, the Romans had raised a theatre, whose
construction must have been rendered extremely easy by the character of the locality
where it stands ; for the declivity of the hill presented a natural amphitheatre, which only
needed to be laced with masonry in order to form steps, and to be surrounded by an en-

* On one side of the ruined aqueduct, on the top of the hill of Boonah, and surrounded with lilacs
and honeysuckle, stands a white marble altar, recently constructed, with a bronze statue of St. Augus-
tine, one metre high, in ponliftcalibus. This was erected on the occasion of the transfer of his real or
ideal remains from Pavia, with all the pomp and circumstance of the church militant, by the French
government, in the year 1842. See the account by M. l'Abbe Sybour, afterwards Archbishop of Paris.
Madame Prus, p. 106. St. Marie also gives a correct description of the monument.

" Hippo," observes Baron Baude, ii. p. 41, "was grouped at the foot of two mamelons, one
of 80 metres (262-40 feet), the other of 38 metres (124'64 feet) in height, and now called by the Arabs
Bounah and Gharf-el-Antram. Its enclosure has not yet been ascertained ; but from the scattered ruins,
it cannot have been less than 60 hectares (148-20 acres). 300 metres (984 feet) of old quay still exist,
at the distance of 1000 metres (32S0 feet) from the present mouth of the Seybouse. It was there that, in
the year of Rome 707, was stationed the fleet with which P. Sitius, lieutenant of Caesar, destroyed
that of the fugitive Scipio. The old drains under the town are broken up for the stone: they were
built of quarry stones (in a covered channel), and were made as cheap as possible. To the north are
the remains of a gate of the town, built in alternate layers of bricks and quarry stones, and its dimen-
sions are very large. The church and convent of St. Austin, seen by sly old Pere Dan, have somehow
disappeared. The hydraulic establishment is the great monument of Roman construction at Hippone,
as in all their colonies ; for, unlike the Christians, they agreed with Mahomet in thinking cleanliness
next to godliness. An aqueduct brought the water from Mount Edough, 2600 metres (8528 feet) in
length, only a part of it being built on arcades over the valley of Laurels and of Boubgimah." Baron
Baude. St. Marie seems greatly disposed to coincide in the Baron's views.

The five arcades nearest Mount Edough are still standing. The basements and the pediments aw in
reticulated masonry, the interior consists of quarry stones, and the arches of bricks; the channel is
2 Roman feet (0-589 metres) in breadth, and you can still count all the piles of the aqueduct. Near
the town it must have been 20 metres in height. The reservoir, on issuing from which the waters
divided, is to the north-west, and halfway up the mamelon. It is divided into two principal compart-
ments, each of which is 17 metres (55-76 feet) wide, and 40 long (131-20 feet) which gives, allowing 1
metre (3-28 feet) in depth, a capacity of 1360 metres (1774 cubic yards). The present depth is 5 metres
(16-4 feet) ; but it is probable that by cleaning out the rubbish, you would find that the reservoir con-
tains 10 or 12,000 cubic metres of water (13,059 or 15,671 cubic yards). The partition-walls are of
masonry, with an interior facing of brick. The eastern basin is still crossed by two bridges. Baron
Baude, iii. p. 39.

The stone employed in all these constructions, except some parts of the aqueduct, is a porous lime-
stone, easy to work, which is found, superposed on granite and marble, in the bay of Caroubiers, and
the neighbourhood of Fort Genois. The bricks, tiles, (tec. are baked with the greatest care, and the
beds of mortar on which they repose are thicker than the bricks themselves. The mortar is harder
than stone, is very rich, and contains as many little stones as sand ; but the Romans had architects,
and never ventured a National Gallery or a Trafalgar Square. The limestone has been obtained from
strata of calcareous saccharoid, which is intercalated in the granite all round Bona, to the Sahel, and to
the very mamelon of Gharf-el-Antram. All these works are very simple, without decorations or
extravagance. The rusticity of the materials and workmanship, which are a disgrace to a Roman
colony, but would be an honour to the British metropolis, show that they were mostly the work of
Roman soldiers, who were commonly more usefully engaged than in smoking cigars or playing billiards.
Between Bona and Hippo are the remains of the Roman via which formed a part of the great road that
followed the coast from Carthage to the Straits of Gibraltar. Another via went towards Cirta, and
numerous cross-roads ramified with these. Baude, ii. p. 42.

t See Part I. Chap. XII.

454 APPENDIX.

closure so as to embrace a complete arena. It follows from this configuration that the
top of the monument is on a level with the summit of the hill ; whilst the lower part, or the
scene, extends over a slope that is met with halfway up.

The site of the orchestra is overgrown with brushwood, which also covers the part
where the stage was situated ; and the lentisk and jujube, or Barbary fig, climbing up to
the steps, strike their vigorous roots in the intervals of the stones that formed the steps.

Notwithstanding the ravages wrought by time on this monument, it is still easy to
discover its principal divisions.

Applying the analysis of Roman theatres to that of Kalama, we proceed to remark
that in the interior of the enclosure of the cavea French visitors have found vaulted corri-
dors, partly fallen in, which must have led to each zone, without its being necessary to pass
up the stairs, which would have inconvenienced the noble occupants of the ima cavea.

In the upper and middle part of the theatre is a little cabinet, surmounted by a cupola,
and open on the side facing the stage. In the French army, where it is usual to bestow
epithets on all the monuments that they meet, the soldiers christened it the Proconsul's
box.

Traces of the use of vela or awnings are still perceivable in the theatre of Kalama, and
it is easy to perceive the holes in which the poles were fixed that supported the veil. The
men commissioned to do this were superannuated sailors, whose profession was thought to
have qualified them for the office.*

Halfway from the two extremities of the semicircle, some niches may be seen that
probably contained statues. Behind these are some rooms that open on the staircase by
which the spectators of the ima cavea had their private entrance. The two extremities of
which we have just spoken, and that were called by the ancients cornua or horns, form the
limit between the theatre proper and the stage. Scarcely a vestige remains of the latter
part of the structure: some blocks of masonry, half concealed by brushwood, are all that
is left. Perhaps the stage in this case only consisted of a modern scaffolding, according
to the description of Ausonius :

" .Edilis olim scenam tabulatam dabat,
Subito excitatam, nulla mole saxea."

It is quite possible that in this remote province they were reduced to adopt the simplicity
ofthis ancient fashion for want of sufficient funds ; or possibly the materials have been
carried away to build other edifices.

On quitting the theatre, M. Berbrugger and his companions followed the brink of a ravine,
in which flows the river of Guelma, and they arrived near a stone enclosure, flanked by thir-
teen square towers. At the north-east angle of this kind of fortress arose a great ruinous
building; and the remains of ancient Kalama lay stretched at the bottom and on the sides
of a ravine, whose slopes were formerly arranged into steps, as it is easy to discover. A
wall used to extend towards the mountain; running from the citadel of which we have just
spoken to the crest of a mamelon that separates the ravine of the river from that in which
the town was built, it served to protect the latter in a quarter where, from the nature of
the ground, it would have been easily assailable, f

Without wearying the reader with a dry detail of all the parts of the ancient town, we

* Sir William G ell's Pompeii.

t Madame Prus, in 1S50, corroborates this description of M. Berbrugger in 1836. She says, "Guelma,
situated on the summit of the mountain Serdj-el-Aouda, must have been a place of considerable extent
and impnnance in the time of the Romans. The thirteen towers still existing in the circumference of
the walls, and the divers inscriptions iound on the monuments, seem to indicate the sixth century of
our era as the period ol its construction." It is unpleasant to criticise the opinions of a lady, but the
love of truth forces us to point out the inaccuracy of the latter statement, when Madame l'rus confounds
the original foundation of the city with the later attempts at renovation under the Greek prefects, and
after the Vandal devastation. It is likewise our unpleasant duty to point out this lady's eiror in con-
founding the wall of the citadel, with its thirteen towers, with the city wall,— page 159.

ANTIQUITIES OF ALGERIA. 455

shall, in a note, lay before him a few general notions of the place, and of its principal
ruins and inscriptions.*

We shall now proceed to notice the most remarkable ruins of Kalama. The large
fortified enclosure is undoubtedly the largest and the best-preserved ruin, and we shall
attend to it first.

A glance shows the date of its erection. The walls are composed of heterogeneous
materials, presenting a confused heap of marble and stone, votive and tumular ornaments,
often upside down, fragments of bas-reliefs, statues, and even domestic utensils. Such
walls can only have been raised in times of confusion and barbarism. The foundation is
no doubt more ancient, but nothing above ground can date higher than Belisarius ; for
the Vandal Genseric, before the arrival of the lieutenant of Justinian, had dismantled all
the African cities, save Carthage, the chief seat of his empire, j-

* It is an established fact, that the ruins at Guelma are those of Kalama. Numerous inscriptions
containing the expressions Kalamenses, Kuria Kalamensium, leave no doubt on the matter ; and
a passage of St. Augustine settles the question for ever. In his dispute with Petilianus andCrispinus,
bishops of Constantina and of Kalama, the saint makes use of the following terms : " Inter Constanti-
nam, ubi tu (Petilianus) es, et Hipponem, ubi ego (Augustinus) sum, Kalama, ubi ille Crispinus est,
vicinior quidem nobis, sed tamen interposita." It follows from this that Kalama was between Hippo
and Constantina, but nearest to the former : this is the precise situation of the ruins at Guelma.

The Romans built so many towns in Africa, that history could not record them all. It scarcely
mentions Kalama, whose remains, however, attest its importance. Paulus Orosius relates that it was
under its walls, which enclosed the treasures of the kings of Numidia, that the propraetor Aulus Post-
humius, who sought to seize them, was defeated by Jugurtha. Sallust, speaking of the same event,
calls the town that the Roman general proposed to besiege Sufhul ; hence it has been very naturally
inferred that Suthul and Kalama were the same town ; but the circumstantial description given by
Sallust of the nature of the ground is in no degree applicable to that of Kalama. It is possible that
there may have been two towns of that name in Africa, or Paulus Orosius may have made a mistake.

Baron Baude has indulged in a long dissertation in connexion with the true locality of these cities,
and of the various positions that were occupied, illustrated, and disgraced by the contending armies in
the Jugurthine war. " Ghelma," he says (i. p. 192), " is on the united but rather steep slope of a
hill (coteau), 1500 metres from the river, and its enclosure contains 7 or 8 hectares (20 acres); but save
the remains of a very large building, the walls are reduced to hardly the height of 2 metres. Outside
of the enclosure are the remains of a theatre, of a temple, and of some other constructions devoted to
the public service. Sallust's description of Suthul is as follows (Jug. Bel. c. xxxvii.): " Quodquam-
quam etsa;vitia temporis et opportunitate loci neque capi neque obsideri poterat; namcircum murum,
situm in preerupti montis extremo, planities limosa hiemalibus aquis paludem fecerat." But there
can be no marshes, observes Baron Baude, on the coteau of Kalama; and M. Barbie du Bocage, in
his Geographical Dictionary, attached to his excellent edition of Sallust (1813), agrees with Baude
that Orosius must have been in error in identifying Kalama with Suthul, whose situation is a complete
problem. M. du Bocage is disposed to think that Suthul is the same place as Sufetula, in the Itinerary
of Antoninus, still called Sbaitla, a place in a similar situation to that given to Suthul (see Shaw's
Travels, v. i. p. 260) ; though President de Brosses interprets the Phoenician name Suthul as meaning
the city of eagles, and places it far south of Constantina. See M. du Bocage's Diet. Geogr., annexed
to his Sallust, pp. 279-280.

Kalama was more than once a source of trouble to the holy bishop of Hippo. The Christians by
■whom it was inhabited were principally Donatists ; and a bishop of that sect, Crispinus, filled its epis-
copal throne. There was moreover a considerable number of pagans there, and they displayed a hatred
to the new creed that all the severity of the imperial edicts was sometimes unable to restrain.

t To help our conjectures, we insert the following curious inscription:

VNA. ET .BISSENAS. TVRRES . CRESCEBANT. IN . ORDINE . TOT AS .
MIRABILEM . OPERAM . CITO . CONSTRVCTA . VIDETVR . POSTICIVS .
SVB . TERMAS . BALTEO. COKCLVDITVR . FERRO . NV . . . VS . MALORVM .
TOTERIT . ERICERE . MAN . PATRICI . SOLOMON . INSTITVTION . NEMO .
EXPVGN ARE . VALEVIT . DEFENSIO . MARTIRO . TveT . . . R . POSTICIVS . ILE .
CLEMENS . ET . VINCENTIVS . MARTIR . CVSTOD . 1NTROITVM . PP. V. 7 .

This barbarous Latin, still more obscured by the mutilation of the characters, is difficult to be ren-
dered by an exact translation. We shall only try to give its general sense, and throw some light on
the age of the fortress.

The first line alludes to the thirteen towers. The second expresses admiration at the quickness
with which they were built. The third, which is the obscurest of all, seems to imply that later this
defensive work was completed by a wall of enclosure under the thernice, or hot-baths. The fourth,

45C

APPENDIX.

Hence it was the patrician Solomon who restored the towers and walls of Kalama (a.d.
540). But as this inscription has evidently been displaced from its proper position, the
enclosure of Solomon must have been thrown down and rebuilt since his time.

It probably resulted from the great earthquake, of which so many traces remain at
Kalama ; but in any case, its construction in its present form was posterior to 540.

Another monument remains, which may, very probably, be the church of Kalama,
though this is simply a conjecture. It was in a very dilapidated state in the autumn of
1836; and when visited afterwards by M. Berbrugger, a great part of it had been pulled
down. Still he thought he could trace the architectural design, consisting of a nave,
collateral chapels, and transept. Large stones were employed for the vaults and the
facing of the walls, whilst the rest was filled up by small 'Stones mixed with cement, and
broken at intervals by a horizontal bed of tiles.

This monument does not present any confusion of design or materials like the castle;
hence it is not a reconstruction by barbarians.*

which is very clear, can be translated thus : "No one will he ahle to storm the work made by the patri-
cian Solomon." This man was a general, whom Justinian sent twice into Africa to consolidate the
conquest of Belisarius. Procopius, his friend, also informs us that during his second sojourn of four
years, he helped to restore the walls of all the towns. The inscription winds up by an invocation to
the martyrs Clement and Vincent.

* Baron Baude is disposed to regard the neighbourhood of the stream of Bouinfra, opposite
Ghelma, as the spot where Metellus and Jugurtha met in battle {Sail. B. Jug. c. xlvii.-liii.). After
he had passed over the same ground three times, his conjecture was confirmed. In order to carry
on the severe war [helium asperrimum) that he prepared for Jugurtha, Metellus had to march into
the heart of Numidia, on Suthul and Cirta. He was proceeding from Vacca, the Bedja of the present
day, at 15 leagues to the east of La Calle; he had not taken his road by the mountains, because it was
by that covered country that the Numidians lost a march on him ; he, therefore, must have advanced
by the plain of Bona, and the Bouinfra was on his road. Jugurtha, on the other hand, must have
wished to defend, in an advantageous position, the towns which were threatened by Metellus; and
the hill of Bouinfra was admirably suited for this purpcse. From this point, in fact, the Numidian
army commanded the plain ; it covered Suthul and Cirta; and was so placed, that without leaving the
shelter of the mountains, it could watch all the movements of the Romans. Lastly, in case of mis-
fortune, its retreat into the valley of the Seybouse was secured by the Col of Mouelfa. If it were
certain that the flumen Muthul is the Seybouse, all difficulties would be removed ; but we only know
the Latin and Punic names of this river, the Ubus and Rubricatus; and it is not yet proved if the
Numidian name Muthul, only mentioned this once in history, is the name of the same river. At all
events, the Muthul, which Metellus had left behind him, was a sufficiently large stream to deserve
the appellation of flumen, and flowed from the south to the north. But the Mafragand Seybouse can be
the only rivers that answer to this description, and it cannot be the former in this case. Between the
Mafrag and Seybouse there does not exist any hill standing out in the plain, and resembling that de-
scribed by Sallust. If the battle had taken place between the two rivers, the historian would not have
failed to mention so characteristic a circumstance. Nor can it be supposed that Jugurtha would have
chosen so unfavourable a spot for the Numidian army; and it would, moreover, be impossible to make
the manoeuvres of Rutilius, the lieutenant of the consul, agree with this hypothesis; for Sallust states,
that " Metellus coming, after having passed the Muthul, into a dry and desert plain, caused Rutilius
to turn back and go to establish the camp on the river. In this situation the consul had before him
a hill covered with myrtles, wild olives, and other shrubs, and which was detached transversely from
the mountains, and advanced some distance into the plain." Nor would it be possible to give a more
exact description than this of the river, and the hill of Ascours, which terminates like a jetty in the
Bouinfra. It was there that the Numidians lay in ambush; and it was, no doubt, from the Pjebel-el-
Ousth of the Arabs that Metellus discovered them. Coming from the fords of the Seybouse, he was
crossing the plain obliquely, and his right flank must have been, as Sallust says, nearest to the enemy.
Isolated in the middle of the plain, the Djebel-el-Ousth affords a very strong military position; and it
can be easily conceived how, as soon as he was exposed by the movement of Metellus, in coasting
along the hill on which the Numidians stood, Jugurtha, in order not to leave at the disposal of the Ro-
mans mi advantageous a position, caused it to he occupied by .2000 foot-soldiers. The manoeuvre by
which Bomilcar betook himself there with the mass of the Roman army, and the division commanded
by Rutilius, becomes now equally intelligible. A single circumstance seems difficult to explain; it is,
that according to the Latin text, the distance from Muthul to the hill that is parallel to it would be
about 23,450 luetics (,'32,103 yards), ferine millia passuum xx.(the Roman mile is equivalent to Hr2-50

ANTIQUITIES OF ALGERIA.

457

Besides the theatre, the castle, and the enclosure, there was also a pretty antique
fountain at Kalama, which has, however, been demolished by the modern Vandals of ihe
place to assist them in their own erections. It contained on two stones the following
inscription : m. ivnivs. rvfinvs. sab. This monument may have been probably erected
by a person bearing that name ; and must have contained four basins, presenting at its
base a shape similar to a small x. M. Berbrugger found some Corrinthian capitals
amongst its materials.

Kalama contains many more interesting remains, but our space forbids any farther
description of them.*

The ruins of Announah.f near the Ras-el-Akbah, and at no great distance from the
road from Guelma to Constantina, present several objects of interest to the archaeologist.
They were visited by Shaw and Peyssonnel, who give -very imperfect descriptions of them,

ROMAN GATE. (ANNOUNAH.)

owing to the cursory nature of their visits, in company with the Turkish tax-gathering
forces.

An immense ravine extends from the Seybouse to the Ras-el-Akbah, sending out

metres); while from the Seybouse to the Bouinfra there are only 16,000metres (17,826 yards). But we
may be allowed to remark, that the account of the battle corresponds better with the real state of the
place than with this announcement of distances. If there had been an interval of 7 leagues from the
held of battle to the camp, how, in the middle of the action, could Bomilcar have feared that Rutilius,
informed of the critical position of his general, would have con:e to his help.' How, after a severe
struggle, which only finished at the close of day, could Metellus have thought of retiring at night into
the camp prepared by Rutilius? It was already a good deal to have gone more than 3 leagues. (Jug.
c. xlvii.-liii.) Baron Baude, ii. p. 99.

* Berbrugger, part iii.

t On Announah, see Berbrugger, part iii. Baude, vol. ii. c. 9. Dr. Shaw, Peyssonel, St. Marie, &c.

458 APPENDIX.

many lateral ravines. One of the latter, passing and widening between two mamelons,
leads from the road of Constantina to the ruins of Announah. On the left mamelon lie
scattered the remains of a considerable monument, to judge from the number of columns,
capitals, &c. that lie strewed around. Leaving these remains to the left, and advancing
to the town, you meet, on both sides of the way, a number of tumular stones with
inscriptions, the first of which alone was copied by Dr. Shaw.

After issuing from the ravine, you perceive the whole extent of the ruins of Announah.
The chief of these consists in a kind of triumphal arch and a number of arcades, whose
arch springs directly from the soil, and which appear to be coarse and rude attempts at
reconstruction by the hands of barbarians, who have mixed up all styles and materials in
a lamentable disorder. There are, moreover, at Announah, the ruins of a church, which
is a still more curious example of this spirit of confusion, being built of blocks of stone
and marble of all sizes, while shafts, and capitals of columns, and fragments of sculpture,
are fitted into the wall. This specimen of Byzantine architecture speaks volumes on the
disastrous effects of the A r andal invasion, which must have destroyed not only monuments,
but the very appreciation of art.

The town of Announah stood in a considerable valley, and its circumference can be
probably ascertained by the tumular monuments that surround it. To the left, as you ap-
proach it from the road of Constantina, are vast cisterns ; and a little farther on, the remains
of a Roman road that descends towards the Oued-Cherf, which is probably the road to
Hippo Regius, joining the great Roman road whose remains are seen at Hhammam-el-
Berda (Aquae Tibilitanse).*

The reader is already aware that Constantina was once the ancient Numidian city of

• The ancient name of Announah is unknown. It may probably be an Arabic corruption of
Annona. This town, being in an eccentric situation, is not mentioned in the Itineraries, which only
give the names of the stations on the great road. All that the Itineraries record of the road from
Hippo to Cirta is as follows :

Miles. Leagues.

Hippo ad villam Servilianam 25 9£

,, Aquis Tibilitanis (Hhammam-el-Berda) . 15 8£

„ Cirtam 54 20£

94 38|

We omit here a fraction of one-fortieth, by taking the Roman mile as 760 fathoms.
A great number of funereal inscriptions were found at Announah by M. Berbrugger; of which
13 give the age of the deceased (two individuals had lived 90 years), and prove the healthiness of An-
nounah. As one specimen will answer for all, we present the reader with the epitaph of a venerable
lady named Victoria.

HELVIAE H. F. O.

VICTORIA

V. A. LXXXX.

II. S. E.

Other inscriptions, some of them containing many embarrassing abbreviations, show how consider-
able was the number of citizens of the tribe Quirina that inhabited this unknown city; c.y.

D M

l'OMPEI POMPE VETTIA

S. LELK1VIRIVS LELIO.VIR

F1L . UVIR.

ONORASERTIM.

The remaining inscriptions may be seen in M. Berbrugger's valuable work on Algeria, part iii.
pp. 24, 5.

Baron Baude describes Announah as lying halfway up the Ras-el-Akba, on a natural terrace bor-
dered with precipices, commanded by vertical rocks, and only accessible on one side. This singular
town, of which the ancient name is unknown, seems built in this out-of-the-way situation merely for
the sukc of the line view. The ruins are also in a much better state of preservation than those of
Kalama. To the north, and under the walls, you find a zone of tombs, consisting of masonry, with
simple inscriptions, and many crosses showing the religion of the people. C. ix. p. 2.

ANTIQUITIES OP ALGERIA. 459

Cirtha.* On the right bank of the Ouad-el-Rummel are six arches, being all that
remain of an ancient Roman aqueduct. They are built of blocks of calcareous stone,
the largest pillar being upwards of 65 feet high.

Among the principal ruins is an old Roman causeway, vestiges of which are found
in several places. This road is paved with lozenge-shaped stones of various dimensions;
but most of them are about 1 metre in length, GO centimetres (23"40 inches) in width,
and 12 (I'GS inches) in thickness. It is bordered by a little parapet of about 40 centi-
metres (1;3"G0 inches) from the pavement.

A volume would scarcely be sufficient to describe all the antiquities daily to be found
in this remarkable city. But there is one singular edifice that we cannot omit. "Within
the walls of the Casbah or citadel (belonging to most Algerian cities) is an ancient
church of Byzantine architecture. Several of the columns have fallen down, but a
portico is still standing, which, however, seems to have been built on the site, and with
the materials of a prior edifice.f

Tathubt, bordering on the Ain-yac-coute to the N.E., is about four leagues from Ora-
Oley (Sinaab), and eight to the S.S.W. of Constantina. This has been formerly a con-
siderable city, but at present it is almost entirely covered with earth and rubbish. Tathubt
seems to be the same as the Tadutti of the Itinerary ; and lying between Lambaesa and
Gemellae, as the ancients called Tezzoute and Jimmeelah, may lay claim to this situa-
tion.

Ten leagues to the south of Tagou-Zainah, and twelve from Medrashem,:}; are the ruins
of the ancient Thubana, which may be probably identified by the present name of Tubnah,
and Ptolemy's position. These ruins stand almost in the same meridian as Jgilgilis : the
city was situated in a fine plain near Bareekah and Boomazooze, but the few existing re-
mains are too much buried in sands for the explorer to be able to estimate its extent.§

* Pananti observes, that " la citta, per le antichita che conserva, piu degna d' esser vista, si e Con-
stantina" (ii. p. IS). Blofeld (p. 59) and St. Marie (p. 232) both give a summary account of its histo-
rical vicissitudes ; and Dr. Shaw had minutely described its principal antiquities more than a century
ago. Bochart and President de Brosses maintain that the name of Cirtha comes from karth, which sig-
nifies town. Its long siege and capture by Jugurtha are described in Sallust. It was then adorned with
fine buildings, which it owed to the splendid reign of Massinissa. The Romans made it generally their
winter-quarters, and the capital of Numidia: though Hiempsal II. and Juba, his son, preferred Zama.
Sextius held it when the party of Brutus and Cassius besieged him there. But he was relieved by the
soldiers of Sittius Nucerinus, who sided with Csesar and Octavian his nephew, and who gave their com-
mander's name to Cirta, calling it Sittianorum Colonia ; a name which it soon changed for Cirta Julia,
till Constantine honoured it with his own. Barbie du Bocage, Diet. Geogr. to Sail. Jug. p. 195.

t Vi'e have already alluded to the ancient palace of the Beys, a quarry of Roman antiquities. The
chief gate of the four is on a neck of land facing the S.W., and about a furlong broad. This spot is quite
covered with walls and ruins down to the river, and along a strip of plain ground parallel with the deep
valley, and already described. Such was ancient Cirta; but the present city is not so large. In the
centre of the city you also find cisterns for the water brought from Mount Physgeah by an aqueduct,
a great part of which remains, and is very sumptuous. The cisterns, which are about 20 in number,
make an area of 50 square yards. The gate before mentioned is built of a beautiful red stone, not in-
ferior to marble, well polished, and shining. The side-posts are mostly moulded in panels; an altar
of pure white marble forms part of the neighbouring wall; and the side of it in view presents a well-
shaped simpulum in a bold relief. The gate to the south-east is in the same style and design, much
smaller, and opening on the bridge over this part of the valley. This was a masterpiece in its kind.
Below the gallery, between the two principal arches, you see in a bold relief, and well executed, the
figure of a lady standing over two elephants, and a scallop-shell as canopy. The elephants lace each
other: and the lady, whose hair is in curls, raises up her petticoat and looks scornfully on the city.
Pananti, who was never there, says that in his time, " V'e un bellissimo arco trionfale che si nomina Cassir
Goulah, il castel del Gigante, d'oidine Corintio." This monument is accurately described, with an
engraving, by Dr. Shaw; and has been minutely analysed by St. Marie, Blofeld, Madame Prus, Borrer
(p. 352), and all recent travellers.

J Two contiguous and ruinous cities 8 leagues south-east of Constantina, with a triumphal arch
supported by two Corinthian columns. Blofeld, p. 64 et seqq.

§ On the plateau of Soumah, near Constantina, north-east, stands a Roman monument, which con-
sists of a thimble raised on a cylindrical base, and surmounted by four broken pilasters, between which

4G0 APPENDIX.

Among the numerous other remains of this province, we have still to notice the building
called by the French the tomb of Syphax, and by the Arabs Medrashem, situated near
the Ain-yac-conte, or Diamond Fountain, on the road from Constantina to Betna. It was
visited in 1846 by Mr. Borrer,* who describes it as having a circular form, the exterior
being built of finely-cut stones from 3 to 4 feet square. This exterior coating has been
torn away in some places, and you see interior layers of much smaller stones. This
monument has a diameter of 40 or 50 feet, and its circular base is ornamented with pilas-
ters, with plain squared capitals supporting a heavy cornice which is perhaps 20 feet from
the ground. Above this the roof, made of less massive stones laid in regular gradations,
runs up to a point. The east face of the base has been a portico, but is now nearly buried
in sands brought by the sirocco winds, as well as by stones fallen from the monument
itself. This monument is a great object of superstition with the Arabs, who think that it
contains a great treasure. A certain Bey of Constantina is said to have battered it with
great guns, but to no avail. They think that it is guarded by Jins, or genii. f

There are the remains of several Roman posts on the route, and one in particular with
numerous Roman coffins ; and you can trace the vestiges of a Roman road, in some places
in a perfect state, between Constantina and Betna. +

The ruins ofLambaesa are situated about two leagues east of Betna. Borrer§ went
there with General Herbillon and 50 dragoons in 184G. This was a fine old city (having
40 gates, from each of which, according to tradition, 40,000 Arab horsemen issued in time
of war), lying in a nook at the northern base of the Djebel-Aouress. Its remains are very
extensive, the best consisting in a temple of Esculapius, several gateways, and three arches
of an amphitheatre. It contains very many finely-chiselled inscriptions, and a furious an-
tiquary might spend a century there with profit. On one stone, in very large characters,
is the name of Alexander Severus, during whose reign a council was held at Lambassa to
condemn an unfortunate heretic, Privat, who, like Servetus, was of course in the wrong.
Eighty Christian bishops attended this council : and it appears that much blood of martyrs
was shed at Lambaesa during the persecutions of the conservative government under
Severus, Valerian, Galerius, and others; and much injury was done to this city after the
edict of Diocletian at Nicomedia had been promulgated.||

there ought to be a statue, which was in the centre of a rotunda encircled with columns, whose frag-
ments strew the surrounding ground. The details of this construction have not the elegance and
correctness of the monuments of Rome.

• Campaign, &c. p. 355 et seq. Blofeld, pp. 64-69. Dr. Shaw.

t Dr. Shaw supposes that the Koubber Romeah, near Algiers, is of the date of the Xumidian
kings; and this ruin of Medrashem, which is of the same form, may not improbably be of the same
period ; but it is not probable that it is the tomb of Syphax, who was taken prisoner by Lalius, and
died at Alba.

X This was no doubt one of their great roads, passing through the city of Diana (now Zanah),
and leading from Lambaesa to Sitiris (Setif) and Constantina, and from thence branching to Saldae
(Bugia).

§ Dawson Borrer's Campaign, p. 355 et seq.

|| Blofeld, p. 64-69. Dr. Shaw's Travels in Barbary, i. 126. Exploration Scientifique, Archeologie.

Our space prevents us from dilating on the numerous and interesting remains in the regency of
Tunis, and in the Cyrenaica. The reader who wishes to study the relics of Carthage, Sicca Veneria,
Vacca, Sufetula, &c, must consult the works of Dr. Shaw, Dr. Russel, Leo Africanus, Heeren, Russel,
the Lady's Diary, Greville Temple, Captain Kennedy, vol. ii., &c. An admirable account of Cyrene
will be found in Captain Beechey's excellent survey of north-western Africa; and those who wish to
read of the glories of Kairouan, Mehadia, and the- African khalil's and emirs, can consult Gibbon (ch.
lii.), Abulpharagius, Renaudot, Fabricius, Asseman, D'Herbelot, Casiri, Middeldorpf.

To give the reader a slight idea of the former intelligence and civilisation of the Moors in the days
of their majesty, we may just mention that Kairouan was once filled with palaces and schools; that in
the library of Cairo, the mss. of medicine and astronomy amounted to 6500, with two (air globes, one
of brass, the other of silver; that the royal library consisted of 100,000 mss. elegantly transcribed and
splendidly bound, which were freely lent to the students in the capital, as well as at Kairouan and

LANGUAGE. 461

SECTION II.
language.

With reverence we approach the ancient and venerable tongues of Northern Africa,
but mostly the Semitic, of yore the speech of angels, and the vehicle of the Almighty
Himself when He walked with man and spake unto the fathers. The accents of tender-
ness and love transcending the heart of man, utterance of a sweetness emanating from
higher harmonies, flowed in the soft Syriac stream from Immanuel's lips ; and that mys-
terious writing on the wall, the warning of the despots once again startling the vision of
the New World, was traced in the primeval Ninivean characters affiliated with the great
Aramaean family ; and lastly, the glowing yet sublime language of the Koran must ever
command the respect and admiration of Christian charity.

The languages of Algeria fall under four great heads:

1st. The Berber and its dialects.

2d. The Arabic.

3d. The Turkish, now almost extinct.

4th. The Negro idioms, below criticism.

Following a chronological order, we shall begin with the most ancient African tongue,
the Berber.

The Berber tongue is subdivided into sundry dialects, including,

1st. The Zenatia. This dialect exists among the Kabyle tribes, who, advancing towards
the west, extend from Algiers to the Morocco frontier of Algeria.

2dly. The Chellahya. This idiom is used by almost all the Kabyles of Morocco.

3dly. The Chaouiah. This modification of the Berber belongs to all the Kabyle tribes
who are mixed up with the Arabs, who, like them, live under tents and keep numerous
flocks. Many Arabic words have naturally insinuated themselves into this dialect, which
is greatly diffused in the province of Constantina.

4th. The Zouaouiah. This language is spoken from the country lying between Dellys
and Hamza as far as Bona, and represents the old national idiom in its greatest purity.
A slight difference may always be traced amongst the tnbes. to the east of Djidjelli, arising
from their commerce with the Arabs. Hence these tribes are considered by the pure
Kabyles as degenerate Kabyles (Kabails-el-Hadera).

The Berber alphabet was long thought to be lost, and at the present time there does
not exist a single book written in Berber character. The copies of the Koran, &c, found
among the smoking villages of the Beni- Abbess by Dawson Borrer, were all Arabic ver-
sions.* The Kabyle tolbas (and they are numerous) maintain that all their Mss. and
literary monuments disappeared at the capture of Bugia by the Spaniards (1510). But
this assertion cannot stand the test of criticism, though, it is easier to refute it than to re-
place it by another and a sounder theory. At the present day the Berber is only written in
Arabic characters; and it is said that the Zaouia of Sidi-Ben-Ali-Cherif, of whom we have
spoken before, possesses many Mss. of this description. f

Alexandria; that the city of Morocco at one period contained 700,000 inhabitants; that the Ommiades
in Spain formed a library of 600,000 vols.; that Andalusia alone could boast of TO public libraries; and
that Cordova, with the towns of Malaga, Murcia, and Almeria, could boast of having produced 300
authors. Crichton's Arabia, ii. c. 3.

• Campaign in the Kabylie, 184S.

+ La Grande Kabylie, pp. 7-9 (1847).

The following are the characteristic differences of the Berber and the Arabic :

Arabic has but one article for all genders and cases,— cl; the Berbers have the masculine and

462

APPENDIX.

Arabic is at once a rich and a poor language. It is poor, inasmuch as, being the child
of the desert, it has no words to express a great number of ideas that are only imported by

feminine. The masculine consists in the letters a, ou, i, represented by the elif 1 and placed as
affixes before the word. The feminine article consists in the letter /, pronounced like the English th,
placed as an affix and prefix to the word. We here present a few examples :

Berber. Arabic.

Man .... Argaz . . . Er-Radjel.

Woman . . . Tamettout . . El-Mra.

Male child . . . Akchich . . . Et-Tfel.

Female child . . Takchicht . . . Et-Tofla.

Male slave . . . Akli .... El-Khedim.

Female slave . . Taklit . . . El-Khadem.

Young husband . . Isli .... El-Arous.

Young bride. . . Tislit. . . . El-Arouca.

Ox .... Afounes . . . El-Bgueur.

Cow . . . Tfounest . . . El-Begra.

Ass .... Ar'ioul . . . El-Hemar.

She-ass .... T'rioult . . . El-Hemaara.

Camel .... Alr'em . . . El-Djemel.

She-camel . . . Talr'emt . . . En-Naza.

Lamb .... Izimer . . . El-Khrouf.

Sheep .... Tizumert . . . En-N'adja.

Kid .... Ir'id .... Ed-Djedi.

Goat .... Tara't . . . El-Ma'za.
The masculine article becomes commonly i in the plural, as, irrgtSz-en, men; and the feminine
usually ti,—tifounds-en, women. The masculine ending of the plural is en, the feminine in. There
are, however, many exceptions to this rule; e.g. akli, male slave, becomes in the plural akl&n-, tara't,
plural tirelten, goats. There are also many very irregular plurals, such as vulli, plural of tikhsi,
sheep.

Almost all words are hermaphrodite in Berber, and can receive the masculine or feminine gender.
They are not, however, used indifferently, but according to natural laws. In all the animal kingdom,
save man, civilised or plucked of his feathers, the male commands the female; by his size, beauty,
and strength, he is naturally chief and master. The Berber language always reproduces this natural
law, the feminine being a diminution of the masculine. Possession or dependence is expressed by an
initial prefix to the second word. This is one of the letters m and n, or the diphthong ou. If applied
to persons, all three may be used ; but in the case of inanimate objects, the second n is alone used, and
determines the genitive. Example: Tala-m Bou Hai (the source of Bou Hai), Alma-n Bisri (the
meadow of Bisri), Agmin Aklan (the country of the negro). (' La Kabylie proprement dite,' in the Ex-
ploration Scientilique, vol. i.)

The Berber language, though one of the most ancient in the world, has never yet had a grammarian.
This idiom reigns in Algeria over almost the whole of that series of high cliffs which border the Medi-
terranean from the gulf of Stora to the frontier of Morocco. A few hiatuses in the chain occur about
the meridians of Algiers and Oran. In the province of Constantina it is found in the high plateaux
that give birth to the Rummel and Seybouse ; and in the plains inhabited by the Harachta, Seynia,
Telar'ma, Oulad, Abd-en-Nour, and all that part of the country, it is called, as previously observed,
Chaouia. It occupies exclusively the whole ridge of the Aouress.

In the east of the Algerian Sahara, the oases of Ouad-Rir, Temacini, and Ouaregla, are inhabited by
a twofold population, some using an idiom called lar'oua, which is the Kabyle. It is found also about
the centre of the Algerian Sahara, in the oasis of the Beni-Mzab. In the regency of Tunis it is almost
confined to the little island of Djerba, in front of Gabes, about the southern frontier of that state. It
occurs again in the little town of Zouara, where the desert meets the sea, between Tunis and Tripoli,
and is there called lar'oua. Going west, it is called Clielhia in the desert of Figuig, and in the high
and vast chain of the Miltsin, the Atlas of the ancients. It reappears in the gorges of the Djebel-Nfous,
between Tripoli and Fgypt, and in the solitudes of the great desert, where it is spoken by the emphatic
Touaregs. All the high summits along the coast know no other language; and M. Carette observes that
there is really very little difference between the Chaouia and the Chelhia, or all other Berber idioms.

We also learn from the same source that recent explorations of the desert and remotest Berber
tribes (Tuaricks), have brought to light inscriptions in the ancient Berber character, which will give us
the Berber alphabet, and prove another Bosetta stone to unlock the mysteries of this venerable tongue.
We trust that the French will shortly convert their swords into geological hammers, and their bay-
onets into antiquarian pickaxes, and that the future fruit of their razzias will be Berber inscriptions
rather than barbarous atrocities. (Explorat. Scient. : La Kabylie proprement dite, by M. Carette, vol. i.
pp. <iy, 27, 7G, &c.

LANGUAGE. 463

civilisation ; and it is rich, because it possesses, on the other hand, many expressions to
describe the same thought, when this thought was found in the narrow circle of the primi-
tive wants of the Arab people.

When this language became diffused through the world, in consequence of the Mus-
sulman invasions ; and when the Arabs, after the conquest of Syria, Egypt, Barbary, and
Spain, became established in these countries, and founded separate empires in them, —
it lost somewhat of the uniformity that it possessed at its cradle.

Each Arabic colony was obliged naturally to borrow from foreign and neighbouring
tongues new words to express new ideas, more or less numerous according to the intimacy
of its relations with more civilised states. They would also be led occasionally to distort
some genuine Arabic expressions from their primitive significations, in order to express
the new ideas. And since each of these distinct Arab branches led henceforward an iso-
lated and independent existence, and only held mutual intercourse at long intervals, they
would find it convenient and less irksome to adopt one or two of the words existing in the
Arabic tongue to express the primitive ideas that it admitted, dropping the rest.

Now it was not probable or possible that in this selection exactly the same words should
be chosen by these related but distant branches. Their choice was often directed by
chance, and particular countries selected particular terms in the great division that took
place of the expressions common to this tongue. Thus arose various modern idioms of
the Arabic, presenting certain differences among themselves, but all derived from genuine
primitive Arabic words.

The differences that may be traced, on the one hand, between the spoken and the
written language, and, on the other hand, between the dialects spoken in Barbary, Egypt,
and Syria, result from a more or less accurate observance of the rules of the Arabic gram-
mar ; from the importation of certain words from foreign tongues ; from the more special
adoption of particular Arabic words by particular countries to express the same thought ;
and, we may add, from idioms peculiar to different regions.

These differences are, however, less considerable than is generally supposed, particu-
larly in what relates to idiomatic peculiarities ; and it must be admitted that these would,
in all probability, have been much greater, if the Koran and its language had not been a
great bond of union between all the Arab races. Nor can we avoid a feeling of surprise
when we behold a tongue that has been handed down through so many ages, and countries,
and events, presenting its original form and purity with such slight deviations.*

It is proper to remark, f that the greater part of the variations of the Arabic language^
may be traced up to a common origin in the learned language, or the idiom of Modhar,
which Mahomet employed to write the Koran. It is probable that this ancient language,
so very rich in synonyms, of which a great number, however, are mere epithets, only ac-
quired its astonishing richness in expressions by adding to its original fund, which was the
dialect of the central tribe of the Qoreichites, words borrowed from the idioms of neigh-
bouring tribes. The Arabs who invaded and settled in Africa brought there the varieties

* Grammaire Arabe (Idiome d'Algerie), by M. Alexandre Bellemare, 1850 : Introduction, p. vi.

t Berbrugger's Algerie, &c. part iii. p. 19.

% A specimen oftbe operation of external causes in modifying the Arabic dialects is presented in
the idioms of Algeria. Throughout the province of Oran, at Algiers itself, and in Western Barbary,
the pronunciation of the Arabic tongue is much harsher and more guttural than in the province of
Constantina, and there is every reason to believe that this harshness increases at present in north-west
Africa in an inverse ratio to the distance and separation of the tribes from the districts of Tunis and
Constantina. It may even be remarked that the idiom of the province of Constantina has attained the
maximum of softness of all the Arab dialects ; a circumstance that may be attributed to the softening
influence of Roman civilisation in Numidia and Tunis.

Strong aspirations and guttural articulations, so frequent in Arab speech, are uttered with less
roughness at Constantina. Some letters have even a different phonic value in the different provinces:
thus the word for mountain, pronounced djebcl at Algiers, is sounded like jebel at Constantina, though
written the same way in both cases. The variations of idiom sometimes go stiJi lurther, and entirely
different expressions are used in different districts.

464 APPENDIX.

that distinguished the mother-tongue of their fatherland, and have made greater or less
alterations in it in proportion as their connection with the Berber race has been more or
less intimate. Mahomet, by establishing a unity of faith among the Arabs, laid at the
same time the foundations for the unity of language, by the adoption of the idiom of
Modhar, with which every well-educated Mussulman is partially, if not perfectly, ac-
quainted : but this applies only to the language of religion and science, for in the ordi-
nary intercourse of life every one employs the peculiar dialect of the Mahometan country
that he inhabits.*

SECTION III.
Commerce antt Agriculture.

According to Dr. Shaw, the annual taxes of the regency under the Turks brought in
1,647,000 fr. about a century ago ; and Shaler, the United States consul in 1822, esti-
mates the revenue at 2,360,964 fr. (94,438/. lis. 8d.)

It appears that, since 1830, Algeria had swallowed up in 1846, 100,000,000 fr.
(4, 000, 000/.), + of French money; and the. whole .amount of the tribute squeezed out of
the extreme poveity of the Arab tribes in 1846 Was, in rough numbers, 5,000,000 fr.
(200,000/.). But Mr. Borrer shows the extreme impolicy of imposing heavy taxes on the
Arab tribes, and of seizing their lands, hereditarily transmitted, without remuneration, in
order to found a European settlement on it. J

The total amount of the revenue derived from the colony during the six years of Mar-
shal Bugeaud's administration amounted to 105,000,000 fr. (4,200,000/.).

Since 1835, a portion of the produce of the domaine of the douanes, and of divers con-
tributions, was appropriated to the expenses of the towns and corporations.

Count St. Marie informs us that 5,000,000 fr. (200,000/.) are spent every year over
and above the ordinary pay the troops would receive if in France ; 2,000,000 (80,000/.)
for the navy ; 2,000,000 fr. (80,000/.) for persons employed in the different departments
of the civil service, viz. the administration of the interior, of finance, of the police, of
rivers and forests, and of the clergy ; finally, 1,000,000 forming a secret fund for presents

* See A. Gorguos' Cours d'Arabe Vulgaire, 2 vols. 1849; Bled de Braine, Clef de la Prononciation
des Idiomes de l'Algerie, 184S; Ventura's French and Berber Dictionary; Hodgson's Account of the
Berber Language, in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, vol. iv. 1834.

t A report addressed to the Emperor of Fraoce, and dated August 11th, B353, states that the law
relating to customs of Jan. 11th, 1851, has been agreat benefit to Algeria, by uniting more closely the
interests of France and its colony. But this law, moreover, contained provisions whose gradual de-
velopment was destined to procure new advantages to both countries. The application of one of these
provisions is urgently demanded at the present time, namely, the establishment of douanes on the
frontiers of Morocco and Tunis, in order to favour the opening of a land-trade with those countries,
hitherto closed. It has also appeared desirable to lower 50 per cent the duties at present levied on cer-
tain produce of Morocco and Tunis when brought into Algeria by land. St. Arnaud, minister of war,
proceeds in his report to submit to the sanction of the emperor a project of a decree concerning the
land-trade of Algeria. This decree, which has become law, contains 13 articles, which, among other
enactments, remove the prohibition made in 1843 on the produce of Morocco and Tunis, though it is
continued on the produce of a different origin. The produce of Morocco and Tunis must pass to the
cist through Soukara and Guelma, through Tebessa and Ain-Beida, and through Biskara; to the
west, through Lalla Maghnia, Tlemsen, and Nedxouma. Douane offices and bureaux to be established
at or near Bona, Guelma, Constantina, Ain-Beida, and Biskara to the east; at llashgoun, Tlemsen,
and Daya to the west. The Saharian frontier will be closed to all produce not the growth of Algeria, or
the offspring of Algerian industry. We refer to this important decree for further particulars.

I Dawbon Borrer, p. 23.

COMMERCE AND AGRICULTURE. 405

and losses. This makes a grand total of 10,000,000 fr. (400,000/.) annually, or 200,000,000
fr. (8,000,000/.) in 20 years. Yet this does not represent one-fourth of the real amount,
for the 547, oOO deaths must be considered that occurred in the army from 1830 to 1845.
Each of these soldiers cannot have cost less than 274 fr. (10/. 3s. Id.) at the hospital, for
clothing, transport, &c. The custom-house duties in 1845 brought in about 400,000 fr.
(16,000/.) per annum. Out of that sum the salaries of the persons employed in the cus-
toms' service must be paid. There is no tax on fixed property or on persons; and the
contributions from cattle, levied by the troops on the Arab tribes cannot be considered as
receipts, for the sale of the cattle produces very little, and the money thus raised is usually
distributed among the soldiers, not much to their advantage. Specimens of this are given
by St. Marie.*

The intricate web of employes is condemned as a serious evil by St. Marie and
Borrer, under Louis Philippe ; and this host of locusts is still flourishing under the em-
pire. In the year 1S45, 24,000 dispatches were received from Paris by the administration
civile, and 28,000 were sent to Paris by this branch in Algeria. The number of function-
aries is immense, as we have seen; and the pay of the corps in 1846 about 600,000 fr.
(24,000/.), and since 1830, 5,000,000 fr. (200,000/.); whilst the European population
over whom they acted only amounted to 100,000 persons. The pay of the native troops
in 1845 amounted to 7,000,000 or 8,000,000 fr. (320,000/.)f

As foretold by the visitors in 1844 and 1845, there was a financial crisis in Algeria in
1846-7, recorded by Mr. Borrer, when the interest on capital rose to an extravagant pitch.
This distress diminished many sources of revenue, save the Arab impot, whose produce
has steadily increased.

The financial legislation of Algeria has undergone great changes, especially since
1S39. In September 1st, 1847, the director of finances and the directors of the interior
and of public works were suppressed. Directors of civil affairs were appointed in each
province, uniting the functions of the suppressed directions ; and this movement decen-
tralised the administration of finances, which is now in the hands of the prefects.

The Arab impots of all kinds, minus one-tenth, have passed from the colonial bud-
get to the budget of the state ; and the colonial budget has taken the name of local
and municipal budget ; and both budgets have been centralised in the hands of the min-
ister of war, who is the only manager [ordonnateur) of the local and municipal diet, and
the final paymaster of all expenses. J

The occupation of Algeria by the French appears to have injured French trade to
Barbary up to 183S, but since that period matters have gone on improving.

* P. 2.37.

t Borrer. St. Marie informs us that a certain officer bought a house for 300 francs (12/.), which six
months after he let for government service at an annual rent of 4000 francs (1001.). Usury in lS4o
destroyed the trade of Algeria, by banishing all confidence, ruining the unfortunate borrowers. Not
a day passes without six bills being stuck up, headed with bankruptcy. If persons in the employ of
government could purchase real property ostensibly, there would be more regard to decorum. They
would not go boldly to the public notaries, and sign deeds devoid of authenticity, forms for lending
money at 20 or 25 per cent interest. The Jews manage better; they make up the rate of usury by bills
of exchange ; this at least is more modest (p. 2G5). Other embarrassments tend to depress commerce.
For instance, whatever is required for the army, the shipping under the government, has to be accepted
by a commission, to which the merchants invariably offer a gratuity to prevent articles of the best
quality being rejected as bad. The following fact is an illustration of this abuse. Six vessels laden
with corn for the army were in the port. A commissioner went on board to examine the cargoes, which
were of the first quality; but the consignee not having paid the required fee, they were rejected. The
government, it was understood, would have taken them at 17 francs (14*. 2d.) per measure. But on
change next day, they were purchased all at 30 francs (\l. Is.) per measure; and within a fortnight the
government was negotiating for that same corn at 32 francs (11. 5s. \0d.), the new owner having taken
care to get it inspected by the right persons. In this case the transaction was good for trade, because
the article was in great demand ; but it must often be very ruinous.

t Tableau, p. 400.

G G

4GG APPENDIX.

On the 7th December, 1835, the legal interest was made 10 per cent, in the hope of
calling in competition, and cheapness in capitals; and from good information Baron
Baude learnt that loans gratuitous in appearance varied in interest from 25 to 50 per
cent.*

But passing to the middle ages, we are strongly reminded of the glorious union of an
enlightened freedom and a humanising commerce in the annals of unhappy Italy. Before
foreigners had trodden her spirit in the dust, and the church had crushed the elements
of her national greatness, the republics of Italy sent forth their active commercial fleets,
manned by hardy mariners of the Columbus and Gioja stamp, who bravely ploughed the
Mediterranean, and enriched their native land with the produce of the East and South ;
while they enlightened Europe with the remnants of the Greek fire smouldering at Byzan-
tium. In those palmy days, Pisa and Siene reckoned above 100,000 happy citizens
within their walls, who, thanks to the wholesome agitation of democratic forms, were
saved from the stagnation of ' order.'' Industry and science marched in the road of pro-
gress ; and Italy, in the dark ages, pioneered the road of Europe to the light. But impe-
rial France had not then strangled liberty at its birth : imperial Austria and the Roman
Pontiff had not conspired in emasculating the progeny of the Gracchi.

Baron Baude, speaking, of Algeria, says this coast once flourished commercially. The
greatness of Carthage had no other basis than commerce : at each page of the ancient his-
torians you find traces of the riches of towns which have afterwards fallen into the last
state of misery. Such were, in the neighbourhood of Algeria, Bedja (whose markets at-
tracted a crowd of Italian merchants), and Adrumetus, Thapsus, besides Utica, on which
Csesar could impose in passing a contribution of 13,000,000 sesterces (-2,065,000 fr.
or 106,600/.).f

The history of the treaties of commerce with Africa is very interesting. At the end
of the tenth century the navigators of Pisa had treaties of commerce with the sultans
of Egypt and Damascus: in 1167, being driven from the Levant and Sicily, they sent as
their first consul the famous Cocco Griffi to the Emir of Bugia, and to Abdallah Boc-
coras, sultan-of Tunis. From that period dates their establishment on the coast of North-
western Africa. The archives of Florence possess the treaty in- Italian and Arabic that
was concluded on the Hth of the month Hreval, in the year 662 of the Hegira, between
the Pisans and the Khalifs. Ultramontane barbarism and bigotry, however, eventually

* Baron Baude, iii, p. 7.

The history of the commerce of north-western Africa is a matter of deep interest, and to treat it
in detail would trespass too mucli on our space. We have alluded to the trade of Carthage in the
chapter on history; and it will suffice us here to refer the reader to Heeren's valuable work, Reflec-
tions on the Politics, Intercourse, and Trade of the Ancient Nations of Africa ; only remarking that
this favoured region was once a garden, the granary of Europe, and the centre of a vast and organised
system of esoteric and exoteric commerce. Caravans have for ages ploughed the desert, bringing
gold, ivory, and slaves to the north coast ; whilst vessels freighted with the luxuries of India,
spices of Araby, the fruits of the Levant, and the amber of Persia, have crowded the ports of Carthage
and Hippo in the most remote ages.

In ancient times, observes Baron Baude, Carthage carried on commerce with the whole known
world ; and Dr. Russel asserts that at the time Carthage was most nourishing, she traded northwards
directly to Britain, and indirectly to the Baltic; southwards to the Gambia by sea, and by caravans
far into the interior of Africa; whilst eastwards she carried on an extensive commerce with all parts
Of the Mediterranean, and through the mother-city, Tyre, -obtained the produce of India. She may
have purchased slaves too from the (ireeian slave-dealers. Her commercial relations would thus have
extended over nearly the whole known world, and would only have been surpassed by those of modern
Europe since the discovery of America, and of the passage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good
Hope. Dr. Russei's Barbary States, Ed. Cab. Cycl. p. 22. Foreign Quarterly Review, No. 27, p. 22. r >.
See Herodotus on the trade of Carthage, p. 80. Heeren's Historical Researches, vol. i. p. 173. Heeren's
Reflections on the Poliiies, Intercourse, and Trade of the Ancient Nations of Africa, p. 53.

t We find that " oppidum Numidarum, nomine Vaga, forum rerum venalium maxime celebratum :
ubi et incolere et mercari consueverant Italici gentis multi mortales" (Jug. 47.). For Btdja, see Cassar.
de Bell. Afr. 97. Barbie du Bocage's Sallust, Diet. Geogr. p, 292,

COMMERCE AND AGRICULTURE.

4G7

destroyed the prosperity of this trade; and amidst the severe struggle of the following
century's crusade, the Pisan flag almost disappeared from the Mediterranean.

We shall insert helow a few tables from the French official documents to show the
state of imports and exports and of navigation in the colony from 1831 to 184ft.*

As regards the nature of the imports, most alimentary matters have been imported in
increased quantities from foreign countries. Materials such as wood, coal, &c, are
almost exclusively foreign imports, whilst manufactured goods proceed almost entirely
from France.

Algiers alone engrosses three-fifths of the commercial movement. Oran presents
the most satisfactory results; the imports at Philippeville are steadily progressing,
and those of Bona are about stationary. Mers-el-Kebir is becoming an important
emporium. f

It appears that, in 1834, 437 ships entered the port of Gibraltar and 385 left it, whilst
527 anchored in its roads. 1200 vessels are reported to pass each year before Mers-el-
Kebir, the best Algerian port.

On the 31st of December, 1839, the Arabs possessed S8 boats of 1123 tons burden,
and 493 sailors, besides 405 sailors and 60 ships of (595 tons in the ports not occupied
by the French. The number of sandals frequenting the ports of Algeria was, in 1838,
1329; in 1839, 1391.:

* Receipts of Customs.

Years.

Imports.

Exports.

Accessory
receipts.

Navigation.

Total.

1831
1837
1844
1846

1843

fr. c

281,717 3

704,902 12

1,292,213 71

2,417,151 71

1,613,035 55

fr. c.
11,592 74

6,365 24
12,514 99

8,769 98
14,186 32

fr. c.
9,138 14
1.278 68
1.113 46
14,151 99
8,321 76

fr. c.

22,000 d
220,694 12
518,102 43
868,477 62
409,291 37

fr. c.

32 1,117 91

990,419 99

1,853,974 59

3,306,551 30

2,074,835

The sum-total of the commercial movement in 1845 was 109,851,423 fr. (4,394,056/. 19s. lrf.) The
amount of merchandise transported by sea under the French and foreign flags in 1846 was ;
In French bottoms . . 87,304,195 fr. (3,492,167/.), or 72 per cent.
In foreign ditto . . . 33,196,266 fr. (1,327,850/.), or 28 per cent.

t France has almost monopolised the river trade, and the imports of cotton, woollen, silk, and
linen tissues.

The merchandise derived from French ports amounted, in 1846, to a total of 11,906,753 frs.
(476,270/.); whereof 563,832 fr. (22^53/.) were merchandise from the French colonies, and 1 1 ,342,921 fr.
(361,720/.) were foreign goods. The. total value of the exports from Algeria amounted, in 1846, to
9,043,000 fr. (453,716/. 17s. Id.) The exports of oil, which are some of the most important, fell off in
1846, owing to a bad crop; and that of wool, owing to an epidemic among the native flocks. The
branches of export trade that have the most improved are raw hides, leeches, silk in cocoons, me-
dicinal herbs, raw cork from Mount Edough, and leaf tobacco. The exports from Mers-el-Kebir stand
first on the list, Bona stood third in 1846, and La Calle fifth.

England exported, in 1846, 249,580 fr. worth more than in 1845, consisting entirely in manufac-
tured tobacco carried from Mers-el-Kebir to Gibraltar. (Tableau, 1849-50, Douanes, p. 454.)

% In the 9th century the Kabyles and Arabs established themselves at Malta; in the 10th in Sicily,
Sardinia, Corsica, the Balearic Islands, and at length in Spain. The Balearic Islands were conquered
and settled by the Carthaginians, who captured Majorca (b.Ci 406), whence they were expelled 200
years afterwards during the second Punic war. These islands were subsequently conquered by Gun-
deric, king of the Vandals ( a. d. 427), who passed from Spain to Africa (429), and made themselves
masters of Hippone in 435; but whose empire was destroyed by Belisarius (a.d. 534). The Balearic
Islands, which were again conquered by the Arabs (a.d. 797), were ultimately attached to the crown
of Arragon in 1229 by Don Jayme. Port Mahon was captured by Khaireddin in 1525, and occupied
twice by the English, from 1708 to 1756, and from 1798 to 1802; was restored to Spain by the French
arms under the Due de Richelieu and M. de la Galisonniere, July 7th, 1756. Smollett, vol. iii. c. xxv.
p. 242. Baron Baude, vol. i. p. 45-6. The sailors of Ivica carry on a brisk trade with Algiers in the

468 APPENDIX.

The latest analysis of Algerian navigation presents the following results:

French.

Algerian.

Foreign.

Total.

Years.

Ships.

Tons.

Ships.

Tons.

Ships.

Tons.

Ships.

Tons.

1831

123

215

338

1835

341

28,524

495

3,984

1254

103,732

2090

136,240

1S37

1129

100,202

1032

13,211

1204

114,664

3365

228,077

1S44

23(52

216,028

1510

23,340

2281

183,325

0153

422,693

1840

2523

217,036

1506

23,587

3078

263,182

7107

533,805

1848

2151

209,992

1846

26,14)

2117

145,042

0114

381,179

The most numerous bottoms are the French, and after them the Greek, owing to the
importation of grain from the Black Sea. The English and Spanish bottoms have some-
what fallen off since 1848, owing to the slackening of the trade with those countries.*

Around Bona, Djidjelli, Collo, Philippeville, and especially La Calle and Tabarca,
have been, are, or will be, the chief settlements for coral fishing. Tabarca belongs to
Tunis; but the 5th article of the treaty of August 1830 gives the French the right of
fishery as far as Cape Negro, and 7 leagues ( 1 7J miles) beyond.

From Cape Bon to the Zeffanine isles, for 300 leagues (750 miles) there is a fair
field and good chance for fishing it.f

present day. This little island alone has 20,000 inhabitants, and 60 or 80 xebecs (Mediterranean craft
rigged with lateen sails). lb. vol. iii. p. 91. They were rather populations than armies that went
there, and they must have had a considerable naval materiel. They also carried on at that time as ex-
tensive a coral fishery as the French do at the present time.

* One of the most important branches of maritime commerce on the coast of North-western Africa
is the coral fishery. The space set apart for the fishery is situated between Cap Roux and the Cap
de Fer. All the French coral-boats come from Corsica ; but though they have no duty to pay, they do
not seem to gain more than the others. All the Sardinian gondolas start from Rapallo at six leagues
from Genoa, and they are either commanded or accompanied by the proprietor. The expense of fitting
out is sometimes shared between fifty persons, and amounts to about 800 fr. (32/.) per boat. Each
shareholder gets a part of the clear produce of the fishery. Two parts revert to the boat, U to the
patron or master, and 1 to each of the sailors ; a part gives about 200 fr. (Si!.) profit. The Genoese are
the most enterprising fishers, being still sea-dogs, somewhat of the old Columbus school. Most of
the Tuscan boats belong to ship-proprietors (lies armateurs) of Leghorn; and their crews consist partly
of men from Torre del Greco, near Naples, and partly of men from the vintage, after their work is
over in the winter. The latter go for 70 cents (sevenpence) per day. If the boat founders, the capital
is lost. The money advanced on the armament amounts, on the average, to 4500 fr. (ISO/.) per boat, at
a profit of 2^ per cent per month. The patron is paid 500 fr. (20/.) for the whole fishery; the common
sailors 147 fr. (5/. 19s. 2d.)

A few boats attend from Sicily; but Torre del Greco, under Vesuvius, is the seat of the most con-
siderable trade. The proprietors generally go themselves with the boats, and a new Neapolitan boat
is worth 800 ducats or 3360 fr. (140/.); tbe construction is perfect; and the material, consisting of oak,
is excellent. 800 or 900 fr. (32/. to 36/.) per boat is the ordinary profit of the summer fishery, which
begins on the 1st of April, and ends on the 30th of September. But the expenses last eight months.
The amount of coral fished in 1839 amounted to 13,805 kilogrammes (:;0371 lbs.); the duty on it was
138,074 fr. In 1838, 33,080 kilogrammes (72,770 lbs.) were fished by 245 boats, with a profit of
2S2.884 fr. (15,315/. 10s. lOrf.) The coral is classed into six qualities, the price varying at Leghorn for
the last 15 years as follows : — ■

Per kilogramme (2 - 20 lbs. avoirdupois).

Moutri from 14 fr. 71 c. (12*. 3d.) to 19 fr. 4 c. (15s. ldjd.)

Sousmontre , 11 fr. 40 c {9s. 6d.) to 15 fr. 20 c. (12s. Sd.)

Exart 5fr. c. (4s. 6jd!.) to 6 fr. 72 c. (5*. Id.)

Barbafesco „ 8 fr. 86 c. (2s. 9^d.)

Tenegliatura „ 8 fr. 86 c. (2s. 9J<2.) to 2 ft. 72 c. (2s. Sd.)

Terraille llottante .-..,, 1 fr. 03 c. (Is. 4\<l.)

+ The latest statistics of the coral fishery, according to the Tableau (p. 540), present us with the fol-
lowing results : —

COMMERCE AND AGRICULTURE.

4G9

The coral fishery, as previously, was carried on in 1848 in the sea near Bona and
La Calle, the attempts in the western waters not having succeeded. Most of the produce
went, as usual, to Tuscany and Naples ; and the fishermen consisted chiefly of Tuscans and
Neapolitans.

The Leghorn dealers send much coral to Russia; the rest goes to Gallicia, to India,
to China, and Japan by London, and to Morocco. They have agents in all those coun-
tries, — the enterprising progeny of Marco Polo on all hands vindicating their right to
liberty and independence by the light and learning they have shed over northern bar-
barians. Wonderful are the ways of Providence in girding the earth with relays of
" Lombards," who spread civilisation and humanity through trade to the walls of China
and Jeddo, by means of a worm's refuse ; whilst at home their unhappy land is trampled
under the foot of the stranger, as a reward for their cosmopolitan energies. Yet com-
pensation is the law of eternity ; and Italian traders may yet turn the tables on czars
and kaisers.

The large round coral is sent to Russia, the pink of the first quality to China, that of
inferior quality to Poland, the barbaresca and roba chlara to India. The Algerian Jews
employ per annum about 200,000 IV. (8000/.) worth, which they prepare and send into the
interior of Africa.*

Beautiful is the provision made by Providence to meet the wants of progressive
humanity. Reason and industry unlock the treasures of the universe, and a wise direction
of power would strew the earth with affluence. Chemistry, the child of Arabia, is giving
us the sovereignty of the mineral kingdom and the gases ; nor can we doubt that the
animal and vegetable will soon bow to our sway, and that man will be monarch of all that
he surveys.

The coast of Algeria is, particularly in its eastern part, one of the most fishy in the
Mediterranean. The tunny fishery formed in ancient times the riches of the coasts of
Spain, Gaul, Italy, Sicily, and the islands of Greece. The tunny, by a divinely im-
planted and infallible instinct, follows with avidity the migrations of those kinds on which
it preys. The shoals of tunny formerly entered the Mediterranean in March by the
Straits of Gibraltar ; they then used to follow the coast of Spain to the vicinity of
Carthagena, occasioning an immense prosperity to that part of the country, whose
population lived on the doomed fish, like the silk-worm on the mulberry-leaf. But since
the earthquake of Lisbon in 1755, they have left the coast of Andalusia, to approach that
of Africa. The regency of Tunis alone has thought of profiting by this change.

Passing to the internal trade of the colony, we shall still tread on the heel of Italians,
who, on the pathless deep and on the trackless sands, had boldly sounded the unknown in
search of fame and wealth, at a time when the rest of Europe slumbered and slept a com-
mercial and social death, save the republican Hanse Towns and Flemings, the Albigeois
Socialists, and the democratic Arragonese and Catalans.

Before the French occupation, the Regency had its local caravans ; thus every time
that travellers went from one town to another, they put themselves under the protection of
troops, if possible, or they formed associations for mutual protection. This organisation

Years.

Number of boats.

Proximate value
of the fishery.

Customs.

French.

Neapolitan.

Sardinian.

Tuscan.

1840
1844

1S48

1
3
2

43
120

113

fr.

660,450

1,387,000

r 794,600

\ €31,7,st

fr. c.

102,524 40
217,673 20
| 12S.-100
\ £5136

Total of boats in 1818, 154.

* Baron Baude, vol. i. c. vi. ; Blofeld ; St. Marie.

470

APPENDIX.

led to periodical rendezyous, like the fairs of the middle ages in Europe. All the
caravans from the interior of Africa regulate their movements by the Great Moghrebin
Kafila, which proceeds annually from Fas to Mecca, leaving the Atlas to the north, and
which, since the French advances south, has continually swerved more into the desert.*
From Fez to Gadamez, in the regency of Tunis, this caravan divides itself into several
branches, each of which drops passengers and goods for transverse caravans. In this
manner a chain of relations is formed throughout all parts of North Africa. The Pisans
joined themselves to this chain, and accompanied the caravans more adventurously than
the countrymen of La Peyrouse and Mungo Park. There were three chief points for
the starting or intersection of caravans outward and homeward bound : 1, Constantina;
2, Oran ; 3, Medeah. The point of junction of the caravans of Constantina and Algiers,
or ; more accurately speaking, Medeah, with the great caravan from Fas to Mecca, was at
Ouerghela, the most southern town of the Regency of Algeria. It is 150 leagues (375
miles) from the coast, and 2° of east longitude from Paris. Leo Africanus, describing
it, says: " It is a very ancient town, built in the desert of Numidia, surrounded with a
wall of raw bricks, filled with beautiful houses, and well peopled with workmen; and its
inhabitants are very rich. Most of the people are black," he adds ; " not through the heat
of the climate, but because they have commonly commerce with black slaves, which
occasions their breeding some fine children." Here we have another strong argument
in favour of a mild system of slavery, advocated by philanthropy and physiology as a
valuable means of emancipating the genuine negroes through a noble cross-breed, forming
a bridge for them to civilisation, and a link between white and black. Leo continues,
speaking of the mulatto citizens of Ouerghela: " They arc pleasant and liberal, and very

• Le Grand Desert. " Since tile Christians have appeared in the Sahara, as soon as the Great Ca-
ravan reccb.es their meridian, it strikes much farther south, by Guelea, Onargla, Souf, and Touzer
win reas it used to pass to the north of the Djebel-amour, and by El-Aghrouat" (p. 121). See also Baron
Baude.

COMMERCE AND AGRICULTURE. 471

kind to strangers, because they could obtain nothing without their aid ; all necessaries,
such as grain, salt-meat, suet, cloth, linen, arms, knives, and every material, coming from
abroad. They have the same veneration for their lord as if he were a king; he has for
his guard about 2000 horse, and his revenue is about 150,000 ducats (25,711/. 5a\)."*
Dapper adds that, independent of the contributions, the Sheikh of Ouerghela gave every
year thirty black slaves to the Pasha of Algeria. f

Every summer the flocks that people those regions transmigrate to seek pastures in
the north, and escape the burning heat of the sun and sand. The disposition of the soil
being, in countries governed by the Koran, an attribute to the sovereignty, as it ought
to be in Christendom, the people being sovereign, these migrations only take place with
the consent of the beys, and under conditions of tribute. Like Tuggurt, the inhabitants,
of Zaab require corn from Constantina.

South of Constantina the camel is the most appropriate vehicle for the nature of the
country; to the north of that city you find roads, carriages, and beasts of burden of
Europe. Thus the means of transport and the produce are quite dissimilar between these
two regions. One overflows with corn, the other is without it.J

The town of Constantina brings an important contingent to the barter trade of Algeria
by its industry. Its inhabitants manufacture the clothes and chaussures (or hose) of the
people of the Zaab country, and the harness of their horses; and its weavers, tanners,
shoemakers, and sadlers are organised into corporations, showing the ineradicable instinct
in human nature for association and ateliers nationaux. You may reckon in Constantina
almost as many spinners as there are women ; and it is from their hands that issue those
solid and light burnouses, whose elegance none of our European dresses can equal.
Strange that the progeny of the meteors of the desert, with a dash of Berber blood,
should have achieved the dreams of Louis Blanc, and put Manchester to the blush.
The gandouras of Constantina are very beautiful stuffs of silk and linen ; its carpets are
more valuable than those of the Levant ; and before the French occupation, 60,000 haicks
left the town per annum, without steam-looms: but what power can match industry, or>
what machine is peer to the hand !§ The activity of these local industries has of course

8 Description of Africa, vol. iv. A Venetian ducat is equal to 3s. 5d,

t Folio, Amsterdam, 168C. Ouerghela is like a port on the hrink of the desert. Its standing popu-
lation is ahout 1000 persons, but the concourse of travellers makes it run up to several thousand tents.

The distance from Constantina to Ouerghela is divided into three parts by the intermediate towns
of Biskara and Tuggurt ; the latter of which is 45 leagues (112 miles) north-east of Ouerghela, and is
the Turaphyliun ot Ptolemy, the Ticarta of Gramaye, and the Teehort of Leo Africanus. (Baron
Baude, vol. iii. p. 43.) At the time of the latter author, the country of Tuggurt paid to the sultan (?)
of Tunis a tribute of 50,000 ducats. (8571/. 8s.) The sheikh's revenue was 130,000 ducats (22,750*.).
Leo, who gives these details, had lived at Tuggurt in familiarity with the sheikh, and what he relates
about the abundance of dates, &c. is still perfectly exact. (Africce Descriptio.) Under the Turks, a
detachment of a dozen Janissaries went every year from Biskara to Tuggurt to receive the tribute.
This town is now a considerable market for gold-dust ; but the objects of exportation that the merchants
of the interior collect there are almost exclusively directed on Tunis.

X Baude, v. iii. p. 43. Borrer. Explor. Scient. Etudes sur la Geographie et le Commerce de l'Alge-
rie meridionale, par E. Carette. Dawson Borrer, who estimates the Tell at 16 million hectares, com-
putes that it would admit one person to every hectare, whilst in France the population is only two in-
dividuals to every three hectares, owing to the greater richness and fertility of the African soil. Thus
the Tell alone, under favourable circumstances, might easily support 1(1,000,000 of inhabitants. Nearly
all the Saharian tribes pay an annual visit to the Tell. In winter they have water on the southern
plateaux and plains, but at the end of spring they come northward and reach the Tell about harvest-
time. There they remain in their black tents during the summer heats, and an active commerce is
carried on during their stay ; but when the summer is at an end, they depart, and go home about the
middle of October, when the dates are ripe. (p. 236 )

§ Though the hand may be a slower machine than many others, we have overwhelming proofs that
its productions are the best, from the illuminated missals of mediaeval monks to the exquisitely tem-
pered, carved, and worked blades of modern Circassia and pf historical Damascus. Revelations of
Kussia, vol. ii. pp. 312-13. The silks and satins manufactured at Broussa, in degraded and vile Turkey,

472 APPENDIX.

diminished one-half since 1837, the date of the French conquest, the reign of order, and
the triumph of civilisation.

In the province of Oran, as in that of Constantina, the corn-lands are all on the
northern slopes of the Atlas, and the populations of Ar.gad come there to get their
provisions. The caravans ofTafilet arrived formerly with hodies of two or three thousand
camels, bringing negroes, wool, feathers, ivory, drugs, gold-dust, and carrying back corn,
clothes, and other European merchandise from the Tell of the province of Oran. The
tribes to the east of Oran and those of the Sahara of that province are very rich in cattle,
of which they formerly furnished great quantities to Spain and Gibraltar.

The country of the Mozabites and of the Biskris produces little corn, but is rich in
dates, in land, in cattle. It is a kind of terrestrial archipelago ; it is scattered with oases
severed from each other by a sea of sand ; it advances as a promontory into the desert,
and the caravans of Nigritia seek to reach it by its southern part, i.e. by Ouerghela, or by
Gardeyah.* Biskris, Mozabites, and El-Aghrouaths, emigrating part of their lives, like
the Savoyards, and come to Algiers. Not being the slaves of a hypocritical priesthood
or of a degrading idolatry, nor infected by the shallow prose of scepticism, they have
obtained a reputation in Africa for their fidelity and their industrious habits. Their
honesty is also proverbial ; and unlike Europe, the Sahara can preserve the moral qualities,
even when rewarded by wealth and ornamented by learning. But this godly simplicity
of the desert will probably soon disappear before the march of Christian intellect. These
Saharians bring back the gains of their labour and economy, and some of the tribes have
become very rich.

The beauty, fertility, and cultivation of the territory of Carthage at the time of the
Roman conquest, and till the irruption of Genseric, are attested by classical pens ; and
we have abundant evidence of the care bestowed on agriculture by the Carthaginians,
who wrote many ingenious treatises on that subject, now lost.f Not so Numidia. At
the time when the Romans first entered into relations with that country, the Kabyles, who
are its most ancient inhabitants, were in a worse condition than that in which you see
them in the present day, their fertile country abounding in nothing but wild animals.
In his long and glorious reign Massinissa succeeded in drawing his subjects from thievish
habits; he made soldiers and labourers of them, and renewed "the face of the earth."
Nor were his labours extinguished at his death. "When subsequently the army of Metella
marched against Jugurtha, it found, in places where the French troops would now die
of hunger, numerous and clear signs of great agricultural prosperity. The fields
were covered with labourers and flocks; the magistrates of the towns and country came
to offer to the Romans com, provisions, and means of transport.! In the middle ages
these same regions presented a flourishing cultivation. At the very gate of Bugia, among
the Kabyles, on the right bank of the Soumah, you may see fields regularly bounded
and as well cultivated as many in Europe. The Arab agriculture approaches nearer that
of the pastoral state of society. They still live in tents, where the Romans had their
most solid constructions. Except near the towns, the tillage of ground was, with a few

are also superior to the best in the Western and Christian countries of Europe. See Spencer's Travels
in European Turkey, 1851, pp. 22-3.

* Full particulars relating to the tracks followed by the caravans from Soudan to the Sahara -will
be found in the Grand Desert, by General Daumas.

t Diodorus Siculus on the wealth of Carthage, p. 79. Polybius, p. SO. Remains of the Cartha-
ginian treatise on Agriculture are found in Pliny's works. They were translated into Latin by Soli-
nus. Dr. Ruseel, pp. 7, 8.

I Strabo, Geogr. 17. Cum regionem uberem colerent, nisi quod feris abundabat. Ipse intcnto
atquc iniVsto exercitu in Numidiam procedit; ubi contra belli faciem, tuguria plena lioniinuin, pecora
tultoresque in agris erant. (Sail. Jug. 46.) ... Is enim Numldas civiles et agricolas reddidit, et loco-
latrocinioium cos militiam docuit. (Ibid.) Baude, v. ii. p. 225.

COMMERCE AND AGRICULTURE. 473

exceptions, a grant from the sovereign to the whole tribe; the only individual property
was the flock, the tent and its furniture ; the tillage given to the land only gave a right
to its harvest, and the next year the same field returned to common pasture. Here
we meet another paradox, — Communism in vogue among the aristocratic Arabs. But the
French, like Moliere's doctor, who knew not where the heart was, out change tout cela,
and we presume that law-suits will soon flourish as actively in Algeria as in Christendom ;
indeed, it is not improbable that there may be the blessing of an Arab court of chancery
some fine day. Pasturage lasted all the year there, and men lived in independence on
their cattle, in happy ignorance of fences, game-laws, spring-guns, and man-traps.
They could not build or appropriate any part of land, without usurping the patrimony of
all. Thus they could not calculate on above a few months in planting, reaping, &c. This
explains partly why they have always lived in tents and not in houses. The Turks levied
taxes in a way to continue this usage. They sent armed bodies of troops, whose steps
were marked by violence and plunder, — lawyers in another shape, armed with matchlocks
instead of writ, but frank and honest in their extortions, instead of fawning on their
victims. "Wherever the Arabs in Africa have enjoyed calm, they have applied themselves
to culture, and their conservatism has preserved its old tastes in this as in so many
respects. Spain shows, on all hands, the perfection to which the Arabs carried agriculture.
The Vega is still a dream of beauty, and Valencia an earthly paradise, though fallen.
That Arab agriculture was equal to their architecture, is moreover proved in the librariefe
of the Peninsula, especially of the Escurial. Where a Christina wallows in sensuality,
an idiot nobility and a slavish people bow to bastard Bourbons, philosophic Moors once
thought and taught the inexhaustible riches of industry and of this crust of earth on
which man crawls a few hours, while the everlasting heavens tower above and shine on his
path of labour, as he toils for the unseen. These noble men anticipated the day when
labour should be held the most worthy worship of God, and when universal industry and
combination should establish a reign of justice, harmony, and commonwealth on earth.
But they had faith and charity unknown to Christendom, which drove them from its
bosom ; and Spain, the wreck and ruin of her past,* will long regret her insanity.

The treatise of Ebn-el- Awam, composed in the twelfth century in Andalusia, presents
alone as complete a statement of agriculture as it is profitable. His remarks apply equally
well to the climate and soil of Algeria as to those of Andalusia.

The first branch of agriculture that we shall attend to is that of cereals.

The soil rarely received, under the hands of the Arabs, any other care than a super-
ficial tillage, over which the seed is scattered ; a second tillage covers the seed, and the
harvest follows. They say that on the vast zone of good land, of which the traveller
crosses a part between the Ras-el-Akba and Constantina, they content themselves with
the labour of just turning up the soil, without preventing thereby the harvest from
yielding sometimes twenty-five for one. Another remarkable feature of this district is
the fewness of weeds. In short, the plains and table-lands of Upper Numidia, now the
province of Constantina, are naturally among the richest arable land on the globe. \ou
do not find in the zone above noticed those forests of thistles and of great parasitical
plants which cover the plain of Bona ; and Baron Baude never saw neater corn than
that in the silos of Constantina. The natives give long fallows to the land of this district ;
a system that takes the place of manures. The straw of wheat, which is here interiorly
furnished with a nourishing and sweet-tasted gelatine or pith, is gathered as forage, and
used in winter as nourishment for the cattle. f

* Let the reader consult Hallam's Middle Ages for a proof of the enlightened and constitutional
spirit and government of Aragon in former times ; for Christian Spain reflected at that time the light
shed abroad by Arab science and intelligence. See also the History of Spain in Latdner's Cyclopaedia,
and Crichton's Arabia, vol. ii.

t From 1742 to 1793 the corn that the African Company exported from the province of Bona or
Constantina cost 7fr. GOc. the metrical quintal. There is much wheat, maize, and especially millet,

474 APPENDIX.

Next in importance to the cereals are the olive-plantations in the vegetable produc-
tions of Algeria. They are very numerous and extensive in Africa, especially near
Bugia among the Kabyle tribes, near Tlemsen, and at the foot of the Atlas along the
Mitidja; but the native oil that is made is of a very inferior quality, owing to its care-
less preparation.

The olives are also suffered to get rancid, by leaving them many months soaking (en
maceration). Near the towns, the carpenters make clumsy bruising-machines to press
the olives.*

The olive has nothing to fear from cold in Africa; it reaches the size of forest-trees,
and, though very productive, requires very little cultivation.

Gramaye counted in the seventeenth century, among families fled from Spain to
Algiers, 600 given to the culture of the silk-worm. Peyssonnel found, 100 years later,
the numerous plantations that they had made on the coast. Thus, the men who had
covered Spain with elegant structures, and converted its valleys into gardens, whilst they
shed the light of science over polar darkness, w.ere rewarded, by Christian and Catholic
charities, with exile to the coast of Barbary, less barbarous than the heart of Christendom,
there to "waste their sweetness on the desert air." Nor were they left there long in
peace ; the graceful amenities, superior wisdom, and pacific industry of a liberal race
being usually trampled in the dust by the iron heel of military despotism. The Turks
destroyed or ruined most of the Andalusian proprietors, and now there only remain a
small number of magnificent mulberries ;f silent monuments of the gentle hands that
tended them, a condemnation of the gloomy bigotry of our sires and of their allies the
Turks.

The coasts of the Mediterranean carry on a great trade in fruits ; some of which, like
the citron, have naturally the aptitude for being preserved, which others have not. The
figs of Carthage were the envy and the ornament of Roman tables ; the Levant gave us
cherries, and gives us the Christmas puddings of merry England.

Bona no longer deserves its name of Blad-el-Aneb (the city of jujebs); and there are
but few of those fine olives near it that constitute the riches of the environs of Seville.

The numerous gardens surrounding Algiers only contain wild stock (des sauvageons),
as the Algerians do not practise grafts; and this explains the b?.d quality of their fruit.
They have in this, as in most things, much degenerated from their Andalusian ancestors,
whose system of irrigation, in particular, was the most perfect that the world has perhaps
ever seen. Anomalous, indeed, is the apparition of this Arabian people, the meteor of
the desert, handing over to us chemistry and algebra, the keys of the material universe, and
following the plough in the steps of Socrates and the Emperor of China. "When will
Europe learn the debt it owes to the Semitic variety ?

It has been said that the Mitidja would soon yield. cotton, coffee, and indigo. This
quackery has only made a few dupes ; still, cotton is sure eventually to flourish in Algeria.
The Moors grew it formerly in Andalusia;]; and it succeeds now in Sicily, Majorca, Arta,
and Malta.

The market-gardens, like the orchards, are very poor. The greatest part of the me-
lons, of the water-melons, and even of the potatoes that are consumed at Algiers and Or an,
come from the Balearic Islands and from Spain. The garden of the military convicts

in the province of Constantina, and you meet large fields of rice in the plains between Algiers and
Oran.

* MM. Itoche and Colombon have made great improvements in their olive-plantations in
Algiers.

I The mulberry and the olive-tree flourish splendidly on the road from Algiers to Point Pescade.
The declivity of the soil adapts this part of the vicinity of Algiers to the cultivation of orchard-trees,
for from the Hospital du Dey to Fort Pescade you hardly pas* twenty hectares of arable land. A few
vines had been planted there, too, in 1040. (Baude, vol. ii. p. (13.)

I Ebn-el-Awam, c. xxii. art. 1.

COMMERCE AND AGRICULTURE. 475

(Marengo) at Algiers, that of the Misser^hin near Oran, and the attempts made by the
garrison of Bona, show what may be expected from the soldiers turned gardeners.

Among the cultivated trees of Algeria we must reckon, besides olives and mulberries,
walnuts, hazel, almond, jujebs, white and black tigs, pomegranate, carob, banana (called
Adam's iig-tree), palm, sweet and bitter orange, and the melon and other kinds of
citrons : the vine, the red mulberry, caper-bush, and almost all the fruit-trees common
in England, such as the apple, plum, apricot, and cherry, stock the orchards and gar-
dens of Algeria. The olive, walnut, jujeb, bitter orange, citron, pomegranate, cactus,
vine, and worm-wood, are also among the spontaneous productions of the soil. They grow
on the mountains, in the valleys and fields. On the northern slope of the Atlas, at an ele-
vation of 2000 feet, oranges grow mixed with the aloe and cactus. On the southern slope
figs are found at 1300 feet; and wild pomegranates grow in such profusion near Algiers,
that their fruit, when perfectly ripe, is sold at six for a halfpenny. Gardens, fields, and
houses near the metropolis, are fenced in with hedges of cactus and aloes. The cactus
produces the Barbary fig,* which is eaten by the Arabs during six months in the year.
The stems, stript of their numerous thorns, and cut into pieces, are eaten by the poor when
vegetables are scarce. The shoots when planted will sometimes take root. Of the leaf
of the aloe they make a kind of paper, and the fibres are used as a thread for weaving
into cords. Palm-trees are not nearly so common as the other fruit-trees ; they are
found on hills, in valleys, and among thickets ; they are propagated mostly hy young
shoots, taken from roots of full-grown trees. These, if planted with care, will bear
fruit in the sixth year, attain to maturity thirty years after transplanting, sometimes con-
tinue flourishing for seventy years, hearing yearly clusters of fifteen or twenty dates, each
weighing 15 or 20 lbs., altogether between 3Q0 and 400 lbs. of fruit. After this age the
tree begins to decline, and falls about the latter end of its second century. It only re-
quires to be well watered once in four or five days, and to have a few withered boughs occa-
sionally lopped off. The dates ripen only in the spring in the Sahara or Blad-el-Djerid ;
but they might be brought to perfection in the north of Algeria, if perfectly attended to.
The fruit of the dwarf-palm is less esteemed, though the heart of the plant is much
in request. The palma- christi (yielding castor-oil), sugar-cane, cotton- tree, cactus
without thorns, madder, flax, and alhenna, grow wild. The latter is a beautiful odoriferous
plant 10 or 12 feet high, bears small flowers, with a pleasant smell like camphor. The
leaves of this plant, dried and powdered, are used by all African women as a cosmetic,
being preferable to the bullock's guts and dung with which the GalLas smear and adorn
themselves in Abyssmia.f The palma-christi reaches its full height of 10 or 20 feet in
one year.

Several English vegetables grow in French Africa, such as carrots, celery, asparagus,
parsnips, &c. &c. Numerous odoriferous plants, including myrtles, lavender, Barbary
and spurge laurel, &c, are found there in abundance ; and rose-laurels form a purple
border on the banks of the rivers. During the winter the hills are covered with tulips,
anemones, and ranunculuses. In spring you find large fields full of the star of Beth-
lehem, asphodel, iris, and yellow lupine. In autumn you meet a large family of squills
of all colours.

Apricots are fit to gather in May. The sashee, or male apricot, though better than
the female — as appears the invariable but ungallant rule of inferior nature — is a little
later, — like little boys, who are generally more stupid than little girls, but shoot up much
higher afterwaids. The common apricot is apt to generate fevers.

* Pananti, Avventure, vol. ii. pp. 2G-30. Madame Prus, p. 38. Le Grand Desert, p. 384.

t The Berbers living near the cataracts of the Nile anoint their sleek sable bodies with the palma-
christi juice, and sport a luxurious growth of hair, rivalling the bear's-grease crops of the North-
American Indians. 'We commend the study of the comparative merits of these cosmetics and human
manures to our modern Calvins and Macassars. See Lord Lindsay's Travels. Catliu's Indians, &c.

476 APPENDIX.

Fruit is very cheap in Algeria even now, but prices have probably doubled, with other
blessings conferred by the French conquest and occupation, since 1844.

The plantations of oranges near Blidah, &c. formed beautiful groves, till the French
came and cut them down or burnt them up, to improve the country and promote the
reign of order. The oranges of Algeria are as good as those of Portugal, Malta, and
Candia. Almonds, pistachio-nuts, and grapes are excellent, and articles of considerable
trade. Bona used to be celebrated for its beautiful jujebs. The finest figs in the north
of Africa come from Scherschell, whence they are sent to Algiers, Constantina, Tunis,
&c. Now the best are gathered in the Middle Atlas.

Tobacco is much cultivated in Algeria, especially near La Calle,* presenting two sorts,
the nicotiana tabacum, and the nicotiana rustica; the latter is the most common and the
most esteemed. It exhibits a rapid growth and a vigorous vegetation, and might be as
good as any if well manufactured ; nor would it be long neglected if in the hands of Ger-
mans. There used to grow much flax near Scherschell ; and alhenna, which grows at the
foot of the Atlas, is among the most profitable productions of French Africa. The na-
tives have never made much of indigo, though it is very good there, yielding three crops
annually. All the plants used as food for cattle grow in the Mitidja ; and we have no
doubt that Algeria will some day yield oil-cake miracles, and great exhibitions of prize-
cattle, besides aldermen fattened on turtle.

Moorish kitchen-gardens are not so rich as ours, but they yield plenty of melons,
cucumbers, pumpkins, onions, calibashes, pepper, and tomatos ; and the French grow
many peas, lentisks, and beans, of which they consume large quantities.

All vegetables grow to a very large size at Algiers, — like the women, who seem to vege-
tate themselves : the fennel and carrots are gigantic ; parsnip. leaves are nine feet long-
cauliflowers a yard in diameter. Grasses grow very profusely, and of very good quality >
and you meet thickets of dwarf-palms, mastichs,f and thorn-broom growing to a height of
two or three yards, but the cactus much higher. The orange and citron trees too are
very fine. The jujeb, olive, and carob tree,^ reach an eztraordinary size; the stems of
the vines are very large, and the bunches of grapes enormous.

Opium, according to an examination by a commission of the French Academy in
1844, is very good, with as much morphine as the best of Smyrna or India. § This is glad
tidings for our allopaths, who may import cheap cargoes of this drug ad libitum, and
poison their patients a discretion. Algeria grows other narcotics besides opium and
French economists, — I mean hashish, or Indian hemp, of which we have already
treated. |[

* Baron Baude, v. ii. p. IG4.

t The mastich is properly the lentisk, pistachio leniiscusoi Linnaeus, pistachio atlantiea of Des-

fontaines. It is very common in the Sahel, but does not grow in the Sahara. The (lowers are in fle.shy
membranes ; and the fruit is small, globulous, and of a red colour. The resin of this tree, called
mestika, is greatly used in the East to strengthen the gums and whiten the teetli ; but it is almost
exclusively cultivated in the island of Seio for this purpose. Olivier (Voy. dans l'Europ. Ottoman,
vol. i. p. 292) describes the incisions made in July to extract the resin, which drops down the trunk
like tears, and is removed with iron instruments, &c. Grand Desert, p. 408.

t The carob is called in Arabic kharoub, and is the cerafonia siligua of botany. It is a rather
large tree, growing vigorously on the coast, but seldom in the uplands, because of the cold in winter.
Its fruit consists of saccharine particles, sold in great sacks in tin- markets. Grand Desert, p. 396.

§ Blol'cld. The reader will (ind a scientific classification of Algerian plants in the Algerian Flora
at the end of Berbrugger's Algerie, and in the Exploration Scientitique; also in Desfontaines' Flora
Atlantiea.

II We must now attend to cattle and pastorals. Horses and oxen are becoming much rarer in Al-
geria than they were. The line Barbary horses are very scarce, and only found amongst the mest
powerful sheiks. The Deys of Algiers had a haras stud at the Rasauta ; and the government of Tunis
still keeps one, which is celebrated. (Captain Kennedy, Baron Baude, or the Lady's Diary.)

In 1838 there were bought 683 horses, costing 188,004 francs; and 1225 mules, costing 537, !)!)0 francs
(7G22/. lis. Hd. and 21, OK/. 12s. Gil.). The provisions with which the camps are supplied are carried

COMMERCE AND AGRICULTURE. 477

on the backs of mules, imported from Perpignon, which are the only animals that have not suf-
fered by the change of climate and country in Algeria (St. Marie). The victualling department for
the army employs for draught large white oxen, from Italy. Some landed proprietors attempted to
import cows, &c. from Switzerland, and a premium of 50 francs (21.) per head was granted them as an
encouragement; but the scheme was not successful. The great change of climate and food do not agree
especially with ruminative animals.

The Arabs, like clever economists, have but a very imperfect notion of the idea of property in the
soil; poor unsophisticated fellows that seem to feel instinctively, with Proudhon, that "property is rob-
bery ;" but they understand very well the right of property in animals, flocks, and women.

The herds of horned cattle are innumerable in French Africa. Before 1S30 meat had a low price in
Algeria ; an ox was sold for 20 francs (10*. 8c/.) ; and many tribes only obtained money from the leather
of their herds. Matters are now much changed. The French consumption of meat has clearly over-
thrown the balance of the pastoral riches of the country, and when the French are in power the price
of oxen is three or four times as high. Here again we have the usual accompaniments of the march
of intellect and the advance of civilisation. Excessive competition and inordinate luxury convert
plenty into poverty. In 1837 the meat for the army cost 2,S73,353 francs; in 1838, 2,185,102 francs
(116,334;. 2s. 6d. and 87,404/. 3s. id.).

A great part of the wool that commonly went to the markets of Algiers, Bona, and Oran, has taken
since the conquest the road of Tunis, or of the ports of Morocco. At the capture of Algiers in 1830,
there was in the warehouses of the divan an accumulation of 130,000 quintals of wool (2S, 000,000 lbs.),
having a value of 1SO,000,000 francs, forming 7000 bales. Constantina used to be at one period one of
the chief wool-markets of the desert, and fleece weighing about 2 kilogrammes, 4'40 lbs., were only
worth, according to their quality, from 50 centimes (5c/.) to 1 franc (10c/.) per piece: these prices had
already doubled in 1841.

Before leaving the subject of agriculture and pastorals, we propose to offer a few brief remarks on
the efforts of the government to preserve or improve the breed of horses. The first stud (depot of stal-
lions) was at Mostagamen in 1542, since which two have been established at Kobat andAlelick, 6 kilo-
metres (3j miles) from Bona.

There are three classes of Arab horses in Barbary: 1st, the Tunis; 2d, the Morocco; 3d, the old
regency of Algiers breeds. The two first are higher, and stand more fatigue than the latter. " I have
known," says St. Marie, " a Morocco horse mounted by a spahi (native trooper), travel in 1 1 hours 50
leagues (125 miles), without a moist hair or the need of the spur. The Algerine horse is shorter and
plumper. The ordinary price of a 4 or 0-year old is about 200 francs (8/.). At Oran, stallions brought
from Tunis have fetched 2000 francs (SO/.); but that is a government price, and one cannot j udge from
it of the average prices." St. Marie's Visit, 1845.

The Algerian breed of horses being found (1S45) to degenerate, the government determined to have
recourse to the east, to central Arabia for ncdjis, and to Syria for anez is, which are affiliated by race
with the Barbs. They have also attended to the improvement of the breed of mules, by introducing
jack-asses from Spain. General Oudinot, of liberticidal notoriety, has devoted much attention to, and
spilt ink in this service.

The French hope by these means to improve the breed as they call it, i.e. to civilise the hardy
Arab horse, and make him like the European, subject to influenza, dyspepsia, and the protaean ner-
vous complaints of our thrice-happy hemisphere. Xo wonder that the Arabs are rather chary about
supplying the studs with mares.

We presume, however, that French grooms of the Oudinot school will eventually confer the bless-
ings of order and civilisation alike on Arab steeds and Roman citizens, and that the regency will shortly
be stripped of its animal and vegetable ornaments and treasures.

Borrer, p. 21, describes that at Aria there is held once a week one of the greatest markets of the
plain, much frequented by Arabs, who bring horses, cattle, &c. to it. The province of Constantina is
more productive of horse-flesh and ass-flesh than the others; and it appears that in the last three
months of 1S45, S279 horses, mules, and asses, came to the Constantina markets, whereas to those of
Algiers there came only 5023, and to those of Oran 2341.

A matter essentially related to the agriculture of Algeria is the drying up of the marshes and
the irrigation of the plains. From the foot of the mountains to the sea, the surface of the basins of the
Hamiz, the Haratch, and the Mazafran, is about 140,000 hectares (350,000 acres). The rivers of Algeria
only float boats towards their mouth for a very short space, where, mingling their waters with those
of the sea, they acquire a little depth. In no country are the gorges of valley, which may be barred at
little cost for the establishment of artificial reservoirs, so numerous as in the branches of the Atlas.

The Arabs may be styled the inventors of irrigation, yet the lazy and surly Turks, as every where
else, suffered the conduits to go to ruin and the woods to be destroyed. Nature had thrown her pearls
before swine, and their successors seem still allied to a nameless quadruped in their neglect of this ob-
vious pillar of agricultural prosperity. The blindness of civilised states in laying the axe at the root of
all trees has been well manifested in results, and lashed by cynical pens and wits of the first order.
(See Charles Fourier's Unite Universelle.) The power of an organised system of planting is an esta-
blished fact, nor can we over-estimate the influence of man in doctoring the distempers of a restive

478 APPENDIX.

climate and soil, and in patching up the rickety constitution of our unfortunate planet, the victim of
man's neglect and depravity. Large tracts of Persia (see Frazer's Persia, also Spencer's Travels in
European Turkey, and Forties's Spain, where the reader will see how much fine European land lies
■waste through the crimes of Russia and of Bourbons), once a garden, are now a waste; the sands of
Libya have won a broad stretch of the vale of the Nile ; and Algeria, the granary of Rome, is in a great
part the home of frogs and a nest of locusts. Sublime visionaries have dreamt of reclaiming the desert
by irrigation, end practical minds have coolly argued its chances. Nor can this age of wonders dare
cough down a yet more wonderful future. The rich lands of Spain lie fallow and deserted, that once
waved with Moorish harvests, and the rich pusztas are a desolation whilst Bourbon and Hapsburg
idiots reign, and their butchers blight the fair face of glorious nature. Oh, when will the nations learn
to combine in works of cosmopolitan utility, instead of filling the air with the shriek of despairing
liberty and expiring nationality, and manuring a paradise with the hearts' blood of heroes!

Reverting to Algeria, we find that the natives hum and neglect the woods, yet the lentisk, the
carob, the wild olive, the holm oak, the myrtle, the oak tree, though in the form of brushwood, carpet
the Algerian soil on all sides. All the forest-trees of the south of Europe would thrive in Algeria;
and Baron Baude saw on the Boudjareah pines of Aleppo of the greatest beauty, and near the lake
of Tonegue elms and magnificent poplars.

Besides wood useful as fuel, for carpentry, &c, Algeria has a great many forest-trees of valuable
timber, and rare in France, such as oaks with sweet acorns, and oak trees (quercus ballota fruetn
longissimo). Desfontaines, of the Academy of Sciences, has given a very detailed description of the
former (tome ii. Voyage dans la Regence d' Alger, #c). He saw vast forests of this oak in the moun-
tains near Blidah, Mascara, and Tlemsen. The acorns were sold in the public markets; the Moors eat
them raw, or roasted under cinders ; they are very nourishing, and have no bitterness; large herds of
swine in Spain are fattened on them, — no agreeable analogy for the pig-hating Mussulmans. Baron
Baude says, •' I have been told that in certain districts of Barbary a very sweet oil was obtained from
them, equal to that of the olive. The wood of the ballota oak is hard, compact, and very heavy ; and
it might be useful in the works of carfwrights. &c. and of carpentry."

We shall now attend to the extensive and valuable cork-wood forests that clothe some parts of
Algeria. Bordering the road to Bona, near El Khallah, or La Calle, above the hills of that town, you
find about 50,000 acres of beautiful forest, intersected with lakes and prairies, and stocked with cork,
elm. ash, and gall-bearing oak-trees. These forests could furnish cork sufficient for the consumption
of all Europe. (Blofeld).

Our space will not permit us to dwell on the interesting subject of the forests of Algeria, a great
part of which have been surveyed by the service foreslier, or the engineers. The following tables will
show the reader the extent and quality of all the forests of Algeria that have been hitherto explored.

Contents of the explored forests, 1849.

Province of Algiers 168,645 hectares 421,612 acres.

„ Oran 269,764 ,, 674,410 „

„ Constantina 429,606 „ 1,074,015 „

Total .... 868,015 ,, 2,170,037 ,,

Most of the forests are, however, mixed in the quality of the trees that compose them.

Seven forests have also been ascertained in the Sahara, containing 27.000 hectares, at a proximate
estimate (68,000 acres), which, added to the 104,700 hectares (261,750 acres) of the forests of Batna,
Aouress, and Tebessa, and to the 868,015 hectares previously noticed in the Tell, give for the whole of
Algeria 999.915 hectares (2,498,537 acres). These estimates are given from the Tableau, 1849-50, p. 438.

The pepinieres are government nursery-grounds, some of which appear tone in a thriving condition,
and to have succeeded in introducing many foreign plants into Algeria. In the season 1S50-51 they
were in a condition to supply the public plantations, Src. with 625,776 shoots of trees, 305,813 herba-
ceous vegetables, 14,403 kilogr. (316 S0'60 lbs.), 992 grams, of different grains. The sum total of these
plants represents a value (according to the trade price) of 604, 130 fr. 50 cents (24,165?. is. Id), and
according to the tarif of the prices of the administration, 228,152 fr. 16 cents. Attempts are making
to introduce the tallow-tree, the china hemp, the bamboo, t lie camphor tree, the ricus elastica, &c. No
care has been spared in advancing the interests of these experiments, according to the Tableau; yet
Borrer, in 1846, represents the Guelma Pepiniere as particularly remarkable for its flourishing weeds.
The cotton plantations are most thriving.

Three railroads are in contemplation in Algeria, 1st, from Philippeville to Constantina; 2d, from
Algiers to Milianah, through Blidah ; 3d, from Oran to Algiers, with branches to Tlemsen and Arzeu.
It is estimated that the latter line could be opened from Oran to St. Denis du Sig within two years.

To complete our picture of Algeria, we must not omit the roads and bridges, the arteries of a
country; and here we readily admit that the French have done much in the way of improvement.
The annexed table will enable the reader to judge for himself;

COMMERCE AND AGRICULTURE.

479

Provinces.

Length.

Expense.

Algiers

Constantina

Total ....

metres.
949,441

1,655,450
466,850

fr. c.
8,825,895 16
2,295,262 19

3,208,142 40

3,071,741

14,329,399 75

To fill up our picture of the principal channels of intercourse in Algeria, we shall add the following
particulars from the Exploration Scientifique : Philippeville is 343 kilometres (213-1 miles) east, 3°
north, in a straight line from Algiers, and 354 kilometres (220 miles) by sea; from Constantina 63
kilometres in a straight line, and 77 kilometres by the road. Constantina is in 36° 22' 21" lat. north,
and 4° 16' 36" long, east, and 664 metres (2177*92 feet) above the sea, according to M. Boblaye ; this
refers to the Kasbah; the maps of the depot de la guerre give it 656 metres (2161-68 leet), but this may-
refer to another point.

Constantina is 3:0 kilometres (199-4 miles) east, 7° 17' south from Algiers in a straight line, and
431 kilometres (267 miles) by Philippeville, the only road now taken; 390 kilometres (242 miles) by
the Biban or Iron Gates; but the real road is only 365 kilometres (2275 miles), of which 240 (150 miles)
by sea to Djidjelli, and 125 (78 miles) thence to Constantina, following first the sea-shore, and thence
the Ouad-el-Kebir. The last part of the road will admit of a railway, now in contemplation. Con-
stantina is 118 kilometres (73 miles) west, 290° 21' south from Bona; the actual distance is 170 kilo-
metres (106J miles) by Guelma, and 150 kilometres (93| miles) by El Arrouch. (E. Carette's Koutes
suivis par les Arabes. Explor. Scient.)

The following table represents the bridges built by the French in Algeria :

Provinces.

Number

of
Bridges.

Length.

Wood.

Wood
or piles.

Masonry.

Expense.

Algiers .
(•ran
Constantina .

Total .

43
18
25

metres. feet.
794-45 (2605-7960)
546-40 (1792-1920)
321-75 (1055-3400)

473

91-50

1S7-00

52-00

fr. c. C s. d.
1,126,288 29 (45,050 10 104
616,7S0 41 (25,870 4 6
272,687 94 (10,907 12 5-* ri

1662-60 (5453-3280)

607

33050

2,045,756 64 (81,830 5

We have reserved for this place our remarks on the mineral treasures of Algeria, which, though
yielding metal less attractive than Australia and California, is more likely to hasten the return of a
golden age. In the province of Algiers iron, copper, and lead ore has been found in abundance near
Milianah. Four mines have been conceded ; 1, those of Mouzaia (iron and copper), employing 400 men,
annual yield 17,571 metrical quintals (3,S65,620 lbs. avoirdupois), value 271,083 fr. (10,807/. 6s. 8d.);
2, Oued Alalah (copper and iron), employing 120 men, yield 15 or 20 per 100 at a rough value of 350 fr.
per ton ; 3, iron and copper mines of Ouad Taffilez, 50,000 fr. (2000/.) spent on it in 1850, but no yield
as yet ; 4, iron and copper mine at Cape Tenes, in the same state as the last.

The permits to work are five in number, two being in operation, i. e. those of the Oued Merdja and
of the Oued Kebir. The first employs 20 workmen, with a yield of 70 tons of pyritous copper ore and
of carbonated iron; mean richness, 17 per cent ; rough value, 22,400 fr. (S9G/.) The Oued Kebir only
employed 7 men, with a yield of 50 metrical quintals (10,000 lbs.); value, 1400 fr. (56/.)

Constantina. Veins of iron ore have been lately found at the Bou K^aiba, near Jemmapes, yielding
a great quantity of oligist and oxydulated iron ; in Mount Edough, presenting rich brown hematites,
and at Ouad el Arong, near La Calle, where are several veins of peroxydated iron. There is a lead
mine at the Nbails, 40 k-lometres (24 miles) from Guelma. Galena has been found at Skikida, near
Philippeville. It is inserted in very thin veins, in clayey slates, and yields 50 grammes of silver
(31 dwt. 5-150 grains troy) per quintal of slick. Five mines have been conceded in this province:
Kefoum Thaboul, Bou Hamra, Karesas, Ain-Moika, and Meboujda.

Kefoum Thaboul is a lead mine, employing 70 to 75 workmen; yield 7 or S000 metrical quintals
(1,768,000 lbs.), independently of the galena, which yields 55 to 00 of lead and 175 grammes of silver
(6J oz. avoird.) to the quintal ; Bon Hamra had yielded, in 1846 and 1 S47, 7500 metrical quintals (1,650,000
lbs.); Karesas, 1900 metrical quintals (380,000 lbs.) ; AinMorki, 21 metrical quintals (4020 lbs.).

In 1S49 they had stopped working. Medoubja, also an iron mine, bad stopped in 1850. Exploration
has been permitted in various parts, showing rich veins of magnetic iron at El Mkinem, near Bona;
oligist and oxydul;:ted iron at Filrila; antimonial galena at Oued Cherf ; pyritous copper and sulphur-
ated zinc at Ain Barbar ; oxydatcd and sulphurated antimony at Djebbel Taya ; and oxydated anti-
mony at Ain-Babouch.

Province o/Oran.—An important vein of pyritous copper has been discovered among the Oued All,

480 APPENDIX.

SECTION IV.
Natural Hfetorg, Ecology, &r.

The kumrah is a little useful beast, — a cross between an ass and a cow; its hoofs
being like the former, but having a sleeker skin, with a tail and beard like its mother's,
but without horns.

These species are, however, greatly interior to the camel, an animal of the greatest
utility to the Arabs, and to the devout mind a beautiful evidence of design and bounty
in the Creator. Its strength, docility, and indefatigable patience are invaluable ; and
its ability to go seven or eight days without water make it a treasure in the desert. Two
quarts of beans or barley, or a few balls of flour, are enough to support it for a whole
day. Pliny's observation, that they disturb the water before drinking, is correct, as also
that they are long in drinking. They first put their heads deep in, and then make suc-
cessive draughts like pigeons. Camels carry 6 or 7 cwt. A day's journey for them con-
sists of from 10 to 15 hours, at 2\ miles per hour. A great many camels are found in the
Mitidija and on the sides of the Little Atlas ; and those about Algiers are very fine. The
dromedary species, called in Algiers ashaary, is much rarer there than in Arabia. It is
noted for its swiftness, and the Arabs say it will go in one day as far as one of their horses
in eight or ten ; hence those messages which require speed are, in the Sahara and through-
out the south, transmitted by the dromedary, the Arab telegraph, which is said to have a
finer and rounder shape than the common camel, and also a smaller protuberance on its
back. The common camel has its head at liberty when on the turf, or rather sand ; but
this species is managed by a bridle, which is usually fastened to a ring fixed in its nostrils.
The young dromedaries are born blind, and continue so ten days after birth, whence their
name of ashaary.*

8 kilometres (5 miles) south from Arbal. Carbonated hydroxide iron has also been discovered at the
mountain of the Lions ; lead galena near Sebdou, &c. No concession had been made in this province
in 1850; but two permits to explore had been given: one, for an anthracite vein of combustible mineral
at the foot of the mountain of the Lions ; the second, for oligist-micaceous iron at Djebel Mansour,
near Cape Ferrat.

As regards quarries, we find 110 in the province of Algiers in 1849, employing S90 men, yield 196,765
cubic metres of gypsum and stone (1 cubic metre being equal to 35-2S7,552 cubic feet, or 1 -306,946 cubic
yards). The province of Constantina had, in 1S49, 112 quarries ; workmen, 1006 ; yield 201,806 cubic
metres of stone and gypsum. The province of Oran had 105 quarries ; workmen, 812 ; yield 7406
cubic metres of stone and gypsum, besides an enormous quantity of bricks and tiles (3,890,000).
Tableau, p. 393 to 396.

• Col. Daumas in his Grand Desert, and Castellane copying him, have described the mahari of the
Touaregs, which appears to be what we call a dromedary. Form much more slender than that of the
common camel; elegant ears like the gazelle, the supple of the ostrich, the belly of the hare; head
gracefully shaped, black and prominent eyes, long and firm lips well concealing its teeth ; hump small,
breast protuberant, tail short, limbs slender below, but muscular from the knee to the trunk; feet
not spreading, and its tawny-coloured hairs as fine as those of a jerboa (p. 4S3).

The mahari supports fatigue better than the camel, and never betrays an ambuscade ; hence they
give every care to the education of the young onos. The children play with it in the tent, and it loves
them much from gratitude. It is first called boukuetaa (father of shearing), after being shorn in the
spring; then it takes the name of heug, from the verb hdkeuk, he has understood or become reasonable,
when two years old. He is now broken in and trained, then a ring is put into his right nostril ; a
rahhala or common saddle is put on his back, and the master mounts him, sitting cross-legged on his
neck. The least movement of the nostril gives much pain, and he obeys at once. If the heug can stop
suddenly when going full tilt, or describe a narrow circle round a spear, his education, like that of a
modern miss, is complete. Miracles are told of his speed, sobriety, and courage. Castellane, who saw

imaharis, corroborates thesefacts, p. 2S6. General Marrey in his expedition to El Aghrouath, June

1844, received a gift of3mahara. He describes them as a variety of the camel genus; their usual
pa i a not, which they can keep up all day. Herodotus says that the Arabs of the army of Xerxes
had camels as quick as horses (book vii. c. 76).

NATURAL HISTORY, GEOLOGY, ETC. 481

Black cattle in Algeria are generally very small and slender, the fattest of them weigh-
ing five or six cwt. The cows yield only one quart of milk at a time. Their butter
is not so good as ours. The sheep and goats contribute to the dairy. There are two
kinds of sheep : one common all over the Levant, with a broad tail, sometimes ending in a
point, sometimes broad at the bottom. The flesh of this kind tastes of wool, but the tail
itself is delicious, and like marrow. The other kind, bred in the neighbourhood of Ga-
damis, Ouaregla, and the more distant parts of the Sahara, are nearly as high as our fal-
low-deer, and, save the head, are like them in shape. The heat of the climate, want
of water, and the coarse and dry herbs on which they feed, make the flesh dry, and the
fleece coarse. All their cattle are numerous and prolific ; many Arab tribes having only
300 or 400 horses, possess from 3000 to 4000 camels, and 12,000 sheep or oxen. They do
not often kill them, but live chiefly on butter-milk, bread, dates, &c. By proper care
and shelter, the whole country would soon be overrun with them.

Passing to the wild mammalia, we find, 1st, the becker-el-wash,* a kind of wild black
cattle, which have a rounder body and flatter face, with horns bending more to each other,
than the tame kind. They may possibly be the bubalies of the ancients, or the bos Afri-
canus of Bellonnis. The same name is also given to a species of the deer genus.

The fishtail, called also sometimes the lerwee, is like the big horn of North Ame-
rica, the most timorous of the goat tribe, plunging, when pursued, down precipices if there
are any in its way. It is of the size of a heifer one year old; has a rounder body, and
tufts of shaggy hair on its knees about one foot long, and another upon the neck of about
five inches. Its colour is the same as that of the becker-el-wash, but the horns are
wrinkled and turned back like the goat's, from which also they differ in being more than
a foot long, and divided upon the forehead by a small strip of hair, as in the sheep genus.
The fishtail seems to be the tragelaphus of the ancients, an animal between a goat and a deer, f

The becker-el-wash and the gazelle are gregarious, and have both of them the same
habit of stopping suddenly when pursued, and of looking back for a short time on their
pursuers. Their haunts are also the same, being for the most part on the confines of the
Tell and the Sahara. +

* Spelt ba'ker-el-ouach by Dr. Lagger, who gives the following account of them : " They are very
numerous among the mountains of Southern Algeria. Leo Africanus styles them bos sylvaticus : ami
Pliny discriminates them from the bison and buffaloes under the name of ures (b. viii. c. 13). Dr. Shaw
describes them (p. 113) as marching in troops, as well as the gazelle. Major Denham found them near
Lake Tchad; and Ben Batouta, in his travels to Soudan, met numerous troops, who were killed without
the aid of dogs or horses. He describes their ventricle as full of water, and he saw the messonfiter
drink this liquid" (p. 8). Dr. Lagger says that the ba'ker-el-ouach has a great resemblance to the
common cow. It is the buba'.us of the ancients, the ant. bubalis of Linnaeus, the cow ofBarbary
(ButT. Sup. vi. xiv.). This antelope has annulated horns with a double curvature. It has a distin-
guishing feature on its head, which is a fold of flesh springing from the parietal, directed along the
prolongation of the forehead, and on the top of which rise the horns. It is about the size of a calf
eighteen months old, and its colour is tawny. Grand Desert, p. 380.

t Dr. Lagger calls this animal the leroui fechtal, and states that leroui is the generic name, fechta'
that of the male, maza (goat) the female, el khorouf (lamb) that of the young. Dr. Shaw speaks of
them as fischtal or lerwee, and says they are a kind of goat, which he tainks the tragelaphus of the
ancients (p. 313). Graberg d'Hemso says it is the antelope larvia of Linnseus and Pallas, and the kob
of Bufl'on ; but Cuvier does not admit the latter. Dr. Lagger adds, that it is hunted in the Djebel
Amour, and occurs in the Saharian mountains south of Bousada, and pronounces it the moufflon a
manchettes, the ovis ornata of Geoffroy St. Hilaire, the moufflon d'Afrique, called by Cuvier ovis
tragelaphus; and that Desmarest correctly identifies it with the bearded sheep of Pennant. Its hair is
a reddish tawny, sometimes dark like the gazelle, and about 15 to 20 centimetres long (5-85 to 7-80
inches). Its tail is only about 18 to 20 centimetres long; and the horns have a length of about 50
centimetres (19'50 inches). A specimen exists in the Jardin des Plantes. Le Grand Desert, p. 116.

t The word gazelle comes from the Arabic g'zal ' \\ Lc and g'zala v)\ Lz ; and this animal is the

most beautiful in Algeria. It is very common on the borders of the Sahara, and even near Oran and
Arzeu ; and it presents three varieties. First, the rin: the animals of this species are large, with a
white belly and twisted horns; it prefers sandy spots. Second, the ledmis, are smaller, with annu-
lated horns, and their colour is like that of smoke. Third, the s'in, the smallest of the three species,

H H

482 APPENDIX.

The most common kind of dog is of a middle size, with soft glossy hair, a long thin body,
pointed straight ears, and a very long tail. The general colour is pale yellow and white.

There is also a race which nearly resembles the European. The Arabs treat their
dogs badly, giving them but little food ; and this treatment has degraded them, in the
same way that Italians and other tribes of men degenerate when cruelly treated by impe-
rial, papal, or other masters. Hence the Arab curs are cruel, voracious, and endowed with
disagreeable countenances. The mutual action and reaction of man and the lower
mammalia, — the confines of instinct and reason, — and the Edenish refinement of kindness
on the brute creation, are problems and mysteries imperfectly solved, but well worthy of
solution.

The jackal properly comes under the head of the dog genus, being styled cams aureus
by Linnreus. The natives call it dib, as the word chacal is of Turkish origin. This ani-
mal is very common in Algeria, where it lives among the rocks, seldom showing itself by
day. At night it roves about inhabited places in troops, in order to seek for food. It
lives on carrion, and on the fruit that it can reach ; and it is rarely that the douars, vil-
lages, and even large towns, are spared at night the inflictions of its sad bowlings. (Le
Grand Desert, p. 385.)

There are lions and panthers, but no tigers, in Algeria. The females of both species
have two rows of nipples like a bitch, giving suck to three and sometimes to four or five
whelps. When the young are cutting their teeth, they are usually seized with fever, which
carries off three out of four ; and this is the reason, say the Arabs, why their numbers are
so inconsiderable : perhaps they want sanitary reform in their dens. It is not impro-
bable, however, that this lamentable diminution of their numbers has been occasioned by
the introduction of fire-arms, for they must be much fewer than in the time of the Roman
Empire, which was satisfied with hunting down Africans, and never thought, like Christen-
dom, of crucifying literary lions. There cannot be at present one-fiftieth part of the lions
that indulged in razzias and promenades pacifiques at the time of Rome. Lions are very
fearful of fire, yet it often happens that they will leap into a douar in the night and carry
off a goat, &c. Then the Arabs catch them in pits covered with reeds. Pliny* and Eze-
kiel describe the same custom in their day.

The flesh of the lion is said to be very good, tasting and looking like veal in colour:
it used to be eaten by some Libyan tribes, according to Herodotus; nor do we see why
it should not be added to the bill of fare of Soyer. Puppies are found very palatable in
the oases; and a juicy leg of man, or shoulder of woman, is a great treat among the
Fidjis, the Battas, and on the Amazon. Be gustibus non dhputandum ; but we might
certainly embrace a larger range in our cuisine.\

The most ferocious lions are found between Bona and Tunis ; they are rarer in the
province of Oran, and rarer still in that of Algiers.

the commonest, and the most usually tamed in Algeria. Shaw describes the ledmee (v. i. p. 1H),
which he thinks the strepsiceros of the ancients, and the bison of the Septuagint and Vulgate, rendered
in our version conq. The gazelle of Algeria is the gazelle antelope, the ant. donas of Linnaeus, Buffon,
and Cuvier. Their horns are valuable, some being twisted back, some in front, &c. Their excrements
have a strong smell of musk. The Algerian nomads hunt them often, and in three ways. Most com-
monly they collect to the number of 50 horsemen, of whom relays are placed at intervals along the
probable road that the gazelle will take, while one body goes and breaks cover. The men take leverets
with them, and as the game runs past, tire and pursue. Few are killed in this way; but many when men,
women, and children form a hedge leading to a river or brook, towards which the gazelle is driven,
and in which it is killed, if not before it reaches it, by gunshots, sticks, or the dogs. The Arabs also
sometimes hide in cages placed on camels to approach the gazelle, which, being thus without sus-
picion, falls an easy prey. Le Grand Desert, pp. 891, .">i'2.

* I. ions and bears were often confounded by the Romans ; and they might both be easily con-
founded with bores by modern society.

t Compare Herodotus, Humboldt's Travels in Equinoctial Regions, Captain Dillon's Discovery of
the Fate of La l'eyrouse, 1828, and Sir S. Raffles' History of Java.

NATURAL HISTORY, GEOLOGY, ETC. 483

The fraad is spotted like the leopanl, but its skin is of a deeper colour and coarser,
nor is the animal so fierce. The Arabs foolishly imagine it to be a spurious offspring of
the lion and leopardess. The fraad feeds on carrion, and sometimes on roots ; but only
when very hungry does it attack sheep, &c. There are two other animals like the leopard,
but their spots are generally darker, and the fur is longer and softer. The first is of the
cat species, about one-third less than a full-grown leopard, and may be the lesser panther
of Oppian. The other has a small pointed head, with the teeth, feet, &c. of the weasel-
kind : its body is about a foot long, round, and slender. It is called gat-el-ber-rang, or
the stranger cat, and also shibleardon ; but it should properly be called the lesser ginetta.

The dubbah is a kind of badger, almost of the same size as the wolf; but it has a natter
body, and naturally limps on the hinder right leg. Like certain wolves in sheep's cloth-
ing, it has a stiff' neck; and is of a buff or dun colour, with transverse streaks of dark
brown. It has large claws, and feeds on the medulla of the dwarf-palm, &c. The Arabs,
when they take it, bury the head, as, according to their belief, it may be used in sorcery.
After the lion and the panther, this is the fiercest animal of Algeria.

The deeb is an animal of a darker colour than that of the fox, though it .is almost of
the same size : it feeds on roots and carrion, and is the same as the jackal.

The jird and jerboa are two harmless little animals that burrow in the ground, and fre-
quent the Sahara, the latter being often seen in the plains of Oran. They are about the
size of the rat, with white bellies, the rest of the body being of a sorel-colour. Both are
good to eat.* The jerboa jumps quickly, its tail helping it on like a screw-propeller.
Some Cyrenaic medals exhibit a small animal of this kind. It is very probably the two-
footed rat of Herodotus. f

The dabh or bear is said to be common in Barbary ; and also the ape or sheddy, the
ichneumon or tezerdea. Wild boars are very numerous, and the chief prey and food of
the lion ; but sometimes they defend themselves so well, that both have been found killed
after an encounter.

Honey and wax are important articles of trade in Algeria, which produces six kinds
of bees. Algeria is infested with swarms of large musquitoes; but after the French
lawyers, the locusts are the principal plague. Besides the mantes of naturalists is another
species three inches long, of a brown colour, with the fore-legs armed with strong horny
claws. There is also another of the same size, of the cucullated kind, with its upper
wings streaked a light green, and the membranaceous ones finely varied with flesh, brown,
and scarlet colours. Besides these, there is, moreover, a fourth species two inches long, with
elegant wings. The mantes is not gregarious ; but the proper locust is pre-eminently a
socialist. They eat up every thing on land, and after leaving it they are commonly
drowned in immense multitudes in the sea, leaving a stench like that of 100,000 men,
and obstructing tbe advance of ships by their numbers.

In Algeria, the groat fertility and the heat make their depredations of comparatively,
little consequence. Though naturally herbivorous, like man before the fall, they often
fight with each other, and the victor devours the vanquished, like the New Zealanders.
They are also the prey of serpents, lizards, frogs, and carnivorous birds; they have been
found in the stomachs of eagles and owls; and they are also used as an article of diet by
the Moors, who fry them in oil and butter, and sell them in the markets.^

* Dr. Lagger identifies the jerb or gerb with the ilipus gerboa of Gmelin, the nuts sagilla of Pallas.
This rodent mammifer is remarkable for the lightness of its spring, as the great length of its tarsus
enables it to take long leaps and to clear great distances very rapidly. Its tail is long, and lias a bunch
of brown hairs in the middle. The gerboise only leaves its hole at dusk, lives in dry places, and
prefers a calcareous tufa- covered with a slight stratum of mould. The natives take it by digging
around its hole, and eat its flesh.

t Blofeld, pp. 166-171. Dr. Shaw, p. 321. In the Tesora Britann. v. ii., M. Hayne has given a
description of another variety brought to Aleppo.

t A whole section is devoted to- the grasshoppers of the Great Desert in General Daunias' work,
Le Grand Desert. They are occasionally so numerous as to eclipse the light of the sun, and to deluge

4S4 APPENDIX.

The most curious species of the butterfly tribe is near four inches from the tip of one-
wing to that of the other, and very beautifully streaked all over with rather dark red and
yellow, the edges of the lower wings excepted, which, being indented and ending in a
narrow strip or lappet of an inch in length, are very elegantly bordered with yellow. Near
the tail is a spot of a carnation-colour.* In the hot summer months, especially from
twelve till the evening, the grasshopper makes a very shrill noise. It will perch on a
twig and make a sort of squalling for two or three hours without ceasing. Homer would
not have compared his finest orators to them, if those of Greece made such a noise,
though the simile would apply with much accuracy to the entertainments of the Irish
brigade on a charge of bribery, or a French assembly discussing the value of the
organic laws of the republic pure and simple. Insects are very numerous in Algeria,
which produces beetles and butterflies of every variety, luxuriantly coloured.

The scorpion is called ackrab. Strabo relates that the workmen of Numidia had to
work in boots, and to have skins thrown over their bodies to protect them, and that
they rubbed the feet of their beds with garlic, and surrounded them with thorns of
the paliurus. Some kinds are long, and some others are rounder and larger, with tails
consisting of six joints. Those to the north of Mount Atlas are not very hurtful, their
sting occasioning only a slight fever, which is assuaged by Venice treacle. But the
scorpions of the Sahara are larger, darker, and more venomous, their sting being often
attended with death. The bite of the boola-kan, the phalangium of the Sahara, is as
bad ; it is probably the rhax of these parts. Burns or deep incisions are regarded as the
best cure, and sometimes they bury the patient up to his head in pits heated on purpose,
for the promotion of perspiration. f

Among the oviparous animals of Algeria, the warral, or guaral, is a lizard three
inches long sometimes, of a bright red colour with dark spots. The dab, another
lizard of nearly the same shape, has also hard pointed annuli or scales covering the tail
with the caudivertebra4 The zenoumeah is a very slender, elegant animal, with a long-
taper tail, of a light-brown colour, beautifully striated with yellow streaks. The most
remarkable serpents are the thaibaine, which might seem to be Lucan"s thebanus ophites,
if the banus was an appellative and not a proper name of the serpent. Some of them are
three or four yards long, and they are by far the largest serpents in Barbary, answering
better to the haemorrhous called by Lucan ingens ; the other which he describes being
probably much smaller, and of the viper tribe.

The lefa'a is the native name for the viper, of which there are two species in Algeria.

1. The viper ceraste, or viper cerastes of Dandin, which is the horned viper, so called

the air and the earth. The camels are fond of eating them, as well as the negroes; nor is their flesh
forhidden to Mussulmans, if they take them alive and then kill them. They are often stripped of
their wings, paws, and head, fried and prepared with couscoussou; or, after being dried in the sun,
they are reduced to powder and mixed with milk, or pounded with flour, suet, or butter. Herodotus
describes the Nasamones as eating them the same way, though the passage is disputed by the
learned. In the Commentaries on the writings of Jazid we read : Grasshoppers and the pitli of trees
were the food of Jahia ben Zakariah (John the Baptist). See the Koran, c. 19, and Le Grand Desert,
p. 305.

• Blofeld, p. 171 et seq. t Ibid.

% Blofeld. Dr. Lagger says that the d'eb is a large lizard inhabiting the Sahara, and noticed by
Dapper and Marmol, who give it IS inches, adding that it never drinks, and that the Arabs eat its
flesh roasted. The word d'eb is well known in Algeria; and if it is not the same name as that of
ouran, it applies to a variety closely akin to it. El-ouaran is the name given in the Sahara, throughout
North Africa and Egypt, to the land crocodile of Herodotus, three feet in length occasionally, though
rarely, and whose flesh is thought an antidote to poisons, and the bite of scorpions or vipers.
Geotl'roy St. Hilaire, in his great work on Egypt, says that the Arabs call the iitpinambis arenariu
of Noblet, and the varanus scincus of Merrem, ouaran-el-ard (the land ouaran), in opposition to the
ouaran el-bahr (water crocodile) inhabiting the Nile; and the tupinambit niloticus of Dandin. St. Hilaire
gives the land ouaran a length of from 3 feet to 3^, and a scaly back of a clear brown with square
marks of a pale yellow. Le Grand Desert, p. 385.

NATURAL UISTORY, GEOLOGY, ETC. 4S5

because of two horns that it has above its eyes on the forehead.* Its length is only
50 centimetres (1 foot 7 inches), but its bite is very serious, the natives asserting it to
be often, though not directly, fatal. The means adopted to counteract its effects are
ligature, incisions, sand-baths, and the pounded stem of the broom.

2. The second species is the minute viper, or the vipera brachyura of Cuvier. Its
bite is commonly fatal.

The coast of Algeria produces an abundance of fishes, including the flying-fish, the
hammer-headed shark, and phoca or sea-wolf. Most of them are similar to those on
the opposite side of the Mediterranean. The barbel and eel are the most common river
fish ; in the warm springs at Capsa are beautiful small perch, with chequered fins and
turned-up nose. 1'enna marina is sometimes found in nets ; it is very luminous at night,
and gives sufficient light to show all the other fishes in the same net. Large shoals of
circular fiat polyps with a semicircular ridge obliquely across their back frequent the coast;
and Lamping relates that many soldiers were lost in bathing at Dschidgeli by being
sucked under by these monsters. They are quite surrounded by small suckers, and are
eagerly pursued by tunnies and porpoises.

Amongst the crustaceous fish, shrimps and prawns, and the locusta or long oyster,
are daily brought to market. Varro said that the solitanna, containing 48 quarts, was
found on this coast; and if it really exists there, it would be one of the greatest of
curiosities.

The ostrichf is a native of Africa only, and the largest of struthious birds, though New
Zealand once had her dinormus; but tempora mutantur, 8[C. Rationalism and the critics
are, it seems, to demolish Homer, old Rome, the sea-serpent, and the unicorn ; and we are
amazed at the old world's being so unfashionable and having such bad taste as to deal in
wonders and portents. We wince when nature's monumental fossils force us to admit
that the wisdom of man is foolishness with God.

The ostrich is regarded as the largest of (known) existing birds, six or eight feet high,
with a head and bill somewhat like that of a duck, and the neck like a swan's, but longer.
It measures seven feet from the head to the ground, but only four from the back. From
the top of the head to the end of the tail, when the neck is stretched out in a right line, it
is seven feet in length, the tail being one-seventh of this length, or a foot long. One of
the wings, without the feathers, is one foot and a half long, and stretched out with the
feathers, three feet.

The Arabs train their best horses for the ostrich, which, though very swift, moves in
circles. The hunter follows him for days, and at last the bird tries to hide his head in the
sand or in thickets, and is captured. Sometimes he faces his enemies.

• This snake was known in the remotest antiquity, and depicted on the monuments of Egypt.

t Tile ostrich is among the most interesting inhabitants of Africa. Its Arabic name in the singular
is natna, plur. n'aaih. The male is styled de'lim, the female remda, and the young cherat'a. The
ancient Arabs thought it the offspring of a bird and a camel, calling it bird-camel. Its flexible neck is
."> or 4 feet long ; its legs are naked and as long as its neck ; and its head is bald and flat, with large
eyes and a stupid look. Hence Job says: "God hath deprived her of w'sdom, and hath denied her
understanding." Its flesh is good, yet Moses forbade it as impure. The naam are very common in the
Algerian Sahara; the Arabs take them by pursuing them to leeward on horseback. The nomadic
tribes of Ouled Nails, of the Arbas and Chambas, Xrc, when they come to the Tell, bring many ostrich
spoils and plumes, sold at variable prices in the markets of the interior. The entire spoil of a male
de'lim costs commonly 70 to 80 fr. (3/.) (40 to :>0 boudjous, or 5000 cowries in Soudan). The Arabs
relate many things of the ostrich, many of which have been confirmed by Levaillant and others, e.g
that the male and female practise incubation alternately. One nest contains sometimes GO eggs, as all
the females of one male lay in the same nest. Aristotle had called the ostrich partim avis, partita
qua din pes. It is very muscular, and can break a man's leg with its paw. An English traveller states
that he saw an Arab cross the interior of Africa mounted on one ; and Avanson saw another carrying
two negroes round a village. One female lays 30 to 40 eggs in a season ; and as one egg is 3 lbs. or
.30 fowls' eggs, one ostrich gives an equivalent to 1000 or 1200 fowls' eggs per annum. Here is a good
investment for British capital ! Grand Desert, p. 413.

486

APPENDIX.

The karaburno is a bird of the eagle kind, and of the size of a buzzard. The ems-
eery, or ox-bird, is as large as the curlew, and milk-white, save its bill and legs, which are
of a fine red. This bird eats dung.

The burouroo is the horned spotted owl, found mostly in the desert; and when it comes
north, it is thought to portend some infectious disorder. The shayarag is of the same size
and shape as a jay ; and its back is brown ; belly, head, and neck green.

The houbaara is of the same size as the capon, only with a longer body; feeds on in-
sects and shrubs, and lives in the desert. Its legs are like those of the bustard ; and its
gall, as well as the contents of its stomach, are thought good for sore eyes.

The rhaad, or saf-saf, is a granivorous and gregarious bird, wanting a hind toe. It
consists of two species, the smaller of the size of a pullet, the larger nearly equal in size
to the houbaara, with a black head and a tuft of blue feathers below it. The name rhaad,
signifying thunder, describes the noise that it makes in springing from the ground,
and saf-saf represents the noise that it makes with its wings. The kittawiah is the
lagopus Afric, and resembles the last in its habits : it is of a livid colour, with dark spots ;
it has a red breast, white legs, and a palatable flesh. There is a quail in Algeria of a
lighter colour than the common quail, and without a hinder toe. There are several beau-
tiful varieties of water- fowl in the regency, which our space does not suffer us to describe ;
the genus is generally called brak in that region, which produces a kind of thrush with
very rich plumage. Except in its feet, which are shorter and stronger, it agrees in the
shape of its body and bill with the thrush ; it is not a common bird, coming when the figs
are in season in summer. The Capsa sparrow, among the thick-billed birds, is as large
as the common house-sparrow, and is often seen among the date villages. Its colour is
that of the lark. This bird has a very sweet note, superior even to that of the nightingale ;
but, like other harmonious creatures, it cannot bear exile to the north.*

It is with regret that limited space forces us to give only a brief outline of the geology
of Algeria.

Ancient rocks, consisting chiefly of talcose slates and of gneiss, appear at Algiers and at
Cape Matifou ; you also find there mica slates, slates with tourmalins (lyncurium), some
accidental rocks, crystalline limestone, generally of a slate-colour, but sometimes offering
fine marble, whose ground- tint is white, with yellow and grey veins. Metallic veins may
also be traced there, containing iron ore, manganese, silver and gold, galena ore, and sac-
charoid, or compact baryta of sulphur (baryte sulfate'e).

A very considerable stretch of primitive rocks exists round Bona and Djidjelli ; talcose
slates and micaceous and talcose gneiss appear especially to prevail among them ; granite
is only accidental there, as at Algiers; but a rock with pyroxene, garnets, also with feld-
spars, sphenes, and epidote, forms considerable masses in this district.

A specimen of talcose slate would perhaps indicate the existence of primitive rocks
between Setif and Msila in thecentre of the chain; but it is far removed from any other
similar formation.

The most ancient fossil-bearing districts are found round Bugia, appearing to ap-
proach the inferior Jurassic or oolitic formation, or even the lias; and it is probable that
the same strata extend to the eastof Bugia, in the Babour district, and to the west in that
of Mount Djorjora.

Kinimtridge clay, characterised by ammonites and terebratulae, crops out around
Saida ; its extent was unknown, but was thought to be considerable.

In the east of the province of Constantina formations were met with that seemed allied
to the Jurassic or oolite.

* The reader who wishes for ampler details respecting the Fauna of Algeria is referred to the
Grand Desert of Col. Daumas, and to the Exploration Scientitique. Zoologie.

NATURAL HISTORY, GEOLOGY, ETC. 487

Limestone with hippurites, exclusively formed of compact grey limestone, and cha-
racterised not only by them, hut by different other mollusca and polyps, only begins to
the west near Msila ; it supports the town of Constantina, forms lofty mountains, such as
the Guerioun, the Nif-en-Necer, the Sidi-Jtr'eis, and probably extends into the state of
Tunis, for M. Virlet has observed it at Ras-Adar,* and it exists in Sicily.

That portion of the cretaceous territory which corresponds to green sand and to tufa-
ceous chalk, characterised by a great multitude of fossils of a large size, is composed of
green, grey, and black sand, of compact limestone with green granulations, of compact
grey or black limestones, commonly homogeneous and without fossils, of marls and of
slatey clays, sometimes with black flint.

This is the formation which prevails in the whole extent of Algeria, and probably also
in the states of Tunis and of Morocco.

There is reason to believe that the whole of Mount Aouress consists of it, and conse-
quently the highest mountains in Aigeria, as well as the whole chain, which, starting from
this ridge, runs west-north-west to the neighbourhood of Mecleah.

Going west from the meridian of Algiers, the cretaceous formations are less decidedly
characterised; nor were the same number of fossil shells found there as in the east: the
only way by which you can determine their nature is by some fragments of fossils, and
especially by the great resemblance that they offer to the eastern territory.

This cretaceous formation is remarkable for the intercalation of considerable masses
of gypsum and of mineral salt. ; for veins of carbonated iron, of hematite iron, of galena,
and of (gris) copper.

It also offers great masses of dolomite, but it shares this property with the hippurite
limestone and Jurassic formations. These masses, which irregularly replace the beds of
earth and rock, without causing them to lose their stratification, as happens in the case
of the gypsum, are independent of the age of the strata that they touch.

The presence of gypsum and of mineral salt in the Sahara, for instance, in the neigh-
bourhood of Ouaregla, leaves no doubt that the cretaceous formations, and probably also
the Jurassic formation, extend a great distance to the south.

Nothing has been seen that can be related to genuine chalk ; if it exists at all in
Algeria, it is probably in the plain of Serssou, where M. Bonduelle has noticed a white
chalky formation.

Limestone (with nummulites) is widely spread in Algeria throughout ; it was seen at
Toumiat, half-way from Philippeville to Constantina; it appears to extend into the Ser-
deza, and to the south of Sidi-Tamtam, in the neighbourhood of Sidi-Aica, near Djemila,
in the mountains near Bugia, at Ammale, to the south-east of Algieis, at the Tessala,
between Oran and Tlemsen, and probably to the south of the latter town. Nowhere
was the connection perceived between this limestone and the layers of cretaceous forma-
tion on which it reposes, yet they appear intimately united; the prevailing stratification
in the districts just specified seems to consist exclusively in a compact limestone, almost
always grey, and sometimes white.

A sandstone, without fossils, offering plastic beds of clay and some little pudding-
stones, is tolerably diffused in the east of Algeria ; its age differs little from that of the
limestone (with nummulites), but nowhere could any relation be traced between the two
formations. It is almost always superimposed on the lower chalky ground; but near
Bona and Philippeville it is superimposed on primitive formations. f

This sandstone is thickest at the frontier of Tunis, near La Calle ; it is much spread
throughout the east province, where it often crowns the chalky hills with a thin layer.
The highest point where it was perceived was the summit of the Mayris, which must be
about 1600 metres (5248 feet) above the sea. It is prolonged into the vicinity of Bugia

* Vulgarly Cape Bon ; the name adopted by the Arabs is simply the Berber for foot.

t Resume, Descript. Geol. M. Renou, p. 124. Explor. Scient. Recouvre des Terrains anciens.

488 APPENDIX.

and into the east part of the Mitidja, according to M. Boblaye ; farther on to the west it
could not be found.

M. Boblaye found, south-east of Constantina, between El-Bordj and the plain of
Tembouka, a marly formation, which must be undoubtedly related to the lower tertiary for-
mation. The middle tertiary strata of marine formation are tolerably diffused throughout
Algeria : they exist at Djemila and at Mila, between Constantina and Setif, around Me-
deah, probably in the valley of the Shellif, and near Mascara and Tlemsen, where they
appear to occupy a large surface.*

There is much salt and nitre in Algeria, which is thought to be a great cause of the
fertility of the country. Pliny speaks of bitumen from Numidia used at Carthage. Leo
Africanus mentions two kinds common to the country : one prepared in the Atlas, and
the same as our tar ; the other found in springs, and having a bad smell, which makes i* 1
probable that it is petroleum which is found in the Atlas.

It has appeared to us desirable to throw together in one section the principal facts
relating to the climatology of Algeria ; and as air and water are cousin-germans, and
compounded of the same elements, we shall add a few observations on the hydrography
of the south coast of the Mediterranean.

The following observations were made at the Central Pepiniere on the Bouzareah,

near Algiers :

Temperature.

Degrees of
Months. Reaumur.

January 11-G4

February 12'GS

March 1333

April 15-02

May 19-07

June 21-1)5

Degrees of

Months. Reaumur.

July 24-03

August 24-71

September 22-87

October 20-27

November 16'G2

December ........ 12SG

January is the coldest, August the hottest month ; the extreme of cold being + 1°, and
of heat +45°. The temperature is modified according to the locality; and in Algeria
there is a difference of 2° and 8° between an exposed and a sheltered place ; hence the
importance of planting there, to which the French seem at length alive, after a
druidieal sacrifice of twenty years to fever and sirocco. The ligneous trees of Al-

* The soil is often impregnated with marine salt ; and near the Sahara are some plains (the Sebkas
and Chotts) entirely covered with it. This country also jields much saltpetre.

In many places between Algiers and Douera Blofeld observed immense numbers of fossil shells, and
interior casts of shells, in beds of the tertiary formation ; some parts of the road are made of nothing
else, the most common being the trochus, natica, terebratula, pecten, and corbula. He obtained a
fossil helix. Travellers speak of volcanic traces in the province of Constantina; and the numerous
sulphuric and other mineral springs in that part of the country confirm this. At a short distance from
Aumale (Sour Guzlan), the ancient Auzia, is a fountain called Ain-Kedran, the fountain of tar ; and
the Arabs pretend that it was caused by a miracle, the bitumen proceeding from it being used to anoint
their camels. Hot mineral springs are found at Srama, rather more than a day's journey from Con-
stantina; and all places called Hammam (baths) have similar springs. The soil at those spots is
volcanic, particularly at Hammam Meskoutcen, a place situated among deserts, rocks, gloomy forests,
&c. The Hammam is a large valley, -with boiling springs, on a gentle declivity. From the fountain
issues a mixture of hot water, bitumen, and sulphur, which boils up through a circular opening about
two feet in diameter.

The crater (that is, the opening above mentioned) offers arragonites of various shapes, such as stars,
mushrooms, needles, &C. They approach marly to the zoolite, and, similarly with it, they become ge-
latine in nitrous acid. This spot also yields beautiful stalactites of sulphur ami native vitriol. In the
most boiling part of the springs, the mercury rises to 20.'J degrees Fab. There are also, at the same
place, several ancient craters, almost, in some places entirely, choked up. Shrill and deep sounds
continually proceed from these holes, which the Arabs believe to be the music of the jenoune, or
fairies, who are supposed to live there and occasion them.

NATUBAI HISTORY, GEOLOGY, ETC. 189

geria may be divided climatically into three categories ; the first belonging to a
more northern zone, the second to a more southern zone, the third purely indigenous.
The first contains the trees that are annuals, growing chiefly in damp soil, /'. e. ash, elm,
&c. The second are the monocotyledons and succulent plants — dates, agaves, cactuses,
&c. The third are the evergreens — carobs, olives, cork, &c. suited to bear wind, drough!,
and atmospheric aridity.

A remarkable phenomenon in Algeria is the tendency of the trees generally to spread
rather than rise ; proving that there is, at a certain height, a stratum of hot air from the
desert, saying, like republican France to the Hungarian hero, il est defemlu to advance.
Pines, poplars, and all trees, have had to bow to this gulf-stream of the atmosphere.
The northern and western face of the slopes is covered with stunted shrubs, owing to
the pernicious action of the polar current. It is on the south-east declivities that you
have the best growth of timber, as the trees are there sheltered from the north-west ;
and though the sun's rays dart fiercely on them, humidity lasts there longer. The cur-
rent from the Sahara does not strike these privileged spots, being forced to rise and leap
the ridge. The sheltered fields yield most grain ; hence on all accounts, above all for
irrigation, the cultivation of timber-trees ought to figure as one-third in the agriculture
of Algeria.*

* With regard to the vegetation admissible in Algeria, like the Himalaya, it has a wide range.
Equatorial trees from the sea-level would clearly not stand the cold of Algeria; but equatorial
trees growing at an elevation of 1622'SS metres (5323-(H(H feet) have a climate like that of Algiers ;
and a sliding-scale retrenching 47ms. (154-1G feet) per degree, as you go north, would give the tro-
pical trees suited to the climate of the Regency.

The northern limit of plants cultivable in Algeria is about fifty degrees, including apples, &c.

The climatological phenomena are analysed into two distinct divisions: winter, cold and wet;
summer, hot and dry. The winter season receives the whole year's rain, and yields cereals. The
water that falls, amounting to about a metre (39 inches), is evaporated or absorbed by the end of May,
through Turkish apathy and French science; and then all herbaceous vegetation ceases.

The hot season is condemned to sterility; yet the plants might thrive then best, if common sense,
concord, and energy guided government and people; but razzias and bivouacs are not agricultural as-
sociations, and the bayonet is seldom allied to the plough.

Timber-trees alone thrive in summer, as they strike their roots down to the humid soil under the
parched crust. The blessing of this country, rain, is its curse, through human folly. More rain falls
on the hills than in the plains; but the naked ridges absorb no water, which runs down in useless
unnavigable streams to the sea, or stagnates in poisonous marshes, condemning the gallant praetorian
bands of imperial France and its famous or infamous blouses to mourir pour In palrie among the
es of agricultural colonies. Xot so did Roman and Pagan wisdom treat her sons, military and
civil. But then we are Christians, and the French monarch is very Christian ; and as long as his
uncle's ashes are well lodged in the Invalids or St. Denis, little does the Gallic Czar care for holocausts
of innocents massacred on the boulevards or poisoned in the marshes of Algeria or Cayenne.

That we are not indulging in exaggeration, will be evident from the following extract from Daw-
son Borrer : " From May until September the oppressive desert wind sweeps at intervals across Alge-
ria, varying in force and intensity of heat. Its approach is announced by reddish mists hanging
about the mountain-tops to the south. Wild blasts of wind then succeed, scorching up all vegetable
productions; the air is impregnated with fine sand brought from the wide Sahara; and a suffocating
heat pervades the atmosphere, which now assumes a kind of copper-colour. Man is struck with an
enfeebling sensation, and a general aching of the limbs ensues. Upon delicate systems the effect of
this wind is often very severe; and let not the traveller, however good his constitution, sally forth
when the signs of such a visitation are in the heavens; for it is a cruel task to man and beast to
journey whilst this demon of the desert sports around him" (p. 199).

When the climate is not healthy, it is to be accounted for by the vicinity of the marshes, or the
choked-up course of the rivers, from which the heat of the sun draws a malaria engendering fevers,
agues, and other diseases, the prevalence of which might easily be prevented in most parts by drain-
ing the marshes, and opening proper issues for the waters of the rivers, the channels of which have
for so many ages been neglected. The Romans undoubtedly paid great attention to this great cause of
unhealthiness. Across the vast plain of Mitidja, before Algiers, may be traced the line of a great
Roman drain, running from the eastern to the western limits of the plain, which, with the aid of nu-
merous tributary drains, served to carry off the stagnant waters of the plain, thus rendering it healthy
and fertile ; instead of being, as it now is, again in great part occupied by vast pestilential marshes
productive of good to none but surly pigs and panthers. Borrer, p. 199.

490 APPENDIX.

It is a stupendous effort of intellect that has led French official documents to admit
that Algeria can only be rendered as fertile as it ought to be, on condition that they cover a
third of its surface with wood, and convert its water-power exclusively to the purposes of
irrigation. Two eminent French writers had told them these facts years ago, extending
them to the globe; but one advocated slavery in the colony, and the other was a socialist.*
Roman and Arabic genius and industry had led the way, and their monuments existed;
but the archrsologists preferred poring over illegible stones, and quarrelling in the
Academy of Inscriptions ; and meanwhile soldiers and colonists were sacrificed to the
liberty, fraternity, and equality of a Jesuit republic.

* Baron Baude and Charles Fourier. Blofeld, p. 107. Tableau, 1850, p. 285. See the Explor.
Scient., Sciences Physiques, &c. for further particulars respecting the atmospheric, electric, and other
physical phenomena of Algeria. For the numismatics and coinage of Barbary, see Berbrugger, part
iii. end.

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Questions for Examination.

700 HISTORICAL QUESTIONS, adapted to Mrs. Markham's
"History of England," &c. By M. M. Harris. Third Edition. Price Is.

776 MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS on Mrs. Markham's "History
of France." By M. L. Bennett. Price Is.

400 QUESTIONS ON ANCIENT AND MODERN GEOGRAPHY ;

to be answered from Maps. By M. M. Harris. Third Edition. Price Gd.

KEY to the Histoi'ical and Geographical Questions. Is. 6d.

QUESTIONS ON THE GOSPELS AND ACTS; to be answered in
Writing, in the words of Scripture. To which are added Questions
adapted to Nicholls' " Help to the Reading of the Bible." By M. M.
Harris. Price 9d.

Rowbotham's Pocket French Dictionary,

1857.

Part I., French— English. Part II., English— French. The Two Parts,
stroligly bound in One Volume, and containing nearly GOO and closely
printed pages, 3s. 6d.

School Stationers and Booksellers, 150, Alder sgate Street, London.

The Art of Land Surveying. 3rd Edition.

Explained by Short and Easy Rules. By John Quested, Surveyor.
Illustrated by nearly 200 Diagrams and Plans. Third Edition, 12ino.
price 3s. 6d. Particularly adapted for the use of Schools.

This Edition, greatly enlarged and otherwise improved, has been placed on the List
of Books of the Government Committee of Council of Education.

The work is intended not only for the use of Schools, but is so arranged as to enable
Farmers, Stewards, and others to acquire a practical knowledge of the Art, without the
aid of a Master. The examples given are of almost every varied form of inclosures,
with the methods of measuring, mapping, and computing their quantities, setting out
cants in woods and fields, cost of fencing, system of estimating the quantities of fodder-
stacks, mixens, &c.

Questions on the Doctrines of the Gospel ;

With Answers in the Language of Holy Scripture. For the Use of
Schools and Families. Price 9d.

French Orthographical Exercises,

On the plan of Hopkins's Orthographical Exercises, designed to illustrate
Certain Rules, either totally omitted in Grammar, or only cursorily
noticed : with Copious Examples of Words differing in Orthography but
similar in Pronunciation. By C. W. Heckethorn, Professor of French
and German at Cambrian House, Ryde, Isle of Wight. 18mo. price Is. 6d.

" A very ingenious work. Teachers will find it suggestive ; pupils will like it for the
mental activity it excites. We wish it a success that may encourage the author to
further studies of the same useful tendency."— Educational Times.

" The idea is a good one, and it is ingeniously worked out." — Critic.

Rev. J. T.Dobney's School Prayers. 5th Edit.

A Formulary of Devotion for the Use of Schools, after the manner
of the Book of Common Prayer, both Pupils and the Principal
taking their part, composed chiefly in the Language of Scripture, and
arranged for Each Day (Morning and Evening) of the Week. To which
are added, a few Short Prayers for Special Occasions. By the Rev.
J. T. Dobney. Price One Shilling and Sixpence.

EXTRACT FROM PREFACE.

" The great aim in family devotion should be to kindle a feeling corresponding to its
solemnity and importance.

" Whether this object be effected by the service being restricted to the Principal, may
admit of some doubt ; but if the result of a long intercourse with youth, and familiarity
with their habits and conduct, may warrant the Author to give an opinion, he would say,
that the absence of that feeling is but too manifest in the ordinary method of conducting
the devotions of a School.

" Not that he can imagine, that the best written form can supply the place of the spirit
of supplication, but he has too frequently been compelled to observe, that where the
pupils themselves do not take a part in those devotions, in which they are supposed to
be interested, they think that they are exempt from attending to them with the serious-
ness befitting the occasion, and that it is only from the Principal that such a disposition
is expected.

" Jt, is therefore with a view to remedy this defect, and to render the devotions of a
School more in unison with the nature of Christian worship, that the Author has
prepared the following pages."

4-£

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