Semilasso in Africa. Adventures in Algiers, and other parts of Africa

Letter I

Landsmen in the Crocodile. — Rocking Children and grown-up Persons. — Passion of an Actress for English men. — Lord Brougham at the Theatre. — "Berlin, oil est cela ?" — Druidical Fire-worship and the Catholics of the middle ages. — Superstition of Lower Brittany. — Entertain ment in the house where Napoleon was born. — Picture Gallery of the Galley Slaves. — Count St. Helene ; brilliant genius of a Thief. — The Isles of Hieres. — Illusion de stroyed.—Rocky Amphitheatre. — Gardens of Count Beaure gard. — Death of Stulz, the prince of tailors. — Midnight Adventures. — Preparations for a Voyage. Page 1

Letter II

Algiers Roadstead. — Lord Exmouth. — African Moon light. — Ghost-like City. — Revived Enthusiasm. . 17

Letter III

Gigantic Porcelain Stoves. — City of Biscuit. — Traces of the French. — Christian Mosque. — Incongruous Orna- CONTENTS. ments.— The last Dey and the Cassuba. — Coup deVentail. — Powder Magazine in a Palace. — Stems of the Aloe used for Fire-wood. — Convent of Beggars. — Shopkeepers at Algiers. — Honesty ofthe Street Boys — Count d'Erlon, General Rapatel, and Count de la Bretonnicre. — The famous Jussuf; history of his life, love, and sufferings. — Napoleon a Machine. — Marriage Ceremonies. — Turkish Mistresses. — Palace ofthe Governor. — Plan of Civilisa tion. — Danger of Excursions round Algiers. — Invitation to a Ball. ..... 19

Letter IV

Visit to Admiral de Bretonniere. — Anecdote of the Duke of Wellington's dawning career. — The French Ad miral's Conference with the Ex-Dey. — The Merchants' Ball. .... .92

Letter V

March with the French Army to Buffarik. — Arabian Hacks — Duera. — Military Road. — Fort de l'Empereur Charles. — Colonisation. — Home Remembrances. — The Suaves ; their dress, armour, &c. in comparison with Eu ropean soldiers. — Spanish Lady on horseback. — Dinner at the Cafe" de l'Armee d'Afrique. — Summer Night in January. — Arabian Children know the Stars.- — Knowledge of Euro pean Literature.— Breakfast at General Rapatel's quarters. — The Expedition. — Market at Buffarik. — Horses' tails shaved. ..... 98

Letter VI

Spanish Dollars U.French Gold. — A quick Doctor. — Land Speculators who never see their Property.— Revival of the Feodalism of Europe in Africa. — The Arabian Moun taineers. — A Saint with a crutch. — Novel plan of watering Horses. — Coffee on horseback. . . . CONTENTS. V

Letter XI

Dreams. — Homœopathy. — The Virgin and the Ice. — Re ligious Ceremonies. — The Belgian Consul. — Lord Byron and the Countess G . — Royaume de Belgique. — The Robuste. — Turkish Bath. — Destructive Storm. . 153

Letter XII

The Foreign Legion. — The Spahis. — Excursion to El Ibrahim. — Landing of the French Expedition. — Newspaper Tactics —The Marabut and the Spaniard.— The Shech Ben Omar. — M. Lecoq and Bdrenger. — Scenery round Algiers. — Agreeable Trips. . . . .190

Letter I

Landsmen in the Crocodile. — Rocking Children and grown-up Persons. — Passion of an Actress for Englishmen. — r Lord Brougham at the Theatre. — " Berlin, ou est cela I" — Druidical Fire-worship and the Catholics of the middle ages. — Superstition of Lower Brittany. — Entertainment in the house where Napoleon was born. — Picture Gallery of the Galley Slaves — Count St. Helene; brilliant genius of a Thief. — The Isles of Hieres. — Illusion destroyed. — Rocky Amphitheatre. — Gardens of Count Beauregard. — Death of Stulz, the prince of tailors. — Midnight Adventures. — Preparations for a Voyage. TO THE PRINCESS Jl Mediterranean Sea, Jan. 12, 1835. I write to you, friend of my heart, from the bosom ofthe Crocodile, as she sails exactly mid way between France and Algiers, with Port Mahon and its long island, over which towers I. B SEA-SICKNESS. the lofty peak of Majorca, in full view.

The wind is now coming round to the south ; still we poor landsmen are sick, for the sea rolls high. Strange change in man ! we rock the child that he may sleep soundly, while grown up how much has he to suffer before he be comes accustomed to the motion of the billows. In this, as in many other things, childhood is the happy age. I, however, lay claim to some merit — -nay, to heroism ; for, in spite of Lord Byron, who has said, " no love can resist sea sickness,'" * I am strong enough to write to you in my hammock. To tell the truth, this would have been impossible yesterday; but to clay little of my sufferings remains. I attribute my rapid recovery in this instance to the re gimen I observed, which, when I have gained a little more experience, I shall detail for your be nefit and the good of all going a first voyage; for, forget not, dear, that however trivial the matter may seem to some, it will be welcome in telligence to those who may chance to be placed for the first time in a situation like mine.

" Love, who heroically breathes a vein, Shrinks from the application of hot towels, And purgatives are dangerous to his reign — Sea sickness death." Don Juan. AFRICAN BEETLES. The first Africans with whom I have made acquaintance are hundreds of thousands of little brown beetles, which swarm round and cover my cabin. At first I looked upon them with horror. They are, however, harmless crea tures : they creep slowly, never bite, and have so little of the vitality even of a fly, that a slight crush rids you effectually of them. But then they exist in such multitudes, and pene trate so into the ears, eyes, nose, and every possible aperture, that they render themselves an intolerable nuisance ! The white napkin I had spread on my bed as cloth for my frugal dinner was in five minutes quite black with the little wretches ; and however rapidly I finished my meal, it was scarcely possible to avoid swallowing some of these innocent crea tures with every dish.

Before we reach, my dear Lucy, that other quarter of the globe which swarms of scarabei first announce to me, I must recur once more to Europe. As my good mother is with you, you will, no doubt, have read my last letter to her from Toulon : I therefore refer to the letter, adding only something not mentioned in it. Afflicted at the bad news I received, I went out seldom during my stay of nearly ten days b LORD BROUGHAM AT THE THEATRE. at Toulon. Indeed, I hardly know a seaport town poor and dull. The theatre is the worst I have met with in France ; and the spectators so vulgar, that whenever I went there, I invariably saw a fight in the pit. On one occasion my evil star placed me next a newlyengaged actress, who taking me for an Englishman, (an honour which often happens to me, without my knowing how to appreciate it as I ought,) addressed me in the language of that nation, but so badly that I could not understand her.

After many fruitless endeavours, she had recourse to French, and forced me to become the confidant of her manifold adventures. When the first act was over, she requested me to accompany her home. As I declined this honour, she said, that if I knew how much she loved the English, I would not be so distant with her. " Certainly not," answered I; "but as I am only an Englishman in appearance, you must address yourself to a true one;" and I pointed out to her Lord Brougham, whom I had just espied, hid in a corner not far from me. His good genius, however, must have whispered to him something of the im pending danger; for while my neighbour, who had a strong smell of grog, was beginning her strategic operations to approach him unper- " WHERE IS BERLIN ?" 5 ceived, he quitted the house and did not re turn.

The absence of trade and bustle in Toulon is scarcely credible. I could not even get drink able tea there ; the apothecaries are the only persons who sell anything like it : but this stuff must make the invalids who drink it still more sick ; — after infusion, I detected the leaves of five or six different plants in it. I was simi larly situated with regard to all my other wants. I had intended to equip myself here for my journey in the East; but I found nothing ser viceable. Even in trying to send things hence to Germany I met with most laughable difficulties. You will cease to wonder, when you read what follows, why I have written on the direction of my letters to Berlin, " Roy au me de Prusse;" for in the first coach-office I went to, I was asked with an air capable, "Berlin, oil est cela?' " En Prusse, monsieur." — " Ah, je comprends ; en Russie."

I thought it too much risk to entrust my parcel to this office, and therefore went to another. Here it was absolutely re fused : " Comment voulez-vous que nous nous chargions de cela?" asked they: "pouvez-vous nous garantir qu'il y a des diligences en Prusse? Dieu sait ce que ce paquet peut devenir dans des pays inconnus ! et s'il se perd, nous serions CORSICA AND LOWER BRITTANY. obliges d'en payer la valeur. Nous ne saurions encourir cette responsabilite." To overcome the difficulty, nothing remained for me but to send my box to the Prussian consul at Marseil les, with a request that he would forward it. I should have felt myself quite a stranger at Toulon, had not a lucky chance brought back M. Dusillot, who had previously sailed for Corsica. He had come from Ajaccio to Toulon, to go by sea to Bastia, at the farther end of Corsica, because the snow had rendered the road, across a mountainous country, just then impassable.

After having been de tained eight days in France by contrary winds, the tempest drove him back again here, while in the mean time the snow had melted in Cor sica. So uncertain, so provoking is the treacherous sea ! To me, however, as I have said, this event was a favour of Providence, and many an even ing was agreeably passed, with stories of Corsica, and the romantic country of M. Dusillot, Lower Brittany, where most extraordinary customs prevail ; — where the worship of the Druids, the ancient adoration of fire, and the genuine Catholicism of the middle ages still exist ; where abound Gothic churches and castles in good preservation ; where the people ENTERTAINMENT IN BONAPARTE'S HOUSE. 7 are brave, frank and credulous ; where ghosts and goblins may still be seen, and every peasant is firmly convinced that when a bad man dies, a storm gathers in the sky, and from its blackest cloud drops a poodle-dog, into which the soul of the wicked must enter, to roam in its new shape till the day of judgment about the lakes amid the mountains of Carhaix.

I would willingly, had time allowed me, have made an excursion to Ajaccio, to see the birth place of Napoleon. Some weeks ago there was an interesting fete given there, to the new governor, General Lallemand, in Bonaparte's house. The general availed himself of this opportunity, in a speech which excited great enthusiasm, to give an account of his relations with the emperor : this speech is said to have contained a great deal of new and unexpected information. They dined afterwards in the same room where Napoleon was born. — The Corsicans whom I have seen here are justly proud of their hero, who became the greatest man of modern Europe. Of those who now live, " the ambassador," as they call him (Pozzo di Borgo), is the favourite. It appears also, from what his countrymen say, that the count not only cultivates large estates in Corsica, but acts with generosity to them, and of this they instance many examples.

COUNT ST. HELENE. The arsenal was often visited by me, and I always found something new there. The last time I went, I saw at one of the com missaries' a remarkable collection of portraits of the most notorious galley-slaves, with illus trations of the various attempts they had made to escape. One had concealed himself for twenty-four hours between the ships, up to his mouth in water ; another had caused himself to be immured alive in a vessel fitted with air holes, and thus rendered himself invisible for several days, till a favourable opportunity presented for flight. What an inestimable blessing must freedom be, since men have recourse to such dreadful expedients to obtain it ! Of the portraits, that of the Count St. Helene interested me most. Theft as well as the de sire to murder is in some certainly an incurable disease ; for, after this man had with incredible address and boldness escaped from the galleys, having assumed a distinguished name, rendered important services to Marshal Soult in Spain, acquired the reputation of a distinguished sol dier, risen to the rank of chef de bataillon in the Imperial Guard, and finding himself received with marked attention at many of the first mansions in Paris as a man of high birth and a pleasant companion, the only use he made of EXCURSION TO HIERES. this brilliant situation was to continue his old trade of robbery, till it finally led to his discovery.

Even then he escaped a second time with the greatest presence of mind, but was soon retaken, and is now with all others con demned for life, in Brest : there, however, it is said, he preserves the air and manner of a man of rank even towards his fellow-prisoners, whom he seems to consider far beneath him ! What a fate for such talent ! Truly it is a great defi ciency in our laws and social relations, that we do not possess institutions wholly different, where such men might be improved and ren dered useful.* I profited by the last day of my stay at Tou lon to make an excursion to the Hieres. These islands are much spoken of, and 1 remember to have read, even in supposed authentic travels, detailed accounts of the Hesperian magnificence of their orange-groves ; — a sure proof that the travellers never visited them, for the isles of Hieres are nothing but naked rocks, literally without a single orange-tree : on the contrary, the place where exists the celebrated garden is the small town of Hieres on the continental * The Count St. Helene has died since ; he maintained to the last hour of his life that he really was the man he represented himself to be. b5 SCENERY OF HIERES. sea-coast, with a good roadstead, four leagues from Toulon.

The day was extremely fine, with a clear southern sky ; the wind cold, but there was warmth in the sun. The bleak, grey, elevated rocks, covered more than half way to their summits with luxuriant soil, and dotted with hundreds of white country-houses, whose variegated tile-roofs sparkle brilliantly in the sun — farther off, the hills, planted with olive trees which are isolated though near each other, and have the appearance of well-curled heads of hair — in the distance the dark blue mountains with their ruined castles — and, to crown all, the Mediterranean, with its rugged, pointed coast, render this road even in winter highly delightful. It is not, however, until you approach Hieres, that the sun shows all his charms, and gives indications that a new world is near. The orange-groves that fill the valley, loaded with millions of golden fruit — gigantic palm-trees thirty or forty feet high rising in full splendour from amidst them — promontories abounding in fig and olive trees reflected back again in the clear blue sea — and above all, the gigantic rock of fabled form, which rises perpendicularly over the little town, interspersed with ruins, towers, and broken walls, make altogether a GARDENS OF M. FILLE. 11 landscape scarcely to be equalled in Europe.

On the top of this rock has been erected a tiny pleasure-house, painted white, with a slate roof. Many find fault with it ; and certainly it does not harmonise with the adjacent ruins and the rest of the landscape. It makes, however, so singular an exception, that, in my opinion, the incongruity is excusable ; and its construction will be more easily justified hereafter, as the steps which are cut zigzag in the rock have been planted with young orange-trees, which, when grown, must produce a most original effect in this airy region. The most celebrated gardens here belong to Count Beauregard and M. Fille. I bought from the gardener of the latter a collection of seeds of all the flowers and plants that grow wild in the neighbourhood of Hieres. He asked eighty francs, but took forty ; a common thing with the Provencals, who are not over conscientious in their dealings.

The terrace before the house is delightful in the extreme. Numbers of sweet-smelling cassia-trees already bearing golden flowers, fra grant Arabian jasmine, hedges of rose-bushes in full bloom, some lofty palm-trees, camellias in blossom, geraniums, and many other rich and rare flowers, are laid out between neat ORANGE-TREES. gravel-walks. In the midst stands a marble fountain with gold fishes ; and from this spot a star was visible, whose rays extending around at least a quarter of a league, seemed to have been cut out of a thicket of orange-trees entirely covered with fruit. I use the word thicket, because in all the Hieres you will not find a single trunk of an orange-tree as thick as several in our greenhouse. During the great frost, fourteen years ago, all the orange-trees here were frozen, and it was necessary to cut them down at the root, not sparing even sturdy veterans that had lived for many centuries.

From this cause, almost all the trees have five or six stems, which in time will give them a very different appearance from the old ones, and certainly one not less pleasing : another ad vantage is the prospect of a better crop, in con sequence of the increase in their branches. Some of these bush-like trees already measure as many feet in height as they are years old : the greater number, however, have not reached so high. I was shown some with quite different-shaped leaves and fruit, capriciously twisted by nature : those in the shape of plumes were the prettiest. The garden of the mayor, who has married a grand-daughter of Stulz, the rich London tailor, also deserves a short visit. This well- STULZ, THE LONDON TAILOR. known man terminated his glorious career here a few years ago, as we learn from a marble monument erected in the churchyard.

Cer tainly the life of the deceased did honour to his intelligence. Although he had the misfor tune to be born in Germany, he was clever enough to become immensely rich in England ; and when life's closing scene came on, he was poetical enough to die at Hieres, and be buried beneath orange-trees. No doubt he is now in heaven ; and thus he has, rising step by step, finely illustrated my idea of the system of per fectibility, traced by the following gradations : stone, plant, animal, German, English tailor, poet, angel ! " God be with him !" When I returned to the hotel, faint, tired, and hungry, the bell was just ringing for the table d'hote. Think of my astonishment at finding there fifteen or sixteen guests, all of whom were Germans, and three of the number ladies — a strange rencontre ! They were all unknown to me, except one of the ladies, who stayed a few years ago for three months at the baths of M : she is a charming, agreeable woman, whom you cannot but remember, and who (sure way of pleasing me) spoke of you with enthusiasm.

My countrymen all received me most cordially : we spoke warmly of our MIDNIGHT ADVENTURES. ever-dear fatherland ; and it was not till late in the night of a clear but very cold moonlight that I entered my airy tilbury, attended to the door by a great part of the company. On the way, the wind robbed me of my last English hat ; and, although a tout risque, I left my somewhat phlegmatic hackney standing in the middle of the road, to recover the fugitive if possible ; I was, however, unable to regain possession of it : rolling down a steep declivity, it disappeared, as though some provoking spirit had carried it off. Nothing more would have been wanting but that my horse, to whom I returned after a quarter of an hour's vain search, should also have run after it. I figured to myself this possibility, not without some fear, as I was climbing up the acclivity ; but the good beast had not stirred — nay, he seemed to have fallen asleep standing.

I triumphed, however, too soon, for another unforeseen disaster awaited me. Half-frozen, I arrived at the gate of Toulon as midnight was striking, and found it shut. I called loudly, but no soul made his appearance, and, after half an hour's useless efforts of every kind, nothing remained for me but to seek my fortune at the other gate. Toulon has only two, — those of ItalyandFrance. At the latter I espied a sentinel on the wall, PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE. 15 walking up and down, and, after much parley, during which I represented myself as a French courier, I succeeded in getting him to quit his post for a moment, and request the corporal of the guard to inform the commandant. After waiting a tedious hour in anxious suspense, the postern at length opened, and an officer with a small guard came out.

Although I could no longer call myself a courier, the officer, after hearing my name and looking at my passport, allowed me to pass. I thanked God ; for to be obliged to bivouac in the street, or in an open carriage, on a very cold night, until the gate was opened to the public at five o'clock, was no agreeable prospect ; and that must have been my inevitable lot, for no lodging was to be had far or near. At home I found a warm room at least, but no rest, for I was obliged to pack up and look after a hundred little things, preparatory to embarkation next morning, as my Parisian servant is not one to whom I could trust the care of these matters : he would forget half, and bungle the remainder. Next morning when we quitted Toulon the wind and weather were favourable, and the magnificent country about the roadstead, rendered still more beautiful by the brilliant rays of A STRANGE CONTRAST. the sun, was grouped round us, while the finest military music in France from on board the admiral's ship seemed to salute our departure.

I hailed this. as a good omen ; and although I was not quite well after my sleepless night, I cheerfully began my journey, without knowing how far I should go, nor what fate awaited me ; — but sea-sickness soon put an end to romantic dreams. When evening arrived, and I was lying in bed sick, I had on one side a happy fellow, who, free from sickness, was smoking a cigar under his counterpane, and singing jovial songs, while on the other side a patient far worse than myself lay almost ex piring in convulsions. It was a strange con trast : one gaily sang " L' enfant cMri des dames, jefus en tous pays;" the other, falling backwards with a groan as if he was suffocating, gave such frightful accompaniment to the song, that it excited pity in every breast. I shuddered : — "A little patience," whispered my philosophy ; " everything passes away, and this too must have an end. Pain will cease; but so, alas! will joy !" ALGIERS ROADSTEAD. 17

Letter II

Algiers Roadstead. — Lord Exmouth. — African Moonlight. — Ghost-like City. — Revived Enthusiasm. Algiers Roadstead, Jan. 13th, Midnight. What a glorious view surrounds me, dear Lucy ! We have cast anchor in the exact spot from which Lord Exmouth bombarded Algiers. The moon shines so brightly that it seems almost daylight, a mild zephyr fans my cheeks, and sweet perfumes are wafted from the shore. Everything is as if it were the middle of summer : the blue sea glitters smooth as a mirror ; to the left rises, still covered with snow, Atlas with the pointed Mons Serratus of the ancients ; to the right is the lofty lighthouse ; and before us, faintly illumined by three minarets, is a white col lected mass, lying like a creature without life at the foot of the mountain. City ? — no, — this strange object seems but the ghost of a city REVIVED ENTHUSIASM. swathed in an immense winding-sheet.

But for the minarets, which blaze above it like candelabras, I should have taken it for an enormous fragment of marble or chalk. I gratified my eyes for a full hour with this beautiful if not natural vision, and then de scended into the captain's elegant cabin, to write at a green-table while everybody else is buried in profound sleep, and to wish you, like them, sound repose. I shall find it difficult to give wav to sleep; for the sight of Afric's shores has lighted up my old imagination with the fire of youth. You will not, however, gain much by it, dear friend. Probably I may enjoy life more here while I observe and feel less about it. LAND AT ALGIERS 19

Letter III

Gigantic Porcelain Stoves. — City of Biscuit. Traces of the French. — Christian Mosque. — Incongruous Ornaments. — The last Dey and the Cassuba. — Coup d'eventail. — Powder Magazine in a Palace. — Stems of the Aloe used for Fire-wood. — Convent of Beggars. — Shopkeepers at Algiers. — Honesty ofthe Street Boys. — Count d'Erlon, General Rapatel, and Count de la Bretonniere. — The famous Jussuf; history of his life, love, and sufferings. — Napoleon a machine. — Marriage Ceremonies. — Turkish Mistresses. — Palace of the Governor. — Plan of Civilisation. — Danger of Excursions round Algiers. — Invitation to a Ball. Algiers, the 16th: At nine next morning we landed. I was again astonished, by day as well as by night, at the sight of the white town without walls, built so closely that few of the streets are more than five feet broad.

It forms one dense mass leaning against the mountain, which has the form of a sugar-loaf with the top broken off; and as the houses as well as their platforms are all fresh whitewashed twice a year — several every CITY OF BISCUIT. month — there is scarcely a spot to be seen of any other colour. The minarets, unlike those of Turkey, are not slender. I cannot better describe them to you than by comparing them to gigantic porcelain stoves of Feilner: they have, like them, a similar band of saucer-tile, and over that a wreath of garnish ; but on the top, instead of a cupid, an eagle, or a vase, the ornament is a half-moon. The resemblance is complete, and the town itself, were it built entirely of biscuit, could not look otherwise than it does. The interior of the town strikes an Euro pean still more forcibly ; particularly now that the French style of architecture forms a curious medley with the African, increasing the oddity of the effect.

No sooner had we set foot on land, than hundreds of brown and black figures, all dressed in white bernus, (a species of woollen cloak with a hood,) most of which hung about them in dirty rags, rushed upon my trunks like robbers, and fought amongst one another to carry them to the hotel. Some would, no doubt, in such a case have given their things up as already lost ; and my Parisian badaud, who understands nothing which he has not seen in the capital, was of this opinion. Nevertheless, SCENE OF CONFUSION. 21 a dishonest act on such occasions is almost un exampled. It was not until five or six of these seeming demons had, after a quarter of an hour's wrangling, gained the advantage over their rivals, that they were allowed to depart with the unequally-divided burthen. When we reached the gate, on our way from the Mole, a new delay occurred.

A long train of asses, mules, and camels was coming slowly out of the town. First rode on an Arabian white horse a negress, but by no means ugly ; then followed a strange medley of all sorts. We found ourselves, after we had passed the gate, in the broadest street in the town ; the houses right and left were half in ruins, the French having thrown them down to increase the width of the street : everywhere stones and rubbish lay about, the transport of which caused unceasing tumult. The por ters, often five or six for one object, mostly ran along ; and those who did not look before them ran imminent risk of being knocked down, particularly by the long beams, which some of them carried on their heads. Costumes of every kind surrounded us : black Kabyles from Mount Atlas in white cloaks ; Moors in splendid many-coloured dresses ; Negroes in OUR HOTEL. harlequin jackets, embroidered all over with bright variegated flowers and stars ; elegant French officers ; Suaves and Spahis in ori ental French uniform ; Parisian waiting-maids and Moorish matrons, the latter covered with linen in such a way that only their eyes are visible, and looking exactly like corpses risen from the bed of death to gaze once more upon the living ; Jewesses, their feet naked, only wearing sandals, but, in recompense, glittering all over with gold, and having on their heads tuyaus three feet long made of filigree; — all these different costumes swarmed in the streets, intermingled with as strange a medley of animals.