Four Months in Algeria: with a visit to Carthage ... With maps, and illustrations after photographs

Front matter

FOUR MONTHS IN ALGERIA E. CLAY, FRIKTER, LONDON, Arabs of the Province of Oran FOUR MONTHS IN ALGERIA: WITH A VISIT TO CAETHAGE. BY THE REV. JOSEPH WILLIAMS BLAKESLEY, VICAR OF WARE, HERTS; AND SOMETIME FELLOW AND TUTOR OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS AFTER PHOTOGRAPHS. MACMILLAN AND CO. AND 23, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON. I859. [The right of Translation, is reserved.] NOTICE. The volume here offered to the Public contains some account of a very curious country, which notwithstanding its ready accessibility is little known in England. The author was compelled, at a short notice, to seek refuge from the inclemency of an English winter and spring ; and while profiting by the genial climate of North Africa, endeavoured to turn his banishment from England to such account as was possible for a convalescent. Much remains unnoticed to reward the curiosity of an ordinary traveller at the cost of very little hardship or danger. PAGE 1 CONTENTS.

Chapter I

Voyage from Marseilles — Optical Phenomenon — Algiers from the Sea — Mixed Population — Hotels of Algiers — Extensive View — Accommodation for Invalids — Climate of Algiers — Mildness of Winter — South Winds the coldest — Advantages of Oran . . . . .

Chapter II

Town of Algiers — Traces of .Roman Town — Limit of its Size — Ancient Remains excavated — The Fauxbourg Bab-Azoun — Moorish Streets — Interior of Houses — Splendour of Interiors — Specimens still existing — The Kazbah of Algiers ruined in the Invasion — Interior of Mosques — Court of the Kadi — The Marabouts of Barbary — Their numerous Tombs — Growth of Legends — Endowment of Chapelries — Impoverished Population — Mosque of Sidi Abd-er-Bahman — Garden of Marengo ■ — Monuments to Napoleon — Distaste of the natives for French Civilisation — Theatre and Club 13

Chapter III

Neighbourhood of Algiers — Pointe Pescade — Cape of the Ruins — Passage round the Cape — Spanish Settlers — Savage Dogs — Energy of the Clergy — Liberality of first Bishop — Sisters of Charity — Fever in Summer — Orphan Schools of Agriculture CONTENTS. PAGE — Protestants and Jews — Moorish Shops — Moorish and Arab Headdresses — Oppression of Jews— Ritual of Jews — Varied Type of Face — Singular Custom perhaps of Pagan Origin — The Aissaoua — Descendants of the Psylli — Are professed Exorcists, but really Jugglers — Serpent Eaters — Are still believed in 37

Chapter IV

Ascent of the Sahel — Buined Moorish Villas — Bouzarieh — Peninsula of Sidi Ferudje — The French Invasion, how effected — Arab Cavalry — Battle of Staoueli — Battle of Sidi Kalis — Plateau of Fontaine Chapelle — Disordered Advance of the French — Arab Communism — Valley of the Consuls — El Biar — Attack of the Fort of the Emperor — Surrender of Algiers 62

Chapter V

Moorish Cemeteries destroyed — Boad-making of the French across the Sahel — Birkadem — Boads across the Metidja — Want of Stone — Botanical Garden — Cultivation of Sugar — Line of Military Camps — Clerical Establishments — Failure of Agricultural Colony — Disgraceful Conduct of Land Jobbers — Ford of the Harash — Scarcity of Fuel — Bovigo and L'Arba, — Orange Groves — Cultivation of the Metidja — Agricultural Beturns — Fever prevalent at L'Arba — Causes of Unhealthy Villages — A Fatal Invention — Landlords and Tenants — Capitalists of Algiers — A Model Tenant — Fonduck — A perfectly happy Man — Predominance of Spaniards — Schools at Fonduck — Extensive Cultivation — Wild Boars — An Arab Prison — Irrigated Gardens 79

Chapter VI

Bouffarik — General Lamoriciere — Camp d'Erlon — Blidah — Cultivation of Tobacco— Gorge of the Chiffa — Dangerous Road — Mudlike Soil — Passage of the Biban — Arab Outbreak — Medeah —Mines of Mouzaia — Visit to the Teniat— Battle of the CONTENTS. IX PAGE Teniat — View from the Teniat — Tomb of the Queen a Mauritanian Monument — Visit to Great Kabylie — Cross the Metidja — Wild Beasts — Market on the Isser — Marshy Plains — Caravanserais — Hospitable Frenchmen — Valley of the Sebaou — Fort of Tizi-Ouzou — Kabyle Farming — Subjugation of Kabylie — Market of Tizi-Ouzou — A Frank Marabout — Military Tenure of Land — Quarrels of the Kabyles — Their Original Stock — Their Government— Their Personal Character — French Troops in Bivouack — Their Order and Helpfulness — Admirable Discipline of a Part of the Army — Military Punishment — Note on Kabyle Language Ill

Chapter VII

The Western Province — Coasting Voyage — View of Coast — Harbourless Sea — View of Cherchell— Its Capture by the French — Tenez — Coast of the Dahra — Arrival at Oran — Its Acquisition by France — Uncertain Policy of the Government — Evil of Concessions — Population of Oran — Geological Character of the Neighbourhood of Oran — Besemblance to the Sahel — Life on the Borders — Hospitality of French Officers — Journey to Tlemcen — Savageness of an Arab Tribe — Horrible Bo ute — African Charioteering — Occupation of Tlemcen — Frontier Warfare — Bough-handed Justice — The Mechouar of Tlemcen — Bise of Abd-el-Kader — Abd-el-Kader at Tlemcen — ■ The French break with him — Defeat at the Makta — Expedition to Maskara — Disastrous Eetreat — Cavaignac in the Mechouar — His heroic Bravery and Magnanimity — Destruction of Tlemcen — Bemains of Native Town — Magnitude of Ancient City — The Mansourah — Walls of Artificial Concrete — Traces of former Greatness — Arab Hockey — Tomb of Sidi- Bou-Medine — Arab School — Government Breeding Stable- Diet of Barbary Horses — Their special Merits — Ain-Temouchent — Lions and Panthers — Copper Mines of Sebdou . . . 152

Chapter VIII

Journey to Maskara — Failure of Communistic Experiment — Approach to Maskara — Trade of Maskara — Growth of the Vine — Delays in Administration — Route to Mostaganem— High Plateaux of Limestone — Descent on El Borj —Reception PAGE CONTENTS. by the Agha — Castle of a Native Chief— An Arab Warden of the Marches — Arab Sumptuousness — Frost in the Mountains — Effect of the Rains — A Fever-stricken Caravanserai — Endu rance of African Soldiers — Mostaganem — 111 Success of French Settlers— State of Morals — Visit to Mazagran — French Feat of Arms — An Ill-fated Monument— Souk-el-Mitou — Enormous Olive-Trees— Valley of the Cheliff— Traces of the Emperor Hadrian— Carelessness of French Antiquaries — Visit to St. Leu — Remains of Arsenaria — Difficulty of Searching — Moun tain of Lions — Harsh Treatment of Natives — Sebkah of Arzew — Return to Algiers — Note on the Kouskous .... 203

Chapter IX

Visit to Eastern Province — The Atlas Eanges— The Middle Atlas— Elevated Plateau — Begion of Marshes— Drainage by the Cheliff — Difficulty of Communication — Dellys — Bougie — Boman Towns on the Coast — Djidjelli — Collo — Anchorage of Stora — Bemains of Busicada — Ancient Becords of Vulgarity — Neighbourhood of Philippeville — Civil and Military Territory — Panic of a Kabyle Girl — Deserted Villages — Site of Philippeville — Earthworks made by Soldiers — A Port wanted — Jemappes — Numbers of Wild Boars and Lions — A Disappointment — A Sociable Lion — Kabyle Gallantry — Arab Victim of French Swindling —An unpromising Domestic 239

Chapter X

Journey to Constantine — Village of St. Antoine — Parisian Colonists — Grafting of Wild Olives — El Hamma — Approach to Constantine — Noble Site of the City — Horrors of the Storming — Vast Remains of Antiquity — The City by Night — The Beni- Mozabites — Mahometan Quakers — Commercial Spirit — An Arab Wedding — Tomb of Præcilius — Portentous Latinity of a prosperous Cirta Banker — Kabyle Market — Red Salt — Blind Beggars — Extreme Fertility — Falls of the Rummel — Gorge of the Rummel— Bridge destroyed — Siphon of the Aqueduct — Jews of Constantine — Mahometan Teachers — Military and Civilians — French Subalterns — French Schools without Boys' Games CONTENTS. XI PAGE

Chapter XI

Journey to Batna — Ouled-Eamoum — Salt Lakes — The Grazing Season — Arrival at Batna — A Bad Lodging — Penitentiary of Lambessa — Treatment of Inmates — Political Prisoners — Impossibility of Escape — Remains of the Roman Camp and Town — Triple Gateway — Ancient Subalterns' Club — Officers' Ring-money— The Status of the Soldier — Dread of Evil Omens — Timber-trade of Batna — Mountaineers of the Aures as yet unsubdued — Ancient Numidian Monument — The Madrasen a Fire Temple — Search for Treasure— Cold Nights on the Plateau — Journey to Milah, a Roman Station— Reception by the Kaid — Arab Hospitality — Vanity in Age — Effects of Fasting — Observance of the Ramadan a chief point of Religion 300

Chapter XII

Journey to Guelma — Breeding Grounds of the Tribes — Savage Dogs — Mules and Camels — Geological Phenomenon — Fall from a Mule — Limestone Cliffs — Women's Tents — Mixture of Languages — A Bivouack in Prospect — A Friend in Need — Strange Quarters — Hammam Meskoutin — Incorrect Information — Mineral Springs of Extraordinary Efficacy — Ancient Boutes — Boman Baths still used — Extremely Fertile Valley — Guelma the Ancient Calama — Beauty of the Site — Arab Coffee-crushing — Market of Guelma — Depreciation of Horses — Bemains of Calama — Effects of an Earthquake — Pagan Biots at Calama — Appeal to St. Augustine — Healthy Neighbourhood of Guelma — Journey to Bona — Wild Boars and Lions — Descent upon Bona — Site of Ancient Hippo — Military Prison at Bona — Excellent Discipline — Ancient Cisterns at Hippo — Mouth of Biver closed — Tomb of St. Augustine — Search for the Aqueduct — Iron Mines— Want of a Port 332

Chapter XIII

Voyage to Tunis — Pilgrims to Mecca — Ruffianism of French Sailors — Hotels at Tunis — Jewish Tax-farmers — Interior of Tunis — Its Reputation for Healthiness — Trade with the Interior — Expedition to Carthage — Hill of St. Louis — The Small CONTENTS. XII PAGE Cisterns — The Byrsa and Magaria — The Cothon — Probable Alteration of Level in the Neighbourhood — Topography given by Polybius and Appian — Defence of Carthage like that of Sebastopol — Success of the Besieged — The Magaria — The Great Cisterns — The Aqueduct — French Collections — English Exca vations — Appian a Guide for the Topographer — Operations of Scipio — His Winter Campaign — Attack on the Cothon and the Byrsa — Limits of the Byrsa in the First and Last Days — Djebel Gomart — Djebel Khawee — General View of Carthage — Remains of Amphitheatre — Procopius's Account of the Vandal War — The Lake in his Time not used as a Harbour — Destruction of the Aqueduct 373

Chapter XIV

Cost of Algeria— Permanent Works — Products of Algeria — European Immigration — Spaniards and Maltese — Arab Emigrants from Spain the Originators of Piracy — The Turkish Dynasty a Military Oligarchy — The Moors and Koulouglis a Subject Class— Administration by the Deys and their Satraps —Government of the Tribes dependent on Algiers — Internal Administration of the Town— Injudicious Policy after the Conquest — French Administration at the Present Time — The New Constitution of Algeria — Return to a System already found to fail — Note on European Population of Algeria . .415 DIRECTIONS TO BINDER. Map or Algeria. Arabs of the Province of Oran Frontispiece. Part of the Mansourah at Tlemcen y0 face lg2 Roman Remains of Lambessa .>.., Ancient Numidian Monument near Batna qoq Site of Ancient Carthage „„„ Carthage taken from the Deck of Steamer ong Carthage taken from the Hill of the Catacombs 4437 Sections of Routes at E d FOUR MONTHS IN ALGERIA.

Chapter I

The communication between the two continents of Europe and Africa is at the present time as easy and as regular as that between England and Belgium was twenty years ago. Twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays, excellent steamers belonging to the Messageries Imperiales leave Marseilles for Algiers. Besides these, a steamer belonging to a private French company leaves each port every Thursday. These latter vessels are not quite so speedy as the packetboats, as they are built to carry merchandise, and consequently they enjoy less popularity with the travelling public. In one of them, however, I embarked on the 31st of December, 1857. The sky was clear, and the sea like a mill-pond ; a balmy breeze, such as one is favoured with on a fine early September day in England, blew gently from the B VOYAGE FROM MARSEILLES. south-west, and the barometers predicted the con tinuance of calm weather.

Under such circumstances, no one who has ever experienced sea-sickness will hesitate to choose a bdtiment de commerce just about to put to sea in preference to the prospect of a mail steamer forty-eight hours later. At one o'clock the Kabyle passed the Marseilles lightbouse, carrying twelve or fourteen deck and second cabin passengers, but only myself in the chief cabin. I was well con tent to accept the dulness of my solitary state in consideration of ths comfort incident to being tbe sole candidate for a berth, although the fineness of the weather rendered the advantages of the position less conspicuous than might have been the case. The accommodation was in every respect quite as good as that on board the mail-boats, and the captain, an intelligent, courteous, and apparently skilful seaman, made our tete-a-tete dinners and break fasts as pleasant as could be desired, and furnished me with several pieces of information which I found very useful when I first landed in Africa.

While watching the receding shore of Europe with that interest which exile, although only for a few months, invariably inspires, I was surprised by a phenomenon which at the instant appeared very strange, although a few minutes' reflection dispelled all asto nishment. As the hills surrounding Marseilles disappeared, they were succeeded by what seemed to OPTICAL PHENOMENON. 3 be high cliffs coming down to the water's edge. We were at the time some five and thirty miles from the land, and the appearance was not unlike that of the English cliffs when one is six or seven miles out at sea. I thought at first there must be some optical delusion, but on taking the bearings carefully, and referring to the map, the mystery was explained. The " cliffs " were the high Alpine summits, covered with their eternal snows, distant from the deck of the steamer more than one hundred miles.

From my point of view, the whole space really intervening between the sea horizon and these summits had vanished away, and they themselves appeared thrown forward, as it seemed, quite near. They continued, especially two of them, growing higher and higher, slightly illuminated, half an hour after the upper edge of the sun had sunk in the sea, and it was not till five o'clock that they altogether disappeared. Had the steamer left Marseilles an hour earlier, they would no doubt have been visible at even a greater distance. At nine o'clock on new year's morning we sighted Minorca, and during the day were passing through the channel which separates that island from Majorca. While about two leagues off the former, we were met by the packet from Algiers, the first vessel we had seen since quitting the shores of France, as the ordinary course of ships proceeding up or down the Mediterranean lies to the south of the Balearic islands.

B ALGIERS FROM THE SEA. At sunset we lost sight of Majorca, being then about one hundred and fifty miles from Algiers, in the harbour of which we dropped our anchor at nine o'clock, on the 2d of January, after a prosperous voyage of forty-four hours. The town of Algiers, on approaching it from the north, looks at a distance as if it stood on a kind of platform let down from a high range of hills behind. This apparent peninsula is the Sahel, a mountainous boss, wliich immediately backs the town, and the high range behind is the Northern or Lesser Atlas, as it is commonly although not very properly called. Between the Sahel and the Atlas is an extensive plain, the Metidja, the concealment of which from the eye of a spectator approaching the land causes the optical deception just noticed. I had heard a great deal of the beauty of the coup d'œil, and was a little disappointed at not recognising at once the truth of the Arab comparison of Algiers to a diamond set in a frame of emerald.

But that idea, as I after wards found, was suggested by the distant view of the town from the east, when the dazzling white of the houses, all massed together, contrasts strikingly with the luxuriant vegetation of early spring. Neither the direction in which I had approached, nor the season of the year, allowed the production of this effect. The houses in the immediate neighbourhood of the sea are all built by the French in the style MIXED POPULATION. 5 of architecture to which they are accustomed, with large windows opening on the street, and green blinds outside, as different as possible from the white washed wall, pierced with one or two loopholes, which characterises the external appearance of the Moorish dwellings. The aspect of the hills around seemed very little different from the opposite shore of the Mediterranean ; but they were studded with white specks of villages and country houses as far as the eye could reach, and, not being aware that many of these were ruins, I concluded that I was about to enter a thickly peopled and prosperous country.

A number of boats, each with a barefooted Moor in it, surrounded the steamer ■ and as soon as the official of the Sanitary Board, whose visits are not dispensed with in any case, had pronounced a favourable verdict, I was conveyed in one to the neighbourhood of the Porte de la Marine, and landed on the quay amid a crowd which seemed, both to eye and ear, composed of every nation under heaven. Half-naked negroes from Biskra, and swarthy Arabs from the more immediate neighbourhood, contended with figures in European costume, but of no lighter com plexion, for the honour of carrying my portmanteau, and urged their respective claims in Arabic, Spanish, Italian, Provencal, and English. A single French man appeared, — the commissionaire of the hotel to which I was bound. Making myself over to the HOTELS OF ALGIERS. 6 disposal of this functionary, and freighting two Maltese with my baggage, I mounted the ascent which, no long time back, had been trodden by thousands of Christian captives ; assured the Custom-house officer at the top that I was importing no eggs, poultry, bread, fruit, or other article subject to octroi; and after a walk of about five minutes under arcades something like those of the streets in Bern, emerged upon a handsome place, on the opposite side of which I recognised the Hotel d'Orient.

This had attracted my attention from the deck of the Kabyle by its obviously good situation and its name blazoned in letters of two feet long upon the cornice of its facade. I found, however, that the " hotel" only commenced with the third story of the edifice, that there were no bedrooms lower than the fourth, and that on this all were occupied ; and I was obliged to content myself with a small chamber and dressing-room on the fifth floor, which, in fact, consisted of a few apartments built above the original roof of the house. In three or four days, however, the departure of some guests placed a good-sized room on the floor below at my disposal, and in it I found myself sufficiently comfortable to remain for two months. The paucity of good hotel accommodation is a serious drawback to Algiers as a residence for invalids, especially where the lungs are supposed to be affected.

The Hotel d'Orient is in the best situation, and the EXTENSIVE VIEW. 7 rooms are airy and with an excellent aspect. Mine looked to the East, across the bay, upon Cape Matifou. Beyond this appeared the point of land behind which lay Dellys and the hills of the Great Kabylie, among which rose one or two peaks of Djerjera, the highest summits of the Northern Atlas, covered with eternal snow. In front was the harbour of Algiers, and just to the left the rock, once an island and now connected with the main by a cause way of stone, on which the lighthouse stands. Im mediately below I looked down on the Place Royale, an irregular shaped esplanade, of which the side towards the sea, closed only by a dwarf balustrade, serves as the rendezvous of the trading community, as well as the promenade of the fashionables of Algiers.

Here a new comer finds an ample fund of amusement for the trouble of only looking out of his window. Arabs in their white bournouses, Jews in their bagging knee-breeches and blue-black turbans, Moorish women enveloped in white veils and white trowsers, leaving no part of their persons visible but the eyes and the stockingless feet, are mixed up in a dense throng with cloaked Spaniards, Zouaves, French officers, and ladies in the newest Parisian costume. A military band plays in the Place two or three days in the week, and troops are often paraded there. But these attractions are soon more than compensated by the fatigue of having to mount so high, wliich in ACCO-MMODATION lull INVALIDS. some cases of ailment would be impossible. But in this respect the Hotel de la Regence and the Maison Garnie, over the Cafe d'Apollon, which alone are equal to the Hotel d'Orient in situation, are no better.

The Hotel de Paris is well managed and the charges reasonable ; but there is not an apartment in it from which a view of the sea can be obtained. It is, however, less lofty than the others. A new house, the Hotel de l'Europe, is clean, and for a decided invalid is perhaps the most to be recommended ; but the charges are very high, and the situation incon venient. An Englishman of the name of Thurgar has likewise established a boarding-house about a mile out of the town. Nowhere, however, as far as I could learn, would an invalid find the comforts that await him in the towns of Southern Europe which are resorted to for the sake of their climate. The best course for such a one would be to bring with him one or two confidential servants, and to hire a furnished house in the neighbourhood. Apartments are rare, but they also are to be had occasionally in good situations.

I would recommend any English man in want of them to state his need to M. Lary, apd/issier in the Rue Bab-Azoun, whose skill in his art is only surpassed by his civility and attention to his customers, and from whom they will gain in formation of any rooms likely to be vacant. The porter at the Hotel de la Regence likewise keeps CLLMATE OF ALGIERS. 9 a list of lodgings to be let, and so do some of the shopkeepers in the town ; but a good deal of caution is requisite before engaging anything, especially if the hirer has a lady in his party. There is usually a great deal of rain at 4\lgiers during the months of November, December, January, and February ; iu the present year the two latter months followed the ordinary rule. In January there were sixteen, and in February seventeen days upon which rain fell.

But of these there were very few in which it was not possible to take exercise out of doors for a considerable time. A storm generally gives some notice of its approach if the barometer is consulted. I never found the aneroid which I used — one constructed by Lerebour and Secretan of Paris — fail to give me warning, although it did once or twice raise a false alarm. It was my habit to observe it, and the dry and wet bulbs of a psychrometric thermometer by the same manufacturers, four times a day, at 8 a.m. and 2, 6, and 11 p.m.; and I soon became enough of a weather-prophet to take long walks and rides in the neighbourhood without ever getting more than one wetting, — which after all I should have escaped had I not unfortunately had a sluggish horse, and forgotten to put on spurs on leaving home.

There is very little of the drizzling wet w7eather to which we are accustomed in England. The rain, when it falls at all, falls in pailfuls, ploughing deep furrows MILDNESS OF WINTER. in the soft friable stone of the steep hills which surround Algiers, and washing away the unmetalled roads which wind up them. On a level, the imme diate result is the production of a deep soft mud, in which one sinks above the ankles. But a very few hours of sun dry up the soil, and a day or two converts the mud to dust. Between the periods of storm rains, too, there is generally an interval of two or three days of quite settled weather; and during these, excursions may be made to a distance of thirty or thirty-five miles even by a valetudinarian. Before the end of February I bad crossed the Metidja in four different directions, and had traversed on foot or on horseback every portion of the Sahel, — the hilly country of the Littoral, which separates the Metidja from the sea.

The temperature of the atmosphere was that of an English May or June. On most days I could sit writing or reading in my room with the window open without feeling in the least chilly, although there was no carpet, and nothing to keep my feet from the stuccoed floor but a small mat made of the halfa-grass. The greatest observed height of the thermometer in my apartment during the month of January was 02° Fahrenheit, the lowest 54°, and the greatest variation in any one day only 7°. This occurred on the 5th of the month ; and on no other day did the variation amount to 5°. In February the greatest observed height was 66°, the lowest 5G°, and SOUTH WINDS THE COLDEST. 11 the maximum variation in any one clay less than 2>\° . The most generally prevailing wind was that from the north-west, which is invariably mild and refreshing as regards its temperature, although sometimes too violent for a decided invalid.

The only days which I found formidable were those in which the wind blew from a. southern quarter, after much moisture had been precipitated. This, which had descended on the Sahel in the form of rain, fell on the high plateaux of the Atlas in that of snow, and the blast from the south passing over the latter struck most piercingly whenever an ascent of the Sahel brought one within its range. The greatest peril which an invalid has to encounter during an Algerian winter undoubtedly arises from this cause. The snow on the high plains does not melt in general till the month of March ; and while it remains, it is extremely inexpedient for him to remove from the shelter which the Sahel affords, unless he sees a good steady breeze setting from the northwards. As the hills come close down to the sea, there is on fine days a constant temptation to be imprudent in this respect ; and the better the health of the patient, the more does he repine at being confined in taking his exercise to a single road, which is in fact all that is compatible with safety under such circumstances.

Indeed my ow7n experience would lead me to prefer Oran, the chief town of the western province, to Algiers, as a domicile for the winter. ADVANTAGES OF ORAN. Much less rain falls there; and the plateaux inland are not only considerably lower than in the meridian of Algiers, but further removed from the coast. The pedestrian can get away from the town without the exertion of climbing a steep ascent of seven or eight hundred feet ; and although the surrounding country is inferior in beauty to the immediate neighbourhood of Algiers, it possesses perhaps greater interest for the botanist and geologist, and is particularly well adapted for horse-exercise. TOWN OF ALGIERS. 13

Chapter II

The lower part of Algiers has been almost entirely rebuilt since the French occupation ; and the introduction of European architecture has not been favourable to picturesque effect. The Place Royale may be considered as the centre of the modern town. Two streets, the Rue Bab-el-Oued (Water Gate) and the Rue Bab-Azoun (Gate of Grief), lead out of it, the former in a northerly the latter in a southerly direction, to the site of the gates from which they took their names. They are composed of houses four or five stories in height, built over arcades. This is the case also with the Rue de la Marine, by which all travellers arriving by sea are obliged to pass. In some few instances the Moorish buildings have been retained in this locality, but in most cases their entire destruction was requisite in order to carry out the line of street according to the French notions of architectural pro priety ; and those which were suffered to remain have been more or less altered.

The great mosque (Djemmaa Kebir) which stands in the Rue de la TRACES OF ROMAN TOWN. Marine, has in front of it a colonnade taken from another mosque which was destroyed in forming the Place Royale. But the direction of the street com pelled the adoption of a broken line in setting it up again, and the effect is extremely painful to the eye. An incidental result of making these new streets was to lay bare the foundations of the old Roman town, Icosium, on the site of which modern Algiers is built ; and to show how, in ages far remote from one another, similar conditions almost always produce similar arrangements. A Eoman street led up from the port as the Rue de la Marine does at the present time, and, compelled by the obstacle offered by the hill, divided itself into two branches corresponding very nearly with the new streets, and like them terminating at the Bab-el-Oued and Bab-Azoun.