The New Playground; or, wanderings in Algeria

Front matter

RECENTLY PUBLISHED. Royal 4/0., cloth extra, bevelled boards, gilt leaves, price £1 y. TRAVELS IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF BRUCE IN ALGERIA AND TUNIS. By Lieut. -Colonel R. L. Playfair, H.B.M. Consul-General in Algeria. Illustrated by Twenty-five Facsimiles of Brace's original Drawings, Photographs, Maps, etc. The Times says — " Colonel Playfair has furnished out of his own experience much useful information and many valuable hints to all who may design to travel in lands still but Httle known to many a well-travelled European." The Pall Mall Gazette says— " A valuable contribution to the Roman archæology of North Africa." The Saturday Review says — "A most valuable contribution to archæology." London : C. Kegan Paul & Co., 1, Paternoster Square. OR WANDERINGS IN ALGERIA BY ALEXANDER A. KNOX " I speak of Africa, and golden joys " " ' Is there a felicity in the world,* said Marianne, ' equal to this?

Margaret, we will walk here at least two hours.' In twenty minutes they were obliged to turn back." — Sense and Sensibility LONDON C. KEGAN PAUL & CO., i, PATERNOSTER SQUARE ( The rights of translation and oj reproduction are reserved.) TO MY WIFE, BUT FOR WHOSE CEASELESS CARE AND AFFECTION THROUGHOUT A LONG ILLNESS I SHOULD NEVER HAVE SAT HORSE OR HELD PEN AGAIN. WE HAVE SEEN TOGETHER IN ALGERIA MANY STRANGE SIGHTS, AND ENJOYED MANY BRIGHT DAYS. I INSCRIBE MY LITTLE BOOK TO THE LADY WHO TOOK ME THERE AND HELPED ME ON MY WAY. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. Why we went to Algiers ... ... ... i II. The Dangers of the Sea ... ... ... 12 III. Arrival at Algiers ... ... ... ... 22 IV. First Impressions: The Oasis of Palms ... 30 V. Algiers New and Old ... ... ... ... 47 VI. Torquay in Africa ... .. ... ... 65 VII.

Walks and Drives in and about Algiers ... ... 71 VIII. The Irritable Town: Cap and Bells ... ... 79 IX. The Climate of Algiers: for Invalids ... ... 95 X. Algerine Scraps — La Trappe ... ... ... ... ... 112 Point de Pescade ... ... ... ... 120 Notre Dame dAfrique ... ... ... ... 127 The St. Eugene Side ... ... ... ... 130 The Jardin d'Essai .... ... ... ... 138 The Arab Police-Court ... ... ... 141 First Mornings at Algiers ... ... ... ... 155 The Algerine Old Bailey ... ... ... 158 An Algerine Library ... ... ... ... 163 The Trans-Sahara Railroad ... ... ... CONTENTS. VIII CHAPTER PAGE Roman Remains in Algeria ... ... ■•• '72 Our Fire ... ... ... ••• ■•• *75 The Mosques ... ... ... ■•■ 1 77 Algerine Piracy ... ... ... .. 179 The Four Pretty Houses ... ... ... ... 184 XI. The Kabyles and La Grande Kabylie ... 188 XII.

Chapter I. Why We Went To Algiers

We went to Algiers in search of climate and quiet ; — let us say of SUN and SILENCE. We have not been disappointed. The sun, who had been long a stranger, renewed acquaintance with us the first morning we landed in Algiers, and has been shining upon us ever since. As for silence, that is another matter. Search for her rightly, she is to be found amidst the orange trees and stone pines which surround and overlook the town. In Africa I have neither come across a barrel-organ nor a German band. It seems but fair to tell at once what our business in Africa really is. I am recovering from severe illness. I am travelling with my wife. All we want is — to live in the open air, to feel and see the sun, and to be left alone. I do not, however, wish to write the " Diary of an Invalid," nor anything of a sentimental or lamentable nature.

I might have sat down by thc waters of Babylon, but I certainly should never have wept there. E If it be not sentiment, neither is it love of adventure which has driven me here. Let M. Gerard slay his lions ; let M. Bombonel kill his panthers ! If I heard that a lion or a panther had arrived at Algiers, and was in the habit of taking his usual "walking exercise" on the " slopes " of Mustapha Superieur (where we are now residing), I should instantly gratify a liberal curiosity as to the site of Carthage, which has the advantage of being some way off. Nor do I want to get at the rights of any disputed historical problem far away in thc Djudjura Mountains, or to follow in the steps of Canon Tristram to the Sahara. All these achievements are very magnificent when done, but as to the doing of them, the matter is not so clear.

I am told, and I want to test the truth of the statements, that thc distances in Algeria are great ; the insects, with or without wings, numerous ; thc victuals, in themselves rather a remedy against obesity than a support or a comfort to the indignant inside. Besides, beyond a certain point (so they say), roads there are none. The leathern conveniences, such as they are, which you can see in the Place du Gouvernement, urged to mad speed by a Hebrew gentleman who tries to give himself the airs of an Arab, are not to be thought of. A camel may be one's best chance, and that is a poor one. Eheu ! I am no longer young, I am no longer strong; but I can get about and simmer away on the hob com fortably enough. The question is, Where could one do so to the greatest advantage ? There must be many thousands of people in England who are interested in the solution of this problem.

Some say that it is a wise and prudent course to buy or hire a pretty villa near London, or a country house in a pretty neighbourhood, with a pretty garden, and to give yourself up to the culti vation of pretty roses, after the fashion of Canon Hole. Well, I have tried it in a way, and I don't like it. After thirty years or more of London, it is difficult to acquiesce in the mild monotony of country life in England. Well enough for the rector of the parish, who has his occupa tion, and who can at any moment engage in a vigorous controversy with his bishop, on the subject of candle sticks. Why should time ever hang heavy on the hands of so fortunate a man ? But then there is your library. Spread a report that you are engaged in writing a history of the Byzantine Empire, but never " publish."

So you will acquire much dignity. Alas ! again, there is one person on whom you cannot impose, and that is — yourself. Besides, there are the daily newspapers ; the irritation about politics. There is sure to be, in a country place, a retired despot within reach, who will trample on your dearest convictions, and keep you in a state of hot water on the subject of Mr. Gladstone. Above all, there is the CLIMATE. Were I well and strong, no power on earth should force me to fix my home away from England. Without the faintest pretension to be a traveller, in these days when people go round the world in very wantonness, I know Europe well, have lived in most of the great towns, and have spent more summers and winters than I care to think of between Norway and Naples — both inclusive. You will not find Swiss, or Norwegian, or Pyrenean, or Tyrolcse scenery in the British Isles, but nowhere more beautiful places in which it is delightful to dwell, and all endeared to one by the recollection of what has been.

A man must be hard to please who could not live contentedly amidst thc Surrey downs, the Sussex woods, the Derbyshire valleys, the Devonshire streams, or the sea-broken crags of Cornwall. When I think of thc elms, and beeches, and of " The oak, thc ash, and the bonny ivy tree, Which grow so well in the north country,' I can scarce say that the palms and cypresses which are now flaunting before my window have the best of it. Can all Africa beat a buttercup meadow? I am inclined to deny that an Algerine spring can show anything lovelier than our own lilacs and laburnums and many coloured thorns, or than the myriads of delicate yellow primroses which harmonize so well with the red soil of the Devonshire lanes. And then— how of the past life ? how of all those with whom you have lived and jested and wept ?

As Tennyson writes in' those two lines which go as straight to an old man's heart as a rifle bullet, aimed by Captain Ross, to the bull's-eye — " O for the touch of a vanish'd hand, And the sound of a voice that is still ! " One leaves a good deal behind in England. But, as against all this, if you cannot live in this beloved country without grievous physical discomfort for many months of the year, — what then ? Your heart may beat well and truly, as an honest heart should ; but how if the mucous membrane which lines the nose and throat be weak ? Had Romeo and Juliet been suffering from severe colds in the head (as they might well have been, considering the time and place they chose for exchanging their amorous ecstasies), how about the immortal verse ? I could not live in decent comfort in England for six months of the year, i.e. from November to April, both inclusive (one may almost add May), so I suppose one must leave it.

Some people say, " Remain in London, but shut yourself up." Last year I did so for six terrible months, and I found that imprisonment without hard labour is a very serious matter ; not even the snug little dinners, not even the quiet rubbers will carry you through. You are not ill enough to make a magnificent resistance, and to call your friends in to enjoy the spectacle of Prometheus Bound. Your liver may be causing you serious discomfort, but there is no visible vulture to arouse the sympathy of the bystanders. No ; come what may, I will not shut myself up for another winter in London. Troops of friends there may be there, but if all you can do is to sneeze in their beloved faces, I think it is time to move off elsewhere. Well, I have made proof of that also. Let me see ; in England I have tried as health resorts — Penzance, Falmouth, Torquay, Sidmouth, Bournemouth, Hastings, The Undercliff (Isle of Wight), Broadstairs, besides Malvern in the summer and autumn.

Each of these places has advantages and disadvantages, but every where there was damp, and (if I may use the phrase) absence of sun, not to say severe frost and cold in many instances. We liked Penzance best of them all. Were I compelled to remain a winter in England, it is there I should again fix my gloomy tent from November to March. The scenery and drives are magnificent, and words would fail me to express the gratitude I feel for the kindness we received from the inhabitants of West Barbary. Still, if one must move away from one's own set ; if one must be wrenched from one's pet seat at the club, and be forbidden to wait upon Mrs. Kendal when she plays her best parts ; — it is but fair to look for a little sunshine in return. Where shall we go ? Biarritz ? The very name chills me to the marrow.

At Pau it has rained for three years. The Riviera is doubtful. I have tried a winter at Florence, and know how cold it can be there, genial and sympathetic as the city undoubtedly is. I only know Rome in the spring and autumn, but many friends who have spent the winter there speak of the terrible amount of rain which had fallen upon them. One is frightened away from Naples by dismal stories about the fever, and tales equally ghastly, but under the head of brigandage, reach one from Sicily. We spent a November at Palermo, and it was delightful ; but as good luck would have it, neither my wife nor I were carried off to the mountains. As a consequence, we retain (between us, of course) two noses and four ears, and our bodies have not been found in the caves of Mount Pellegrino. After forty years of age, — have done with romance and adventure.

Even if the safety of those " dearer to you than life " (I believe that is the correct phrase) be secured, you cannot hope to run away yourself with any prospect of success. Although I know Seville pretty well, I have never tried a winter there ; but, if not too rainy, it might do, with Granada for a bonnc-bonche in the spring ; but I am afraid it would rain. Had I to choose between death and a month at Malaga, I think I should prefer the first alternative. You might pass a not unpleasant month between Gibraltar, Algeciras, and Tangiers, but I doubt if patience would hold out longer. At Malta you do, beyond question, meet with the sun ; but the sirocco and the greasy streets, and the white walls, — it is a wearisome place after three days. There is the resource of Madeira — I have never been there — but it seems like a long run from Dartmouth to Funchal, and it is said that the climate, if warm, is damp.

Besides, if one does not happen to be one's self on the black list, I should think the sight of the poor invalids must be most depressing. Teneriffe might do better, but it is a very small island. The thought of Mr. Jones at Teneriffe, or of Napoleon at St. Helena, appears almost equally dreadful. The mention of Napoleon reminds me of Corsica and Ajaccio. We spent a delightful November there a few years ago, but even then I could scramble up and down the mountain paths in a way which — well ! I would give a good deal could I do as much now. Corsica is queer and delightful. Napoleon used always to say that there was a fragrance about the niaqni of his native island which he had never smelt elsewhere. This is true. In and about Europe there is nothing to surpass Corsica when you can scramble about amongst the big trees, and amuse yourself with the sight of thc strange people.

Read Alexander Dumas's "Corsican Brothers" — it is far better than the play — and that is what you will see in Corsica even now. But Ajaccio is the smallest of small towns ; gossip and squabbling are the order of the day ; you would go melancholy mad if you tried to spend a winter there,- — at least so I should suppose. Besides, I am by no means clear, as far as cold goes, that during the winters of 1878-79 and 1879-80, you would not have been as well off in Upper Baker Street. All these places, bar Madeira and Sicily (but for the brigands), are but half measures. It is not worth while to leave England for the winter months in order to be uncomfortable elsewhere. The Nile and a winter in Nubia might be tried — - I cannot speak from experience ; but failing the Nile, I can tell my brothers and sisters, the semi-invalids, that there is no mistake at all about the climate of Algiers.

I am writing on the first half of December, with the window open ; violets and roses, just plucked from the garden, on the table ; and the thermometer in the room at jo°. We have had a very hot summer during November and thus much of December. To sum up this chapter in a word — I am considering Algiers from the Brighton or Torquay point of view * I am looking for comfort, i.e. clean beds and good food indoors ; and am quite willing to penetrate into the interior of Africa, if it can be managed in a carriage and pair. A walk of two or three miles under favourable circumstances of sun and temperature is quite enough for me. If all this be egotism, it is egotism for the sake of others. On the whole, does Algiers offer the best quarters on the shores of the Mediterranean for elderly people, for semi-invalids, for those who have done with political ambition, business flurry, and social fuss, — for all who would spend pleasant warm hours in the open air, which would otherwise be cold and unpleasant hours indoors ?

If any such there be, let them come and gossip w*ith me for half an hour. I am not writing a guide-book. Before we stretch out our limbs under the somewhat dusty oasis in the Place du Gouvernement at Algiers, it is necessary to get there. Now, as I wish this dis jointed chat to be of use to the " outward bound," I would venture to offer a hint or two about the journey, on an honourable understanding that nothing from " France, John Murray," shall be imported into these pages by way of " padding." Take " through tickets " from London to Marseilles — it saves trouble. Sleep at Dover — it is a long day from Victoria to the Gare du Nord for a weakly traveller. Next day the train which leaves Paris about ii a.m. reaches Lyons about io p.m. There is a new and comfortable hotel — the Hotel de l'Univers — close to the railway station, where the traveller will find good bed and board for the night, and will avoid the necessity of a long cruise in an omnibus to and from the hotels in the centre of the town.

The train leaves for Marseilles about 1 1 a.m. next day, so there is plenty of time for a cup of tea at night, eight hours of bed, — toilette-comforts, and an unhurried breakfast. You would reach Marseilles about 8.30 p.m. the following day. It may interest those who have visited Marseilles in former days to know that the Hotel du Louvre is passing this year into other hands, which may or may not manage it discreetly ; but at any rate it will not be the same thing as of old. The Grand Hotel de Marseilles is well spoken of, but I have no personal knowledge of it. I should recommend a day or two of rest for invalids at Marseilles. They might even call a halt at Hyeres for a week. At this point ofthe journey a little dilemma arises. Is it wisest, on the whole, to telegraph from London or Paris, and to secure your berths in the Algerine steamers before hand ?

If you do, you are bound to the day. If not, you may find all the places engaged over your head. The pleasant method pursued at Marseilles is to inform you that all places are engaged for the next departure, and for weeks to come ; and that nothing remains but a four-berth cabin, which you may have on paying for the four places, or leave, at your pleasure. I should distinctly recommend the traveller to transact his own business at the Steam-Packet Bureau ; the employment of a commissionaire is a costly luxury. In our case, I was travelling with my wife, and was far from strong. We acquiesced in our manifest destiny, and engaged the apartment with four beds, or four-berthed cabin, simply because we could not help ourselves. The price was 300 francs, or English. I am speaking of the Messageries boat, which all travellers not being " sea dogs " would do well to use in place of the rival line, the Valery, which carries thc mails, and which is said to have a trifle the advantage in point of speed.

The Valery is accused of rolling in a very terrible way, whilst we, by reason of our being " broader in the beam," and possibly of our carrying more ballast or weight, only rolled in a half-hearted but quite sufficient sort of a way. I may here in cidentally mention (and I do so with a glow of internal satisfaction) that in our run we left the Vale/y moving like a fly through a glue-pot amongst the Balearic Isles. Could this in any way be connected with our presence on board ? Were there in us potentialities of seaman ship as yet undeveloped, but which told in the long run ? Be this as it may, we got in first, reaching Algiers be tween 2 and 3 a.m. on Monday morning. We had " let go " — I like the marine smack of the phrase — at Marseilles at 5 p.m. on Saturday evening, October 18. It was a run of about thirty-four hours.

At this point I pause. I have tried to tell why we went to Algiers, and why we did not go to other health resorts ; and we have arrived at Marseilles, with a suggestion that we subsequently reached Algiers in safety. But as I have told my fellow-sufferers or fellow-travellers how they may perform thus much of the journey in thc greatest comfort, I should like to say a few words about our passage, as I suppose what has been will be. So many people have asked me questions about this terrible run that I desire to state our own small ex perience. Members of the Geographical Society, and all persons interested in Arctic or Antarctic discovery, are requested to skip the next few pages.

Chapter II. The Dangers Of The Sea For

some days before our arrival at Marseilles, thc terrible mistral had been blowing over this part of Provence. On the Thursday that we had passed down from Lyons to Marseilles it was at its worst, and we were welcomed with the intelligence that so great had been the force of the gale, that trees had been torn up by their roots and sent spinning through the air. That venerable nuisance, " the oldest inhabitant," had not remembered such a gale in his lifetime. " Monsieur, c'est la Jin du monde" was the phrase in which he summed up the situation. This being so, it seemed as wise to go on as to stay where we were, for, on the presump tion that the end of all things had arrived, whether a man was caught afloat or ashore did not seem to be a matter of much consequence. Besides, there was a theory at Marseilles that the fury of the mistral only lasted three days.

On Thursday evening the three days had expired, and the steamer did not start till Saturday at 5 p.m. So we determined to go on, and on Friday morning (by the agency of a commissionaire) engaged the four-berthed cabin spoken of above, on board of the good ship Said. It was quite the right thing to do at the time, but when one looks back upon it, what a cruel mockery was the attempt to persuade each other that after such a storm the sea would be " like glass " or " the Thames at Richmond " ! Just when you were launching these illustrations, you would see a poor fellow fastened on to an advertisement board, carried along at no mean rate in the direction of the port, or a bonne in difficulties - — the central figure of a dust-storm, tiying to make her way against the wind in the opposite direction.

There was, however, one real and reasonable source of consolation : let the storm do its worst, it was a fair storm for Algiers. On Saturday morning the genial little head waiter announced the fact, " Qiiil faisait un temps magnijique." So it did in front of the house, but as for the side street — oh, dear ! The last luncheon was taken at 3 p.m. ; the time had been carefully considered, also the ■menu — anything nutritious, but not too rich ; and so we prepared ourselves for the misery, as we supposed, of two nights and a day. How the wind did whistle through the cordage when we got down to thc port ! How cold and steely the sky looked overhead ! And how I dismissed from my mind all idea of being put up for the R.Y.S. at Cowes ! On board we got, however ; dealt successfully with the small parcel difficulty ; and saw that the greater impedimenta were lowered down into the hold.

As we passed the salle a manger or whatever the marine name of the department might be, I noticed with a shudder that " the fiddles were on." Landsmen may not appreciate the full significance of the phrase, but it means that experienced men had taken care that every plate, and dish, and bottle, and salt cellar had been made fast, so that they should not act as spontaneous missiles, and hurl themselves at the heads of the guests who were enjoying the nautical banquet. As you looked round, your mouth filled with water, but not from the usual cause about dinner-time. Slipshod garcous-dc-ca/e-looking men moved about amidst these terrible preparations. There was something sarcastic in their manner ; no, it was not sarcasm — it was compassion. They had human hearts after all, and the wind was still moaning on, like a " Dead March " played over you before you had given your last groan.

On the deck I found that Monsieur le Capitaine, the leader who was to conduct this orchestra of misery, had just come on board, and was expending blandish ments innumerable on a lady who was attended by two bonnes, one of whom carried a j-elling babe, and the other holding a sticky Russian child, who was sucking at some sweetstuff, which I doubted not would soon bring affairs to a crisis with him. Oh, that child ! worse to us than the mistral ; worse than the Gulf of Lyons ; — he was standing at this moment near the hatch way, and had I been a prophet, I think it not impossible that an accident might have happened. But madame and Monsieur le Capitaine all this time continued their compliments all about " cit excellent Jules," and how Madame Somebody at Aries was getting on. Bah ! who cares ?

She may be as aimable as ever she likes, but she is not going to face the Gulf of Lyons, with the tail of a mistral wagging in her delightful old face. Would a man, to say nothing of a captain, of any sensibility, choose such a time for descanting upon the amiability of an old French lady who was at this moment a hundred miles out of the way of all danger ? As I knew the number of our own cabin, I heard with great pleasure Monsieur le Capitaine at last telling the stewardess to conduct madame to another little black hole which I knew to be well at the stern, where the dear little children would be softly rocked to their sweet slumbers, and where madame herself would be enabled to enjoy the music of the screw to its fullest extent ; — she would not miss a single revolution. Alas ! alas ! Nemesis stands close to your elbow if you indulge an unkind thought.

If instrumental music was furnished by the Messageries Maritimes for the use of that lady and her amiable family, she in her turn had provided for all the ship's company a vocal entertainment which they were not likely to forget the longest day they had to live. But of all this anon. We descended to our cabin, determined to turn in to our berths. Our one idea of how best to escape from the wrath to come was to lie down before they had untied the ropes which bound the ship to the quay, to remain flat upon our poor backs, not to open our eyes, not to wag a little finger, and to leave the result in the hands of a Higher Power. The watches had been carefully wound up, for we knew how futile would be the attempt to regulate them when the storm was at its height ; and these had been duly hung up on the pegs, when the idea occurred to us that they would dash themselves to pieces against the sides of the berths.

This also had to be looked to, and just in time, for at this moment there was a grating sound as of a gangway withdrawn — improper language in French — and the first horrible turn of the screw. Now we are in for it. The right thing is mentally to count a million, or to conjure up the names of the old French worthies connected by blood or 'marriage with the family of Clovis. But what is the meaning of all this ? We are moving on slowly, surely, smoothly. Bother the mistral ! Would it not be wiser to slip on one's things, and to partake of a slight refection amidst the " fiddles " up above ? " I say we're a great nation. How people can be such idiots as to fear a sea passage it is much nicer than ashore. Don't you think that, after all, a trim little yacht would be the thing ? — a small floating hotel, and just to look in at all the ports in the Levant ?