Algeria as it is

Front matter

ALGERIA 'No man,' saith Lipsius in an epistle to Phil. Lannius, a noble friend of his, now ready to make a voyage, ' can be such a stock or stone, whom that pleasant speculation of countries, cities, towns, rivers will not affect ' Bitrton's Anatomy of Melancholy ALGERIA AS IT IS BY GEORGE GASKELL AUTHOR OF * DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES OF ITALIAN TOWNS* ' THE TRAITOR, A DRAMA ' 'POLITICAL MOVEMENT IN AUSTRIA IN 1848 AND 1849 TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN ETC. LONDON SMITH, ELDER, & CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE 1875 {All rights rcstrvtd\ TO MY BELOVED WIFE THE INSEPARABLE COMPANION OF MY JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE WHO IS ASSOCIATED WITH ALL THAT MAKES ITS PATH HAPPY I OFFER THESE RECOLLECTIONS OF ONE OF ITS PLEASANTEST EPISODES

Preface

. Errata Page 50, line 20, for marriages read marriage 54. „ 26, after art there -was meant to be a note 0/ admiration ( I ) 83, ,. 27, for castenet read castanet 85, .. 8, ,, began read begun 94. ,. 28, after waistcoat there was intended to be a note of admiration ( ! 124, >, 4, for decends read descends 253. >. 6 from foot, the has been omitted before littoral 325, add Ben, son Gaskell's Algeria adornments of a town, how much more refined and delicate is the sentiment which teaches us to appreciate the beauties of nature, where we must fel what we see. Few are gifted with this faculty of perception. It is however possible to possess all these requirements, and yet write a tedious book ; for it is not enough to receive impressions ourselves, we must be able to communicate them agreeably to others, taste and judgment accom-

PREFACE.

. VIII panying the pen in a pleasing and animated style of writing. A description ought to place the scene so clearly before the mind's eye that the reader may, as it were, sec it. A book which does this may be compared to a mirror that gives back faithfully all that is reflected in it. One which does not is like a bad glass whose misty surface either shows objects indistinctly or distorts them to the sisht. Many authors who have distin guished themselves in other branches of literature have failed in this. In the chapters on the excursions, the writer has deviated from the custom of travellers who relate all that happens to them and all they do, although such personalities interest nobody but themselves. He has endeavoured to take a broad view of what comes under the notice of the reader — omitting trifling details unless they serve to illustrate the subject — in the hope of con veying a better idea of the whole.

How far he has succeeded in representing Algeria as it is, must be left to the public to determine ; but if feeling pleasure in describing what he has seen, writing con amore, and an artist's enthusiasm for the beautiful land in which he has passed many happy days, enter into the elements of success, the author modestly hopes that this attempt to impart to narrative some of the charms of travelling will not be unwelcome to the rea,der. To investigate the origin of nations and races is an in teresting subject of research. If, at a recent period when under the dominion of the Arabs and Turks, little light was thrown on the modern history of Algeria, in far deeper obscurity is involved all that relates to the primitive inhabitants of Northern Africa. Sallust the historian, who was pro consul or governor of the Roman possessions there, nearly two thousand years ago, tells us that they were the Gætulians and Lybians — afterwards called Berbers — a rude and simple people who were without laws and had no particular form of government.

After the death of Hercules in Spain, his army, which was composed of many nationalities, disorganised by the death of their chief, and by the disputes of the numerous rival pretenders who aspired to the command, soon dispersed. Amongst them were many Medes and Persians who crossed over to Africa, and settled on the beautiful coast opposite to Spain and Italy. Here, by frequent intermarriages with the Gætulians, the races became amalgamated. As these tribes often changed one part of the country for another, in search of pasturage X for their flocks, they called themselves Numidians, that is nomades, or wandering shepherds. Later on, many Phenicians established themselves on the African shores, till B.C. 860, Dido, sister of the king of Tyre, founded Carthage, which continued to prosper in the midst of constant contention with the people whose territory she had invaded.

Jarbas, king of the Gætulians and of the heterogeneous hordes who had been brought together, vainly endeavoured to unite his fortunes to those of the tyrannical princess who had built Carthage. At this time was laid the foundation of the future grandeur of the republic. Almost the whole of Northern Africa was subjected to its sway ; the Berbers alone, shut up in their mountain fastnesses, preserved their independence. The Carthaginians dedicated themselves particularly to commercial pursuits, and by degrees be came masters of the sea. The possession of Sicily, how ever, brought them into collision with the Romans, and gave rise to the obstinate struggles known in history as the Punic Wars. At length, after long and sanguinary conflicts, Carthage fell, B.C. 45, under the invincible arms of Rome.

Once masters of the land, including some of the adjoining parts of Numidia, the Romans organised a system of government which should secure to them the country they had conquered. Having first seized on all the strategical points, they proceeded to form settle ments or colonies, so as to introduce a Roman population on the soil of Africa. The Berbers had often taken part in the wars between the Carthaginians and the Romans, fighting sometimes on one side and sometimes on the other, according to the advantages offered by either party. After the destruction of Carthage several of their chiefs reigned with the title of king, under the protectorate of the Romans. The most celebrated of these was Jugurtha, who, conjointly with his cousins Hiempsal and Adherbal, inherited the kingdom from his uncle Micipsa.

Jugurtha caused Hiempsal to be assassinated, and robbed Adherbal of his sceptre. The Romans having interfered in the dispute, ordered that Numidia should be equally divided between the two surviving princes. The commissioners sent to define these limits, being bribed by Jugurtha, assigned the coast to him, and gave the interior which was less fertile to young Adherbal. Jugurtha, still dissatisfied with this partition, where the advantage was altogether on his side, attacked and took Cirta — Constantine — and having made the unfortunate Adherbal prisoner, he put him to a cruel death. The Romans flew to revenge the son of their former ally, and, by a stratagem, succeeded in capturing Jugur tha, whose obstinate resistance had prolonged the war. Bocchus, his father-in-law, king of Mauritania, who had betrayed him, received Numidia as a recompense for his treachery.

The Eastern part was divided between Hiempsal II. and Mandrestal, two Numidian princes, and the Roman republic ; and, as this last portion included the coast — for it extended to the former possessions of Carthage — it formed a rich annexation to the proconsu late province of Africa. Juba I., who succeeded his father Hiempsal, unfortunately took arms against Cæsar, and, being vanquished, he put an end to his life. The kingdom was then united to the Roman empire B.C. 47. Sallust was at this time sent to Africa as proconsul, but the historian did not distinguish himself in the administra tion of justice. Shortly afterwards young Juba IL, who on the death of his father had been taken to Rome, now married to Selene, daughter of Cleopatra and Antony, returned to reign over his native country, where the family of Bocchus was extinct, and Massessylia was given to him under the name of Cæsarian Mauritania, reaching from the river Moulou'i'a to the river Ampsaga (Oued-el-Kebir, or Roumel, east of Djidjelly), to which was added Gætulia, the less fertile region of the high table-lands in the interior of the country.

This new monarch abandoned Siga, which till then had been the capital of Western Mauritania, and established his throne at Jol, founded by the Carthaginians, and gave to his new capital the name of Julia Cæsarea, the re mains of which are still to be seen. During a prosperous reign of forty-five years this king occupied himself chiefly with the arts and sciences, and so greatly was he esteemed for the encouragement he gave to their ad vancement that the Athenians erected statues to him, and his own subjects raised altars to his memory. Pto lemy, his son, did not follow in the glorious steps of his father. He, however, powerfully contributed to crush the rebellion of Tacfarinas, a Moorish adventurer who excited the whole of Numidia to revolt. In concert with the Proconsul Dolabella, Ptolemy vanquished and slew this rebel.

But the magnificence displayed by the king having irritated the vanity of Caligula, that tyrant caused him to be assassinated, and Cæsarian Mauri tania was again annexed to the Roman empire. This period witnessed the greatest developement of art on the soil of Africa. The prosperity of the country had at tained its height ; now were built those monuments whose remains twelve centuries of barbarous devasta tion were not able to efface. Tiberius issued a decree which forbade Africa being chosen as a place of exile, ' for,' said the Emperor, ' those who leave Rome in Italy find a second Rome in Africa.' The extravagance of some private people was so great that Nero, becoming jealous of this luxury, ordered their property to be con fiscated. The tyranny of the Romans, the crimes committed by their delegates, and the ravages of insurgents wasted the resources of the land ; but even these evils could not wrest the fertile plains of Numidia and Mauri tania from the eternal city, which drew a great part of its subsistence from them.

The tribes who inhabited the highlands of the interior imagining — in consequence of the conspiracies excited by the partisans of Vitel lius — that the moment for declaring their independence had arrived, flew to arms, but being subdued by Maximus Galerius, heir presumptive to the Imperial throne, a new subdivision of their territory followed. Christianity might have softened the manners of the fierce inhabitants of Northern Africa, but the attempt to spread it only brought out the energy of their character, and made more evident the tenacity with which they held to their own religion. The persecutions against the Christians were conducted with great barbarity for more than a century, during wLich many martyrs proved their constancy by dying for the cause of truth. Firmus, one of the great chiefs of the Moors, having called together the barbarous tribes of the mountainous region which was afterwards known by the name of the province of Titteri, raised the standard of revolt against the governor Romanus, whose exactions had driven the people to despair.

Firmus organised a powerful force and seized upon Julia Cæsarea, which he destroyed ; but soon after, being captured by Theodose, the Moorish chieftain strangled himself, and his body was sent to Setif as a proof of his death. His brother Gildon, who had remained faithful to the Romans, was invested by them with the title of governor of the African provinces. He oppressed his own countrymen and, after a reign of unheard-of cruelty and debauchery, wishing to assert his independence, perished in the attempt ; for, being pur sued, he at last found no other refuge but suicide to HISTORICAL NOTICE. escape from the army of Honorius. The Roman governors at this time diminished the power of Rome wherever they represented it. Count Boniface, a man of merit in some respects, who succeeded Gildon, in order to revenge himself for loss of favour at court betrayed his country, and through his instrumentality the Vandals of Spain, led by Genseric, invaded the three Mauritanias which had been promised them, establishing their head quarters at Bougie, and after driving out Boniface, who had introduced them to Africa, they destroyed Carthage and the principal cities.

Genseric who, having sacked Rome, had returned laden with the spoils of Italy, was now the real emperor of the West ; his navy was for midable, but piracy seems to have been the only avocation for which his barbarous subjects had inclina tion or capacity, and their descendants had never any thing so much at heart as to promote it ; for, following up what had its origin at this period, they became the corsairs who committed the piratical depredations when Algeria was afterwards under the dominion of the Turks. Gelimer, A.D. 534, having occupied the throne of his uncle Hilderic, the ally of Justinian Emperor of Con stantinople, the latter sent Belisarius into Africa at the head of 35,000 men, who subdued the country and took Gelimer prisoner. Thus fell the empire of the Vandals. The Numidians, led by Jabbas, a chief of the tribes of Mount Aures, now attacked the Grecian Romans.

They seconded the revolt of Stoza, a Greek ; and, after his defeat, welcomed him to their mountain-retreats, where they were pursued but never conquered. The Exarchs, who governed the provinces for the Byzantine Emperor, were obliged to be constantly at war with the Berbers, Moors, and Numidians, who had resolved to drive out of the land all the inhabitants who were of European descent or had European customs. The Greek soldiers who had revolted, finding fierce auxiliaries in the native chiefs, devastation was for a long time the only tactics of both parties, and the population was so greatly diminished that Numidia became almost a desert. The successive incursions of the hordes of the Atlas had confined the Byzantine Greeks to the narrow strip of sea-coast when the Arab Mussulmans in several expeditions invaded the North of Africa ; but not with out many battles and dreadful carnage did the Greek generals and the Moors allow the Mahometans to establish themselves in the country — called by these last invaders Moghreb, or land of the West — for they every where met with a formidable resistance.

Queen Ka'i'na, a Berber princess who reigned on Mount Aures A.D. 709, devastated the whole coast, razed all buildings to the ground, and destroyed the stately trees. According to some authorities, these palaces and trees formed an uninterrupted continuation of magnificent edifices and groves from Tripoli to Tangiers. Her object in causing this extensive ruin was to disgust the Asiatics with the prospect of having nothing but a waste to possess. These attempts however failed, when opposed to the constancy which is inspired by a spirit of proselytism ; and, after dreadful massacres, Tarick, lieutenant of Mousa, dictated the law of the Coran as far as Ceuta A.D 711, which Count Julian still held for the Goths of Spain. This Christian chief, to revenge himself for an injury done to his daughter by King Roderic, made a treaty with the Arabs, and introduced them into Spain.

Multitudes of Moors followed their conquerors in this expedition, and the name of Moors was given to the Mussulmans who from that time occupied the provinces they had subjected. After this, the Caliphs appointed commandants to HISTORICAL NOTICE. rule in their African territory. Ibrahim — one of the family of the Aghlabides — being named governor of Ka'i'rwan by Haroun-el-Raschid, usurped the sceptre. From this dynasty succeeded eleven monarchs, who reigned during 108 years. These kings took Sicily, and were distinguished for their splendour and their crimes. Finally they were dethroned by the Fatimites, who, coming invested with all the magnificence of the East, now threw splendour over the West. When the Fatimite Caliph, Moez-el-Din, conquered Egypt, he fixed the seat of government there, and chose a Berber chief to rule over his African possessions.

After a time the descendants of this delegate declared themselves in dependent, and established a dynasty which lasted 200 years, but it was greatly shaken towards the close of its existence by Roger king of Sicily. The Almohadan Emir of Marocco — carried on the stream of an invasion which flowed from West to East, now came to join these small states to his vast empire. The Almohades— the second branch of the dynasty of the Marocco Caliphs — whose capital was Tlemcen A.D. 1 148, possessed in their turn the whole of central Moghreb ; but their transitory power was soon replaced by that ofthe Ziantes A.D. 1270, and by the Hafsytes, who were now appointed to command. These rulers often threw off their allegiance, and succeeded or failed in attempting to make themselves masters of Algiers as fortune decided for or against them ; but, even when successful, they were not always able to keep what they had acquired.

Thus the whole country became a scene of incessant war, which devastated the land and caused great anarchy. It does not appear that much of historical interest occurred at this turbulent period, when intestine strife and rebellion prevailed ; in fact, the state of the country during these centuries, and under the subsequent piratical masters of the soil, was not favourable to literature, and the little that has been recorded is of doubtful authenticity. We shall therefore mention only some episodes which belong rather to the history of contemporary nations than to that of the Arabs, A.D. 1270, Louis IX., wishing to liberate and protect the Christians, sent an expedition against Tunis ; but, owing to the breaking out of the pest, and the death of the king, the attempt ended in failure. Some years after this Peter III., king of Aragon, despatched a fleet to ravage the coast of Northern Africa, and a few years later his army took Collo, which the)7 abandoned shortly afterwards.

In 1309 the Castilians and the Aragonese effected a landing at Ceuta, and captured the town. The Aragonese again appeared on the littoral in 1432, when they sacked Djerba, but did not remain there. In 1 48 1 they obtained possession of Melila which they kept. At the close of the fifteenth century the Moors, driven out of Spain, settled on some points of the African coast, and gave themselves up to piracy. The Spaniards who were disquieted by them, led by Diego de Cordova, made themselves masters of Mers el-Kebir ; and, under the conduct of Cardinal Ximenes, they seized upon Oran 1509. In the year following they took Bougie, and possessed themselves of a fortified rock in front of Algiers. The Algerines, menaced by this fort, called to their aid Baba-Aroudj — Barbarossa. This famous corsair, who had just made an unsuccessful attack on Bougie, but whom the capture of Djidjelly consoled for the check sustained, hastened to the assistance of a town he greatly coveted on account of its favourable position.

He lost no time in proclaiming himself king ; and he maintained his position in spite of the Spaniards, who attacked the city in 1515. An intestine revolt a LIISTORICAL NOTLCE. XVIII having called him to Tlemcen, where the Marquis of Comares, governor of Oran, came to surround him, he was obliged to flee with a small number of his followers. Escaping, he was pursued and slain whilst defending himself to the last. KaTr-el-Din-Barbarossa, on the death of his brother becoming known, was recognised as King of Algiers 1 5 17, where he was so fortunate as to witness in the same year the failure of the enterprise of Hugo de Moncade and to take from Martin de Vargas the fortress of Peiion which defended the port. This success did not prevent him from doing homage to Selim, Emperor of Constan tinople, who however put the eunuch Hassan in his place as Pacha of Algiers.

Kai'r-el-Din therefore did not witness the sanguinary defeat of Charles V., October 23, 1 55 1, who landed an army of 24,000 men near the town. After this catastrophe the insolence of the Algerine pirates knew no bounds. Salah Ra'i's, Hassan Barbarossa, Dragut, and others boasted of being the terror of Chris tendom, whilst their conquests in Africa continued to progress. Tlemcen, to which they were often called by the dissensions of the Zyantes, Bougie the impregnable, Oran which had been lost, retaken by the Spaniards and again abandoned, had all yielded to their despotism. The imperial city of Fez itself had twice been obliged to submit to Cherifs appointed by them. The kings of Tougourt and of Ouargla had been beaten, and the haughty pachas of the Regency were now able to divide their empire into eighteen provinces.

But a new and less complicated administrative partition was soon after established, and the three Beyliks of Oran, Constantine, and Titteri were formed in order that all the smaller states might be included in them. Whilst these events were taking place the seditions of the Koulouglis had been suppressed. In appointing governors to her African possessions the Ottoman Porte always showed great vacillation, and in many instances her representative had no sooner arrived than he was recalled, again sent back to his post, or another was put in his place. These delegates did not rule alone, for a person chosen by the Janissaries, who received the title of Bey, was invested with joint authority, which became a constant source of rivalry and dispute ; for the beys, being supported by the soldiers who had elected them, always endeavoured to obtain the whole power.

Some went so far as to send back to Constantinople the pachas who had come as governors to Algiers, whilst many were assassinated. On the death of Bey Carabdy 1732, no fewer than six aspirants to sovereignty were put to death within the next twenty-four hours ; and, not long before Algeria passed into other hands, four beys were murdered between the years 1S08 and 18 15. In course of time the beys who, each in his turn, had followed the first who had been chosen by the Janissaries, succeeded in supplanting the representatives sent from Constantinople, and they eventually obtained from the Sultan the formal recogni tion of their authority when it had been acquired by election. It was under one of these princes — called Deys by the Europeans — named Hassan Pacha, that the quarrel with the French Government began, a quarrel which led to the conquest of the country in 1S30.

Our description of Algeria as it is will bear testi mony to the prosperity of these beautiful provinces since they have belonged to France. a l'AGE io CONTENTS

Chapter I

Africa as a whole— Algeria— The Queen of the Mediterranean— Aspect from the Sea— The Pirate Town — Impressions on Landing — The Modern City ; streets, shops, bazaars, &c. — The Arab Quarter —Architecture— Homes of the Women— The Arabs— Labyrinth of Streets— Native Shopkeepers— Algiers from the Heights of the Casbah ........... r

Chapter II

Beautiful Background to the City — Vegetation — Vert sombre — Country Roads — Intelligent Soldiers — Algerian Landscape — Bouzareah — Magnificent Prospect — Appreciation of the Beauties of Nature — Mustapha — Few Resources for Strangers — Jardin d'Acclimatation .

Chapter III

Privileges of Algeria — A glance at Tunis and Marocco — Imperial Present — An impartial Marabout — Algeria under the Regency — A Jew on the Good Old Times . . . . . . 19

Chapter IV

Native Population — Arabs and Kabyles — The ' Men of Tents ' and the ' Men of Houses ' — The Lybians or Berbers 2, 500 years ago ; unchanged in the present day — Personal Courage of the Kabyles, Arabs of the Tell, and of the Sahara — The Moors . . - 24. CONTENTS. XXII I'AGh: 46 60

Chapter V

Native Inhabitants (continued)— The Turks— Days that are gone- Arab on Civilisation— Barbarossa — Black Mail — The Vulture swoops down on its Quarry — A romantic Episode — A strong Resemblance — The Touaregs ........ 30

Chapter VI

Native Population (continued) — Their Character — Reserved with Strangers — Good and Bad Qualities — Charitable to the Poor — Manner towards each other — Grateful — Respect Age — Sober — Ab stemious — Hospitable — Lower Orders Dirty — Europeanized Arabs — Thieving Propensities — Regard for the Law — Cruel to Animals — Vivisection .......... 38

Chapter VII

Native Inhabitants (continued) — Arab Women — Dress of the Lower Class — Love of Finery — The Adjar — A Peep-hole for one Eye — M. Fillias on Arab Women— Marriage — How the Arabs treat their Married Companions — Divorce — The Wives of Arab Chiefs — The Kabyle Wife — Moorish Women — Costume — Ambulating Sacks — The Jewesses — A Daughter of Eve — No Arab Artists — Our Model

Chapter VIII

Native Inhabitants (continued) — The Jews — Their degraded Condition under the Regency — Emancipation — Physiognomy of the Algerian Jews — Disposition — Peculiarities in their Character .

Chapter IX

Native Inhabitants (continued) — The Blacks — Not the Negro type — Their Happy Disposition — The Blacks of Algeria before the Conquest—Black Women — A Scene in the Street . . . .63

Chapter X

Native Inhabitants (continued) — Religion — Insurrections fomented by the Marabouts; Religious rather than Political— On what the CONTENTS. XXIII PAGE Religion of a People may depend — The Mahometan Creed — Prayer — Arab at his Devotions — Charity — Almsgiving — Spirit of Charity —Fasting — Fast of the Rhamadan — Pilgrimage — The Mosques — Women's Souls — Marriage between Christians and Muslims — The Future State — Eternal Punishment — Reflections — The Crescent ..........

Chapter XI

Native Inhabitants (continued) — Predestination and Superstition — The Caid and the Dancing Girl — Sidi Abd-el-Kader Djelaly — Faith in Omens — A Voice crying in the Wilderness — The Evil Eye — The Painter and the Donkey — The Khouans Ai'ssaouas — Sorcery in Marocco ........... Si

Chapter XII

Native Inhabitants (concluded) — Language — Our Countrymen as Linguists — Arab French — Natives as Models for the Artist — Subjects for the Brush and Pencil in Algeria — Eyes profane — ' Paese si va, usanza si trova' — Only one ! — Closing Remarks on the Indigenous Population ........... 93

Chapter XIII

Arabs and Kabyles coming to Market — Exportation of Produce — Picturesque Market-places — Profusion of Good Things — Life in the South — The Merchant of Sicily 102

Chapter XIV

Climate of Algiers — Simple Test of its Dryness — Appearance of the Country in Winter — Temperature compared with Italy — A Statement of every Phase in the Weather from November to April — General Observations — Sirocco in Algiers and after crossing the Sea — Dews — The Interior colder and hotter than the Littoral — Old Lady on Climate' — A Spoiled Child of Old Time — The glorious Orb ic6 CONTENTS. XXIV TAGE 141

Chapter XV

Delightful Excursions, taking Algiers as a Starting-point— General Features of the Country— The Three Provinces— Our Tour — Algiers from Hussein Dey — Blidah— Hotels in Algeria— Bois Sacre — Olive-trees — Plain of the Metidja— Gorges de la Chiffa — Beautiful Scenery — Monkeys — Savage Visitors to the Gorge — The Golden Eagle— The Pedlar asleep— A Full Stop— Our 'we' — ' Una venta en despoblado ' — Approach to Medeah . . . 117

Chapter XVI

Medeah — View towards the Atlas Mountains — Vegetation — Culture of the Vine — Wine — Legend — Arab Cavalry — Fleet Steeds — The Sahel, a famous Wine District — The Monks of La Trappe — Battle of Slaoueli — Coleah, the Holy City — Jardin des Zouaves — Coleah to Cherchell 132

Chapter XVII

Tombeau de la Chretienne — Legend — Modern Villages — Tipaza — Road to Marengo — The Lion and the Coachman — The Emigrant's Farm — Marengo to Cherchell — Roman Aqueduct — Site of Julia Cæsarea — Bit of its History — The Modern Town of Cherchell — Conquests without Language — Compulsory Education — Cherchell for the Tourist and Antiquarian — Society — The Commandant — The Captain of Zouaves under a Cloud — Drame de Cherchell

Chapter XVIII

Romantic Roads — Hot Springs of Hamman Rira — A Roman Watering-place — Ruins — The Zakkar — Milianah — View of the Atlas Range over the Plain of the Chetiff, compared with the Chain of the Noric Alps in Salzburg (see note 15 for invitation) — The Convivial Meal under different Lights — The Tented Tourist — Teniedel-Had — Magnificent Forest — Mostaganem — Aspect of the Town Arzew — Oran — Something of its History — Imposing Appearance of the City — Beautiful Road along the Bay to Mers-el-Kebir — Bains dc la Reine — Oran to Mascara— Negro Village— Salvator- Rosa-like Scene — Mascara — Abd-el-Kader — Route to Thiaret Our Travelling Companion — Story under the Olive-tree . . . 15S CONTENTS. XXV

Chapter XXVI

Second Excursion — Palestro — Insurrection of 1871 — Commencement of the Rebellion — Plans for conducting the Movement — The Revolt assumes a Form of Religious Fanaticism — Threatening Aspect of Affairs — Omar Ben Zamoun chosen to command — The Insurgents march on Palestro and Alma — The Attack . . . . .221 b CONTENTS. XXVI PAGE

CHAPTER XXVIL

Massacre of the Prisoners — The Maison Cantonniere attacked and taken— The Chiefs hold a Council of War— A French Column arrives from Algiers — Engagement between the French and Arabs at Souflat— The Insurgents defeated— Episodes of the War— Reflections on the Conduct of the Natives 231

Chapter XXVIII

Palestro to the Coast — Picturesque Approach to Dellys — Valley of the Sebaou — The Little Saragossa — Rusuccures — Ka'ir-el-Din — Land from the Sea — Sea from the Land — Night — Contemplation of the Firmament — Reflections — Shore by Moonlight — Night Scene on Deck — Daybreak — Another Picture — Beautiful Situation of Bougie (Saldæ) — A glance at History — Djidjelly — How it was ruined by Success — Fight between Wild Animals — On Deck — The Elements in different Moods — Friendly Tobacco — Philippeville from the Sea — Rusicada — Stora — Bone — Hippone — St. Augustin — Road to Guelma — Drama in the Glen — Road to St. Charles — Lake of Fetzara — Forests — Conflagrations — New Forest Law — Landscape between St. Charles and Constantine ...... 241