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 TRICOLOR ON THE ATLAS; 
 
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 ALGERIA AND THE FRENCH CONQUEST. 
 
 £xom i^t §txmmx oi §r. S^agmr sub dl^a ^omczB, 
 
 FRANCIS PULSZKY, Esq. 
 
 T. NELSON AND SONS, LONDON: EDINBURGH; 
 
 AND NEW YORK. 
 
J.OAN STACK 
 

 PREFACE. 
 
 Among the Tourists who have given us an account of the Regency 
 of Algeria, the Bavarian naturalist, Dr. Moritz Wagner, has 
 distinguished himself by the liveliness of his descriptions, the 
 earnestness of his researches, and the frankness with which he has 
 expressed his views. He remained for three years in the Regency, 
 and published in 1841 an amusing and instructive account of his 
 journey. A great portion of his Work having become antiquated, 
 I have condensed his first volume, translated his second, added 
 an account of later events, from the capture of Constantine to the 
 surrender of Abd-el-Kader, and given a general view of the pre- 
 sent state of the French possessions on the north coast of Africa 
 I have made careful use of the most recent French works on 
 Algeria, and principally of the official Blue Book, published by 
 imperial authority in 1853, under the title " Tableau de la Situa- 
 tion des Etablissements Francais dans TAlgerie, 1850-52." 
 
 FEANCIS PULSZKY. 
 
 Mat, 1854. 
 
 71 
 
CONTENTS. 
 PART I. 
 
 BESCEIPTION OF THE REGENCY OF ALGERIA. 
 
 Chap. ^'*"® 
 
 I.— The City of Algiers, '-^ 
 
 IT.— Algerine Life, 23 
 
 III.— The Neighbourhood of Algiers, 39 
 
 IV. — Rassota— Reghaia— Rusgonia— Belida— Coleah, 52 
 
 v.— ITie Eastern Coast of Algeria, 67 
 
 VI. — The Province of Constantine, 86 
 
 VII. — Excursion fi'om Algiers to the West, 101 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE NATIVE RACES OF THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 
 
 I.— The Arabs, 1-24 
 
 IL— The Kabyles, 160 
 
 III.— The Moors, 172 
 
 IV.— The Turks and Kuniglis, 183 
 
 v.— The Jews, ISC 
 
 VI.— The Negroes, 195 
 
 VIL— The Mozabites, IVS 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE EEGENCY OF ALGERIA. 
 
 Cbap. Page 
 
 L— Northern Africa, from the Earliest Epoch to the Landing of the Turks in Algeria, 204 
 
 II.— Algeria, from the Establishment of the Turkish Dominion to the French Conquest, 218 
 
 III.— Administrations of Marshal Clauzel and of General Berthezene, 232 
 
 IV.— The Administration of the Duke of Rovigo and of General Voirol, 243 
 
 v.— Administration of Count Drouet d'Erlon, and Second Administration of Marshal 
 
 Clauzel, 267 
 
 VI.— The Administration of General Damre'mont, and the Expedition to Constantine, 286 
 
 VII.— The Administration of Marshal Valde, 349 
 
 V'lII.— The Administration of General Bugeaud, 359 
 
 IX.— The Catastrophe of Abd-el-Kader, and of his Conquerors, 372 
 
 X.— Eecapituliition. 383 
 
'IHE 
 
 TRICOLOR ON THE ATLAS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE CITY OF ALGIERS. 
 
 Amongst the Arabs, Algiers is known under the name of El 
 Jesair, which means in Arabic "The Valiant." The city is 
 likewise called so by the Kabyles and the Negroes of the in- 
 terior. As often as the natives are asked why they call this city 
 the " Valiant," they invariably answer, " because it has humbled 
 the Christians." But it has retained the name to this day, though 
 the Christians have taken their revenge. We have corrupted this 
 appellation into Algiers. 
 
 The city has a triangular form, and is situated on the amphi 
 theatrical slope of a hill, rising 372 feet above the sea, which 
 washes its foot. The houses are all whitewashed ; they are not 
 surmounted by gable roofs, but forjn terraces ; and only the new 
 buildings have windows towards the street. All the Moorish 
 houses present a dead wall towards the thoroughfares ; the city 
 looks therefore very strange, and its aspect from the sea resem- 
 bles a gigantic marble quarry. The harbour is small, scarcely 
 affording shelter to thirty ships; but its depth is sufficient for 
 middle sized men-of-war. A dyke thrown into the sea, and 
 
10 THE CITY OF ALGIERS. 
 
 running for 300 feet from west to east, protected the ships against 
 the surf of the sea. The French have continued this dyke ever 
 since 1830, and the harbour is now large enough for the require- 
 ments of trade. The population of Algiers — French troops not 
 included— was in 1839, estimated to be 28,000: 9000 Moors, 
 6000 Jews, 5000 natives of the interior, Arabs, Kabyles, Biskaris, 
 and Mozabites, and 8000 Europeans. It is therefore by no 
 means probable, that previous to 1830, the number of inhabitants 
 should have amounted to more than 35,000, as the number of 
 the Mohammedans who left the city since the conquest, does 
 not amount to more than 15,000. In X852, the census return 
 shows for Algiers a population of 35,197 Europeans, and 23,303 
 natives. 
 
 Algiers consists of two great parts. The lower portion begins 
 at the port, and extends to the old palace of the Dey, which is 
 situated almost in the centre of the town. The majority of the 
 inhabitants are here Europeans, living in nice houses. The three 
 principal streets ar-e : Marine Street, leading from the port to the 
 large market-place; Bab-a-Zun, leading through the gate of the 
 same name to' the country east of Algiers, and to the camps of 
 Mustapha and Kuba ; and the street Bab-el-Wad, which likewise 
 leads from the large market-place, in a western direction, to the 
 gate Bab-el-Wad {water gate). These three streets are the only 
 ones where carriages can pass, being just wide enough for two 
 carriages. Most of the houses are new; their juttings form 
 vaulted arcades, which cover a continued row of neat trottoirs, 
 in the style of the Rue Rivoli, in Paris, shielding the pas- 
 senger from sun and rain. A great number of dark alleys, 
 which only allow a couple of persons to pass, intersect the 
 three principal streets in all directions ; the greatest portion 
 bears French names. The upper part of the town is dark, angular, 
 and irregular. The nan-ow streets ascend so steeply, that every 
 walk gives ample opportunity for climbing, most trying to 
 elderly people. In rainy weather, it is impossible to descend the 
 Citadel Street, which leads through this upper part, without 
 
THE CITY OF ALGIERS. 11 
 
 incessant stumbling and falling. A visit to the elevated por- 
 tion of Algiers, which is occupied almost exclusively by natives, 
 proves at such times a serious expedition. Yet, if we get familiar 
 with the climate of Algiers, we also soon grow reconciled to 
 the narrowness of its streets which are rarely more than four 
 feet in width. In summer, when the sun's rays are glowingly 
 reflected from the rocks, and in winter, when the floods of rain 
 wash the stones, one always walks cool and dry over the town, 
 shielded from heat and wet by the architecture of the houses, 
 as the upper storeys of the buildings project over the lower 
 floors, in the same way, and even more than we see in the ancient 
 English towns. No doubt, this style makes the streets dark, 
 but yields shade and cover, which is of especial benefit in this 
 latitude to all persons inclined to intermittent fevers. All the 
 older houses are built in the well-known Moorish style; though 
 not so grand as in the Alhambra and other ancient Moorish 
 buildings in Southern Spain ; yet, its form is attractive and 
 pleasing. The outside of these houses is very plain, in fact, ia 
 streets so narrow, a stately fagade, if it existed, could not be 
 viewed ; besides, they have only small grated holes for windows. 
 But inside, they strike by their architecture ; which is as comfort- 
 able and nice, as it is magnificent and dazzling. A hall sup- 
 ported by columns leads to a stair, the walls of which are covered 
 with gaudy glazed pottery; passing this, we get into the hall 
 within, a square usually paved with marble, and enclosed by 
 a colonnade which admits the light from above. Another stair 
 leads to an upper colonnade, which, like the lower, runs all round 
 the hall, and conducts to four apartments. In wealthier houses 
 there is a fountain, or a basin for bathing, or a grove of orange- 
 trees in the middle of the hall, which, as mentioned, receives the 
 light from above; and as the Moors had no glass-ceiling, the rain 
 freely fell into the hall, which certainly made the apartments often 
 damp. Many French had constructed' glass-roofs, which prevent 
 this nuisance, yet likewise deprive the hall of its airy freshness. 
 Such is the construction of all the houses in Algiers. The man- 
 
12 THE CITY OF ALGIERS. 
 
 sion of the wealthy differs from the abode of the poor only In size, 
 and the sumptuousness of the ornamental arrangements. The 
 floors and the columns are, with the former, commonly of white 
 marble; large plates of gaudy glazed pottery cover the walls and 
 passages, and contribute no less to the ornament than to the cool- 
 ness of the building. As to the rest, the abodes are all alike 
 in their furniture, and in the simplicity of implements. Some 
 carpets or mats plaited of palm-leaves, a couple of prettily-carved, 
 gaily painted and gilded chests, often likewise vases with rose- 
 water, form almost the entire furniture of a Moorish room. Chairs 
 are unknown to the inhabitants ; they always take their seats on 
 the covering of the floor, crossing their legs. Regular kitchens 
 are not to be found In the house; the dishes are warmed in the 
 court-yard on a moveable iron hearth. The larder contains the 
 curious earthen cooking utensils, gigantic kegs for butter, &c. 
 The houses are generally kept very clean; nothing but over- 
 whelming poverty reconciles itself to filth. Every building has 
 only two storeys, distributed in exactly the same way ; the roof 
 is flat, and surrounded by a parapet, forming airy terracfes, on 
 which the inhabitants used to walk about after sunset. The 
 Moorish ladies likewise show themselves here In their magnificent 
 attire, commonly without veil, but spying carefully whether any 
 man's eye watches them from the neighbouring terrace. They, 
 therefore, always carry a muslin handkerchief in their hand 
 during these evening walks. Instantly to cover their face if any 
 curious look should be turned towards them. Nevertheless, this 
 affectation of modesty, sanctified by the ancient custom of the 
 country, is a little less strictly observed by them towards Euro- 
 peans than with natives. Not as if they felt a peculiar predilec- 
 tion for us, but because they know that the Christian women are 
 allowed to show themselves before the eye of man without in- 
 fringing the rules of custom, or lowering themselves In our esti- 
 mation. It would also be difficult for a Moorish lady — if she 
 does not choose altogether to give up her regular exercise on the 
 terrace — to avoid the glance of curious eyes, as many Europeans 
 
THE CITY OF ALGIERS. 13 
 
 live in the Moorisli part of the town, and on mild evenings, 
 steadily persevei?e in spying at the mysteries of the neighbour- 
 ing houses. 
 
 The Moorish architecture, if not as grand as the venerable 
 Gothic, or the classical Greek style of the great monuments in 
 Europe, yet, with all its imperfections, presents an attractive 
 sight by its general effect, nearly in the same way as the pic- 
 turesque Moorish dress itself. The pleasant impression on the 
 traveller is here yet heightened, because he scarcely expects it in 
 a city so lately the abode of Corsairs. The interior of several 
 buildings at Algiers — for instance, the Mansion-house or dwelling 
 of the Governor, and the hall of justice — would, even in European 
 capitals, allure those who delight in sights. In day-time, when 
 a blue dazzling sky forms a vault over the colonnaded halls, 
 when the veins of the marble paving, the complicated adornment 
 of the porcelain walls, the curiously- sculptured columns, the horse- 
 shoe arches, and the peculiar carving of the doors, are lighted 
 from above by the golden rays, then a Moorish house makes an 
 impression similar to that of a bird of the tropical lands in rich 
 brightness ; and the oddity of the form proves as little repulsive 
 to our eye as an attractive fairy tale to the imagination of children. 
 There is nothing mysterious in these uncommon shapes, when 
 permeated by a flood of bright sunshine. We enjoy wandering 
 about the galleries with the solemn gait of an Easterner, now 
 resting our cheek against the smooth and fresh marble wall, then 
 again listening to the monotonous gurgling of the f r.ntain. 
 
 Among the remarkable buildings of Algiers, nona is better 
 known than the Citadel, the residence of the last Dey, which 
 commands the whole of the city, since it is the most elevated 
 edifice on the hill on whose ridge Algiers rises. It is a very 
 large and strong fortress, with many apartments, courts, and shell- 
 proof cellars. Yet, as to beauty and elegance, neither the castle, 
 nor the ancient palace of the Deys, where the princes of Algeria 
 held their residence up to 1818, are superior to the other struc- 
 tures. Though both are more spacious than the old barracks of 
 
14 THE CITY OF ALGIERS. 
 
 the janissaries, they by no means equal them, or even some 
 private Moorish houses, in wealth and magnificence. From a 
 distance, the castle appears as a white irregular mass of buildings, 
 and it is only by the enormous guns stretching their mouths 
 through the loop-holes that we perceive it to be a fort. The 
 French have connected it with the country by the erection of 
 eide-gates; previously it had only one exit — namely, the gate 
 which led to the " Citadel" Street. This gate is lofty enough for 
 a man on horseback. It is of white marble, ornamented by an 
 Arabic inscription, such as were sculptured over all the houses 
 belonging to the Dey. Formerly a large wooden cage, filled 
 with white doves, was placed at the side of the gate, and above it 
 yawned the mouth of a very large gun, threatening the streets in 
 case of riot. Passing the gate, we are in sight of a dark vaulted 
 passage, where the water of a fountain falls into a white marble 
 J^asin. Having passed it, we perceive two alleys, one leading to 
 the late abode of Hussein-Dey, the other to the powder magazine, 
 and to the batteries which are pointed toward the city. By a 
 gallery, next to the vaulted passage, we get into an oblong court- 
 yard, close to the large square colonnaded hall, which is sur- 
 rounded by the apartments of the late Dey. Magnificent lemon- 
 trees stood here formerly, and a large fountain spouted the water 
 into a couple of ample white marble basins. The gallery at the 
 south side of the hall is twice as wide as the others, and is supported 
 by a double row of columns ; it was used as the reception hall by 
 Hussein-Dey, where he daily saw his officers, and publicly held 
 his court. Along the walls, benches with gold- embroidered 
 velvet cushions were placed, on which the Dey and the members 
 of his council used to take their seats. The walls were covered 
 with porcelain, ornamented with very pretty drawings ; but now 
 most of them are destroyed or injured, and the furniture of value — 
 even the fine old-fasldoned mirrors with gilded frames, the Eng- 
 lish clocks, the Moorish cushions — have all disappeared. Behind 
 this gallery were the apartments of the Kasnaji, or first minister, 
 and the vaults of the state's treasure, rummaged in 1830 by the 
 
THE CITY OF ALGIERS. 15 
 
 cunning treasure- seekers of the Seine, who fully well understood 
 how to resuscitate Spanish piastres and Turkish gold from their 
 centenary grave. The cash, amounting to fifty millions francs, 
 was locked up in large iron boxes. Of the other treasures — 
 jewels, gold and silver vases, and magnificent arms — a great 
 portion was stolen, and in Algiers the pilfering is almost gene- 
 rally imputed to the most immediate attendants of General Bour- 
 mont, yet it was impossible to prove this charge. In the first 
 floor, behind the hall, there are mostly small rooms, which were 
 formerly inhabited by the household officers of Hussein- Dey. 
 The Prince occupied the upper storeys, connected with the first 
 floor by a magnificent marble flight of stairs. In front of the 
 Dey's apartments, we see an open gallery, with a view over the 
 country and the sea. Hussein- Dey lived in the eastern portion 
 of this floor; he inhabited four rooms, two of which were very 
 spacious, decorated in the Oriental taste, but they contained nothing 
 remarkable. On the same side of the castle, there are yet three 
 other rooms, two of which were filled with splendid arms and gar- 
 ments' when the French took possession of the city; the third 
 room was the mint. Opposite to the apartments of the Dey were 
 the rooms of his wives. Above the second terrace there are only 
 small rooms, affording a wide view, spreading over the city, the 
 country, and the sea. The Dey, never venturing to leave the 
 castle, often used to walk here, looking down upon the city, and 
 watching what happened there. From this very spot he saw 
 likewise the French fleet approaching the coast, which was to 
 put an end to his sway. At present the castle is turned into 
 barracks, grog-shops, and store-houses; the ancient magnificence 
 has almost disappeared from the residence of the Dey, In 1830, 
 fifty guns of very heavy calibre were "found here; they were 
 painted green on the outside, and their mouths red; their car- 
 riages were massive and immoveable. The greater portion of 
 these cannons still remain here ; some were carried to France, 
 and put up as trophies in the Hotel des Invalides. 
 
 Previous to 1818, the Deys occupied the large building which 
 
16 THE CITY OF ALGIERS. 
 
 forms the soutliern facade of the market-place. It is the highest, 
 and, next to the castle, the most extensive building of the city ; 
 but it is likewise deprived of its former riches. It has been 
 turned into barracks and a military store-house. 
 
 The fortress called the " Emperor's Fort," beyond the city, on 
 a hill rising 630 feet above the sea, is built of bricks, as are all 
 the houses at Algiers. It got the name of the " Emperor's Fort" 
 since the Emperor Charles V., in 1541, had his head-quarters on 
 this hill, and erected here several fortifications. At the attack of 
 the French in 1830, the greatest portion of the fort was blown 
 up ; yet the outside walls remained, and the barracks in the inte- 
 rior have been restored. The fortress contains two large vaults 
 for keeping the powder stores, and is defended by fifty Turkish 
 guns in very bad repair. On the whole, the fortifications of the 
 city on this side are much neglected, since an attack from the 
 natives never was feared by the French, for they never have suc- 
 ceeded in taking even a block-house ; the slightest trench defended 
 by a few cannons always proved an invincible obstacle to the 
 Arabs as well as to the Kabyles. 
 
 Towards the sea, Algiers is strongly fortified. In the year 
 1816, the bold Lord Exmouth could yet venture to sail into the 
 port, and to anchor so close to the pier that his bowsprit almost 
 touched the houses. At present, even a strong fleet would dearly 
 pay for such boldness, as, since 1816, very massive fortifications, 
 well supplied with cannons, have been erected round the bay. In 
 the west stands the fort, named by the French, Fort de Vingt- 
 quatre-heures ; in the east, the fort Bab-a-Zun. Other fortifica- 
 tions were erected all along the gulf, from Cape Caxines to Cape 
 Matifu. At the Cape Caxines there are the " Forts de la Pointe 
 Pescade." Two hours eastward from Algiers, on a high plateau, 
 the camp Kuba is built, the artillery of which reaches far into the 
 gulf. Then we find the fortified " Maison Carree," and farther 
 east we see the Fort de I'Eau, whose guard is intrusted to the 
 Aribes; and lastly, the Fort Matifu, which is now quite abandoned. 
 
 Amongst the European buildings at Algiers, one only is worth 
 
• ^faw— w wnMlPpKB^ 'i^. 
 
r 
 
THE CITY OF ALGIERS. 17 
 
 mentioning ; it is the abode of Mr. Latour du Pin, a rich officer 
 of the general staff, which forms the western fagade of the large 
 market-place. The building cost about one million of francs, and 
 it would proij^e an ornament even to a European capital. In the 
 street Bab-a-Zun there is a new' structure, in half Moorish, half 
 European style. It contains the college, the library, and the 
 Protestant chapel, and owes its existence to the excellent Civil 
 Intendant Bresson, an enlightened man of noble character, who, 
 in spite of the innumerable troubles of his position, yet remained 
 several years in Algiers, making it his task to raise a new world 
 in Africa by education. He persisted in his efforts, though, with 
 his aptitude for business and his oratorical talent, he might have 
 expected a much more brilliant career in France. The exterior 
 of the building which he founded is somewhat gaudy, and not in 
 the best taste, but nothing has been spared for its interior arrange- 
 ment and comfort. The college has separate halls for every class 
 of scholars, who are taught both in French and in Arabic. Chil- 
 dren of the most different nations — Germans, Spaniards, Moors, 
 and Negroes — here write their exercises in common with Parisian 
 boys. The library comprises two large halls, ornamented with 
 marble. It contains many Arabic manuscripts, some of them 
 captured in the house of Ben-Aissa, and in the different mosques 
 of Constantine. 
 
 Previous to the French conquest, Algiers had ten large and 
 fifty small mosques. Now these are reduced to one-half of the 
 number. Many have been pulled down to enlarge the streets, or 
 to make room for houses. This was likewise the fate of the most 
 splendid temple of Algiers, which stood on the market-place. 
 The ornamental portions of it, particularl}'- the white marble 
 columns, were partly preserved, and used for the improvement of 
 the large mosque in the Rue de la Marine. One of the mosques 
 has been turned into a theatre, another became a store-house for 
 hay, a third is a barrack. The French government has been 
 often accused of bad policy for such wanton desecration of the 
 Mohammedan houses of worship, and certainly this was one of 
 
18 THE CITY OF ALGIERS. 
 
 the measures which the natives could least forget or pardon in 
 their new rulers. But, on the other side, the number of mosques 
 was much too large for the population. The Turks li^ere banished 
 from the city; many Moors emigrated to the East or other 
 parts of Barbary; and the number of those anxious to visit the 
 mosques decreased daily, whilst the armj^ and the first settlers 
 were in great want of convenient shelter. Store-houses, barracks, 
 hospitals, had to be established, and private persons, of course, 
 could not be turned out of their houses. The government, there- 
 fore, may certainly find excuses for their severely-censured mea- 
 sures, though we cannot but regret that, by this violation of 
 religious feelings, so many natives have been estranged from the 
 new lords of the country. 
 
 The finest work of architecture undertaken by the French 
 government was the restoration of a large mosque in the Rue de 
 la Marine, for which the Duke of Nemours laid the eorner-stone 
 in 1836. All the columns and marble ornaments which had been 
 preserved from the buildings pulled down were lavished on this 
 structure, which exhibits now a long fayade of white marble 
 columns. But the interior is not grand. A long portico, not 
 above twenty-five feet high, surrounds several courts, where 
 colossal orange-trees and cypresses protect a marble basin from 
 the rays of the sun by the screen of their unfading green leaves. 
 At this fountain the pious Mohammedans wash their hands, feet, 
 and faces, with the utmost care, whenever they step in or out. 
 The floor of the temple is covered with velvet carpets of different 
 colours, richer around the sanctuary, which consists of an arched 
 niche, in which the Mufti, Imam, or Marabut, says the prayer. 
 Since the French rule in Algiers, the entrance into the mosques is 
 no longer prohibited to Christians; they only must, like the Mo- 
 hammedans, take off their shoes before the gate — the sacred carpet 
 may only be trodden by bare feet. Previous to 1830, every Chris- 
 tian who entered a mosque was punished with death, and the floor 
 of the mosque had to be carefully washed, and the walls freshly 
 painted; for they were deemed to have been desecrated by the pre- 
 
THE CITY OP ALGIERS. 19 
 
 sence of a Christian. But now the Mohammedans in the seaport 
 towns of Algeria have grown accustomed to see Frenchmen in 
 their temples. A closer acquaintance with the infidels, under cir- 
 cumstances totally diiBferent from before, has greatly conciliated 
 them to their antagonists in faith, and they do not now consider 
 the presence of Christians as desecrating their places of worship. 
 The calm and freshness pervading the wide colonnades of the 
 large mosque make it a most attractive place of refuge during the 
 hot months. I often remained there for hours, leaning against a 
 column, and watching the single worshippers at day-time, or 
 their more numerous groups at the evening prayers. There were 
 among them most interesting countenances — many an old, melan- 
 choly, silver-haired Moor, longing for the promised blessings 
 beyond this world; beside him sat his grandchild, a pretty rosy- 
 cheeked boy, in whose heart, to tell by his appearance, fanaticism 
 had not yet sprung up. Then again, it was so pleasant to wander 
 about in the interior courts, under the orange-trees, and to indulge 
 in dreamy thoughts at the rippling fountain. Every IMohammedan 
 place of worship has a slender minaret, commonly of a rectangular 
 form, the summit of which is adorned by the crescent. On its top 
 the tower is surrounded by a gallery, from whence the Muezzin 
 calls the faithful to prayer. A wooden pole rises above that 
 gallery, on which a white flag is reared as the signal for prayers. 
 Another handsome mosque stands at the entrance of the Rue 
 de la Marine, on the large place. It is painted shiningly white, 
 much nicer and cleaner than any other building. A cupola rises 
 above the terrace, and above the cupola a minaret, covered with 
 slabs of porcelain of curious form and design. A third remark- 
 able mosque stands in the Rue de la Porte Neuve, not distinguished 
 by size, but by a pomp and elegance in its interior far superior 
 to all the other buildings. Its form is almost round. An artisti- 
 cally worked column supports the cupola, the vault of which is 
 decorated with golden ornaments and slabs of porcelain. The 
 side of the holy niche, the place of the Imam, is ornamented by a 
 pulpit of white marble. The balustrade of the pulpit- stairs, and 
 
20 THE CITY OF ALGIERS. 
 
 the marble canopy above the preacher, are of the most exquisite 
 workmanship, but they probably were worked by Italians. 
 
 Close to the gate Bab-a-Zun, stands a very small mosque, 
 rarely opened; but its splendour is to be perceived through a 
 grated air-hole. AVhilst in most of the mosques magnificence is 
 displayed in the marble floors only, and the walls are white and 
 bare, — in that small mosque, the w^alls, ceiling, and floors, are all 
 richly decorated with velvet, and silk interwoven with gold. 
 Above the niche, verses of the Koran are sculptured with orna- 
 mental letters. In the niche itself stands a kind of altar of marble, 
 almost bearing the form of a sarcophagus, covered with a quantity 
 of flags, which are heavy with resplendent embroideries and of 
 curious forms; it is the monument of the most celebrated Prince 
 of this Corsair republic, Hayraddin Barbarossa, who defeated the 
 expedition of Charles V., in 1541. 
 
 The Roman Catholic Church, the cathedral of Algiers, was 
 formerly a mosque. It is situated in the upper part of the Divan 
 Street ; and though not larger than the two mosques in the Rue 
 de la Marine, its style of building is much purer and grander. 
 Even the finest of the mosques are adorned only with low co- 
 lonnades; but in the cathedral, columns of fifty feet support the 
 cupola, which gets its light from above through stained glass. 
 The altar is on the north side, decorated by a picture of the 
 Virgin, which has been bestowed on this church by the Pope; 
 nevertheless above the picture we still see the sentences of the 
 Koran in interlaced Arabic characters, proclaiming that there 
 is only one God and Mohammed his Prophet. That these sen- 
 tences, though they form a most elegant ornament of arabesques, 
 should be allowed to remain in a Christian temple is rather 
 strange ; in fact, not only are they shocking to the Christian, 
 but the Mohammedan also would rather see them effaced than 
 placed above the image of a deified female. And yet more 
 strange than the interior arrangement, appeared to me the service 
 and the assembly in the cathedral ; which indeed was composed 
 of the most incongruous elements. The mass is here almost a 
 
THE CITY OF ALGIERS. 21 
 
 military spectacle ; the soldiers are drilled for it. A gay martial 
 music resounds in the building whilst the priest mumbles his 
 Latin formulas; the noise of twenty drums thunders through the 
 hall as soon as the sacristan rings the bell; the soldiers standing 
 in a square before the altar, present the musket at the command 
 of their officer, and bend, at the same time, their right knee, and 
 bow their heads to the ground, whilst the thundering march of the 
 drums lasts until the priest has finished the Lord's Prayer. Then 
 the regimental music plays pieces of Auber's and Meyerbeer's 
 Operas; the priest raises the host and presents it to the congrega- 
 don, amongst which some people have prayed, many have 
 listened to the music, others again have turned their attention to 
 the pious young Spanish ladies; and now, — all are talking and 
 walking about the wide hall as if it were a public promenade. 
 , The Protestant hall of worship is in the New Library building, 
 a plain apartment, where a chair stands for the pulpit, and a table 
 for the altar. Every Sunday evening the "usual service of the 
 Calvinist Church is held here ; song, sermon, and once a month 
 the communion. Whilst I was at Algiers two Protestant clergy- 
 men were there, who, at the same time, had the spiritual care of 
 the country people, especially of the Germans, in the village Deli 
 Ibrahim, many of whom had emigrated from Wurtemberg. In 
 spite of the religious indifference predominant in Algiers, the 
 Protestant service was always numerously attended; and in this 
 congregation, partly composed of Roman Catholics, I always 
 noticed pious devotion and respectful silence. 
 
 The eight synagogues here, stand all in the lower part of the 
 town. Their architecture much resembles that of the mosques, 
 with the exception of the minarets, and of the interior courts with 
 fountains, which are wanting in the synagogues. Through a ves- 
 tibule, in some of them very spacious, we entered a hall of square 
 or oblong form, covered with carpets, or more commonly with 
 mats; the walls are ornamented with porcelain. In the centre is 
 a pulpit, adorned by different colours, sometimes by carvings. 
 The text of the Old Testament, written on rolled parchment, is 
 
22 THE CITY OF ALGIERS. 
 
 kept in side-boards ornamented with great costliness. At even- 
 ing service candles are lighted. 
 
 There were about one hundred Mohammedan schools in Al- 
 giers before the occupation of the French; at present half the 
 number is closed. The boys are taught to read the Koran, to 
 write, and a little arithmetic. In this consists the whole Moham- 
 medan instruction at Algiers. Most of the schools are in the 
 upper part of the city, in the Citadel Street. The classes are 
 held in very small apartments, which are open during the lessons, 
 so that everything going on is to be seen and heard from the 
 street. The floor is covered with mats, on which the scholars sit 
 barefooted with crossed legs. The schoolmaster stands in the 
 centre with the stick in his hand. The scholars have pens 
 carved of reed, and wooden tables on which they inscribe sen- 
 tences of the Koran dictated by the teacher. One after the other, 
 glides on his knees to the schoolmaster and shows his ecrawl; 
 then they all read it together. A great deal of noise is going on 
 in these schools; but the schoolmaster never for one moment 
 loses his patience, or his dignified demeanour, and but very 
 seldom uses the stick. On the whole, the scholars show much 
 attention and zeal ; the noise created by the singing and declama- 
 tion of the sentences they have learnt, diverts their attention as 
 little as the transactions in the street, or the presence of an audi- 
 ence. A pleasant relation and mutual confidence subsists be- 
 tween the schoolmaster and the scholars. The teacher very 
 rarely displays severity, and then the pupil is commonly so deeply 
 afflicted with sorrow, that the schoolmaster has to appease him 
 by kind words. There are seldom more than twelve pupils in one 
 school. The common price for every scholar is four rabbia — 
 boojoos (one shilling and four pence) a month. Commonly the 
 young Moors leave school in their fourteenth year, but the 
 friendly relation between the teacher and his former pupils con- 
 tinues, and the old preceptor rarely fails to appear at the nuptials 
 of the grown-vp scholar. 
 
ALGERINE LIFE. 23 
 
 CHAPTEK 11. 
 
 ALGERINE LIFE. 
 
 The different religious communities have in Algiers different 
 courts of justice. " The Tribunal Superieur" consisted at the 
 time of my stay, of a chairman and five judges, amongst whom 
 was one Jew, and one Mohammedan. According to a later 
 ordonnance, it had been reduced to three members, the president 
 and two judges. It decides all civil suits (except commercial 
 matters, which belong to the Tribunal de Commerce) ; and besides, 
 every difference between a Christian, or Jew, and a Mussulman, is 
 decided there. Misdemeanours or law- suits amongst Mohamme- 
 dans come before the Kadi; differences of Jews before the chief of 
 the Jewish nation. The member of the Chamber of Deputies, 
 Laurence, has considerable merit in respect to the administration 
 of justice in Algiers. He thoroughly investigated the complicated 
 relations, and appreciated the difficulty and danger of hasty and 
 subversive reforms in the laws of the natives, with whom so many 
 religious prejudices were to be considered, which, though often 
 strange and ridiculous, are yet deeply- rooted, and had grown 
 almost sacred by their antiquity. The French code has, therefore, 
 not been introduced among the natives; Mr. Laurence himself 
 attended the inauguration of the new system, which had been 
 planned almost entirely according to his views; and he had its 
 details completed with great sagacity, so that it met with universal 
 applause among all classes, and persons of the most different 
 creed, mainly on account of the wise forbearance toward the 
 ancient institutions and customs. 
 
 The building of the court of justice is situated in the upper 
 part of the town, in the Rue de I'etat Major. The sessions are 
 held in the court-yard of the interior colonnade; the Moorish 
 arrangement of the houses being uncommonly well-adapted to this 
 aim, so much so that this architecture should be recommended for 
 
24 ALGERINE LIFE. 
 
 all the courts of justice In Europe. The audience finds ample 
 room In the galleries, the square of the hall being occupied by the 
 judges, solicitors, witnesses, the beadles (hulssler) and inter- 
 preters. The loftiness of the hall. Its fine adornment with porce- 
 lain and marble, and the magic light admitted from above, power- 
 fully contribute to enhance the solemnity of the public courts. 
 Many Interesting suits happened during my stay, often raised by 
 ludicrous Incidents, since men of the most different nations of 
 Europe and Africa appeared as plalntifi's and witnesses, whose 
 evidence and answers were often misconstrued in the most curious 
 way by translation. With Important suits the sessions of the court 
 not seldom last till late at night ; the galleries are, at such times, 
 thronged by Europeans and natives, and in the vestibule, or at the 
 door of the court of justice, we see likewise many veiled Moorish 
 women, whose dark eyes brilliantly glisten through the muslin co- 
 vering, and who watch the Issue of the suit with Intense curiosity. 
 The court-martial holds its sessions In a small by-^treet, not 
 far froi|j the gate Bab-a-Zun. It is almost permanently assem- 
 bled, as. In consequence of the system by which the felons of the 
 European army of France are transported to Africa and formed 
 into battalions, crimes are frequent. The court-martial consists 
 of seven officers, presided over by a colonel, nearly always some 
 brave officer, bowed by age and wounds, and therefore little 
 adapted for difficult expeditions Into the Interior of the country. 
 He presides with great dignity, and is strictly severe, well aware 
 of the character of the culprits. The most common crime in the 
 French-African army is the sale of military accoutrement and 
 ammunition. The temptation to drown the hardships of camp- 
 life in wine, so as to become unconscious of them for a couple of 
 hours, proves so irresistible to many, that even the certainty of 
 becoming still more wretched, and to pay for the short indulgence 
 with a year of forced labour, does not deter them from selling 
 their military accoutrement, and even their ammunition and arms 
 to the sutlers or the Jews of the town. Almost every Sunday 
 we saw soldiers degraded before the garrison on the large market- 
 
ALGKKINE LIFE. 25 
 
 place, from whence they are taken to forced labour in the grey- 
 attire of felons. Even executions were not rare, and took place 
 almost every week, during the rule of the stern Duke of Rovigo. 
 An interesting case which I witnessed before the court-martial of 
 Algiers, was that of the deserter Moncel, a man of remarkable 
 energy of character, whose fate aroused sympathy. He had 
 served as private among the Spahis, after he had lost his grade 
 as non-commissioned officer, in consequence of his unruly disposi- 
 tion. One day he had a dispute with his lieutenant, and the 
 latter turned him out with a kick. Moncel swore to take revenge. 
 He fled in company with a native Spahi, equally weary of dis- 
 cipline, to the Hajutes, where he met with a friendly reception. 
 The unsettled life well suited his adventurous spirit, and the Arabs 
 had acquired in him a bold leader for all their piratical excur- 
 sions to the neighbourhood of Algiers. Moncel took an Arab 
 wife, became Sheikh of an encampment, and stood in high con- 
 sideration with Abd-el-Kader, for whom he repeatedly fought 
 bravely. The Emir sent him even on a mission to the Emperor 
 of Morocco, who at that time paid an ample subsidy to the Arab 
 chief. Moncel, on his return, again lived with the Hajutes, they 
 being his adopted tribe, to which he clung with great attachment. 
 In November, 1836, the same squadron of Spahis, in which the 
 adventurer had served, made an excursion to the Shiffa. A great 
 number of Hajutes waited for them in an ambuscade, and Moncel 
 hailed this opportunity of revenge with eagerness. The Spahis 
 suddenly saw themselves surrounded by an enemy three times 
 superior, and in the affray Moncel fell in with the very identical 
 officer, who formerly had ill-treated him. Lieutenant Goert was 
 killed, twenty Spahis remained on the field, the others escaped. 
 Whilst the Hajutes plundered the corpses, and dreadfully muti- 
 lated them according to their w^ont, Moncel cut the words, " Mon- 
 cel 1836," on the corpse of his former superior with his dagger. 
 The mutilated corpses were found by the French, and roused their 
 thirst for revenge ; but all attempts failed to get Moncel into a 
 trap. A year later, however, he was captured on the market El- 
 
26 ALGERINE LIFE. 
 
 Arba, in the territory of tlie tribe Beni Musa, by an officer of the 
 Bureau Arabe, who had, in disguise, ventured to the fair with a 
 number of Spahis. The case created the greatest sensation. The 
 access to the narrow by-street Bab-a-Zun, was quite blockaded 
 by French people and natives, who took almost yet more lively 
 interest in the trial, since Moncel had become their co-religionist. 
 In former days already when he served in the infantry, he had 
 been well known as a first rate " blagueur;" he used to amuse 
 his comrades at the camp-fire with all kind of adventurous tales 
 of his own life and imagination. His stay among the Arabs, 
 where he had adopted the energetic and richly coloured language 
 of the country, had yet more developed his remarkable oratorical 
 talent. He stood before the court-martial in the Arab garb, ap- 
 pearing rather like a Marabut than as an accused culprit. His 
 language, describing the unworthy treatment he had met from his 
 superior, was impressed with such vigour and dignity, that it 
 created the greatest sympathy in his audience. The slain Lieu- 
 tenant Goert was forgotten, and a general outcry was heard — 
 " Pardon, pardon, for Moncel." Every other court most likely 
 would have admitted mitigating circumstances, but the judges of 
 Moncel were all stern disciplinarians, grown old in service, who, 
 though perhaps moved themselves, knew how to conquer any feel- 
 ing of compassion. Colonel Schauenburg led the debate in his own 
 hard and vigorous way, and the " rapporteur" directed the atten- 
 tion of the judges to the necessity of giving a warning example 
 to all the " mauvaises t^tes" of the army. These reasons pre- 
 vailed; Moncel was sentenced to death, and shot before the gate 
 Bab-el- Wad. His death made a great impression upon the natives, 
 as well as upon the soldiers of the corps in which he had served, 
 and whom he had exhorted, even in the moment preceding his 
 death, never to submit to ill treatment. His friends, the Hajutes, 
 swore to avenge his death, as if he had been a Marabut. They kept 
 this oath faithfully ; and all the murders which had been averted for 
 a while by the peace at the Tafna, but which, towards the close of 
 il837, spread again with renewed terror, were committed on 
 
ALGERINE LIFE. 27 
 
 account of the executed renegade, whose death the Arabs did not 
 forgive to General Damremont, as little as they ever forgave the 
 execution of El-Arbi-ben-Mussa, which had taken place under the 
 Duke of Rovigo. 
 
 Near to the street Bab-el-Wad is the Mohammedan court of 
 justice, as public as the French " Tribunal Superieur," and no 
 less dignified. The Kadi-Maleki is in Algiers the most powerful 
 and the most respected civil officer of the Mussulmans, as the 
 Mufti El-Hanefi is the most important of their priests. At the 
 period of my stay it was Sidi-Hamet-ben-Jadun who filled this 
 , office, a mild and calm old man, who possessed the oriental dig- 
 nity, in the highest degree, that majesty of a prophet so strikingly 
 impressive with noble manliness, and attractively set forth by the 
 picturesque costume. The Kadi-Maleki holds his judiciary ses- 
 sions in a single apartment adorned by carpets only. He is dis- 
 tinguished from the other Moors by the high and ample turban, 
 plaited in many regular folds, which is likewise the costume 
 of his clerks. The same style of turban is the attribute of the 
 Mohammedan priests of every kind in the cities, and of the 
 Imams, Talebs (doctor) and Marabuts (saints) in the country. 
 The Kadi occupies a raised seat at the head of an oval table, 
 before him lies the open Koran bound in gold. To his right and 
 left, at the same table, sit the Khojas (clerks), who pen every case, 
 write all the documents of sales or other transactions, and who 
 sometimes, in questions of importance, whisper their advice to the 
 Kadi. There are twelve of those Khojas at Algiers, but they 
 relieve one another in their lucrative functions. Most of them are 
 fine men, with splendid beards ; some with grey hair and wrinkled 
 countenance, others manly and vigorous with glistening eyes and 
 raven hair. The plaintiff and defendant, led by Shaushs (beadles), 
 advance to the end of the table, opposite to the Kadi. If there 
 are women among the plaintiffs, they are not admitted to the jus- 
 tice hall, but they state their case to the Kadi, whilst remaining 
 in the yard, and addressing him through a grated window. The 
 law-suits are very amusing, even for those who have but scanty 
 
28 ALGEEINE LIFE. 
 
 or no knowledge of the Arabic, especially if women are the plain- 
 tiffs. Their volubility, well supported by their animated gesticu- 
 lations, is most striking, in contrast with the never-to-be-disturbed 
 calmness of the Kadi, who listens to the protracted and passion- 
 ate disputes of the plaintiff and defendant, without evincing the 
 slightest impatience either by movements or expression of counte- 
 nance. No quarrel can affect the dignified deportment of the 
 Kadi. With bowed head, calmly, thoughtfully, he listens to the 
 shrill voices; then occasionally puts a question, takes the evi- 
 dence of the witnesses, if there are any, and at last pronounces 
 his sentence with the same well-calculated and measured dignity. 
 His judgment is always accepted without appeal, and with 
 humble resignation, and both parties kiss his hands both before 
 and after the trial. The sentence is commonly immediately 
 executed. The bastinado on the soles is the most frequent 
 punishment of culprits, and is preferred by them to prison. It 
 does credit to the French government, that it has attempted to 
 abolish this barbarous mode of punishment. But the measure did 
 not meet with any sympathy, thanks, or support with the natives. 
 Of course it could not be carried against the inclination of the 
 parties concerned, though reasonable remonstrances were not 
 spared; but they were all in vain. The humane aim was not 
 appreciated. The French, with whom, among all the nations of 
 Europe, the feeling for the dignity of man is most deeply rooted 
 and most vigorously developed, are roused to indignation by the 
 very idea of corporal punishment, and such a sentiment is always 
 the sign of the culture of a people. But barbarians consider the 
 physical pain alone in this mode of punishment, and if this has 
 been endured, it leaves no moral impression, no feeling of dis- 
 honour. Every disgraced officer and minister of the state had to 
 submit to blows under the rule of the Deys; he then quietly again 
 retired into private life, enjoyed his existence and was personally 
 looked up to as before, no dishonour sticking to him for having 
 been bastinadoed. Prison is more formidable to the Arab, since 
 he is taken from his family, disabled from bestowing his care on 
 
ALGERINE LIFE. 29 
 
 its members, prevented from watching and praj-ing in his mosque, 
 and altogether, because this mode of punishment is not familiar to 
 his ideas. Fines are perhaps yet more dreaded by the natives, 
 avaricious as they are ; they rather sacrifice their limbs than their 
 duros and sultanis (silver and gold coins). Even the most 
 creditable reforms, proposed by Mr. Laurence in this line, were 
 rejected with a kind of horror. Not one single voice applauded 
 his advice of abolishing the bastinado, therefore the French 
 government did wisely not to insist upon doing away with the 
 ancient institution of its Mohammedan subjects. 
 
 There are several large bazaars at Algiers, where the foreign 
 merchants exhibit their wares. But one must not fancy to meet here 
 with the magnificent ancient bazaars of Bagdad or Delhi, studded 
 with the rich produce and manufactures of the East, such as the}'' 
 are described by the accounts of Arabian writers. Even beside 
 the bazaars of Smyrna or Constantinople, which are yet far from 
 conveying a high notion of Asiatic splendour, the bazaars of 
 Algiers would appear poor enough. They consist in extensive 
 buildings, constructed in the Moorish style. Every bazaar has 
 two or three storeys, and contains as many rooms as the space will 
 allow. Formerly, whenever a foreign merchant, Mussulman, or 
 Jew, had got permission to put up his quarters at Algiers, he 
 used to rent one or more rooms at the bazaar, where he exhibited 
 his wares at the doors. He never failed here of numerous visitors, 
 who, in fact, were oftener gazers than buyers, because trade was 
 as little flourishing in Algiers as in the other states of Barbary. 
 In these countries, where to be considered rich was almost equi- 
 valent to a sentence of death, the circulation of money must have 
 been, of course, very scanty. 
 
 There were formerly bazaars at Algiers which had more than 
 forty apartments. The greater portion, and the most remarkable 
 of tliem, hav^e been demolished, and storehouses and shops of 
 European traders have risen in their stead, taking the Paris 
 fashions for their standard. We see now here as smart shops as 
 in any European cit}^ of second rank, for instance in Toulon and 
 
30 ALGERINE LIFE. 
 
 Nice. The stalls of the natives are small and shabby, but 
 interesting for a European by the curious forms, if not also by 
 the variety of objects. These stalls are sometimes little better 
 than square holes, closed at night by a clumsy wooden shutter. 
 In the Divan Street alone, there are some richer shops, in which 
 wares are exhibited with taste, nicety, and symmetry. Most of 
 the shopkeepers to whom they belong are Kuruglis.* Their 
 articles consist in gold embroideries, slippers, pocket-books, &c., 
 mostly of red and green velvet, which usually captivate the eye, 
 more by peculiar finery than by tasteful beauty ; further, in per- 
 fumes of roses and jasmin, in home-made silks woven with great 
 neatness, but which cannot compete with our silk manufactures, 
 neither in style, nor as to the prices. Many objects woven of 
 aloe-fibres, bags, shoes for children &c., are more remarkable for 
 the raiity of the material than for their magnificence. The pro- 
 prietors of these shops, Kuruglis and Turks, are often very 
 wealthy, and buy up the articles manufactured by gold embroi- 
 derers and Moorish women. The export of these wares to Europe 
 is not unimportant, as no French soldier, or any other traveller 
 ever sails from hence to Toulon, without bringing some African 
 keepsakes home to his friends. 
 
 Among the places which I recommend every tourist to visit at 
 Algiers, I must especially mention the Moorish coffee-houses, of 
 which, in the upper part of the city alone, there are above sixty. 
 I spent an hour there almost every evening, and T seldom regret- 
 ted my visit; for, whoever is interested in the people and their lan- 
 guage, finds instruction here. No place u more favourable for the 
 acquirement of the Arabic language. Even if not much talk is 
 going on, still the Moors are here less taciturn than anywhere 
 else. The long rows of different guests, sitting with crossed legs, 
 offer a most interesting opportunity for the study of physiognomies. 
 At the side of the immoveably calm Moor, or Kurugli in gaudy 
 Turkish garb, we behold a sable Negro in the same style of attire, 
 
 * Kuruglis are the children of Turks and Mooresses. 
 
ALGERINE LliE. 31 
 
 but mostly of dirty yellow material. Next to him is a fine tall 
 Arab with sunburnt face, his mighty frame clad in white garments, 
 and a rope of camel's hair twisted round his head. Then again we 
 notice a short grown Kabyle, ragged, wild, with piercing glance, 
 or a Mozabite of the Sahara, and a Biskari from the Belad- 
 el- Jerid, and among them again, a Frenchman in regimentals, or 
 clad according to Paris fashion, adapting himself to every society, 
 and everywhere happy by his merry turn of mind. The finest 
 Moorish coffee-house was formerly situated in the Rue de la 
 Marine, not far from the large mosque. It had a hall partitioned 
 into several galleries, and supported by columns which could 
 accommodate hundreds of people. Another coffee-house of the 
 same style, though not as spacious, I saw as late as at the close 
 of 1836, in the street Bab-a-Zun. Now, however, both have dis- 
 appeared. European speculators have bought these houses, and 
 have raised stately buildings in their stead — hotels and store- 
 houses, which enrich Algiers with some good French architecture, 
 but have impoverished it of specimens of building characteristi- 
 cally Moorish, for among all yet existing coffee-houses, there is 
 not one as remarkable for its style, as those which have been de- 
 stroyed. The present ones are lengthy vaults without marble 
 columns, furnished only with two rows of stone benches which are 
 covered with mats, braided of palm-leaves. On these the guests 
 sit down in the well-known Oriental way. The kitchen, a small 
 smoky corner, is in a niche at the outside of the vault.- The 
 coffee is served in small china cups, resting on tin stands, and 
 mixed for the French with moist sugar; it is pretty strong and 
 of pleasant flavour; the sediment fills almost half the cup. It 
 is offered together with a red earthenware pipe on a long tube, 
 filled with excellent tobacco. The whole costs one sou (about 
 one halfpenny), it is hardly possible to fancy a cheaper treat. 
 The proprietor of a larger coft'ee-house usually little troubles him- 
 self with his business; but, sitting at the entrance with calm 
 gravity, he greets his European guest with " Good evening, sir," 
 and his own co-rellglonlsts with the warmer welcome, " Peace be 
 
32 ALGERINE LIFE. 
 
 upon thee;" and then he shoutF to the servants, "Bring coffee, 
 bring a pipe." The cook is usually a Negro, the waiters, Moorish 
 lads with milkwhite and rosy faces, who, instead of the turban, 
 wear a red skull-cap on their completely shorn heads. The larger 
 coffee-houses have regularly music in the evening ; the orchestra 
 is placed close to the kitchen, from the smoking kettles of which 
 the musicians receive from time to time invigorating coffee. The 
 instruments of these African artists are most usually a three- 
 corded violin, called rebebb, several pipes and guitars, and a 
 peculiar kind of drum, the tarr, which, however, is oftener heard 
 in the streets ; the brass instruments, likewise, which deafen us at 
 the celebration of the Bairam, and at nuptials, are excluded from 
 the coffee-houses. Here one seeks repose, and a soft monotonous 
 lulling music, which is well adapted to the idle enjoyment of the 
 assembly, does not disturb vague contemplation, or scare away the 
 misty dreams, in which the fertile imagination of these effeminate 
 Moors delights, who do not wish to be roused here by energetic 
 sounds to the remembrance of the clattering arms and the chival- 
 rous feats of their ancestors. A celebrated coffee-house stands 
 near to the Roman Chatholic Church, where we mostly met with 
 many Europeans, as the coffee is excellent, the society interesting, 
 and the orchestra very good. Its conductor is an old Moor, who 
 handles his instrument, the violin, with peculiar originality, and 
 the play of his features, the movements of his head, accompanied 
 by grave and monotonous gestures, are strikingly funny. He was 
 one of the musicians to the last Dey, and for sixty years he has 
 ever enlivened all the festivals of Algiers. In consequence, he is 
 likewi^ highly respected, and a welcome friend to the families 
 whom he has cheered and comforted by his sounds in the days of 
 joy and of woe; at the nuptials, when his melodies directed the 
 steps of the dancers, and at the funerals, when his strings uttered 
 the same melancholy monotonous sounds which seem to match 
 equally well the feelings of regret as of calm enjoyment. In the 
 coffee-house of the Divan Street, we sometimes saw dancing girls, 
 singing to the music. The proprietor of this coffee-house is the 
 
ALGERINE LIFE. 33 
 
 brother of the Braham Shaush, the executioner of Algiers, who is 
 a stately man, very rich, and highly esteemed by the Moors. — 
 Some coffee-houses in the upper part of the town, present more 
 original and merrier scenes, especially in the neighbourhood of the 
 castle. There is the Greek coffee-house, whose owner, a Spezziot, 
 tries to allure his customers by scenes of the lowest description. 
 The worst folks from among the natives, often mixed up with good- 
 for-nothing Europeans, revel there without difference of race and 
 religion : Mohammedans, Christians, and Jews, Europeans, and 
 Africans. A French painter sketched this abominable den, which 
 belongs to the oddest, but at the same time, to the most revolting 
 pictures of Algerian life. 
 
 Algiers has as many brilliant French coffee-houses as dull 
 Moorish ones. There is an establishment of this kind in the 
 house Latour du Pin, which may vie with the most splendid 
 cafes of Paris. 25,000 francs (£1000) were wasted on mirrors 
 and ornaments in the large hall alone. Such speculations are 
 natural in a new country, where a wide field for enterprise attracts 
 a disproportionate number of people anxious to make money ; and 
 as there exists hardly an easier and more pleasant trade than that 
 of an inn or coffee-house keeper, many took to this business. But 
 competition soon compelled them to use every means to allure 
 guests, and consequently the speculators soon surpass one another 
 in the splendour and costliness of their establishments. Besides, the 
 number of consumers is very considerable here. It is a young, 
 life-enjoying, and heedless kind of people that immigrates hither 
 from Europe. The tradesmen, who earn a great deal, spend every- 
 thing ; and constant attendance is secured by the numerous mili- 
 tary men, amongst whom there are numbers of rich officers, who 
 receive an ample income from France, and lead a most extrava- 
 gant life. 
 
 Few populations in the world consist of such heterogeneous 
 elements as that of Algiers. There are Moors, who form the 
 majority; Negroes, Turks, Kuruglls, Kabyles, Mozabites, Bis- 
 karis, (Arab inhabitants of the city of Biskara, in the province of 
 
34 ALGERINE LIFE. 
 
 Coustantine, who work in Algiers for daily wages,) and Jews. 
 Of Europeans we meet, besides French, many Spaniards, Maltese, 
 Italians, and Germans. 
 
 Yet life has here, on the whole, a Mohammedan type. The 
 beginning of the Ramadan is announced by the report of 101 
 cannons, of the bulky thirty- six pounders, close to the harbour. 
 The Mohammedan population is bound to pay one duro (about 
 four shillings) for every shot, to the magistrate, so that these 
 festive signals are not precisely a gratuitous courtesy on the part 
 of the French. Immediately after, the signal-lamps are lighted 
 on the balconies of the mosque- steeples, crowning them with a 
 brilliant halo. In the midst of this circle of light stands the 
 priest, the Muezzin, in his festive garb, drawing up the white 
 flag, proclaiming the praise of the Most High to all the world, 
 and calling the believers to prayer. There is hardly a Moham- 
 medan in Algiers, children alone excepted, who would not obey 
 this solemn summons. Neither age nor wealth can lull the Moors 
 into indifference for their faith. The thirty-nine mosques yet 
 existing here, during my stay, were always crowded by pious 
 Mussulmans throughout the Ramadan. Curiosity, and the inte- 
 rest in mysterious -ceremonies so prevalent with us Germans, 
 attracted me likewise towards the mosque, whenever I heard the 
 voice of the Muezzin. The large interior colonnade of the mosque, 
 in the Rue de la Marine, is at that time illuminated by numerous 
 lamps, and in the recess of the sanctuary stands the Mufti-el- 
 Hanefi, or Sheikh-el-Islam, with the Koran before him, from 
 which he first reads, mumbling low, with bowed head, until the 
 congregation has become numerous. The devotees, with faces 
 turned to the niche, form several long rows. They stand, or sit 
 with crossed legs, motionless and dumb, like statues. But sud- 
 denly the voice of the priest is raised, thrilling the whole audience 
 by one single shrill sound. He says the prayers, the contents of 
 which are rather monotonous, — an unceasing enumeration of ad- 
 jectives in praise of Allah, like the -old hymns of the Greeks, or 
 the litany of the Roman Catholics. Then again he reads verses 
 
ALGERINE LIFE. 35 
 
 of the Koran, and often breaks out into whining and piercing 
 lamentations, sounding like the piteous utterance of a tortured 
 man. The character of the Ramadan-prayer is the most com- 
 plete self-humiliation in presence of the majesty of a great and 
 stern God. The tone of the praying Mufti does not long continue 
 to be piercingly shrill ; it sometimes resembles a doleful song, 
 sinking slowly by degrees like the tunes of some bird in the 
 woods. With every modulation of the voice of the priest, the 
 devotees are seized with the strangest convulsive fits, precipitating 
 themselves head-foremost on the carpet, kneeling, bowing, convul- 
 sively rising again, and again crouching ; yet everything in a 
 regular systematic way, every movement in harmony with the 
 rythm of the prayer. It is a striking sight to behold the proud 
 Mohammedan thus at the feet of his God, bowing in trembling 
 humility, like a sinful slave. The pious assembly is all mixed 
 together, without any distinction of rank and race. I noticed 
 among it Moors, Turks, Kuruglis, Arabs, Kabyles, Biskaris, and 
 Negroes. The Turks in magnificent gaudy dress, crouched 
 beside the uncouth ragged Biskari, the pale Moor with noble 
 features next to the ill-formed apish Negro of Sudan, all aspiring 
 to their Creator with the same pious devotion. The perfect sen- 
 timent of equality is one of the characteristic features of Islam. 
 
 The Mussulmans, during prayer, always have a rosary twisted 
 round their hands, like the Roman Catholics and Buddhists. In 
 Algiers, these rosaries are made of the round seeds of the dwarf- 
 palm (Chamaerops humilis.) The priests of all classes, the 
 majority of the Arab Marabuts, and many old Beduins, wear 
 them round their neck, both as token of their piety and as an 
 ornament. Some of the most renowned saints of this country, 
 among them Abd-el-Kader, almost always have the rosary in 
 their hand. When the Mohammedan has wearied himself out 
 with prayer, he remains immoveable for some moments, bows his 
 head to his breast, lets the beads of his rosary once more pass his 
 fingers, and mumbles his farewell to the sacred spot. In one of the 
 courts, where, as I have mentioned before, there are orange- groves 
 
36 ^ ALGERINE LIFE. 
 
 and fountains, he carefully washes hands and feet with consecrated 
 water, then puts on his sandals again, and leaves the mosque with 
 his usual grave deportment. From this centre of union where 
 every earthly distinction disappears, they all return to their com- 
 mon life and usual pursuits : the Moor to his stone house, where 
 his wife greets him in the marble hall ; the Beduin to his camel's 
 hair tent in the wilderness ; the Kabyle to his mud cabin in the 
 mountains. But, on their way home, many of these devotees do 
 not hesitate to plunder their co-religionists, or to cut the throat 
 of the very first Christian whom they chance to meet in lonely 
 paths. 
 
 During the thirty days of the Ramadan, the Mohammedans 
 fast from sunrise to sunset, but, during night, they amply make 
 up for this abstinence. Then they feast the more luxuriously, 
 and amuse themselves with music, dance, theatrical representa- 
 tions, and various pranks and practical jokes, as the Chris- 
 tians of the south do in carnival ; so that we are induced to ask 
 whether this very ancient custom has not been transmitted from 
 the Mussulmans to the Christians, or perhaps to both from the 
 Romans and Egyptians. Fasting during the day is kept with 
 the utmost strictness ; it is only when the last ray of the sun has 
 disappeared behind the mountains that the Moors delight in their 
 dishes, which have long been ready, but which no one ventures 
 to taste before the cannon has boomed. I have met with a strange 
 example of this conscientious observance of the religious ceremo- 
 nies. On my trips into the interior of the country, I once had 
 engaged a Biskari to attend me for several days. By an unlucky 
 chance we lost our provisions, and spent twenty-four hours without 
 any food whatever, in the eastern part of the plain of Metija. 
 When we again reached Algiers, it was early in the morning. I 
 paid my Biskari, and hastened to my repast. An hour later I 
 saw my man crouched in a corner at the harbour. I asked him 
 if he had eaten ? He shook his head, and exclaimed, *' G od bids 
 me yet to fast I " and he waited with empty stomach, though he 
 had bread in his cowl, till evening. No doubt he felt the tor- 
 
ALGEKINE LIFE. 37 
 
 ments of hunger ; his pale features expressed it plainly, but he 
 would not touch food on any account. When the evening canon- 
 shot was heard, the Biskari pulled the bread from his cowl, and 
 devoured it in an instant. 
 
 The principal meal in the nights of the Ramadan is the 
 kuskusu, a kind of pudding, consisting of small globules of wheat- 
 paste, boiled in a peculiar way, sometimes currants and raisins 
 are mixed with it, and broth or milk poured upon the dish, in the 
 middle of which lies a square piece of butter. At rich houses 
 roast fowl is put upon the kuskusu. The next dish is always 
 roast lamb, followed by fmits and preserves. Several cups of 
 coffee close the meal. 
 
 A peculiar feature of the Ramadan is the masquerade in all 
 the coffee-houses. It resembles those of Italy and France in the 
 last days of the carnival ; but it is here often of an obscence cha- 
 racter. Another place of amusement during the Ramadan, is 
 the Moorish theatre of the Gharagus. It is performed by 
 Chinese shades; little black figures appear here on the illumed 
 transparent carpet of oil-paper, among whom Gharagus, the 
 Punch of the Moors, distinguishes himself by his gigantic height, 
 his fun, and his practical jokes. The performance is in many 
 respects similar to that of the English Punchy or the Italian Pul- 
 cinella. Blows are given and received from beginning to end, 
 and Gharagus is the hero who flogs and kicks more, and is more 
 flogged and kicked, than all the other persons of the play together. 
 The explanation of the plot is given both in French and Arabic, 
 and is not fit for chaste European ears. It is really scandalous 
 that the French government does not put a stop to the shocking 
 portions of this amusement, which must degrade the younger part 
 of the population, who are always present at the Gharagus. 
 
 After the thirty days' Ramadan, the Bairam follows, — the feast 
 of joy and reconciliation, — ^when the Mussulman expresses his 
 happiness in a loud way, even in the day time. Negro-bands 
 pass through the streets, making deafening noise, which they 
 call music, and importuning you until you get rid of them by 
 
38 ALGERINE LIFE. 
 
 giving them a penm^ All the population is clad in its best 
 attire, especially the children. Females are often seen in the 
 streets, but always veiled ; the Mussulmans embrace one another, 
 and kiss one another's shoulders; the young boys pour rosewater 
 on the Europeans. 
 
 Before the water-gate there is a large sunny meadow, where 
 the youth amuse themselves in swings, or are carted away in 
 painted wheelbarrows. But from 1830, the ride in carriages has 
 become more popular. This is an amusement not formerly known 
 in Barbary, and the Moors have on that day cabs to dash along 
 the streets in full gallop. At the time of the Deys, the noisy 
 merriment of the Bairam often degenerated into religious fanati- 
 cism, and it was unsafe, on that day, for any Christian or Jew to 
 be seen in the streets. The Mussulmans pelted them with stones, 
 and assailed them often seriously, as the Greeks of Athens assail 
 the Jews on Good-Friday. 
 
 The Moors have a barbarous custom in common with the Eng- 
 lish — they like to bury their dead among the living. Yet in the 
 fortified cities the churchyards are outside the walls, in the most 
 picturesque spots of the neighbourhood. The sepulchral monu- 
 ments are often very fine : the most picturesque of them at Algiers 
 were formerly those of the five murdered Deys. In 1779, the 
 Janissaries were divided into two nearly equal fractions, and could 
 not unite in the election of a Dey. As soon as one of the candi- 
 dates was clad in the imperial robe, the conspirators of the oppo- 
 site part}^ murdered him instantly, and set their candidate on the 
 throne, who again was murdered. Five times this bloody scene 
 was reiterated in the course of the day, until at last the Janissaries, 
 weary of the fight, came to a peculiar agreement. All their 
 officers were to go to the grand mosque, and the first Turk whom 
 they happened to see stepping out was to be the Dey. It was a 
 cobbler, who, fearing the fate of his five predecessors, was greatly 
 frightened when he was hailed as Dey, and loudly protested against 
 his elevation to this dignity. But he was immediately clad in 
 the robe, and set upon the red velvet cushion, whilst the Muezzins 
 
THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF ALGIERS. 39 
 
 proclaimed his enthronement. As chance would have it, the 
 election was a good one. The cobbler ruled wisely and justly, 
 and was one of the best Deys Algeria had ever seen. He had the 
 five Deys buried close to one another, and built five monuments in 
 their remembrance, in form of five minarets of oblong slender 
 form, richly ornamented with marble and porcelain. But the 
 French soldiers have greatly defaced those handsome monuments. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF ALGIERS. 
 
 There is scarcely any more charming Panorama in the world 
 than the scenery around Algiers, viewed from the Emperor's Fort 
 in the months of April and May. The glance embraces here an 
 immense semicircle of hills and plains and mountains, which is 
 bounded on the north by the Blue Sea. April and May are the 
 finest months in Algiers, when the vegetation is most luxuriant. 
 Close to the evergreen foliage of the majestic date-palms, and of 
 the lovely lemon-groves and carob-trees, we see the tender shoots 
 of the poplar and of the vine. Creepers climb up the bark of the 
 trees, and adorn them with their blooms, whilst the ground is 
 covered by a dense vegetation of grass and flowers, and the cheer- 
 ful warbling of the birds, and the humming of countless sparkling 
 insects, heighten the charm of the beautiful country. We see 
 from the Emperor's Fort first the whole chain of hills from the 
 Bujarea to the camp of Kuba, and the fertile coast between Cape 
 Cascines and the Maison Carree — a blessed country, studded with 
 white Moorish garden-houses. The eye is then detained by the 
 Sahel, a hilly plateau^ and its continuation in the east up to Cape 
 Matifu — a wild and little cultivated country covered with bushes 
 and shrubs. To the south and east of the Sahel extends the 
 plain of Metija, with its Arab encampments and sparse groves of 
 trees, bounded by the picturesque chain of the Atlas, which is 
 
40 THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OP ALGIERS. 
 
 surmounted in the east by the Jurjura, the majestic mountain 
 with seven snow-capped peaks. 
 
 As to the flat coast, the surf of the sea has formed here a dyke 
 of sand, which in some places is above 200 feet broad. Close to 
 it we find a black and rich alluvial soil, which covers the narrow 
 plain between the sea and the hilly plateau, and clothes likewise 
 the northern slope of the hills. In spring the sand of the coast 
 is adorned by the iris alata, the euphorbia paralias and helioscopia, 
 the cerenthe major, the smilax mauritanica, and other plants. 
 The narrow plain and the slopes of the hills are covered by the 
 most luxuriant cactus opuntia, the leaves of which, studded with 
 long thorns and little prickly warts, are often two inches thick 
 and two feet long. This cactus is often planted around the gar- 
 dens, and forms an impenetrable hedge. The gigantic agave 
 Americana is likewise often to be met with in this plain, and 
 presents in August a most splendid view, when its magnificent 
 blossoms rise on a slender stalk often to twenty feet, like a gigan- 
 tic chandelier. Date-palms are found only in the very neigh- 
 bourhood of the city : the gardens are filled with orange and 
 lemon-groves, bananas, almonds, and pomegranate trees. The 
 wild olive-tree grows to a height and beauty which seems incre- 
 dible even to an inhabitant of the Provence : the mulberry-tree is 
 scarce, but attains an immense circumference. Carob- trees grow 
 both wild and cultivated in the orchards. The philyreas are 
 frequent among the shrubs, the malvas among the plants. There 
 is no want of springs and streamlets ; and therefore the vegeta- 
 tion is luxuriant, except in July, August, and September, when 
 the soil is parched by the rays of the sun. The rocks protruding 
 from under the alluvial soil are mostly of tertiary lime formation, 
 resting upon talcose mica- schist, which forms the principal geolo- 
 gical feature of the vicinity of Algiers, and contains veins of 
 quartz. At the Emperor's Fort, the schist passes into feldspar 
 and gneiss ; on other points it contains iron in different forms, 
 but not in sufficient quantity to be worked profitably. The 
 Bujarea is the highest top of the hills on the coast, and rises, at 
 
BOUGIE A NO TH 
 
us MOUNTAINS 
 
THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF ALGIERS. 41 
 
 about half an hour's distance from Algiers, to the height of 1230 
 feet above the level of the sea. 
 
 The continuation of the hills, called the Massif or Sahel, is an 
 irregular plateau, with elevations and valleys. It is everywhere 
 covered with shrubs, and but little cultivated. The dwarf-palm, 
 a plant difficult to extirpate, covers nearly all the soil with its 
 fan-like leaves. Only the pistaccia- shrub and the prickly broom 
 resist its encroachments. The greatest breadth of the Sahel is 
 about six French leagues ; its length from the banks of the Araj 
 to Sidi Ferruch, about eight leagues. Only one insignificant 
 river, the El-Kerma, runs from the plateau into the Araj. 
 To the east and west, the Sahel descends imperceptibly to the 
 plain of Metija in a gentle slope ; but the same shrub-vegetation 
 continues all along the sea up to Cape Matifu, and even beyond. 
 South to the Sahel extends the plain of Metija, which surrounds 
 the plateau in a semicircle. It is a green, but bald country, of 
 about 100 miles length, and where it is widest, of about twenty 
 miles breadth. It is covered with rich alluvial soil, and most 
 profusely watered by many streams and rivers running from the 
 mountains to the south. The northern part of the plain is 
 swampy and very unhealthy, whilst its southern portion has fine 
 fields and woods in abundance. There are many fine Moorish 
 farms and gardens, several Arab encampments, and a few French 
 military camps in the Metija; yet they are lost in the great flat 
 extension. Amongst the flowers, which in spring adorn the plain, 
 I remarked the Scilla maritima, a great bulbous plant, with beau- 
 tiful white flowers, and many species of the iris and orchis, whilst 
 the banks of all the streams and rivers are covered with immense 
 oleander shrubs, which in March open their scarlet blossoms. 
 
 The first chain of the Atlas south of the Metija, has an eleva- 
 tion frbm 3200 to 3500 feet above the level of the sea; the highest 
 peak, the Ras-el-Hammal, rises to 4900 feet. I found here petri- 
 fied molluscas, but not in great quantity. Of metals thei-e are 
 large deposits of copper in the mountains, and some fields of iron. 
 The northern slope of the chain is fertile, and well cultivated by 
 
42 THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF ALGIERS. 
 
 the Kabyles, studded with wild olive-trees, which yield a con- 
 siderable quantity of oil, though of bad quality. It is manufac- 
 tured and brought to Algiers by the mountaineers. The necks 
 of the Atlas are covered with woods of evergreen, oak, and the 
 cork-tree, harbouring jackals, hyaenas, and panthers, which hide 
 themselves during day in the thickets and rock -caves, and come 
 down at night into the plain, howling fearfully, and preying upon 
 the herds of the Arabs. 
 
 Most of my excursions I made on horseback, formerly the only 
 pleasant means of conveyance in Barbary. It is not usual to 
 travel here on camels, except in the desert, since it is more agree- 
 able to ride on horses. Camels are, near Algiers, used only as 
 beasts of burden; but in the desert the caniel is indispensable, 
 and their number increases among the tribes as we approach the 
 Sahara. The French army has, since the occupation, never 
 ceased to construct high-roads between the principal cities of the 
 Regency, so that stage-coaches now run from Algiers in all direc- 
 tions, even across the Atlas, and reach nearly to the desert. Al- 
 together, the French are most active with such improvements, 
 though their progress in agriculture is by no means commensu- 
 rate. Whilst in every French camp you find baths, coffee- houses, 
 billiards, lodging and boarding-houses, you see them surrounded 
 by a wilderness. A traveller finds almost everywhere good 
 accommodation; besides, the amiability of the French officers to 
 foreigners is well known, and wherever I arrived, I was sure to 
 be hospitably received in their tents, where no good hotel could 
 be found. 
 
 The immediate neighbourhood of Algiers, about three hours 
 around the walls, is designated by the Arab name of Fhas, that 
 is to say, the territory of the city. Politically, it is divided into 
 different " communes," each of them containing a village. It is 
 a magnificent country, full of picturesque views; but its inde- 
 scribable beauty is not yet sufficiently known and appreciated in 
 Europe. The "Fhas" is an undulating country, broken by 
 several deep cuts, the southern vegetation of which far surpasses 
 
THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF ALGIERS. 43 
 
 that of the most favoured countries in Italy and Spain. I met a 
 Neapolitan painter in May, contemplating this scenery, and ex- 
 claiming repeatedly: " There is nothing more beautiful on earth." 
 
 The Moorish farmers of the Fhas are a peaceable, inoffensive, 
 amiable race, fully satisfied if left in peace. When sporting 
 Frenchmen trespass on their fields, or when the thirsty rambler 
 gathers melons or pomegranates in their gardens, the proprietor 
 never utters a complaint; on the contrary, he often invites the 
 intruder to partake of his figs or grapes. An old venerable Moor, 
 in the community of Kuba, met me often on the foothpaths, but 
 never without stopping his donkey, and ofTering me his snuff-box, 
 with a most hearty welcome. I liked these kind patriarchal 
 Moors, in whose noble features so much mildness and nobility is 
 expressed. They are much preferable to the Moorish town-folks, 
 nearly all of these being shop-keepers, and therefore getting cun- 
 ning and less unsophisticated. The Moorish farmers are excellent 
 gardeners, and their oranges, pomegranates, and melons, offer a 
 most alluring spectacle. They like the grapes as table-fruit, and 
 though they make no wine, they grow them with great care, and 
 to a prodigious size; I saw bunches of five and six pounds weight. 
 The Moors pretend to have some secrets about the culture of 
 oranges, which, there is no doubt, thrive under their care better 
 than in the French orchards. As to the cultivation of the olive 
 tree, however, the French by far surpass the natives, who manu- 
 facture oil of bad quality only. 
 
 The European population "of the Fhas, are Frenchmen, Spa- 
 niards, and Germans. Many officers and officials, immediately 
 after the conquest, bought the finest gardens for a mere trifle in 
 the communities of Mustapha and of Bujarea. The Turks were 
 banished, the Moors began to emigrate, and both classes sold 
 their property, parting with the most magnificent villas and farms 
 at any price. Some of these splendid residences have often 
 changed proprietors, each of them selling it at a premium to 
 some new-comer, as there were always speculators enough, who, 
 in the belief that the epoch of a great European immigration had 
 
44 THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF ALGIERS. 
 
 arrived, disproportionally enhanced the prices of the farms in the 
 vicinity of Algiers. Other jobbers behaved like Vandals; they 
 half-destroyed the houses, sold the wood, iron, glazed tiles, and 
 marble columns piecemeal, and offered the ruins to other Euro- 
 pean colonists. But these poor fellows, unable to aiford the high 
 prices, went rather farther to the uncultivated parts of the Fhas, 
 and there built each his hut. Many handsome country seats on 
 Bujarea and Mustapha have remained until now empty and 
 ruined, and many a beautiful orchard is become a wilderness 
 covered with thorny shrubs; and yet the speculating proprietors 
 do not abate their pretensions, always expecting a time of great 
 colonization, and of enormous rise in the value of real property. 
 They do not perceive that they themselves are the greatest hin- 
 drance of colonization. The majority of the immigrants are poor, 
 or even paupers, whilst rich people do not risk their money in 
 the culture of a soil which is already at a high price. This nui- 
 sance has only lately (1847) been abated by a land-tax, which is 
 levied even from uncultivated pioperty, and the proprietors are 
 at last forced, either to sell out or to till their grounds. Some of 
 the officers and officials have their gardens cultivated by Kabyles 
 or European day-labourers, and the generals and colonels find 
 here a healthy occupation for their soldiers. The farms of the 
 foreign consuls are the finest. Many of them own palaces 
 in the country, as for instance, the Danish Consul, who has 
 married a Mooress, and whose country seat, on the top of the hill 
 of Mustapha, is filled with black servants, in fact, house- slaves. 
 His gardeners and herdsmen are Kabyles. 
 
 The community of Bujarea, though close to the city, is much 
 more quiet than Mustapha. It is the finest country in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Algiers, full of shady trees, blooming meadows, rip- 
 pling mountain-streams, and clear springs in the valleys. The 
 Moors were always fully aware of the charm of those secluded 
 dales; they have selected them for their burying-places. The 
 finest part of the country was retained for their eternal repose, 
 and but few of them settled amidst the dead. 
 
THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF ALGIERS. 45 
 
 A German village is the centre of the community of Deli- 
 Ibrahim. But this colony was organized, not from an economic, 
 hut from a strategic point of view, on a hill where there is no 
 water. Stone barracks had been built here, and the village was 
 raised for the convenience of the garrison, without any regard to 
 the soil, which is the most barren all around the city. Yet the 
 German colonists were thriving even here until the last war with 
 Abd-el-Kader dispersed them, though the nearest spring of 
 water is at three miles distance, and no wells are bored in the 
 village. 
 
 To avoid the folly of Deli- Ibrahim, the next colony, Kuba, was 
 planted on the richest soil. But soon it was ascertained that the 
 site was unhealthy ; half of the villagers died, and the majority 
 of those who survived emigrated to other communities. The 
 village is half-deserted in a most picturesque country. Close to 
 it stands a white, grave temple, Sidi-Kuba, the monument of a 
 celebrated Marabut, surrounded by a grove of silvery poplars. 
 The valleys south of the village are all swampy and full of water- 
 fowl. 
 
 The "Ferme ModMe" is the boundary 'of the community of 
 Kuba ; it was the farm of the Dey, all enclosed by a solid wall, 
 where he reared his cattle and kept his stud. The extensive 
 farm-buildings are surrounded by an orange orchard, and to the 
 north by large corn-fields. To the south, where the Metija 
 begins, great marshes make the farm very unhealthy. I saw 
 there even Arabs attacked by fevers. This farm became, in 
 1830, the property of a joint-stock company, and was to become 
 the first agricultural establishment of the country, but the marsh- 
 fevers defeated the scheme. 
 
 The European population of the more remote communities — El- 
 Bine, Byr-Madreis, Byr-Kadem, &c. — are mostly Spaniards from 
 the Baleares, and a few Proven^ales. Some 5000 came from the 
 isle of Minorca. Many of them had always been agriculturists, 
 and they are, therefore, a real benefit to the colony; they excel 
 in gardening, and supply Algiers with vegetables. Their future 
 
46 THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF ALGIERS. 
 
 wealth consists in the olive-trees they have planted in their gar- 
 dens, with the cultivation of which they are fully acquainted. 
 
 The Sahel is likewise divided into several territories, but as 
 yet little cultivated. A monastery of Trappists has been esta- 
 blished in the small valley of Staueli, on the battle-field where, in 
 1830, the army of the Dey was defeated. The silent vegetarian 
 monks have here cleared the soil, and their establishment has 
 grown into a model fann. French military camps and barracks, 
 and the encampments of the Beni-Chana, Ulid Salina, Ulid Haji, 
 are dispersed on the plateau. On the banks of the river of 
 Massafran, there is a pretty forest called Tharesa, full of pines, 
 cork-trees, tamarisks, and myrtle-trees. It is the only forest in 
 the vicinity of Algiers which contains good timber for building. 
 I saw here trees sixty feet high. The thickets of Tharesa offer a 
 splendid field for sport; they are the hiding-place for wild boars, 
 jackals, hyaenas, and of lurking Hajutes. In the Sahel, the 
 traveller's attention is attracted by a considerable isolated ruin, 
 which does not seem to be of Roman origin. There is a tradition 
 among the Arabs, that it is the ruin of a castle built by a disso- 
 lute Christian Princess called Metija, who gave her name to the 
 surrounding country. 
 
 The city of Algiers is separated from the plain of Metija by 
 the plateau already described. The camp of Buffarik is the 
 centre of the Metija, and affords the best point of view for the 
 green plain, which has the shape of a crescent. The Arab 
 encampments and country-houses, though amounting to many" 
 hundreds, disappear in this vast steppe. The European is asto- 
 nished at the thinness of the population, and involuntarily begins 
 to calculate how many quarters of wheat could be hence exported. 
 The Arab inhabitants of this plain are notorious for their dislike 
 of labour; they do not produce more corn than they require for 
 their food. The rich country is for them but a grazing field ; 
 they rear cattle easily, and are satisfied with their small profits 
 on their wool, and on the surplus of their live stock. 
 
 At the first glance, the Metija seems as level as the sea, but 
 
THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF ALGIERS. 47 
 
 the attentive eye will soon discover that it slopes gently north- 
 ward from the mountains in the south; the streams run with a 
 slow fall straight to the plateau of Algiers, which forms a natural 
 dyke, and impedes their progress. The northern part of the plain 
 is, therefore, swampy; but on the two extremities of the Metija, 
 where the Sahel . descends to the plain, the rivers run without 
 obstacle to the sea. It is therefore not impossible to drain the 
 Metija by canals, connecting the small rivulets and streams in 
 the east with the Araj, and in the west with the Massafran. 
 The drainage was already contemplated under the administration 
 of General Voiral ; and the French regiments and the military 
 convicts were employed on that gigantic work, which, though 
 slowly advancing, will soon be accomplished. The health of the 
 Metija has been greatly improved by it ; the Maison Carree and 
 Buffarik are no longer notorious for their pestilential climate. 
 The plain was from the first beginning the paradise yearned for 
 by the friends of colonization ; and when the French were asked 
 why thej did not clear the country, and till the ground on the 
 plateau, they invariably replied: " We cannot cultivate anything 
 but the rich plain; we are not inclined to invest our capital in 
 the poor and little remunerative soil of the hilly Sahel." They 
 forgot the experience of the Americans, who generally take up 
 the poorer soil in the west, as the cultivation of the rich bottoms, 
 in a sj)arsely tenanted district, destroys the life of the first colo- 
 nists. Yet the plain was here not always a swampy marsh ; we 
 find in it everywhere traces of ancient drainage, either the work 
 of the Koraans, those mighty civillzers of barbarous countries, or 
 of the Moors of the period in which active enthusiasm was alive 
 with them, and they had not yet fallen into their present passive 
 dulness. The tradition of the flower of the Metija is until now 
 maintained among the inhabitants. 
 
 Seven rivers run through the plain. To its eastern extremity 
 the Isser ; then proceeding westwards, the Korso, the Reghaia, 
 the Hamiss, the Araj, the Kerma, and the Massafran. None of 
 them is navigable, even for small boats, except the Reghaia, the 
 
48 THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF ALGIERS. 
 
 smallest of all, which resembles a canal in its gentle fall, its 
 equal depth, and its narrowness ; it seems to have been regulated 
 in times of old. All these rivers flow from south to north, and 
 resemble one another; the Massafran alone distinguishes itself 
 by the high vegetation and forests on its banks. The general 
 character of the rivers in Barbary is a slow meandering run, a 
 narrow mouth, and swampy banks, covered by the oleander shrub, 
 the Egyptian willow, and other bushes, which are peopled by 
 long-legged morass-birds, as, for instance, the plover (himantopus 
 rufipes), the ibis, and the purple heron. 
 
 The Metija is divided into five territories. The territory of 
 the Issers in the east lies between the rivers Isser and Korso; it is 
 very fertile and well cultivated. There are but few morasses in 
 this district which is inhabited by the tribe of the Beni-Isser. It 
 is a fierce and warlike Arab tribe, bordering on the Kabyles, with 
 whom they often combined for attacks on the French. But since 
 the Kabyle chief, Ben-Zamun, has retired from an unsuccessfid 
 struggle to his fine farm on the Atlas, the Isser gave up the holy 
 war. In 1837, they had to acknowledge the sovereignty of the 
 French, and were then often infested by the Kabyle mountaineers. 
 The poor Beni- Issers found themselves during the wars always 
 in a most difficult position. The French easily made razzias on 
 their territory when they sided with Abd-el-Kader ; and when 
 they had submitted to the French, the Kabyles from the neigh- 
 bouring mountains made inroads, and drove their cattle away, in 
 order to punish them for their alliance with the unbelievers. 
 
 The territory of the Kashnas begins on the western bank of 
 the river Korso. It is swampy in the north, but, towards the 
 south, rich in pasture-grounds and olive- groves ; it reaches the 
 foot of the Atlas, and is covered there with forests. The tribe of 
 the Kashna carries on a considerable trade of wild oil with 
 Algiers, from whence it is exported to Europe. The next terri- 
 tory is that of the Beni-Musa. It is the smallest, but most fertile 
 and most populous portion of the plain. Above 100 Arab farms 
 are cultivated here, each of them is provided with a stone-build- 
 
THE NEIGHBOURROOD OF ALGIERS. 49 
 
 ing. This territory abounds in clear springs and green trees ; it 
 extends to the banks of the Araj. The territory between that 
 river and the Massafran is called Beni-Khalil ; it is peopled by 
 unruly tribes. The centre of the territory, which is likewise the 
 centre of the plain, has been occupied by the French camp of 
 Buffarik. It begins to be developed into a city, which, from its 
 central position between the mountain and the capital, on the way 
 to Belida, has augury of future greatness.* But agriculture is 
 of very slow progress here, as it is not the agricultural population 
 which emigrates from France, but the paupers and speculators 
 from the towns, who, unaccustomed as they are to the hard work 
 of tilling the ground, wish to live by commerce and jobs in the 
 cities. The population of that territory is estimated at about 
 three thousand families. They are very quarrelsome and riotous; 
 yet the Hajutes, their neighbours, despise them as cowards. 
 Several of the Kaids of the Beni-Khalils, who had been appointed 
 by the French, were murdered, or forced to join the hostile Arabs ; 
 and the attempt to keep them in subjection, by giving the dignity 
 of Kaid to Mr. Verge, a French renegado officer, who spoke the 
 Arabic perfectly, likewise failed. It was only after 1846 that 
 they ceased to be troublesome. Beyond the Massafran is the 
 largest territory, " El Sebt," comprising, besides the country of 
 the Hajutes, the northern slope of the Atlas, inhabited by the 
 Kabyle tribes of the Muzzaia and of the Summata, and extends 
 southwards to the city of Miliana, westwards to Shershel, north- 
 wards to the sea and to the plateau of Algiers. The plain is 
 here inhabited by Hajutes, and by three small tribes which came 
 from the Sahara, the Zanakras, the Ulid-Hamidans, and the Beni- 
 Ellal; they have been nearly entirely absorbed by the Hajutes. 
 The lake of Alula, a sheet of fresh water of no great extent, 
 which in summer can be forded, and near to it the Kubber el 
 Kummiah (tomb of the Christian lady), a pyramidal temple, one 
 hundred and forty feet high, are situated in this territory, and 
 
 * The population of Buffarik in 1852 amounted to 2019 European colonist! 
 and 17 natives. 
 
 D 
 
50 THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF ALGIERS. 
 
 gave rise to many romantic traditions and tales among the inha- 
 bitants, who seem to be pre-eminently addicted to poetry and 
 tales. With the Zanakra, for instance, there are yet many tradi- 
 tions alive relating to the conquest of Spain, and these nomades 
 are proud of the fame of their chivalrous civilized ancestors. 
 
 The native population of all the five territories of the Metija 
 amounts to about ten thousand families, the majority of whom live 
 on the mountain slopes which border the plain to the south. On 
 six days in the week there is a fair held in the Metija, the Friday 
 being here religiously observed by the Mussulmans as a day of 
 rest. On Saturday, the fair is held in the Hajute country; Sun- 
 day, it is close to Belida; Monday, near Buffarik; Tuesday, at 
 the farm Mussaia; Wednesday, at El-Arbak, at the foot of the 
 mountain; Thursday, on the banks of the Hamiss, in the terri- 
 tory of the Kashnas. The fair of El-Arbak is mostly visited by 
 the Arabs — that of Buffarik by the European traders. The place 
 of the fair of Buffarik is marked by a well, in the neighbourhood 
 of which the Kaid (chief) and the Kadi (judge) of the tribe Beni- 
 Khalil, pitch their tents, in order to settle their disputes and 
 quarrels. The Moorish traders of Belida are commonly the first 
 on the spot; they pitch their small white pyramidal tents over 
 night on Sunday evening, and unpack their merchandise, but 
 they do not sell on that day. The Beduins and Kabyles encamp 
 in open air, surrounded by their camels. The fair begins with 
 sunrise on Monday, and lasts to four or five o'clock in the after- 
 noon. The crowd of buyers and sellers amounts after harvest to 
 about three thousand persons: nevertheless, strict order is pre- 
 served; every class of sellers has its traditional stand. The 
 herdsmen, with their sheepskins full of milk, their baskets of 
 eggs and fowls, their stores of meat and live cattle, form the 
 extensive outward row. Their cattle are small, but have large 
 horns ; the milk, butter, and meat of Barbary, is much inferior to 
 that of Europe. The sheep are large, well fed, and yield good 
 wool. Next to the cattle-dealers, follow the corn and fruit- 
 merchants in a long row, with baskets of oranges, pomegranates, 
 
THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF ALGIERS. 51 
 
 dates,* neater-melons, cactus-figs, vegetables, and large heaps of 
 wheat before them, which they sell in detail. The tobacco- 
 dealers are all Kabyles from beyond the neck of the Atlas — all 
 tall and lean, with fair complexion and long hair, which they do 
 not shave; they form a marked contrast to the Moors and Beduins. 
 In the centre of the market-place are the stalls of the shopkeepers 
 from the city, full of woven cloths, carpets, ribbons, and other 
 articles for dress and ornament, especially coral necklaces and 
 European commodities, with which the Moors of Algiers furnish 
 the inhabitants, buying in return the products of the rural popu- 
 lation. The French officers buy here game, and the privates 
 turtles, for their kitchen. French money has no general circu- 
 lation among the natives, the Spanish dollar being the principal 
 currency. Jews and Moors are, therefore, likewise at hand to 
 exchange the French money. After harvest, when the fair is 
 most thronged, the spectacle is still more picturesque. Great 
 fires are lighted in the vicinity of the w'ell — coffee is constantly 
 boiling, and hot cakes baking in fat, for sale to the hungry 
 public — bands of singers, musicians, and jugglers, amuse the 
 curious — dancers perform most eccentric antics — the drum is 
 beaten, the guitar played, and the reed sounds its very unmelodi- 
 ous whistle, with which the Beduin seems to be delighted. His 
 attention, however, is principally captivated by the minstrels, 
 who partly sing, partly tell long tales and ballads, interspersed 
 with pieces of classic Arab poetry; their audience seldom fail to 
 throw some copper coin into their cowl. Gambling is likewise 
 going on; the Beduin of Algiers is in this respect as depraved as 
 the Parisian of the Palais- Royal.* 
 
 The scene changes in the evening. The Moors strike their 
 tents, pack their wares, and everj^body returns home. The way 
 to Belida and to Coleah is lined by a procession of white-clad 
 persons, all riding on mules, asses, and horses, a few on camels, 
 
 * The learned German Doctor might have likewise said, as depraved as the 
 Germans of Tacitus and the North American Indians. 
 
52 RASSOTA, REGHAIA, RUSGONIA, BELIDA, COLEAH. 
 
 as it is not considered respectable here to travel on foot. At 
 dusk, the bustle of the fair is followed by deep silence, and the 
 crowd has vanished, like the gaudy glitter of an Arab tale. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 RASSOTA — REGHAIA — RUSGONIA — BELIDA — COLEAH. 
 
 In the time of the Deys, the government had considerable domains 
 in the different parts of the Regency, which were one of the prin- 
 cipal sources of the state revenue. Their number has not yet 
 been ascertained. The French destroyed the old administration, 
 without caring much for the former sources of revenue, and sent 
 the ministers and officials of the Dey, who could have given infor- 
 mation, into exile with all the other Turks. As it was uncertain 
 whether France would keep the conquered country, it was only 
 the treasure and the moveables which attracted the cupidity of 
 the new rulers. 
 
 It was not until the treasures of the citadel, those old Spanish 
 dollars and gold pieces, had been ransacked, that Marshal Bour- 
 mont remembered the splendid country-seats of the Dey, which 
 were in sight from the town, and the French paid a visit to them, 
 in order to remove the herds and studs formerly owned by the 
 Turkish government. But it was too late; Ahmet Bey of Con- 
 stantine had sufficient time, on his return, to plunder the domains: 
 he was not molested by the French ; the farm-agents of the govern- 
 ment (old Turkish officers, who got those appointments as a recom- 
 pense of their former bravery) had gone with him. It was only 
 by and by that the domains were discovered by the French ; and 
 even until now the reclaiming of the government establishments 
 is not completed, though the Bureaux Arabes exert themselves 
 sufficiently in this respect. The most important of those farms 
 in the neighbourhood of Algiers are, Hussein-Pasha, now the 
 ferme module of the French; Suk-Ali, near Buffarik; Rhegai^, 
 
RASSOTA, REGHAIA, RUSGONIA, BELIDA, COLE AH. 53 
 
 the property of Mr. Mercier; and Rassota, in 1837, the establish- 
 ment of the Polish Prince Mir. 
 
 Rassota is at about twenty-five miles distance to the east of 
 Algiers, between the rivers Araj and Hamiss. The country is 
 picturesque, the soil rich and unhealthy. The banks of both 
 rivers are covered with bushes, and surrounded by luxuriant 
 meadows, Arab pasture grounds. General Voirol, in 1834, settled 
 the Aribes here. ITiis Arab tribe had formerly inhabited the 
 plain of Hamza, beyond the Atlas, but it was expelled by the 
 mighty tribe of the Ulid-Maadi, and was dispersed in all direc- 
 tions. Many of them came to the plain of Metija ; but as they 
 were not possessed of any defined territory, they had to live as 
 Bobbers and interlopers, and were a real curse to all their neigh- 
 bours. General Voirol united the different portions of the tribe, 
 gave them land around Rassota as their future territory, and 
 appointed Ben-Zecri, an Arab devoted to the French, their chief. 
 They serve now as irregular Spahis in the French army, are 
 faithful and gallant, and happier than they ever were. Living 
 in the immediate vicinity of Algiers, they sell their products at 
 the best prices, and yet many of them have returned to their 
 original home, the plain of Hamza. 
 
 After the settling of the Aribes, the handsome farm-house of 
 Rassota, and a few thousand acres of arable land, remained at the 
 disposal of the French government, which, in a moment of gene- 
 rosity, gave it to a Polish refugee. Prince Mirski, who, on his 
 arrival in Africa, changed his name into Mir, dropping the Polish 
 termination, and assimilating the sound to the Arabic Emir. The 
 heroism of this prince in the Polish revolution was not very con- 
 spicuous ; but it was sufficient that he was a Pole, in order that 
 the measure of the government should meet with great approbation 
 from the public, though it was regretted that such a boon was not 
 bestowed on one of those Poles who had done more for their 
 country and lost more in the struggle than Prince Mirski. 
 
 The new proprietor came to Algiers full of great schemes of 
 colonization. There were many who dreamt already of a new 
 
.54 RASSOTA, REGHAIA, RUSGONIA, BELIDA, COLEA^. 
 
 Poland In Africa, and who thought that the poor refugees, huntecl 
 down all over the continent of Europe, would find here a peaceful 
 asylum. But their enthusiasm was soon chilled, when they found 
 that Prince Mir had more schemes in his head than dollars in his 
 pocket. As a refugee, he had, of course, no capital ; and since 
 the French government gave him only uncultivated soil, but no 
 money for colonization, the Prince sought a loan. But at Mar- 
 seilles he found no credit; the rich city, which yearly sends above 
 three hundred ships to Algiers, did not choose to risk a sacrifice 
 for the welfare of the colony. Nevertheless, the much poorer 
 city of Toulon was more generous. A company of merchants 
 here, of which the Messrs. Suchet were the chairmen, advanced 
 considerable sums to Prince Mir, without having any other secu- 
 rity than the steppes of a new country and the word of an exile. 
 
 Prince Mir established himself in summer, 1835, in the great 
 stone building of Rassota, which had been considerably damaged 
 by the ravages of Ahmet Bey, and was, of course, entirely out of 
 repair. He had it refitted in the comfortable and useful Moorish 
 style, with court-yards, terraces, and colonnades. On the top of 
 the house he reared a gigantic cross, which gave no offence to 
 the Arabs, since they have respect for the religious symbols of 
 other nations, and, on the whole, like zealous Christians better 
 than sceptical unbelievers. The ground-floor became the store- 
 house for victuals, tools, and arms ; in the first floor was the 
 splendid dining-room, often visited by guests from the city, from 
 the plain, and from the mountain. The scenery, seen from the 
 terrace, was most striking; in the west, the sea and Algiers; to 
 the east, the Metija, and the Atlas; the building being raised on 
 one of the last spurs of the plateau, where it slopes down into the 
 plain. Close to the residence of the Prince, several smaller build- 
 ings were fitted up; one for a school, where instruction was given 
 in three languages, in German, French, and Arabic ; another for 
 a dispensary, where a German physician cured the Arabs gra- 
 tuitously. Others again as slaughter-house, bake-houses, and 
 dwellings for the labourers, among whom the Prince had likewise 
 
RASSOTA, EEGHAIA, RUSGONIA, BELIDA, COLEAH. 55 
 
 smiths, tailors, joiners, carpenters, &c. Of course I speak of the 
 past ; this establishment failed soon, and exists no longer. 
 
 I visited Rassota for the first time in November, ]836, and 
 liked it very much ; I thought I saw here a model-colony, equally 
 beneficial to the proprietor and to the country. Large fields had al- 
 ready been tilled ; an extensive orchard was studded with thousands 
 of fruit-trees ; a good race of cows was grazing araund, and the 
 tinkling of the bells of a herd of sheep was heard in the distance. 
 But when I visited it again, four months later, all was changed, 
 the fields were again wild — the cattle and sheep sold — the Ger- 
 man labourers had gone away, and the hospitable Pole, who had 
 lived here, both as a European Prince and an Arab Emir, hid 
 himself in Algiers, in a miserable hut, a bankrupt beggar. 
 
 Colonization in Algiers is only profitable to those who are 
 either very rich or very poor. A colonist with a small capital 
 must fail. A millionaire, who buys land here, and has it tilled, 
 and judiciously administered, is sure to succeed. He can wait 
 for a few years, until everything gets into its regular way, until 
 the ground is cleared piecemeal, and until the olive-tree begins 
 to yield fruit. The poor peasant may likewise thrive, as wages 
 are high, he can easily save half of his earning, and in this 
 way can soon buy some property from his accumulated savings. 
 People of moderate fortune, who do not till the ground with their 
 own hands, and who intrust others with the sale of their products, 
 commonly become bankrupts, as the first cultivator requires an 
 enormous out-lay, wages are high, and the crops of the first years 
 little remunerative. 
 
 Prince Mir had got a considerable capital by the advances of 
 the Toulon-houses; but he did not calculate how far it could 
 carry him; his plans were all on too large a scale, though many 
 of his measures were really judicious, and he proved by his 
 arrangements that he knew how colonization is to be managed on 
 a grand scale. His first care was to make friends with his Arab 
 neighbours. He, therefore, visited their encampments, and par- 
 took of their kuskusu under the dark tents of camel-hair, inviting 
 
56 EASSOTA, REGHAIA, RUSGONIA, BELIDA, COLE AH. 
 
 them in turn to his castle, where he treated them with all the 
 delicacies of French cookery. I was several times present at 
 such dinners, wdth Beduin chiefs, clad in their fine muslin shirt, 
 with the snow-white woollen Burniis over it, and the camel-hair 
 rope twisted around their head in shape of a turban. I made 
 here the acquaintance of many chiefs — of El-Arbi-Ben-Kaja, the 
 Kaid of the.Khashna, an old pious Mussulman, — of Ben-Zecri, 
 the Kaid of the Aribes, who is always kind and dignified, — of 
 Ali-Ben-Smati, a Sheikh of the same tribe, who liked to talk 
 about women, and to drink strong brandy; and of many other 
 Arabs. Most of the European guests spoke broken Arabic, and 
 by the aid of a Moorish interpreter, the conversation was carried 
 on without difficulty. The principal topic was business, — and 
 many bargains were concluded at table, — then, again, jokes and 
 talk about the good things of the world enlivened the company. 
 Sometimes religion, politics, and the manners and customs of the 
 country, were likewise discussed ; and we had many an oppor- 
 tunity of admiring the dignity, the sharp perception, and the 
 wild poetry of the Arabs. All of the chiefs were acquainted with 
 the history of their nation, and especially of their tribe. Ben- 
 Zecri, for instance, often made allusion to the chivalrous fame 
 of his ancestors at the court of Granada. I was peculiarly struck 
 by the appearance of a fair-haired Marabut of uncommonly tall 
 size. His beard was yellow, and his eyes blue, his features and 
 deportment most agreeable. I asked him to what tribe he be- 
 longed, and he answered with the expression of cordiality, " j 
 am a son of your fathers;" and explained it by saying, he was a 
 Kabyle from the interior, and his tribe had come from the country 
 of the Rummis. Probably he alluded to the tradition of the 
 Vandal origin of the Kabyles on the Auras plateau. He had 
 been educated at the hermitage of Sidi-Ali-Ben-Aissa, the most 
 celebrated of all the Kabyle Marabuts, who lived on the Jurjura 
 mountain, and was buried at Flissa, in a magnificent teanple. 
 The acquaintance of the chiefs was very advantageous to me in 
 my rambles through the country. But nobody felt more happy 
 
RASSOTA, REGHAIA, KUSGONIA, BELIDA, COLEAH. o7 
 
 at those parties than Prince Mir himself, who thought that he had 
 done something for the civilization of the Arabs, when he had in- 
 duced them to make use of knives and forks, and to drink wine and 
 spirits. The poor man did not dream that, four months later, he 
 would be compelled to sell his plate in order to escape imprison- 
 ment for debt. 
 
 This Polish nobleman, by his hospitality, won golden opinions 
 with the Arabs : nor did he require the detachment of French 
 soldiers which had been granted to him by the government. His 
 workmen rambled over the plain without ever being attacked. 
 Since the settlement of the Aribes and the establishment of Ras- 
 Bota, the country east of Algiers, which formerly was very unsafe, 
 became the resort of sportsmen, who here hunted the wild-boar. 
 Yet the Prince did not deal with his German workmen in an 
 equally judicious way. He was rough and imperious. The Ger- 
 man labourers submitted to his haughty manners, and even to 
 his horse- whip, without complaint ; but they took their revenge 
 by defrauding him in every way. They confessed at a later period 
 to me, that more than two-thirds of the crops were stolen by 
 them, the surveying agent having taken part in the conspiracy, 
 and having appropriated to himself half of the money from the 
 products sold in the market of Algiers. Had Prince Mir treated 
 his German peasants kindly, the robbery could not have re- 
 mained undetected ; but no informer was found amongst them, — 
 the haughtiness of the lord had leagued all his labourers against 
 him. After thrashing was done, the Prince, to his utter dismay, dis- 
 covered his insolvency. His plans had failed, and he had to give 
 up his property to his creditors. But his German peasants now 
 met with the punishment of their dishonesty : nearly all of them 
 had claims for wages in arrear which they could not recover ; 
 besides, they at once became homeless, as they were ejected by 
 the creditors of the Prince, and had to disperse to other planta- 
 tions, where they had smaller wages, and no opportunity of steal- 
 ing. The house of the Messrs. Suchet assumed the management 
 of the African establishment. 
 
58 EASSOTA, EEGHAIA, RUSGONIA, BELIDA, COLEAH. 
 
 When, in March 1837, I again visited the castle, I found it 
 silent and dismal. The kingfisher preyed undisturbed on the 
 fishes of the great pond in the neighbourhood of the house ; the 
 jackals carried away the poultry from the court-yard. The houses 
 of the labourers were empty ; a single French veteran guarded 
 them. But in the castle itself I found, to my great astonishment, 
 the Sheikhs and Marabuts at table with Mr. Suchet. They had 
 become accustomed to Rassota, and did not care whether the pro- 
 prietor was a prince or a merchant, as long as coffee, tobacco, and 
 good fare, were offered in the house. Mr. Suchet leased out a 
 portion of the estate to the Aribes, the remainder he had culti- 
 vated by daily labourers, but only to the extent of the capital 
 which he had it in his power to invest, avoiding the Germans, 
 giving preference to Frenchmen and Spaniards. 
 
 Reghaia was, during my stay, the most important plantation 
 in the vicinity of Algiers. It ia about thirteen French leagues 
 north-east of the city. Since 1 835, it has been the property of 
 Mr. Mercier ; but several other French capitalists have an inter- 
 est in it. The establishment is conducted in a different manner 
 from that of Rassota. There is no need here either of capital, 
 or of a strict superintendence. Reghaia is situated on the banks 
 of a river of that name, which is not a torrent, like the Hamiss or 
 Araj, but slow and deep like a canal. The farm-house of Reghaia 
 is of considerable extent, and is surrounded by a solid wall, which 
 is sufficiently strong to resist an attack of Arabs ; sixty resolute 
 men are able to defend it against 500 natives. It contains suf- 
 ficient room for the dwellings of the proprietor and his labourers, 
 as well as for store-houses, stables for 20.0 horses, and great herds 
 of cattle. Mr. Mercier has imported superior cattle of the best 
 breed, and was therefore much aggrieved when the Arabs carried 
 away a portion of them. As there is plenty of wood in the neigh- 
 bourhood, Mr. Mercier sends charcoal to Algiers, carried by boats 
 on the river to the sea, and receives his commodities from thence 
 in the same way ; only during the season of storms the transport 
 is carried on by means of camels. The country is exceedingly 
 
RASSOTA, KEanAIA, RUSGONIA, BELIDA, COLEAH. 59 
 
 well watered, and therefore very fertile ; the fruit-trees thrive un- 
 commonly well, and the old orange- groves yield a rich crop. It i» 
 principally to horticulture that Mr. Mercier has directed his atten- 
 tion. He does not grow more wheat than is required for the subsis- 
 tence of the colonists settled on the plantation, principally since the 
 clearing of ground is excessively costly here, where the luxuriance 
 of vegetable life immediately covers the fields with a profusion of 
 wild shrubs. The proprietor, therefore, tries rather to rear tropical 
 plants, the crops of which are more remunerative than corn. He 
 looks to the cotton-plant, the indigo, the cochineal, the olive-tree, 
 and the mulberry, for his profits. As to cotton, he has fully suc- 
 ceeded in respect to quality, for it is as good as the Egyptian. The 
 olive must thrive here, where the wild olive-trees grow as large as 
 the northern oaks ; and though the oil they yield is of inferior 
 quality, yet, on account of its very low price, it is exported to 
 Europe to be used for common lamps. Now, the whole neighbour- 
 hood of Algiers is full of grafted young olive-trees, and there is no 
 doubt that, in this commodity, Algeria will soon seriously com- 
 pete with Italy and Southern France. Mr. Mercier has likewise 
 planted many thousands of mulberry-trees, and the silk- worm cul- 
 ture will probably succeed well, since the mulberry, as for instance 
 in the garden of the late Dey, attains a considerable size. The 
 Moors long ago produced silk. An attempt was made to rear the 
 silk- worm on the tree itself. But though the cold nights did not 
 injure them, the birds picked them off the leaves. Around Algiers, 
 at least 1,000,000 of mulberry seedlings have been planted. The 
 experiment of cultivating sugar-cane has likewise succeeded at 
 Reghaia, in spite of the rough winters. Indigo failed : the plant 
 grew to a great height, but yielded very little material for dye. 
 The cochineal culture also failed ; for the insects died on the plant, 
 being too much exposed to the northern winds. The wild cactus 
 of Barbary is only a variety of the nopal of Mexico, and the plants 
 imported from Andalusia, where cochineal is reared, succeeded very 
 well ; but a spot should be chosen for them in the country of the 
 Metija, where they might escape the influence of the north- wind. 
 
GO EASSOTA, REGHAIA, RUSGONIA, BELIDA, COLEAH. 
 
 I visited the ruined site of the ancient Roman city Rusgonium, 
 at about fifty miles east of Algiers, on Cape Matifu, with Mr. 
 Adrian Berbrugger, late Secretary of Marshal Clauzel, and Keeper 
 of the Library and Museum of Algiers. In 1837, the Government 
 placed certain funds at his disposal to make excavations. The 
 ruins are of great extent, biit of little importance. Only one build- 
 ing is still imposing by reason of the grandeur of its remains. We 
 could easily make out the ancient walls of the city, which, to the 
 east and north, are still pretty well preserved. There is, besides, 
 a tower traceable, but its form is not antique ; it seems that in 
 later times it has been transformed into a Christian church. The 
 material of these ruins is porphyry from Cape Matifu, bad bricks, 
 excellent cement, white marble from the Atlas, and granite, 
 which I could not trace anywhere in Algeria. The Sheikh of 
 the Kashnas, Omar-Ben-el-Bedawi, told me that there was a 
 tradition, according to which the city had been deserted in con- 
 sequence of a famine ; and there was an inscription found here 
 which mentioned the occurrence of a year of dearth and famine. 
 The Sheikh would not believe that we are not treasure- seekers, 
 and told us of the method by which the Arabs try to discover trea- 
 sures : some mysterious words are to be written on a piece of 
 paper, which is left to the mercy of the winds ; and wherever the 
 paper remains lying on the ground, there is the place for digging. 
 
 The result of Berbrugger' s excavations did not answer his ex- 
 pectations. Many fragments of statues and reliefs were dis- 
 covered ; but all of them either greatly damaged, or of no artis- 
 tical value. The period of the bloom of the Province of Africa 
 was not that of the bloom of art. Yet many rare gold coins were 
 bought from the Arabs of the neighbourhood, all of them belong- 
 ing to the period of the Eastern Roman Empire. 
 
 The city of Belida is only at four hours' distance from Buffarik. 
 Yet the insecurity of the Metija was so great in the first years of 
 the occupations, that it was rarely visited by Frenchmen, except on 
 military expeditions, since the Hajutes and Beni Salah waylaid 
 any travelling foreigner. Even well-armed sportsmen did not 
 
RASSOTA, REGHAIA, RUSGONIA, BELIDA, COLE AH. 61 
 
 dare to approach the Hajute country. Belida is situated on the 
 southern border of the great plain, nearly at the foot of the Atlas. 
 A broad ring of orange, lemon, and pomegranate orchards, always 
 adorned by golden fruits, surrounds the city, and hides it nearly 
 altogether by a luxuriant canopy of leaves. Nothing but the 
 minarets of the mosques, and the highest terraces of some houses, 
 are seen above the groves : the town is visible only when we stand 
 close under its scattered walls. Belida was, up to 1825, a thriving 
 Moorish city, inhabited by wealthy farmers, shopkeepers, and 
 mechanics ; but a series of misfortunes has since visited it. A 
 fearful earthquake destroyed the principal part of the place in 
 1825 : all the mosques, and many houses, fell down, and the 
 ruins remained in the streets up to 1840, for the frightened and 
 superstitious inhabitants had not the courage to remove the traces 
 of Allah's anger. They resolved to leave the doomed spot, and 
 to build a new city. New Belida, about a mile farther north in 
 the plain, where they could likewise avoid the musket-balls of 
 the Kabyles of the Atlas, Old Belida having been within their 
 range ; and as the citizens were peaceful and unenergetic, they 
 were often exposed to the threats and violence of the robber- 
 tribes of the Atlas, who levied black mail on them. But scarcely 
 were the square city walls of New Belida raised, when they again 
 gave up the place on the prophecy of some Marabut. From the 
 time of the French occupation of Algiers, their misfortunes were 
 endless : too weak to defend themselves, they were not spared 
 either by Frenchmen or Kabyles. In November 1830, the French 
 garrison left here, was attacked by the mountaineers, a street- 
 fight ensued, and the French, in the belief that the citizens had 
 a secret understanding with the enemy, made dreadful havoc 
 among them. The inhabitants fled to Algiers, but soon re- 
 turned again to their home, which is the most charming spot in 
 Algeria, being blessed by nature with all the magnificence of a 
 southern climate. The population formerly amounted to about 
 7000 persons, but it continued to decrease up to the pacification 
 of the country in 1846. As Belida is so near to Algiers, it 
 
62 RASSOTA, REGHAIA, RUSGONIA, BELIDA, COLEAH. 
 
 could not join in any war against the French, and was therefore 
 often ransacked by the Kabyles, the French not occupying the 
 city permanently before 1838. The inhabitants are industrious, 
 and chiefly shoemakers. They manufacture the high yellow and 
 red boots of the Arab chiefs, and the light slippers which are in 
 common use at Algiers. 
 
 J accompanied General Damremont, in 1837, on a military 
 expedition to Belida. The General humanely wished to spare 
 the inhabitants, and therefore preferred to lose several hours by 
 mancEuvring around the orange-groves, and dispelling the Kabyles 
 by successive attacks, rather than march straight to the city, and 
 carry the struggle into the streets. On the 29th of April, we en- 
 tered Belida. The meadows around were covered with yellow 
 flowers; the orange and pomegranate trees were encircled by 
 creepers ; many springs and rivulets streamed across the gardens, 
 and plenty of tortoises crept on their banks. We had Neapolitan 
 officers among us, and they assured me, that all the Edens of 
 Sicily were surpassed by the gardens of Belida, which for so long 
 time had been ravaged by the fiendish Kabyles. 
 
 We climbed up the mountain south of Belida, following two 
 brigades who had occupied the first peaks, and driven the moun- 
 taineers out of their hiding-places, burning down their straw huts. 
 Close behind the city, the Wad-Sidi-el-Kebir, a small river falls 
 from the steep cliffs, and forms several handsome cascades. We 
 reached only the middle of the mountain, where the Zuaves were 
 posted who formed the vanguard of the French. On the higher 
 tops stood the Kabyles, and though too far distant to inflict 
 serious damage, they incessantly discharged their long muskets 
 towards us. The first chain of the Atlas is cultivated nearly to 
 half its height ; it is everywhere covered with a rich soil, and 
 partially well wooded ; only on the top the rocks break through 
 the black earth. The characteristic features of the Atlas are the 
 frequent ravines, covered with thickets, and the hills which lie 
 against the mountains, and form a kind of stairs to the steeper 
 mountains. 
 
EASSOTA, REGHAIA, RUSGONIA, BELIDA, COLEAH. 63 
 
 The next Kabyle tribe above Belida, are the Beni-Salah; they 
 are warlike and cruel, and muster about 600 men-in-arms. The 
 Mussaia are their neighbours to the west, and can take the field 
 with 1000 men. Next is the important tribe of the Summata, 
 who, in war, muster 1500 footmen, and 200 horsemen under arms. 
 All of them live in small and wretched huts ; the rooms, however, 
 in those miserable dwellings, are better furnished than are the 
 tents of the Arabs. The Kabyles are sedentary agriculturists, 
 who do not remove their habitations, and can therefore accumulate 
 many utensils, and different .pieces of comfortable furniture. The 
 French soldiers, on the present occasion, made considerable booty 
 in carpets, sheep -skins, brass kegs, jugs, and jars, though the 
 Kabyles had removed their most valuable property to the higher 
 parts of the mountains. 
 
 The wild olive-tree is very common on the lower slope of the 
 Atlas. It is often employed, like the cactus, to form the en- 
 closures of the corn-fields ; higher up it is superseded by the oak, 
 but the growth is dwarfish and poor ; the cork-tree, which covers 
 the tops of the mountains, does not attain to any considerable size. 
 Belida has been permanently occupied by the French since 
 May, 1838 ; but the troops were not then quartered in the city, 
 as Marshal Valee was anxious that the sight of French regi- 
 mentals should not induce the inhabitants to emigrate. The 
 soldiers had to live in camp, nor were even European civilians 
 allowed to settle in the city, though many of them had here 
 claims of landed property. Two-thirds of the houses and gar- 
 dens of the town were many years since sold to French speculators 
 for trifling sums. Buyers and sellers alike thought that they had 
 entrapped each other. As the French had more than ten times 
 come to Belida, but always retired again, the Moors did not 
 believe that the " Rummis" could ever occupy the city per- 
 manently. They did not know that the Generals abstained from 
 it only until high-roads and block-houses were constructed all 
 over the Metija, in order to ensure a constant, easy communica- 
 tion with Algiers. The inhabitants of Belida thought that the 
 
64 RASSOTA, EEGHAIA, RUSGONIA, BELIDA, COLEAH. 
 
 retreat of the French columns was an evidence of fear and weak- 
 ness. They, therefore, put faith in the hragging of Ben Zamun, 
 Ben Brahim, and other Kabyle chiefs, who promised to drive the 
 unbelievers into the sea, and did not imagine that the tricolor 
 could ever float lastingly on the top of the Atlas. The Moors 
 were well aware that the French speculators never would take 
 possession of the estates they had bought, without being protected 
 by French bayonets. The French colonists, on the other hand, 
 knew the French character too well, and felt sure that the colony 
 could not be given up, but must expand to the interior, should it 
 cost even hundreds of millions. They therefore bought, without 
 hesitation, and without even having seen them, the houses and 
 gardens of Belida, offered to them by the inhabitants, and often 
 even without being fully satisfied of the existence of the property. 
 The price was, of course, nearly nominal. But both parties, the 
 Moorish sellers and the French buyers, were greatly mistaken in 
 the result. For when, in 1838, Belida was at last occupied by 
 the army, the jobbers could not even then take possession of their 
 legally acquired property. Pellissier, the chief of the Bureau 
 Arabe, disliked them, and advocated the just, and often even the 
 exaggerated claims of the natives. He reported to the Governor- 
 General, that to acknowledge the French claims would be equi- 
 valent to an ejectment of the Moorish population, and would force 
 it to emigrate to Medeah. It would be a dangerous precedent to 
 expel a peaceable and industrious population, who, under French 
 supremacy, were a kind of guarantee for the maintenance of peace; 
 whilst, if driven to Medeah, they would only increase the number 
 of the enemy. Marshal Vale6 saw the policy of these remarks, and 
 paid little attention to the legal claims of the European setilers. 
 He therefore issued an order by which every European civilian 
 was forbidden to visit Belida, until the camps and fortifications 
 were finished, and security restored. But long after the forts 
 were all raised around the city, the restriction of visiting it 
 remained in force, and it was only under the administration of 
 Marshal Bugeaud that those claims were settled by arbitration. 
 
EASSOTA, REGHAIA, RUSGONIA, BELIDA, COLEAH. 65 
 
 Medeah, formerly the chief place of the province of Titteri, is 
 about twice as large as Belida, and is situated south of this city. 
 On the way thither, about fifteen miles beyond Belida, I saw a 
 fine country-seat, which had belonged to the Agha of Oran; but 
 after the downfal of this Beylik, it was occupied by a Marabut 
 of the Kabyle tribe Mussaiay who, as often as French troops 
 made an expedition in that direction, always came, accompanied 
 by the chiefs of his tribe, to meet them with great respect; and 
 as soon as the French retreated, fired at them. Three rivers, 
 the Sidi-el-Kebir, the Shiflfe, and the El-Jer, all easily ford- 
 able, here run through the country ; by their junction they form 
 the Massafran, a considerable but not navigable river, which 
 takes its course through the Sahel to the sea west of Algiers. 
 The defile of Teniah, on the way to Medeah, begins about three 
 leagues west of the farm Mussaia. By a march of two hours, we 
 reached the neck of the mountain, which is partially cultivated on 
 both sides of the defile ; but the greatest portion of the narrow 
 path leads through a rough thicket, sometimes interrupted by 
 bold lime-cliffs. Many rivulets rush over the rocks, but do not 
 form any considerable cascades. Kabyle huts are dispersed all 
 over the slopes, but we saw them seldom on the sunny and 
 cultivated fields. It is where the thicket is darkest, and the 
 cliffs roughest, that the Kabyle builds his dwelling, in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the inaccessible dens of the wild beasts. ' Towards 
 the top of the mountain-range, the defile becomes continually 
 narrower ; two conical rocks form a kind of natural gate, and 
 the cliffs from both sides approach, sometimes so near to one 
 another, that scarcely four men abreast can pass it. It seems 
 as if fifty resolute men might here detain an army for several 
 days. Yet General Achard stormed it with a single battalion 
 of the 37th of the line, though it was defended by 2000 Turks, 
 Kabyles, and Arabs. The foremost of the French rushed with 
 fixed bayonet into almost certain death, and broke through the 
 enemy's ranks with a heroism equalled only by the four Hun- 
 garian battalions which, under General Guyon, carried the re- 
 
60 RASSOTA, REGHAIA, RUSGONIA, BELIDA, COLE AH. 
 
 nowned pass of Branyiszko, in Hungary. The heights of Teniab 
 form the boundary between the provinces of Algiers and of Tit- 
 teri. I did not proceed farther south, and returned from Belida 
 to Coleah. 
 
 The handsome though small town of Coleah is situated in a 
 valley at the slope of the Sahel of Algiers, north of Belida, about 
 two miles from the coast, west of the river Massafran. Before 
 1830, the city had from two to three thousand inhabitants ; they 
 dwindled down in 1840 to one thousand, but now the population 
 is again increasing, and chiefly consists of Moors, a few Negroes, 
 and two or three Turkish families. Jews were not allowed to 
 settle here under the Deys. The city has no industry, and the 
 commerce is of little importance; but it was viewed by the Moham- 
 medans as a hol}^ place, and therefore remained undisturbed by the 
 feuds of the natives as a city of peace. Several of the most re- 
 nowned IMarabuts, and especially the family of the Mubareks (the 
 blessed), highly venerated for their holy life, had fixed their 
 dwellings here. All the persecuted, and even criminals, found at 
 the door of old Mohammed Mahiddin-el-Mubarek an asylum, 
 which was always respected by the persecuting avenger, whether 
 an Arab chief or a Turkish janissary. Even the French troops 
 did not disturb the peace of the little town, since they never 
 experienced here the slightest resistance from the passive popu- 
 lation. But in 1838, Coleah was permanently occupied. Mo- 
 hammed Ben Mubarek, the mild old man, who preached peace 
 and conciliation, was dead, and his family had emigrated. The 
 view of the French uniforms, the necessary intercourse with 
 the infidels (whose touch, according to the fanatics, stains the 
 sanctuaries, and deprives them of their holiness and miracu- 
 lous power), destroyed the feelings of awe which the natives 
 felt heretofore when he approached the white cupola of the 
 mosque of the Mubareks. Yet the garrison remained undis- 
 turbed, because the place is protected on the east by the Massa- 
 fran, while to the south lie swamps which make the retreat 
 of any marauding party very unsafe. In the beginning of 
 
THE EASTERN COAST OF ALGERIA. 67 
 
 1839, German colonists from Alsatia settled in Coleah; principally 
 because the climate and vegetation reminded them of their own 
 country. Apple and pear-trees thrive here much better than 
 oranges and dates ; but the soil is nearly uncultivable on account 
 of the thickets of dwarf-palms and other bushes, which it is nearly 
 impossible to destroy. Beyond the Massafran lies the territory 
 of the Hajutes, in the centre of which the lake or rather swamp 
 of Alula is situated, twenty miles long and four miles broad, 
 divided from the sea by a range of hills, which form here a kind 
 of gigantic dyke. On the top of the heights, between the sea 
 and the lake, is the Kubbar-el-Rummiah, already mentioned, an 
 ancient mausoleum. It is a circular building of about 500 feet in 
 diameter, surrounded by Tuscan columns, and surmounted by a 
 pyramid of thirty- two steps of granite; the top has been destroyed, 
 probably by treasure- seekers. The Kubbar-el-Rummiah may be 
 the sepulchral monument of the old Numidian kings, which, ac- 
 cording to Pomponius Mela, was situated between Julia Caesaria 
 (Shershel) and Jcosium, (Algiers). Some authors believe it to 
 have been the tomb of Cava, the daughter of Count Julian, who 
 had invited the Arabs to Spain, and whose sepulchre was erected 
 in this neighbourhood, (according to Marmol). This lonely large 
 monument made a considerable impression on the Arab mind, 
 and all the natives have some traditions about the fair queen who 
 built it, and about the treasures it is supposed to hide. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE EASTERN COAST OF ALGERIA. 
 
 It was towards the end of May that I went by sea to Bujia. In 
 those latitudes, the months of May and June belong to the calm 
 months. We had a most pleasant passage, as if carried by dol- 
 phins through the waveless sea. The coast-range of mountains 
 between Algiers and Bujia is a northern continuation of the Atlas, 
 
68 THE EASTERN COAST OF ALGERIA. 
 
 and has very few lofty peaks, none rising higher than 2000 feet 
 above the level of the sea. The tops of a parallel southern range 
 tower above them. The slopes are gentle, and seldom abrupt or 
 perpendicular: they are thinly wooded; about the middle are 
 firs, on the top are cork-trees. Between them we saw again the 
 graceful fans of the dwarf-palm covering the soil, and making 
 the mountains impenetrable. Between the sea and the slopes 
 there is an uninterrupted plain, sometimes ten to fifteen miles 
 wide, but oftener only 500 to 600 feet. The coast- scenery is 
 monotonous, varied only by some very fantastically- shaped cliffs, 
 and by yet fewer traces of dwellings on the mountains, which are 
 betrayed only by the rising smoke. The country is much more 
 fertile than the shores of the Mediterranean in France, or even in 
 Spain. 
 
 Having passed the Capes Matifu and Bengut, we saw the little 
 town of Dellys, the Ruscurium of the Eomans, about sixty miles 
 west of Algiers, at the foot of a considerable mountain. It has a 
 good harbour, but very few tilled fields : the thickets and woods 
 are here stocked with wild boars. " What sport ! " exclaimed 
 one of the passengers ; " and those stupid Arabs do not eat the 
 boar." Dellys has about 2500 native inhabitants, who are very 
 industrious, and occupied with dyeing wool and silk, and manufac- 
 turing burniises and carpets. The exports to Algiers consist in 
 dried fruits, oil of inferior quality, and sheep- skins. The mighty 
 and warlike Kab3^1e tribe of the Amrauahs dwell in this part of 
 the mountains, which are too dangerous for any invading column. 
 They are only nominally under the sovereignty of France. 
 
 On my return from Bona to Algiers, I saw to better advantage 
 that giant of the Atlas, the Jibel Jurjura, the mons ferratus of 
 the Romans, towering with many peaks above the three lower 
 mountain-ranges of the coast. This mountain-range, about fifty 
 miles distant from the shore, is not only higher than all the other 
 elevated groups of the Atlas, but it has many more conical tops 
 than the other portions of the Atlas, nearly all of which present 
 straight, horizontal, and little inclined lines. The snow rests till 
 
THE EASTERN COAST OF ALGERIA. 69 
 
 June or July on the top, which rises to about 7000 feet. No 
 European traveller has as yet made the ascent ; even the Turks 
 did not dare to enter its recesses, and the Kabyles of that moun- 
 tain never paid more than a nominal tribute. They belong mostly 
 to the tribe of the Flissas, who can take the field with 10,000 
 men. Ben-Zamun is their chief, who in 1838 acknowledged the 
 sovereignty of Abd-el-Kader, but the Flissas declared that they 
 never would consent to pay tribute to any stranger ; they pay it 
 only by the bullets of their muskets. Yet they joined the Emir 
 in his wars against the French. The best yatagans of the country 
 are manufactured of Jurjura iron, dug and melted by the Flissas. 
 The chief place of the tribe is likewise called Flissa, and is situ- 
 ated at the foot of the mountain, in a most delightful country. 
 Close to the city is the village Coromma, where the most cele- 
 brated of all the Kabyle Marabuts, Sidi-Ali-Ben-Aissa, lived till 
 1835. He was about a hundred years old, and his influence was 
 unbounded. Even Ben-Zamun, the secular chief of the tribe, had 
 to yield to his command. 
 
 As we were approaching Bujia, the coast grew always higher 
 and more wild, and perpendicular cliffs rose with sharp indenta- 
 tions. One of the rocks, protruding far into the sea, forms a 
 regular gate, with a mighty arch above, which offers, through the 
 opening, a most picturesque view of the foaming sea behind. 
 West of Bujia, another rock interested the passengers very much, 
 not from its shape, nor from its geological formation, but because 
 it is inhabited by a large colony of monkeys, some of whom came 
 out of their holes to see us. These animals belonged to the tribe 
 of the common Barbary monkey without a tail, which abound 
 near Bujia. Bujia is situated in the centre of a bay between 
 Cape Carbon and Cape Carvallos. The harbour is here deeper 
 and more secure than at Bona and Algiers; the Deys, there- 
 fore, always sent their fleet hither in the stormy season. Yet 
 this advantage had been overrated, and several ships have here 
 met with accidents from sudden gales. The bay, like all those 
 of Algeria, has the shape of a crescent open to the north-east. 
 
70 THE EASTERN COAST OF ALGERIA. 
 
 The city, the Salde Colonia of the ancients, is built on the slopes 
 of the mountain Gurria in an amphitheatrical form, divided into 
 two parts by a deep ravine. The walls were formerly very exten- 
 sive, and reached the cliffs which overlook Bujia ; but they have 
 decayed long since, and the French do not repair them, since they 
 have fortified the place with forty block-houses and trenches. The 
 bald head of the Gurria is now covered by a strong fort, command- 
 ing the country like an eagle's nest. It affords an excellent look- 
 out, and the Kabyles cannot stir in their mountains without being 
 immediately seen. No surprise is, therefore, now to be dreaded, 
 as was the case during the first years of the occupation. 
 
 Bujia is, without doubt, the most miserable town I have seen in 
 Northern Africa. The quarter beyond the river is not inhabited ; 
 the houses are ruins of mud and broken bricks. The French 
 cannon began the destruction at the time of the occupation ; the 
 inhabitants themselves continued the work, resolved to emigrate 
 if they were unable to withstand the enemy : and they demolished 
 their houses, that the French might not find anything beyond 
 ruins. Covetous soldiers, seeking for hidden treasures, with the 
 storms and rains of the country, completed the desolation. In 
 the inhabited quarter, there are some new buildings of wood and 
 bricks : the mosques are turned into store-houses ; for the Moham- 
 medan population has deserted the city since the occupation. A 
 large hospital, and the houses of the officers of the garrison, are 
 the most prominent buildings of the town. It is scarcely more 
 than a military camp. The garrison amuse themselves with the 
 "wine-flask, cards, newspapers, and at the theatre, where the actors 
 are all soldiers of the battalions of Africa (the penal battalions of 
 the French army) : the female parts are, after the antique fashion, 
 performed by males in disguise. Though the vicinity of Bujia, 
 with its beautiful southern vegetation in the plain, close to the 
 well- wooded mountain, is most attractive, it is impossible to enjoy 
 it. For years the garrison was regularly blockaded, as the Spanish 
 forts Ceuta and Melilla were in Morocco. Whoever left the walls 
 of the town was sure to be greeted by a volley of bullets. The 
 
THE EASTERN COAST OP ALGERIA. 71 
 
 Kabyles often lay for weeks in ambuscade, in order to get the 
 opportunity of shooting an infidel ; and the soldiers, surrounded 
 by the gardens of the Hesperides, dared not to pluck the golden 
 fruits : it was really the torture of Tantalus. Bujia is even now 
 the most insecure of all the French posts in Africa. 
 
 The natives around Bujia are Kabyles, and the tribes living 
 here are the most ferocious of that race. So are, for the most 
 part, the Mezzaia, fanatical Mohammedans, who often rushed 
 upon the bayonets of the French. But even the Beni-Messaud, 
 Beni-Mimur, Beni-Amrus, Ulad-Wart, &c., had no other inter- 
 course with the French than with the sword in hand, up to the 
 year 1846. Then the chiefs all came down from the mountains 
 into the camp of Marshal Bugeaud, in order to pay allegiance to 
 France, and to get gaudy dresses as a token of their investiture. 
 But though peace is nominally subsisting, the country is not yet 
 really subjected. In fact, it is the " Belad-Meskhutin," the 
 accursed country of the Arab story-tellers ; and yet the Kabyles 
 of Bujia are industrious, much more so than their countrymen. 
 Their fields on the mountain terraces are well tilled, and care- 
 fully fenced : they work the copper, lead, and iron mines on the 
 mountains, and themselves manufacture their muskets, daggers, 
 and swords. 
 
 Jijeli, the Jgilgilis of the ancients, lies twelve leagues east of 
 Bujia. It is built on a small rocky peninsula, and has a good 
 harbour, deep and secure, but affording too little space for large 
 ships. The greatest part of the town covers the plateau of a cliff, 
 and, if well defended, is nearly impregnable. The surrounding 
 country is fertile, and better cultivated than the Metija ; but 
 wheat does not thrive. The natives, therefore, prefer to grow 
 barley and flax, and to import wheat. Oranges and dates are 
 also scarce ; but figs, nuts, and eatable acorns, are found in abun- 
 dance. When, in 1839, the French occupied the town, it con- 
 tained about one thousand inhabitants, who all fled into the moun- 
 tains among the Kabyles. Jijeli, like Bujia, is now entirely a 
 military town; the mosques are turned into storehouses and stables, 
 
72 THE EASTERN COAST OP ALGERIA. 
 
 and commerce has disappeared. Before 1830, small Moorish 
 vessels carried hides, wool, wax, cork, oil, and dried fruits, to 
 Algiers, but not to any considerable extent. After the occupa- 
 tion of Bujia by the French, the garrison got its firewood from 
 Jijeli. The natives are as savage as the people around Bujia; 
 but they have scarcely any horses, and are, therefore, less dan- 
 gerous. 
 
 CoUo is situated about fifteen leagues east from Jijeli. In the 
 times of antiquity it was an important city, Collops Magnus ; 
 now it is a wretched Kabyle encampment of a few huts. Leo 
 Africanus mentions the inhabitants for their " ingenium liherale^ 
 Jidissimunij humanisshnum ;" but, in the course of centuries, 
 they have become most savage robbers, ready to plunder and 
 to murder whoever has the misfortune of being wrecked in this 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 Ten leagues farther east, we reached Stora, the Bussicada of 
 the ancients, situated in a deeply- indented bay. The travellers 
 of the last century described this place as a decaying city; yet 
 when, in 1838, General Negrier made a reconnoitering in that 
 direction from Constantine, the French, who are easily excitable, 
 thought they were coming to a great and important city. But 
 they were painfully undeceived when, after a march of thirty 
 hours through a most fertile country, they arrived at the beach 
 without finding any city or even village, but only a few deserted 
 straw huts, leaning on Roman cigterns or temple ruins. The 
 Kabyles kept their corn in the cisterns, and the French imitated 
 them, and converted the solid Roman buildings into storehouses. 
 Several blockhouses, forts, and barracks, were erected here, and 
 at last the plan of Marshal Valee, to found a new French city, was 
 approved of by the Government. It was laid out at some distance 
 from the ancient ruins, and got the name of Philippeville. Mer- 
 chants and mechanics from Bona, and many Maltese settled, and 
 the discovery of profitable coral-banks advanced materially the 
 increase of the population. An old Roman high-road was repaired, 
 and the connexion with Constantine was secured by means of 
 
THE EASTERN COAST OF ALGERIA. 73 
 
 several intermediate camps. Philippeville, as the nearest har- 
 bour for Constantine, and the chief place of a very fertile plain, 
 has every prospect of becoming an important commercial city. 
 
 On the 25th of May, we arrived at Bona. It has no harbour; 
 the ships anchor in the bay, about half an hour west of the city, 
 and seek shelter from the storm in the neighbourhood of Fort 
 Genois, where, after all, they do not find sufficient security. This 
 is the principal obstacle to Bona's becoming a great emporium, 
 though, in other respects, it is a most promising place. Its varied 
 scenery, with high mountains, bare rocks, and luxuriant vegeta- 
 tion on the hills and on the extensive plain, and its fine rivers, 
 make a most agreeable impression on the mind. Green meadows 
 and hills, wooded with jujube trees, meet the eye from every street, 
 in accordance with the Arabic name of Bona : * Aimaba, which 
 means the jujube trees. The native population has much decreased, 
 for in 1832, Ben-Aissa, the vicegerent of Ahmet-Bey, destroyed 
 a great portion of the town, and forced the poor inhabitants, about 
 six thousand men, to emigrate. Bona is divided into two quar- 
 ters. The lower portion is built on the plain; the streets, though 
 not very regular and clean, are broad and sunny. On the great 
 market-place, many new French houses have been built, large but 
 frail, as Europeans do not dwell here regularly for any long time, 
 the climate being feverish. The settlers therefore seek to make 
 money, and to leave the country soon ; accordingly, their houses 
 are built only for a few years' residence. The upper part of the 
 city is amphitheatrical, but not so steep and high as Algiers ; the 
 buildings are all in the Moorish style, but less elegant than those 
 of the capital. The strongly-fortified citadel of Bona is raised on 
 an isolated hill, east of the shore. It proudly overlooks the country, 
 and decides the fate of the city, which might easily be destroyed 
 by the cannon of that fort. This citadel has been the scene of 
 many interesting reverses since 1830. On the 26th of March 
 1832, it came into the possession of the French in a most ex- 
 
 • Bona is a mere corruption of Hippona, the old name. 
 
74 THE EASTERN COAST OF ALGERIA. 
 
 traordinary manner. Two men of energy, presence of mind, 
 and uncommon courage, with thirty sailors, took it, half by per- 
 suasion, half by force. It was at that time garrisoned by several 
 hundred Turks, under the command of Ibrahim, a proud and 
 ambitious man, who resolved to keep possession of it, and re- 
 sisted the summons of surrender both from Ben-Aissa, Ahmet 
 Bey's general, who stood before the walls with an Arab array, 
 and from two captains in the French service, Yussuf, the rene- 
 gado, and d'Armandy, who were in the harbour on board a small 
 French war-brig, but without land-troops. Ben-Aissa threatened 
 to storm the citadel, and the French officers, at the head of thirty 
 sailors, solicited admission as friends, that, by directing the defence, 
 they might prevent it from falling into the hands of the Arabs. 
 But Ibrahim did not trust them, and refused them entrance. 
 Upon this, a mutiny arose amongst the garrison, where Yussuf 
 had managed to get a party, relying on his energetic words and 
 demeanour, which inspired more confidence than the bragging 
 of Ibrahim. This commander was forced to leave the citadel 
 with his personal friends, and the gates were opened to Yussuf, 
 d'Armandy, and the thirty sailors. Soon a new conspiracy broke 
 out among the riotous garrison, and, but for the presence of mind 
 of Yussuf, who cut down the ringleader with his own hand, the 
 few Frenchmen would have been murdered, and the citadel once 
 more lost to France. But now the gallant band remained in pos- 
 session of the fortress, and defended it so valiantly against the 
 Arabs of Ben-Aissa, that this chief gave up the siege, and com- 
 manded his followers to retreat, after a well-aimed cannon-ball 
 had struck the ground near his tent, and he saw that the batteries 
 of the fort might give him more trouble than he could give the 
 garrison. 
 
 In January 1837, the citadel was severely damaged by a 
 sudden explosion of the powder-magazine; and the ill-fated French 
 garrison, several hundred men, met with an untimely end. The 
 shock was as violent as an earthquake, all the windows of the 
 town were broken, and several houses were rent asunder. Yet, 
 
THE EASTERN COAST OP ALGEEIA. 75 
 
 in 1838, I found the citadel again inhabited; the walls had 
 been restored, and a merry bustle reigned in the barracks ; songs 
 were heard, wine was drunk, gambling and amusements went 
 on, though the same dangerous stuff which had destroyed the 
 predecessors of the merry crowd was stored up in the same vaults, 
 all the ammunition for the expedition of Constantine being thereiu 
 deposited. 
 
 Life in Bona is monotonous and peaceable, and not to be com- 
 pared with life at Algiers. It was difficult to get lodgings, but the 
 fare was most excellent. The French possess the genius of cooking, 
 and the dinner in the " Grand Restaurant d'Afrique" was worth 
 any dinner in the great cities of France. The orchards and gar- 
 dens of Bona supplied vegetables and fruit ; the Bedouins brought 
 fowls, cattle, and mutton to the market ; and the French miners 
 and soldiers shot sufficient game. There is no country in Barbary 
 richer in wild fowl : sixteen species of wild ducks are to be found 
 here, and abundance of snipes, partridges, and bustards. The sea 
 and rivers are full of fish, craw-fish, and shell-fish ; and all the 
 delicacies of Parisian cookery are to be had at low prices. Spices 
 and wine are, of course, imported from France; for everywhere, 
 up to the outposts in the Sahara, the sparkling Champaign 
 and the purple claret are the faithful companions of the tricolor. 
 The Arab Sheikhs do not despise the wine ; and, in spite of Koran 
 and Marabut, partake of the forbidden drink, though never to 
 excess. The amusements of Bona are not much varied : they 
 consist in a walk on the beach towards Fort St. Genois, when 
 the steam- boats arrive and sail for France; in visits to the reading- 
 rooms; an evening ramble on the great market-place, when every- 
 body appears in slippers, easy cloaks, and straw-hats; and, lastly, 
 a stroll to the coffee-house, to hear and discuss the local news over 
 a cup of coffee and a glass of lemonade. The principal amusement, 
 however, is the chase, though it is here very fatiguing, on account 
 of the marshes in the east, and the steep mountains in the west. 
 
 The Maltese form the majority of the European settlers at 
 Bona, but they are really the very refuse of Malta. Lazy, awk- 
 
76 THE EASTERN COAST OF ALGERIA. 
 
 ward, cowardly, thievish, and refractory, they have not one com- 
 mendable quality but their sobriety in eating and drinking. Like 
 the Lazzaroni of Naples, the Maltese live by labour for wages ; 
 but they undertake only very light, or, at least, short work, in 
 order to be able to bask in the sun all the afternoon, and to gaze 
 with open mouth on the passers-by. There are but few mechanics 
 among the Maltese, nearly all of whom are shoemakers. The 
 better portion of them are costermongers and hucksters ; they sell 
 spices, fruit, or French wares, either in miserable stalls or in the 
 open air. Some of them are innkeepers, and cheat the soldiers by 
 selling bad wine mixed with water. The soldiers, again, often take 
 revenge, by eating and drinking all they can without having a 
 penny in their pockets, then leaving the shop without settling their 
 bills, and sometimes beating the publican to the bargain. They 
 are aware that for such a "lark" they are sure to be imprisoned 
 for a few days, but this does not make them leave off the joke. 
 The Maltese form a kind of transitional link between the European 
 and the native population ; but they are more closely connected 
 with the natives than with the Europeans, with whom they have 
 only communion of religious profession, whilst they are as thievish 
 as the Arabs, as lazy as the Moors, and as dirty as the Kabyles. 
 In their religion they are as bigoted Romanists as the natives are 
 fanatical Mohammedans. Colonization has not much profited by 
 them; not one in a hundred is an agriculturist — in fact, they are 
 little fitted for tilling the ground. At the time of haymaking 
 wages are high, for the great plain of Seybuss is covered with grass, 
 and, on account of the scarcity of hands, not the twentieth part of 
 it is mowed. The French administration buys hay for its horses, 
 at high prices ; nevertheless, none but Germans and French- 
 men get employment in mowing ; the Maltese are too lazy and 
 too awkward for this labour. 1 am well aware that travellers 
 who have visited Malta give a different account of the islanders, 
 and describe them as industrious, honest, and active. If this is 
 really the case, then Malta must bless the emigration which rids 
 her of the worst portion of her population, for 1 have never 
 
THE EASTERN COAST OF ALGERIA. 77 
 
 seen a more worthless rabble than the Maltese in the Barbary 
 States. 
 
 Between the natives and the Europeans there exists much more 
 friendly relation in Bona than at Algiers. All the inhabitants 
 of the province of Constantine, except the Kabyles, are more 
 peaceable, and less savage and fanatical, than those of the pro- 
 vinces of Algiers and Oran. The nearer to Morocco, the more 
 savage and cruel, but likewise the more gallant and energetic is 
 the population ; the nearer we approach Tunis, the more the cha- 
 racter of the people is distinguished by mildness and humane 
 feeling. In this respect they strongly resemble the Turks. 
 
 The landscape around Bona is far from equalling that around 
 Algiers. We do not find either the orange groves, or the white 
 and neat Moorish villas, which transform the hill of Mustapha- 
 Pasha, and the mountain of Bujarea, into a paradise on earth. 
 The high mountains, west of Bona, are too near, and obstruct 
 the view, whilst eastwards the mountain- range is too remote, and 
 we see therefore only the green monotonous plain, covered with 
 flowers, but devoid of trees; and soon we discover, likewise, the 
 greatest drawback of the settlement — the swamps and marshes, 
 which occupy a great portion of the plain. The numerous springs 
 and rivulets, streaming down from the mountains, do not find 
 their way to the sea, though there is no natural dyke between 
 the shore and the plain, as in the Sahel at Algiers ; yet the 
 great plain of Seybuss slopes visibly from north to south. All 
 the waters, therefore, which do not fall into the Seybuss and 
 into the Bujimah, form large morasses, and make Bona one of 
 the most feverish spots of North Africa. Two -thirds of the in- 
 habitants suffer in summer from Intermittent fever, and the gar- 
 rison often require to be transferred to more healthy places. 
 
 There are no bare heights around Bona: all the hills, up to 
 the top, are covered with rich soil of great depth ; the vegetation 
 is accordingly luxuriant : the heights are studded with large trees ; 
 the cork-tree thriving at 3500 feet above the level of the sea. 
 On the higher mountains, the rock breaks through the soil at 
 
78 THE EASTERN COAST OF ALGERIA. 
 
 their very foot; the upper stratum is tertiary coarse-grained lime- 
 stone: higher up we find gneiss and slate: the peaks of the moun- 
 tain-range towards the westerly Cape Ras-el-Hamrah, are com- 
 posed of transition calcareous rock, and often handsome marble. 
 The Ras-el-Hamrah is a mass of reddish marble, and sometimes 
 entirely white; such as is used by sculptors, and similar to that of 
 Carrara. It seems that the ancient inhabitants of Hippo-Regius 
 worked those quarries with great industry ; there are yet many 
 unfinished columns lying, and sufficient traces to prove that the 
 prosperous condition of the colony, which required much marble 
 for building, has diminished the size of the rocks. Numidia was 
 renowned for its marble, and Pliny mentions that the country 
 abounded in wild beasts, and was well stored with marble. The 
 most celebrated Numidian quarries were situated midway between 
 Carthage and Clrta (Constantine), and the yellow, purple- spotted 
 marble of Numidia was considered to be one of the most precious 
 ornaments of Roman buildings. 
 
 Close to Bona, the neck of the hills and the foot of the moun- 
 tains are well wooded. The agave, the cactus, the date-palm, 
 the dwarf-palm, and the orange, are less abundant than in Al- 
 giers; but the carob-tree, the olive, the fig-tree, and the vine, 
 thrive here sufficiently, and all the vegetables of Europe j^ield an 
 excellent crop. For sport. Bona is preferable to Algiers. The 
 lion, which has deserted the neighbourhood of Algiers, is here not 
 rare, and the sportsman has still opportunity to try his courage 
 against the king of beasts.. Colonel (now General) Yussuf often 
 arranged great lion-hunts with hundreds of horsemen, in which 
 several of these royal beasts were usually killed. Panthers are 
 likewise sometimes seen here: the hyaenas are so frequent, and 
 so little dreaded, that the French soldiers, who like to have a 
 *' menagerie" in their camps for amusement, keep them like 
 domesticated animals amongst their young boars, ichneumons, 
 and vultures. Great birds of prey are likewise frequent at Bona: 
 the Egyipti&n \\i\tw^{CatItartes per enopterus) takes his walks on 
 
 
 the banks of the Btgimah, where the cattle are slaughtered, and 
 
THE EASTERN COAST OF ALGERIA. 79 
 
 is seen amongst the herds of swine, feeding; he often perches on 
 the backs of the pigs. But when a European approaches, the 
 vultures fly away ; and this bird is peculiarly shy of those who 
 do not wear the Arab dress. As soon as he perceives such, he 
 stops, raises his yellow, bald neck, and spies whether the stranger 
 is a sportsman ; but he does not care for Bedouins, and allows them 
 to approach, for the Arabs do not kill their scavenger. Venomous 
 reptiles are not to be found near Bona: the vipers are found in 
 the west and to the south of the Regency; but lizards are very 
 common. I often remarked here a splendid species — rosy, and 
 with a green belly; but I never could catch it, on account of its 
 unexampled agility. I found several interesting specimens of 
 shells, and some new coleoptera. 
 
 The ruins of the celebrated ancient city. Hippo, the residence 
 of the Numidian kings, and the seat of St. Augustine's bishopric, 
 are yet easily to be traced, about a mile from Bona, situated 
 partly in the plain, partly upon two hills between the rivers 
 Bujimah and Seybuss. From the fertility of the country. Hippo 
 had, at the commencement of our era, become the centre of com- 
 merce and civilization, and many public buildings crowned the 
 two hills: theatres, palaces, and temples, and afterwards churches, 
 convents, and schools, which were as renowned as those of Italy. 
 But a natural obstacle prevented the increase of the city; it 
 had no springs on the hill, and the water of the Seybuss (the 
 Ubus of the Romans) is brackish. Roman enterprise, however, 
 soon overcame this difficulty. A mighty aqueduct was carried on 
 arches from the foot of the mountain Pappua over two valleys and 
 a river; two hills were tunnelled, and the clear water brought to 
 the city. Hippo was defended by a high and thick wall, with 
 round towers, bound eastward by the Ubus, the banks of which 
 were lined by marble quaj'^s. 
 
 A palace adorned the loftier of the two hills. It was the resi- 
 dence of the Numidian kings whenever they visited this delightful 
 spot, their usual residence being Cirta. But Uiey came often to 
 Hippo, which therefore was called " Regius," tte royal. A great 
 
80 THE EASTERN COAST OF ALGERIA. 
 
 building of square form, east of the palace, attracts the eye, which 
 had been completed just before the capture of Hippo : the Bishop 
 Aurelius Augustinus built it. It was a tank, resting upon seven 
 rows of wide arches — a reservoir for the rain-water. The period 
 of security had passed, and the bishop, foreseeing a time when the 
 aqueduct might be stopped by the enemy, wished to provide for 
 the population in case of siege. This token of his munificence 
 now surpasses the splendour of the palace. The little town of 
 Aphrodisium, the present Bona, was the harbour of Hippo, where 
 the ships got water from a broad well. The sanctuary of Venus, 
 on the steep shore, gave the name to the city. The principal ruins 
 of Hippo consist of fourteen cisterns, about ten arches of the 
 aqueduct, and the remains of a semicircular theatre, opposite the 
 Seybuss. A few tombs have likewise been discovered on the 
 plain, with Roman coins, pottery, and fragments of arms. Some 
 portions of ancient masonry designate the spot where, according 
 to tradition, the cathedral of St. Augustine stood. A French 
 innkeeper erected a public house here, and profane dances and 
 music desecrated the place where St. Augustine's eloquence was 
 heard ; but the desecration has been revenged : the publican 
 failed, and his gin-palace was closed. 
 
 The first Bishop of Algiers, Dupuch — a man highly venerated 
 by believing and unbelieving Christians, and even by Mohamme- 
 dans, on account of his charity and devoutness — visited Hippo 
 in 1839, and read the mass in open air upon the ruins of Hippo. 
 The Litany was sung once more, after an interval of 1400 years; 
 and the bishop was so deeply moved, that he burst into tears. The 
 worthy prelate had soon after to leave his diocese; he spent much 
 more than his income on acts of charity, and the government was 
 too stingy to pay his debts, though his influence had done much 
 to conciliate the natives. He lived in a monastery at Paris, for- 
 gotten by his countrymen. But when Abd-el-Kader was released 
 from his prison at Amboise, and visited Paris, the Mohammedan 
 Emir remembered the benevolent priest, and sent for him in order 
 to express his gratitude for all the good he had done to the Arabs. 
 
TEE EASTERN COAST OF ALGERIA. 81 
 
 Three rivers run through the large plain of Bona, equal in ex- 
 tent to the Metija, namely, the Bujima, the Seybuss, and the Ma- 
 fragg. The Seybuss is navigable, but only to a small distance, 
 as a sand-bar closes its mouth; the water is here, in summer, 
 only five feet deep, but during the rainy season it rises to 
 ten feet. As the bar alters its height according to the winds, 
 the surf, and the rise of the river, it often happens that ships 
 which have entered the Seybuss are suddenly caught, and cannot 
 get out for several weeks. A great storm cleared this bar away 
 in February 1835, and for a certain time ships could sail up the 
 river to some distance, but the sand has since accumulated, and 
 the entrance in the Seybuss is again barred. This river never 
 can become of any great commercial importance, especially as its 
 depth rapidly decreases above Bona. But the plain, which might 
 more easily be drained than the Metija, is one of the most invit- 
 ing spots for colonists in the Regency. Ten thousand families 
 could easily find sufiicient fields for subsistence. The Bey of 
 Constantine kept here his cattle — some hundred thousand head of 
 cows and sheep — under the care of the Beui- Yacob, who formed a 
 regular corps of shepherds. After the capture of Bona, herds 
 and herdsmen had to withdraw to the interior ; and Ahmet never 
 could suppress his regret for the loss of that grazing-ground. 
 When General Damremont had sent Busnac, a Jew, to Con- 
 stantine to negotiate, previous to the second expedition against 
 that city, the first question of the Bey was, " What has been done 
 with the plain of Ann^ba? " (Bona.) When Busnac told him that 
 only three tribes had remained on the plain, and that its greatest 
 portion was uncultivated — visited by the French only for boar- 
 hunting ; the Bey, quite astonished, stroked his beard, and said, 
 " Why do the French covet my rocks and wildernesses, when 
 they are unable to make use of the best part of my Beylik?" 
 
 La Calle, the old commercial settlement of the French, is 
 situated on the coast, twenty- seven leagues east of Bona. It is 
 now but a village, inhabited by about 500 coral-fishers, as 
 several swamps which nearly reach the village make the climate 
 
 F 
 
82 THE EASTERN COAST OF ALGERIA. 
 
 very unhealthy. Even in 1520 the French had planted a 
 settlement on the coast of Barbary, a few miles east of La Calle, 
 and called it " Bastion de France." But the miasmas from the 
 swamps compelled the colonists to give up the plantation, and to 
 transfer it to La Calle, though the change was not for the better; 
 as, besides the fevers, they had here likewise to encounter the 
 hostilities of the natives. Yet love of lucre imparted such endur- 
 ance to the Company, that ever since that time the colony has 
 continued to maintain itself, in spite of the hostilities and occasional 
 depredations of the natives. The " Compagnie d' Afrique," for a 
 yearly rent of £8000, had the monopoly of the export trade from 
 the province of Constantine, and traded in wool, corn, hides, oil, 
 wax, and silk. The principal gain was derived from the coral- 
 fishery, which is inexhaustible from Cape Rose to the isle of 
 Tabarka. The Company was several times expelled, but always 
 succeeded in reconciling the Deys, and renewing its operations ; 
 until, in June 1827, it was entirely driven away, and the village 
 burnt down by the Arabs. 
 
 The present inhabitants of La Calle, mostly Neapolitans and 
 Sardinians, have no other occupation than coral-fishery. The 
 crew of a coral-boat is composed of a captain, who has all the re- 
 sponsibility, and has ten coral-fishers under him. The coral- 
 fishers belong to the lowest classes of society, the work being 
 most painful ; and many felons who have escaped from prison are 
 found amongst them, resorting to that precarious mode of living 
 when they find no other possible occupation. The captain always 
 appoints one of the fishers as his mate, who acts as second in 
 command. 
 
 The ground of the sea, near La Calle, is full of rocks of dif- 
 ferent height, and the corals adhere to those rocks; they are 
 better in size and colour on the southern slope of the rocks 
 towards the coast, than on the top, or at the sea- side. The 
 fishers throw strong hempen nets into the sea, which are kept 
 extended by wooden crosses, of about four feet length, loaded by 
 weights. These nets entangle themselves in the corals, and as 
 
THE EASTERN COAST OP ALGERIA. 83 
 
 soon as the fishers feel the nets sticking, they row with all their 
 might to the north, until the coral is broken off from the rock; 
 often, however, they catch only a stone, or some pieces of madre- 
 pores and zoophytes. On the whole, it is a piece of good luck to 
 catch fine corals. The common coral-fisher gets, besides his board, 
 twenty to twenty-five shillings a-month ; the captain, double the 
 amount, and a bottle of wine per day. Every foreign boat has to 
 pay £64 a-year to the French Government for the license of coral- 
 fishing ; the boat of ten persons, and the captain, about the same 
 sum; the total expense for a boat is therefore about £300; the 
 repair of the nets is not included, which is sometimes very heavy. 
 The yield of the summer is, on an average, 160 cwt. ; in winter, 
 60 cwt. per boat; therefore about 220 cwt., whilst the average 
 price of corals is £3 per pound. The capitalists have, of course, 
 no control over the finds, but rely on the honesty of the captain ; 
 if, however, for two successive years, he catches less corals than 
 the other captains, he is dismissed. The number of coral-boats 
 in La Calle, is often changing. In the time of the old Company, 
 they amounted to 700 or 800, but now there are scarcely more than 
 300. Formerly one-third of the boats were French, now from 
 ten to fifteen are Corsican, and the remainder are sent from 
 Naples, Genoa, and Leghorn. Though corals are no longer 
 fashionable in France, many are sent to China, where they fetch 
 good prices, and it is difficult to understand why the French, who 
 obtain the licenses gratis, have given up this branch of indus- 
 try. . The centre of the coral commerce is Leghorn ; good speci- 
 mens, of fine colour and large size, are well paid, sometimes 
 fetching £30 and more. In recent times the coral-fishery has 
 again greatly increased, and if the climate were not so bad at La 
 Calle, this place might become very important, as valuable 
 forests, available for timber, cover the immediate neighbourhood. 
 I requested Commander Lacombe to make an excursion with 
 me from the camp of Drean to Lake Fezzara. Lacombe was 
 at that time (Aug. 1837) an experienced officer advanced in 
 years, who had gone through a stormy career, having often 
 
84 THE EASTERN COAST OF ALGERIA. 
 
 meddled in party politics, and been rather ill-used by the Govern- 
 ment. He liked scientific disputes; and his chief study was geo- 
 logy, regarding which he advanced some rather unscientific hypo- 
 theses. He complied with my request. A company of nineteen 
 persons, led by curiosity or love of sport, was soon formed. "We 
 set out at midnight, and after a sharp ride of four hours, arrived 
 at the lake of Karfalla, the lieutenant of the Spahis, an Arab by 
 birth, acting as our guide and interpreter. 
 
 It is in vain to expect in Africa such lovely sheets of water as 
 are found in the lakes of Switzerland, or of Lombardy. I saw 
 in Barbary, besides Lake Fezzara, the morasses of La Calle, the 
 Lake Alula, and the briny lakes of the province of Oran. They 
 are all of the same character. In winter, when the waters of 
 the mountains pour into the plain, and overflow the country, those 
 lakes are such as we imagined them to be. But in summer 
 they are mere swamps, covered with innumerable green, unsteady 
 islands, formed by cane and water-plants. Lake Fezzara is the 
 largest sheet of fresh water in Barbary, yet it is scarcely above 
 twenty-five miles in circumference. We could hardly reach the 
 water; sharp reeds obstructed our way, and, as we advanced, an 
 immense crowd of wading-birds rose, yelling and whistling and 
 screaming. We received them with a volley from our muskets, 
 and continued the sport for about two hours without interruption; 
 such being the multitude of birds, that even the less trained 
 hands seldom failed to kill one of the wild-ducks, herons, and 
 other water-fowls. But it was more difficult to recover the game 
 which dropped into the canes ; nearly half of them were lost to 
 us. Soon after, we fell in with an encampment of Arabs, who 
 had been so frightened by the report of our rifles, that they had 
 already packed their mules to retire into the mountains, when they 
 were quieted by Karfalla telling them that it was only sport, and not 
 a hostile attack. The Arabs said that the swamp continued yet for 
 three hours' journey in the same direction, before the deep and clear 
 water of the lake could be reached. As the reeds and cane made 
 our progress nearly impracticable, we resolved to turn to the north- 
 
THE EASTERN COAST OF ALGERIA. 85 
 
 west bank of the lake, where, according to the report of the 
 Bedouins, a spring and a fine shady fig-tree were to be found — 
 excellent inducements, as an African noon without shelter in the 
 hot season often entails an attack of fever. 
 
 The Arabs of Lake Fezzara have a bad fame ; but our well- 
 mounted and well-armed company seemed to overawe them. They 
 received us kindly, offered us milk, and sold us some other trifles 
 at reasonable prices. Men and women were very dirty and ragged. 
 The females and children gazed with astonished eyes at the 
 fearful " Rummis," of whom they had heard from their Marabut. 
 They had evidently not yet met with Europeans, for the children 
 who ran after us did not beg for copper coin, as all those do who 
 have once come into contact with the French. The whelps^ as 
 the French called them, did not look very savage, but seemed 
 inclined to become acquainted with us. 
 
 After a ride of three hours, we found the fig-tree and the spring. 
 The water rushed from a limestone cliff into a natural reservoir, 
 overshadowed by the broad leaves of a gigantic fig-tree, which 
 protected the spring from the rays of the sun. The water was so 
 fresh and cool, that, in spite of the many amphibious creatures 
 living in it, we found it a most excellent refreshment. The 
 shadow of the tree offered sufficient shelter for nineteen persons ; 
 but scarcely half of our party enjoyed rest on this lucky spot, 
 forming an oasis in the scorched plain. The younger officers 
 continued shooting, and a few were engaged with cooking. Several 
 of our comrades had lived for many days on snails and unripe 
 corn, when pursuing some Arab tribe; but hither they had 
 brought all the delicacies of a Parisian kitchen, which they now 
 prepared most artistically. Some Bedouins arrived at the spring 
 whilst we were dining ; they came to fill their sheep-skins with 
 the crystal water. We offered them in vain our purple claret ; 
 even the example of Karfalla, who was drinking with his two 
 nephews, could not induce them to taste the forbidden wine : they 
 drank their water, and rode away singing, and no less merry than 
 we wine-drinkers were. 
 
86 THE PROVINCE OF CONST AN TINE. 
 
 After dinner I ascended one of the rocks on the eastern bank 
 with Commander Lacombe, and we saw the whole surface of the 
 lake, extending as far as a considerable mountain-range. The 
 green reed-islands of the eastern and northern bank disappear 
 towards the south, where the water looks really like a lake; yet the 
 scenery is not picturesque, but monotonous : the waters are black 
 and heavy, scarcely moved by the strongest breeze. They are not 
 brackish, but yet of a disagreeable taste. The principal feature 
 of the lake is the immense number of morass-birds. I saw here 
 the sickle- billed ibis, the silver-heron, the Numidian crane, the 
 purple-heron, the wild- swan, and the flamingo — king of the 
 waders — with its scarlet wings and white plumes. They are 
 gregarious, stand commonly with their long feet in shallow 
 water, and carry their long neck as majestically as the swan. 
 Since shooting is the only amusement of the colonist, and is not 
 restricted by any game-laws. Lake Fezzara is likely to be- 
 come the favourite resort of the sons of Nimrod in the colony. 
 The neighbourhood of Algiers has already been entirely cleared 
 of the boars which formerly came up to the doors, and the lion 
 has retired into the fastnesses of the Atlas, or to the desert be- 
 tween the Tell and the Oases. But the waders of Lake Fezzara 
 can scarcely ever be diminished ; for, when too much alarmed, 
 they take their flight to the southern end of the lake, where the 
 sportsman cannot follow them into the deep water. 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 THE PROVINCE OF CONSTANTINB. 
 
 General Damremont, starting for the expedition to Constantine, 
 had appointed me a Member of the Scientific Commission which 
 was to accompany the army. This Commission had to examine the 
 antiquities, to measure the heights, to collect botanical and zoolo- 
 gical curiosities, and to report on everything important and worth 
 
THE PROVINCE OF CONSTANTINE. 87 
 
 notice in a Memoir to be published after the campaign. The idea 
 Avas very laudable, the more so, as the General did not care much 
 about science : he looked upon the splendid wild flora of the 
 country as so many weeds, and the monuments of Rome were 
 simple stones for him. Yet, such is the power of the example set 
 in Egypt by the great Napoleon to all French generals, that even 
 Damremont mentioned it in his Report to the Minister of War, 
 that, amidst the preparations for the expedition, and in spite of all 
 kinds of difficulties, he had not forgotten the interests of science. 
 We were all treated as officers. I received three rations for 
 men and horses, like a chief of battalion, and in this respect we 
 had no reason to complain. But so much more had we to 
 lament the neglect of all means required for scientific undertak- 
 ing : we were not even furnished with mules for transporting the 
 most necessary instruments and collections ; there was no unity 
 of action amongst the Members of the Commission, and every one 
 did what he pleased in an isolated way. One rode with the van- 
 guard, another with the army or with the baggage- train : we 
 did not meet, and did not even know what each of us was 
 to do or to observe. I attached myself, therefore, to Captain 
 Muratt, a young Swiss officer in the Neapolitan service, who ac- 
 companied the army as an amateur, and I was lucky enough to 
 find my companion a well-informed, experienced gentleman, who 
 was enthusiastic for everything rising above every- day life. 
 
 The great plain of Bona becomes narrower toward the south, 
 above the camp of Drean, and appears as a small valley leading 
 through the mountains. Following it we found, on a spot where 
 the rivulet Mya-Berda winds through a ravine, thirteen Arab 
 tomb- stones, erected, according to tradition, in memory of thirteen 
 Arabs who were killed here by lions. Up to the occupation of 
 the country by the French, the mountains of this neighbourhood 
 had been often visited by lions ; but the frequent lion-chases of the 
 officers, and the good prices which lion-skins fetched in the market 
 of Bona, encouraging the natives in hunting, the kingly beast has 
 been driven to the more southern lonely plateaus of the Atlas. 
 
88 THE PROVINCE OF CONSTANTINE. 
 
 We reached the camp of Neshmeya after a seven hours' march 
 from the camp of Drean. In military estimate, it is a wretched 
 position, as it is overlooked from several hills in the neighbour- 
 hood ; but the French relied upon the laziness and short-sighted- 
 ness of the Arabs, who would not take advantage of the ground. 
 Yet, after the success of the expedition, this camp was given 
 up, and the neat village, constructed from twigs, close to the 
 camp also disappeared, without leaving a trace of its ephe- 
 meral existence. The next French camp on the way to Constan- 
 tine was Hammam-Berda : the road continues through moun- 
 tains, but the character of the Atlas is here less rugged and 
 rough than on the coast. The mountain-peaks seldom tower more 
 than 1000 feet above the plateau, and the mountain -ranges are 
 covered with black earth and sunny green meadows. The name 
 of the camp has been derived from the hot springs in the neigh- 
 bourhood, for the Arabs call all the thermal springs Hammam 
 (baths), and add the name of the next tribe to designate the loca- 
 lity. At Hammam-Berda we found many ruins, which clearly 
 prove that the Romans had used these springs extensively for 
 medical purposes. A massive reservoir is still in good preserva- 
 tion. The hot spring rushes in a horizontal direction from the 
 cliff through an artificial mouth: and it would seem that the water 
 was first carried thither by the Romans. The reservoir which re- 
 ceives the spring is of oval form, twenty -two feet long, and ten 
 wide ; hence the water used to rush to a larger basin on a lower 
 level : but this is now destroyed, and is covered with weed and 
 bushes. It had an oval form, and was 100 feet by 70. The 
 remains are built of cut square stones of considerable size. The 
 thermometer showed for the water a temperature of 29° Reaumur 
 {93j of Fahrenheit). A few sepulchral inscriptions were found 
 at this place, which the Romans called Aquae Tibilitanae. 
 
 The camp of Hammam-Berda was the most comfortable of all 
 the camps of the province of Constantine, from its quiet, its fine 
 scenery, and its baths, which the French officers used every day. 
 The neighbourhood of the springs is covered by a bush vegetation. 
 
THE PROVINCE OF CONSTANTINE. 89 
 
 greener, and more luxuriant and blooming than any I had seen 
 elsewhere in North Africa. Egyptian willows, wild vines, and, 
 in particular, oleander shrubs, which attain here the height of 
 eighteen feet, and are studded with red blossoms, form a shining 
 garland all along the thermal water and the cool rivulet which 
 winds its way through the narrow valley. 
 
 Half an hour's ride from Hammam-Berda, carried us to the 
 large valley of the Seybuss, an extensive country of remarkable 
 fertility, which must have been densely peopled in ancient times. 
 The whole valley is covered with ruins of Roman towns, forts, 
 and isolated buildings. The Seybuss is here very shallow, the 
 bed of the river being filled with stones, whilst the banks are 
 low; they are well wooded with wild cypresses and tamarisks. 
 The centre of the valley is occupied by the camp of Ghelma, on 
 the slope of the mountain range of Mauna. It is built out of the 
 ruins of ancient Calama, which cover an extent of three miles in 
 circumference. This large Roman city was destroyed by an earth- 
 quake. The French camp is of solid structure, the building 
 materials being at hand. It was founded during the disastrous re- 
 treat of Marshal Clauzel, first as a kind of hospital, and as a safe 
 retreat for all the invalids and stragglers, who, overcome by 
 fatigue, were unable to follow the army; they found here an asylum 
 and resting-place. It is the same spot, where, nearly two thousand 
 years back, the legions of Aulus Postumius Albinus were cut to 
 pieces by Jugurtha. Marshal Clauzel left Colonel Duvivier with 
 one battalion among the ruins, and this talented energetic officer 
 willingly undertook the task, to erect here in the wilderness a 
 place of arras, impregnable to Arabs, with a handful of soldiers, 
 weakened and dispirited by sickness and reverses, without re- 
 sources, without tents for shelter against the rain, or any 
 sufficient supply of food. An elongated quadrangular wall was 
 still standing amidst the ruins, evidently heaped up from the scat- 
 tered remains of the destroyed city, by some new invader, the 
 Numidian or the Arab, as a means of defence. Colonel Duvi- 
 vier quartered his troops inside this wall; he had it repaired 
 
90 THE PROVINCE OF CONSTANTINE. 
 
 and raised to double the height; and constructed rough barracks 
 from the ruins. The hungry troops were soon provided with 
 victuals from Bona; in a few weeks, a regular communication was 
 established between the two places, and every fortnight a convoy 
 was sent with provisions to the garrison. Soon after, many spe- 
 culators, French and Maltese, settled here, and constructed coffee- 
 houses, shops, and taverns. Broken columns and pillars of por- 
 phyry supported smoky public-houses, enframed by temple-ruins. 
 There we saw the sign-board of the wine- shop — " Ici on donne 
 h boire et h. manger," close to a mutilated T^atin inscription, fitted 
 into the wall, which was the sepulchral record of a Roman pro- 
 consul. Such a desecration of the relics of the great conquerors, 
 is revolting in a nation which talks so much about civilization 
 and respect for science. But we find in the French people, 
 and especially in the French armies and its camp-followers, a 
 wanton destructiveness, which can hardly be controlled by the 
 orders of enlightened generals, or by the endeavours of educated 
 officers. In Algiers, fine orange-trees were felled for fire- wood in 
 1830. In Tlemsan, the beams of elegant Moorish houses were 
 cut out for similar purposes, and this proceeding subsequently led 
 to the ruin of entire streets. The gardens of the Dey, the palace 
 of Abd-el-Kader in Mascara, and the Moorish villas on Mount 
 Bujarea, were recklessly sacked. So too the ruins of Calama, 
 which had been respected by Arab indolence, were wantonly de- 
 stroyed by French soldiers and settlers. Columns were thrown 
 down, because they stood in the way of a wine-cellar, and funeral 
 inscriptions were broken to pave a tavern. Pages of history 
 which told us what Calama had been, and who had ruled and lived 
 here, the eloquent monuments of a great past, were reduced by a 
 few strokes of the hammer, into dumb stones. It was not fana- 
 ticism, like that of the early Arabs, which prompted the French 
 to such Vandalism ; it was the most petty and miserable love of 
 lucre, the old monuments being more handy for building mate- 
 rial than the stones. I often met with soldiers occupied in 
 breaking inscriptions, or hammering away bas-reliefs, in order to 
 
THE PROVINCE OF CONST ANTINE. 91 
 
 fit the 'stone easier into a well, and it was in vain to repeat our 
 complaints to Colonel Duvivier, when we partook of his coffee in 
 the barracks. He complained of the destructiveness of his sol- 
 diers, who did not comply with his orders ; but he declared that 
 there was no remed3^ He said, " an old stone does not require so 
 much time for fitting, as a new one to be brought from the quarry; 
 and whoever is acquainted with the endless toils of the African 
 soldier, will, after all, find it natural, if he has no antiquarian 
 scruples against saving labour to deter him from destroying 
 ancient inscriptions." Duvivier's remarks were quite natural, 
 and he had probably the same feelings as his soldiers. It was 
 no enthusiasm for a new French- African empire, but ambition 
 which prompted him to exert his energies to the utmost, and 
 this ambition was not that of extending civilization into the 
 countries of Barbary, but the desire of becoming general, with 
 the marshal's baton in prospect. When he founded the camp of 
 Ghelma, he did not care for the interest of antiquarians or of scien- 
 tific societies ; but his sole aim was to raise without delay a place of 
 arms which might keep Ahmet Bey in check. Provided that the 
 soldiers rajsed the necessary fortifications and barracks in the 
 shortest time, they might have destroyed all the seven wonders of 
 antiquity. 
 
 But we must confess that this camp was most picturesque. 
 The houses, hospitals, stables, shops, and inns, built of the most 
 different stones, of polished porphyry, marble, basalt, and frag- 
 ments of temple-columns, interspersed with antique Roman and 
 modern French inscriptions, had something uncommon, surrounded 
 as they were by ancient ruins and African vegetation. The most 
 important ruin we saw, was an amphitheatre, which, like all the 
 antique buildings of that kind, afforded a splendid view over the 
 finest part of the surrounding country. The ancients knew how 
 to take advantage of fine scenery. 
 
 A new high-road of very steep descent leads in five hours from 
 Ghelma to Mejez-Ammar. Mejez-Ammar is the name of a 
 circular valley, surrounded by mountains and divided by the 
 
9^ THE PROVINCE OF CONSTANTINE. 
 
 Seybuss, which is here fordable. At the time of my visit, the 
 valley was full of life and movement ; 10,000 men were assembled 
 here, green- houses and saloons built of frail mastich twigs forming 
 large streets. But when the trumpet and drum called us to Con- 
 stantino, that improvised city vanished without leaving a trace, 
 like the palaces of the Arabian nights. It was destroyed, lest it 
 might become a robber-den for the Bedouins. 
 
 On the 28th September the Duke of Nemours made a visit to 
 the thermal springs of Hammam-Meskhutin. Colonel Duvivier 
 was the first Frenchman who, attracted by the singular accounts 
 of the Arabs, had made an excursion from Ghelma to those 
 smoking rocks and boiling waters, and he was so much struck by 
 the wild scenery that he made a most enthusiastic report to Mar- 
 shal Clauzel. We were all curious for the sight which was able 
 to warm up even such a cold soldier as the Colonel. 
 
 The way to Hammam-Meskhutin, (the baths of the accursed), 
 over deep ravines and dense thickets, is very difficult. The 
 roaring of the boiling cascade, and the steam rising in clouds 
 from the spring, can be perceived from a considerable distance ; 
 but before arriving in full view of the waters, the eye rests 
 astonished on the numerous sugar-loaf rocks which rise from the 
 even ground like isolated Arab tents. The hue and size of these 
 cones varies from deep grey to the brightest white, and from two 
 feet to twenty, many of tliem are continually steaming. The 
 Arabs account for this phenomenon by the following tale : " In 
 ancient times a rich and mighty Arab chief lived here, who fell 
 in love with his own sister, and wished to marry her. But Kadi 
 and Marabuts refused to sanction such a union, which is forbidden 
 by the Koran, and accursed by God. Still, bribed by the riches and 
 overawed by the threats of the chief, they at last consented to draw 
 up the marriage agreement, and to go to the house of the betrothed 
 in order to partake of the feast. The crowd wished likewise to 
 be present at the festive occasion, and assembled with pipes and 
 drums. Kuskusu was boiled in immense caldrons, to be distri- 
 buted not only to the guests, but likewise to all the passers-by. 
 
THE PROVINCE OF CONSTANTINE. 93 
 
 Music delighted the ears, and dance the eyes of the guests, when 
 God, in just wrath against the godless banquet, hurled his curse 
 on the betrothed, the Kadi, the Marabut, and the assembled crowd. 
 The musicians and dancing girls were all transformed into stones, 
 and these are the conical rocks which cover the spring of Ham- 
 mara-Meskhutin. The highest cone is the Marabut, who had rati- 
 fied the incest. The crowd fled from the scene of desolation, but 
 the curse reached them on their way ; they were turned into rocks ; 
 and you see them in the indented cliffs which tower above the bed 
 of the Wad-el- Meskhutin. The boiling caldrons where the meal 
 was prepared, were accursed to boil for ever, and it is from them 
 that the steam issues which we see here ; the sulphureous smell 
 announces from afar that this is an accursed spot, and that 
 the wrath of God is to reach all those who drink from those 
 waters — called therefore Hammam-Meskhutin, the bath of the 
 accursed." 
 
 For us the natural causes of those rock-cones were less romantic, 
 though more instructive. The boiling water, which in different 
 parts of the valley spouts from the soil, contains a consider- 
 able quantity of carbonate of lime, which is deposited on the 
 ground when the water evaporates. In this way a calcareous 
 stratum of whitish-rosy hue, is formed around the mouth of the 
 spring. By-and-by the water-spout deposits new strata, raising 
 the mouth, and increasing the diameter of the lower portion by 
 dripping down. In this way those cones increase in size, until 
 at last the spout obstructs the outlet on the top of the pyramid, 
 and the water is forced to seek a new outlet. Commander 
 Levaillant, who, on his sporting excursions, had often visited the 
 valley, was once present at such a new eruption of water. It 
 had at that moment 80° Reaumur, (212° of Fahrenheit). In 
 other places I found the heat 70°. All over the valley we see 
 rocks of a quite recent formation; those next to the spring 
 being white as snow, soft, and consisting of pure carbonate of 
 lime. Farther back we see cones reddish-white, emitting a light 
 steam j the spring having evidently not long ago closed its outlet. 
 
94 THE PROVINCE OF CONSTANTINE. 
 
 Others again, which are grey and hard, have heen formed in past 
 ages. 
 
 On the plateau of the right bank of the Seybuss, between Mejez- 
 Hammar and Hammam-Meskhutin, we met with a system of 
 rocks, so entirely similar to the cones of the accursed springs, 
 as to leave no doubt that they have been produced in the same 
 way; but no trace of a thermal spring is now found in their 
 vicinity. And even between Mejez-Hammar and Gelma we again 
 see a similar formation. It seems that the springs have receded 
 in the course of thousands and thousands of years to their present 
 position. 
 
 Hammam-Meskhutin is a most interesting spot in a geolo- 
 gical point of view; but in order to study it thoroughly, more 
 time is required than we were able to afford. We could not make 
 observations, for we saw the valley only as tourists and dilet- 
 tanti. We had often requested General Damremont to grant 
 us an escort of fifty horsemen, to protect us against the hordes 
 of . Ahmet-Bey ; but the General never found that he could 
 spare fifty horsemen for the Scientific Commission. When, 
 however, the Duke of Nemours expressed his desire to see 
 the scenery of the place, three regiments were spared to accom- 
 pany him thither, and we were indebted to the curiosity of the 
 Prince for affording us an opportunity of at least seeing this 
 memorable spot. 
 
 Considerable ruins of an old Roman bath in good preservation 
 embellish this strange locality by their picturesque forms. The 
 Roman aqueduct set out from a conical lime rock, which at that 
 time must have contained the principal spring. Now it is en- 
 tirely cold, though it does not stand far from the present principal 
 spring. We could trace distinctly the ruins of a public bath, and 
 several smaller private basins. Another bath was surrounded by 
 fine arches of square stones, and a wall seems to have served for 
 defence. On a sepulchral monument we made out the name of a 
 Pomponius, styled an illustrious man, Vir Clarus. Yet it is 
 strange that none of the ancient authors on Nuraidia mentions this 
 
THE PROVINCE OF CONSTANTINE. 95 
 
 establishment, though, to judge from the extent of its ruins, it 
 must have been important. 
 
 After we had admired for a while the vallej'', with its strange 
 conical rocks, its ruins and steaming gaps, we were led to a 
 grand object, surpassing the beauties of Switzerland and the 
 Tyrol. This is the great water-fall of hot water east of the 
 Sugar-loaf Rocks, falling from milk-white cliffs, which increase 
 daily by the deposit of the cascades. Whilst other water-falls 
 are constantly receding by wearing out the rocks, that of Ham- 
 mam-Meskhutin advances continually. The scene reminded me 
 much of the glaciers of Switzerland, for the lime cliffs of Hammam- 
 Meskhutin have entirely the hue of fresh snow, and only here 
 and there do we see a yellowish- red brimstone efflorescence. The 
 figures formed by the deposits of the spring are most fantastical, 
 changing their size and aspect incessantly. From above this 
 rock and its curious indentations, the boiling stream falls thunder- 
 ing and foaming into the abyss, divided by the uneven mass of 
 the rocks into many smaller cascades, which leap from step to 
 step into the large basin at the foot of the cliff, where they unite 
 in the hot river Wad-el -Meskhutin, running southwards. The 
 banks and the whole neighbourhood of the springs are adorned 
 by a splendid vegetation. We found the scilla maritima in full 
 bloom, its white high flower-stems adorning the valley and the 
 rocks. We met with them among the ruins, and often likewise 
 bathing their tops in the hot water, where, in a few minutes, the 
 lime incrustated the flower. The beautiful iris alata glistened, 
 with her sky-blue butterfly flowers, through the green vegetation. 
 On the foot of the rock I found the rare Lawsonia inermis, 
 the henna of the Arabs, from which they prepare the red 
 for dyeing the nails of their fingers. The geranium numidicum, 
 the passeriana hirsuta, and the Daphne spyridion, also embel- 
 lished the valley of the cliffs and smoking waters, as if the 
 Elysium and the Tartarus of the ancients were here blended 
 together. 
 
 The defile of the Ras-el-Akba is only three hours' distance 
 
96 THE PROVINCE OF CONSTANTINE. 
 
 from the camp of Mejez-Hammar ; but the immense baggage-train, 
 and the cold rain, detained the march from morning till late in 
 the afternoon. In the meantime, Captain Muralt and I ascended 
 the highest peak, which towers 800 feet above the pass. It is a 
 primary lime- formation, full of crevices, cracks, and holes, evincing 
 some great Plutonic catastrophe. The upper part of the moun- 
 tain is a mere steep cliff without vegetation. Under the broken 
 stones, I found a large specimen of the twelve-eyed scorpion, and 
 several other insects — as, for instance, the Acinopus ohesus, and 
 a new species of a small green white- spotted lizard. The view 
 from the top was not satisfactory — nothing being seen but barren 
 mountains and plateaus. The defile is 2448 feet above the level of 
 the sea. We returned in the evening, just when the tents were 
 being pitched. East of our temporary camp were the ruins of 
 a Roman city, the name of which is as yet unknown ; the Arabs 
 call it Aminah. It must have been a place of considerable wealth 
 and extent. We saw several well-preserved buildings, triumphal 
 arches, gates, temples, the remains of a theatre, and many marble 
 slabs adorned with bas-reliefs. But the city must have witnessed 
 several catastrophes, since some of these buildings are erected 
 from the fragments of more ancient fabrics. A Christian church, 
 for instance, contamed remains of broken columns and marble 
 slabs, formerly belonging to different heathen monuments. It is 
 now ruined in its turn ; but the large limestone cross on its top 
 has withstood all the ravages of time and barbarism. I was 
 tempted to carry away some sculptured fragments, but the work- 
 manship was as indifferent as that of the other Roman- African 
 sculptures, which, in fact, have scarcely any artistical importance. 
 Yet these ruins made a deep impression on my mind, even more 
 than those of Egypt and Asia-Minor. There we pass over illus- 
 trious relics; we know their history from the time when they 
 have been built, up to the time when we visit them. But here 
 we see the dumb witnesses of fallen greatness without knowing 
 their former name, or their history, from the time when Genseric 
 had entered them with his northern barbarians. No record has 
 
THE PROVINCE OF CONSTANTINE. 97 
 
 been preserved of their fate ; and oblivion has drawn over them 
 an impenetrable veil. 
 
 The way from E-as-el-Akba to Constantino leads through a 
 barren plateau, devoid of vegetation. For five days we saw but 
 a single grove of trees ; Arab tombs being the only objects which 
 varied the dull monotony of the country. The soldiers had to 
 collect thistles or weeds for their camp fires, and even the few 
 Arab encampments on our way were destroyed by the order of 
 Ahmet, previous to our arrival. 
 
 On the 5th of October, we reached El-Summah, a Roman 
 monument, which remained a riddle to our archaeologists. On 
 the top of a hill, a high square building rises, surrounded by a 
 flight of steps, and supported in front by four columns; but at 
 the foot of this apparent temple there is so great a quantity of square 
 stones heaped up, which must have tumbled down from the monu- 
 ment, that it is difficult to account for the original shape of the top. 
 
 The distance of Constantine from El-Summah is only eight 
 miles. The country becomes here more genial. We saw an 
 elongated narrow valley, through which the Rummel winds its 
 way to the west, and in the back ground we perceived for the 
 first time, after five days' march, trees and human dwellings 
 between the plateau El Man sura in the west, and the mountain 
 of Kudiat- Ati in the east. Olive-trees likewise adorn the banks 
 of the Rummel ; but as the groves were filled with Arab horse- 
 men, none of us had the courage to visit them. 
 
 Constantine is built on the top of a perpendicularly escarped 
 cliff, which is only connected eastward with the mountain Kudiat- 
 Ati by a narrow neck. The city has a slope towards the south- 
 east, and rises more than eight hundred feet above the valley of the 
 Rummel. The site affords sufficient evidence that the security of 
 the country never could have been great. The mighty barren rock 
 fastness, too high for the storming ladder, too strong for the batter- 
 ing-ram, and even for the forty-eight pounder, was formerly consi- 
 dered, and was still viewed, as preferable to a dwelling in the de- 
 lightful valley of the river, amidst its orange and pomegranate trees. 
 
 G 
 
^8 THE PROVINCE OF CONSTANTINE. 
 
 Constantlne is the Cirta of the ancients, in the country of the 
 Massaesylians. The name means in the Shemitic languages, 
 city — the residence of the Numidian kings being appropriately 
 styled in this way. Syphax, the Gaetulian prince, resided here 
 at the time of the second Punic war, in a splendid palace. But 
 as he sided with Carthage, his city was handed over to Massi- 
 nissa, the ally of Rome. For sixty years, Cirta remained the 
 residence of that fortunate prince ; and in the time of Micipsa, his 
 son, it was, according to Strabo, adorned by splendid buildings, 
 and could furnish ten thousand horsemen and twenty thousand foot 
 soldiers. These numbers are evidently exaggerated, for the extent 
 of ancient Cirta, on this isolated rock, could not have been larger 
 than it is at present. The contingents of the valley beneath must, 
 therefore, have been included in these figures. Jugurtha took the 
 city by starvation ; for, as Sallust assures us, " Cirta cannot be 
 conquered by assault." The Romans got possession of it, after 
 a long siege, by blockade ; and the Numidian prince was unable 
 to reconquer his capital. At the time of the first Juba, the 
 splendour of Cirta was yet untarnished; but a strange fatality 
 impelled the rulers of that city always to side with the unsuccessful 
 party. Juba was subdued with the fall of Pompeius ; and Csesar 
 gave the country around Cirta to his partizan Sitius, who placed 
 here Roman soldiers, and transformed the Phojnician name of 
 Cirta into the Roman Colonia Sitianorum. In 311, the usurper 
 Alexander got possession of the city, but Maxentius defeated 
 him, and, for the first time in history, took Cirta by storm. The 
 city was rebuilt by the Emperor Constantino, a name which has 
 been corrupted by the Arabs into Cossamtina. The later history 
 under the Vandals, the Byzantine Emperors, the Arabs, and Turks, 
 is entirely unknown. Up to the time of the French expedition, it 
 was nearly inaccessible to Europeans, and utterly unexplored. 
 
 Constantino is a third smaller in extent than Algiers, and has 
 a population of about twenty -five thousand inhabitants. It has four 
 gates : Bab-el-Kantarah, or the " Bridge-gate," leading over the 
 Roman bridge across the Ruramel to the plateau El-Mansurah ; 
 
THE PROVINCE OF CONSTANTINE. 99 
 
 Bab-el-Rahbah, or the Market-gate, and the two smaller gates, 
 El-Tedid, (New-gate,) and El- Wad, or the Water-gate, leading to 
 the Kudiat-Ati. The streets, though less narrow than those in the 
 upper part of Algiers, are angular and dirty. The city is not im- 
 portant in commercial respects ; the shops and stalls of the Jews 
 and Moors are poor, for the Arabs of the country around Constan- 
 tine do not require many of the luxuries of the cities. Boots and 
 slippers, saddlery, looking-glasses, pipes, and gold embroidery, are 
 all that they require from the merchant. The principal income 
 of the citizens arises from their mules and asses, by which they 
 carry the produce of the interior to Tunis. They are also the 
 carriers for a portion of the African trade; not indeed of the wares 
 of Sudan, since the caravans from Timbuctu, Bornu, and Gha- 
 dames do not take their way through the province of Constantine 
 — but the Oasis- States, Tuggurt, and the country of the Moza- 
 bites, send their dates and hides, by Biskara and Constantine to 
 Tunis. Before the occupation of the city, the French had always 
 believed that Constantine ,was important for commerce, and many 
 Jewish and Christian jobbers had accompanied the army with the 
 intention of buying the booty from the soldiers; but they trans- 
 acted very little business. Scarcely any valuable articles fell 
 into the hands of the plundering parties, except victuals and 
 cash, which last, of course, was kept by them. 
 
 Constantine has ten large mosques, and about doable the 
 number of smaller praying-houses, but scarcely four or five are 
 provided with high minarets. Their only ornaments are mar- 
 ble columns, and artificially entwined Arab inscriptions on the 
 walls. One of them has been transformed into a Christian church, 
 others into barracks and store-houses. The principal building 
 of the city is the palace of the Bey, in the centre of the town, 
 surrounded by gardens, baths, and court-yards. It consists of 
 eight irregular buildings, communicating with one another, but 
 not at all imposing from the outside. Yet when we entered 
 and saw the large columnar hall, we were surprised at the ele- 
 gance, symmetry, and neatness of Moorish architecture, and when 
 
1 00 THE PROVINCE OF CONSTANTINE. 
 
 we inhaled the scent of the orange and pomegranate trees in the 
 garden, and heard the rustling fountains and water-spouts, and 
 the roaring of the lions which were kept in one of the courts, we 
 had a pretty good idea of the old Khalif palaces of Bagdad. The 
 walls of the colonnade in the first large garden-yard, full of 
 orange-trees, are adorned by rough fresco representations of naval 
 engagements, and of the principal Mussulman cities: such as 
 Constantinople, Cairo, Tunis; but we should not have recognized 
 them, had not the inscriptions beneath them told us what they 
 meant to represent. Constantine was likewise depicted, and 
 over the Bey's palace we read the following lines — " This palace 
 dazzles the eyes of the spectator with its beauty. El-Haji- Ahmet- 
 Pasha, is the Sultan who dwells here. May God grant him vic- 
 tory over the people of the infidels ! God has scattered his enemies 
 as the wind scatters the dust. May his glory and power always 
 be increased ! May God grant him the palaces of Paradise, and 
 people them with millions of H6oris. But be it done as pleases God ! 
 Amen." The second yard contains the bath ; the third is adorned 
 by water-spouts and water-basins, enlivened by golden-fishes; the 
 fourth is the lion-yard, and the keeper of the beasts is a Ger- 
 man renegado. The finest specimen of the lions was sent to the 
 Jardin de Plantes at Paris; others were killed, as their food was 
 deemed too expensive. 
 
 The citadel is built on the highest rock in the city, and is sur- 
 rounded by walls, composed of the ruins of old Cirta. Inside we 
 found a well-preserved Christian church in the Byzantine style, 
 which had been turned by the janissaries into barracks. West- 
 wards from the citadel, a steep rock overhangs the valley of the 
 Rummel, just where the river forms a foaming cascade. This 
 was the Tarpeian rock of the ancient Cirta — the place where 
 felons and faithless women were hurled into the abyss in succes- 
 sion by Romans, Vandals, and Mohammedans. We found only a 
 few remains of antiquity in Constantine; for instance, a portion of 
 a triumphal arch, erected in honour of Caius Claudius, a procon- 
 sul, and two others without any inscription. The most important 
 
EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 101 
 
 ancient fabric, is the celebrated bridge, carried across the abyss of 
 El-Hauah, and the river Rummel which runs through it, to the 
 plateau El-Mansurah. It had been rebuilt, having been much 
 defaced in 1793. We made out two antique elephants, with short 
 trunks, sculptured on its piers. The length of the bridge is 310 
 feet, and its height 312 feet; it is therefore one of the highest arched 
 bridges in the world. The remains of an aqueduct in the valley be- 
 tween El-Mansurah and Kudiat- Ati, are likewise a noble ruin ; but 
 only six arches are preserved; we could not find any continuation 
 to them, as the stones had all been carried away for building. 
 
 The great valley of the Rummel, north-west of Constantine, is 
 nearly as fertile, and still more picturesque than Belida. The 
 river disappears here entirely under the rocks, and reappears again 
 beneath the citadel, where it forms a threefold thundering cascade 
 of about 300 feet. I scarcely ever saw a more varied scene. 
 There are gigantic dark rocks, from which the foaming river 
 leaps down, surrounded by mighty groves of trees — high above, 
 the sombre city perched on the cliffs, and beneath, a paradise of 
 flowers and bushes, enlivened by butterflies and humming-bees. 
 Even my friend Muralt, a native of Berne, and a resident in 
 Naples, was surprised by the magnificence of the scenery. 
 
 CHATPER VII. 
 
 EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 
 
 Shershel (Julia Caesarea) is the first important place on the 
 coast westward from Algiers. Like all the other Moorish sea- 
 port towns, it is surrounded by a fertile plain, full of orange and 
 pomegranate groves; and, like other Mohammedan cities it looks 
 very picturesque and splendid from the outside, adorned as it is 
 with massive cupolas and slender mosque towers. It has now 
 no harbour ; the ancient one has been filled up by the fall of the 
 Roman light-house, which an earthquake overthrew. Besides, 
 
102 EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 
 
 as modern ships draw more water than ancient Roman galleys, 
 this sea- port, like others celebrated in antiquity (for instance that 
 of Carthage), is quite unfit for modern commerce, 
 
 AYe soon reached Tenez, a miserable place, once the capital of a 
 small kingdom, but now renowned only for its dirt and filth, which 
 are immortalized by an epigram of the Marabut author, Hammet- 
 Ben-Usaph, known all over Barbary. " Tenez," he says, " is 
 built on a dunghill; its water is blood, its air is poison; Hammet- 
 Ben-Usaph would not dwell there." Among the Moors, there is 
 a tradition, that the inhabitants of Tenez were renowned sor- 
 cerers, and that Pharaoh of Egypt sent for them in order to 
 confound the miracles of Moses, and that up to the present day 
 they were the greatest rogues of Barbary. Mines of copper and 
 lead, discovered in the neighbourhood, promise considerable future ' 
 prosperity to the city. 
 
 Mers-el-Kebir is the harbour of Oran, but, unfortunately, two 
 French leagues distant from that city. Around the harbour the 
 steep cliffs prevent the establishment of a town ; in consequence, 
 there was little prospect of the increase of Oran, the communication 
 between the harbour and the city being often cut off by bad weather 
 for several days, or even weeks. But the French set actively to 
 work, and blasted a road through the cliffs, in order to secure an 
 access from the town to the harbour. In several places the ter- 
 tiary lime cliff, rising to eighty feet, was to be demolished ; in 
 another place, a tunnel had to be bored through the rocks; and 
 such was the hardness of the material that it cost one year of in- 
 cessant labour to perforate the cliff for two hundred feet. This 
 road, and all the others in the Regency, were, like the drainage 
 of the plain of Metija, and of that of Bona, made by the army. 
 Altogether, the employment of soldiers in the construction of 
 works of public utility is one of the most laudable results of the 
 occupation of Algeria. In the time of the Romans, such con- 
 structions formed a regular occupation of the armies in time of 
 peace; but modern martinet officers deem such work degrading, 
 and believe that drilling, idleness, and unproductive labour, are 
 
EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 103 
 
 the occupations for the soldier. Even here in Algeria, it was in 
 the beginning only as punishmenfe that soldiers were employed 
 on works of public utility : it was difficult to overcome the preju- 
 dice, that work dishonours a soldier ; but afterwards the whole 
 army was in turn engaged in such labours. What might not be 
 done in India, if the same prejudice could be done away with 
 the officers? 
 
 Oran looks more like a Spanish, than a Moorish city; in- 
 deed it was held by the Spaniards for several centuries up to 
 1791, when it was seriously damaged by an earthquake, and 
 given up to the Dey by negotiation. It lies on two small pla- 
 teaus, divided by a valley full of fine gardens. The streets 
 are broad and straight, the houses uniform. Moorish architecture 
 prevails only in the mosques, which are uncommonly handsome; 
 the Spanish Church, with its heavy tasteless towers, is very in- 
 ferior to them. The characteristic feature of Oran is the three 
 Spanish forts — one at the foot, one half way up, and one at the 
 steep top of the rock Tamara. They are constructed of such 
 solid masonry, that even the earthquake did not injure them. 
 The highest of these forts is called Santa- Cruz ; but the natives, 
 to elevate the Crescent above the Cross, have built on a still 
 higher and steeper mountain-top, opposite to the fort, a Marabut 
 chapel, with a white cupola surmounted by a shining crescent. 
 
 After the occupation of Oran by the French, the great majority 
 of the Mohammedan population immediately emigrated, as was 
 the case in Bujia, in Bona, in Belida, and other places. Those 
 who went into the interior returned after the downfal of Abd-el- 
 Kader; but not a few had gone to Tunis, to Morocco, and even to 
 Turkey. The gap which they occasioned in the population was 
 soon filled up by French, and especially Spanish colonists. 
 
 The neighbourhood of Oran is bare, and only fine in the rainy 
 season. Even in March the soil becomes parched by the burn- 
 ing rays of the sun, as there is no river, nor any spring near the 
 city. As an agricultural establishment, therefore, Oran has no 
 future; but Mers-el-Kebir, the Portus Magnus of the ancients, is 
 
104 EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 
 
 next to the roads of Arzew, the safest harbour on the Algerine 
 coast, being unprotected against the south-east winds only. Yet 
 what the ancients and the Arabs called a great harbour (for 
 Mers-el-Kebir has the same meaning as Portus Magnus), is not 
 large for modern European ships. The port of Arzew is the only- 
 one which can give shelter to a more numerous fleet. 
 
 The extensive salt-lake, El-Sebgha, near Messerghin, a village 
 in the vicinity of Oran, is ten miles wide, and about forty miles 
 long. In summer, it is entirely dry, and its bed is covered with a 
 stratum of salt, which even in winter glitters through the water 
 with white, yellow, and red crystals, the water being only six 
 feet deep. Many wading-birds live on the banks : and I shot 
 amongst them the flamingo and the Numidian crane. The Gar- 
 rabas and the Beni-Ammer, the two tribes who were most enthu- 
 siastic supporters of Abd-el-Kader, lived here around Oran and 
 the Salt- lake. The majority of the Beni-Ammer went with their 
 chief to Morocco, and have not returned ; they could once take the 
 field with 4000 horsemen ; but now their territory has been con- 
 fiscated for the French Government property. 
 
 From Oran I made an excursion to Mascara, which at that 
 time was the capital of Abd-cl-Kader. Commander Fellissier, 
 the Directeur des Affaires Arabes, had handed me two Arab let- 
 ters, signed and sealed by Marshal Valee for the Emir Abd-el- 
 Kader, and for the governor of Mascara, Haji Bukhari. I was 
 strongly recommended to both as a learned " Dubib " (physician), 
 who had the intention of travelling in the interior in order to seek 
 medical plants, and to prepare drugs. It was necessary to make 
 such a pretext ; for distrust against foreigners is universal in 
 Arab countries. The nomades suspect a spy in every Euro- 
 pean: they think he comes to draw maps and plans, and to 
 prepare the way for military expeditions. They, therefore, in 
 order to deter the tourist, always exaggerate the dangers and 
 privations which he may have to encounter. They say that their 
 country is very poor, that the mountains contain no gold, and 
 that the stones and plants are just the same as those found on the 
 
EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 105 
 
 coast The Arabs give these accounts, fearing lest the discovery 
 of a mine, or of 'salt, or of a medical spring, might allure the 
 French into their country. 
 
 The means of communication between Oran and Mascara were, 
 in 1838, very scanty. Though peace was maintained between the 
 Arabs and French, still their mutual hatred had been roused by 
 the preceding barbarous war to such a pitch, that friendly inter- 
 course could not be restored between the two races, and robberies 
 and murders frequently occurred. 
 
 The French Consul at Mascara was at that time Mr. Daumas, 
 captain of the mounted rifles, or Chasseurs d'Afrique, distin- 
 guished both as an officer and as a diplomatist.* Though he 
 lived with his physician, his two interpreters, and a few military 
 servants, in a very retired and sober way in the Arab city, yet the 
 scanty supplies of the market were not sufficient for him, at least 
 this was the report at Oran. Every third or fourth week, there- 
 fore, a small train of mules was sent to him with the necessaries 
 of a French table : wine, sugar, and other trifles, to which we are 
 accustomed. The mules were led by French waggoners, to whom 
 such an expedition was a kind of favour, as on their return they 
 loaded the animals with products of Mascara, especially with fowls, 
 which they sold at better prices in Oran. An Arab in the ser- 
 vice of Abd-el-Kader always accompanied those trains, and I 
 seized the opportunity of travelling with one of them in the com- 
 pany of Lieutenant Daumas and Mr. Varlet, a young army- sur- 
 geon. Our guide, a grey Bedouin of the Garrabas tribe, was 
 ragged, and rode on a mule as grey and lean as himself ; but, in 
 the. course of the journey, both confounded us and our well-fed 
 mules by their agility and endurance. I tried to enter into con- 
 versation with the old man, who sometimes gazed at me with 
 undisguised hatred and contempt, but he cut me short with laconic 
 answers. After a ride of three hours, we arrived in the dominion 
 of " Sultan Abd-el-Kader," entering the large plain of Tlelat, an 
 
 * Now he is General Conseiller d'etat, and Directeur des Affaires Arabes. 
 
106- EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 
 
 extensive but rather barren country, full of morasses and thickets.* 
 Here I saw that immense number of slugs of which I had heard 
 from the travellers to Mascara. Every jujube-bush, every mastich- 
 shrub, every dwarf-palm, was covered by them : they looked like 
 ornamented garlands on the foliage, or like moving strings of 
 pearls. Some of the shrubs were entirely covered by those crea- 
 tures : and were devoid of foliage, for the slugs had eaten it 
 up. When the French army was returning from Mascara under 
 Marshal Clauzel, the provisions were very scanty ; the soldiers, 
 therefore, caught and cooked the snails, and Captain Magagnos 
 assured me that they formed a most excellent meal. At the time 
 of my journey, the Garrabas peopled that plain: they are, next to 
 the Hajutes, the most cruel and treacherous tribe of the Regency. 
 " Thej^ are notorious murderers," said Abd-el-Kader to Consul 
 Daumas, " but my best warriors." They furnished 2000 horse- 
 men to the Emir, who used to say, " The Garrabas are my cloak, 
 the Beni-Ammers my coat, the Hashems my shirt." He induced 
 many of them to follow him to Morocco. 
 
 We rode for a few hours through the lonely bushes, until we 
 became somewhat uneasy ; our excited imaginations often misled 
 us to take some pistaccia-bushes in the distance for caniel's-hair 
 tents, or the floating rag on some Marabut tomb for the Burnus of 
 an Arab lurking in ambuscade. But as nothing suspicious occur- 
 red, we soon forgot our misgivings. When dusk approached, we 
 did not like to leave our Garrabas guide out of view. The sun was 
 setting, and the grey Bedouin vaulted from his mule, which, ac- 
 customed to such pauses, stood still patiently, whilst his master 
 had thrown himself on the ground, pressing the soil with his 
 forehead, and remaining buried in devotion until tfhe last glim- 
 mering ray had vanished. Suddenly he started up and became 
 aware that we had been witnesses of his prayers. An angry 
 glance shot from his eyes, and he unwittingly cried out " Begone!" 
 Of course we left him ; but, when he joined us again, he was 
 
 * Great works of drainage and irrigation have been accomplished here during 
 the few last years by the French. 
 
EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. ] 07 
 
 more friendly than before, and asked whether we would not spend 
 the night at an Arab encampment, for, beyond that, there were no 
 more human dwellings on our way. Of course we consented ; 
 though a night with such robbers as the Garrabas are, did not 
 promise to be pleasant. We left the beaten track, and, after half 
 an hour's ride through the thicket, we reached a clear place, 
 studded with black tents, and with browsing herds. At the first 
 encampment, we were refused admittance, the females and chil- 
 dren reviled us, and we were driven away. At the second en- 
 campment, the Sheikh, just as ugly and ragged as our guide, 
 after a long parley, allowed us to alight, and to picket our mules. 
 A tent was soon pitched for us, but so unwillingly, that we did 
 not think ourselves quite safe. Yet after a few hours' conversa- 
 tion around the great fire which we had made, we became friends 
 with the Arabs, who were all most curious about nevfs, especially 
 as regarded Milud-Ben-Arash, Abd-el-Kader's envoy in France, 
 who was a son of a Marabut of the Garrabas tribe. Song and 
 amusements went on till midnight, after which we had a quiet rest 
 till morning. This encampment was the largest I had seen in Bar- 
 bary : and must have contained several hundred families. The 
 black tents formed a regular circle. In the centre, an immense 
 herd of black sheep and goats, of lean bulls and cows, and a few 
 camels, were bleating and bellowing ; while the white long-haired 
 Bedouin dogs, alarmed by the presence of strangers, barked inces- 
 santly. An out of the way spot was chosen for the encampment, 
 as is usually the case with Arabs, both in order to escape impor- 
 tunate claims on their hospitality, and to avoid any hostile party. 
 Before the enemy could work his way through the bushes, the 
 Bedouins would have time to send away their herds and tents. 
 Such a precaution was the more necessary, as the Garrabas were 
 engaged in a feud with the Beni-Ammer; and until Abd-el-Kader 
 was able to return from Medeah and enforce peace, both tribes 
 continued to plunder each other most rapaciously. 
 
 A small elevated plateau, running parallel with the coast, 
 divides the plain of Tlelat from the more extensive and fertile 
 
108 EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 
 
 plain of Ceirat, which is watered by the Sig. This plateau 
 is covered with mastich-bushes ; but I saw likewise many wild 
 olive-trees, African tamarisks, pines, oaks, carob and jujube trees. 
 This place is, according to the Arabs, a resort of lions ; but, as 
 our guide told us, they never attack a man if he rails at them as 
 thieves, and sons of thieves, and spits on them, and goes boldly 
 onward ; but whoever shows them respect is inevitably lost. 
 
 The splendid plain of the Sig now lay before our eyes, expand- 
 ing like a green sea. We saw here many encampments, numerous 
 herds, and not a few Marabut tombs. Sometimes one sees only a 
 slab, surrounded by a low stone-fence, and surmounted by a white 
 flag or a rag : this indicates the resting-place of a common Marabut. 
 Upon the grave of a more renowned saint, a small chapel with a 
 cupola is raised ; whilst over those of first order, and of national 
 importance, a mosque is built, and watched over by Talebs (doc- 
 tors) and hermits. Our journey through the plain lasted rather 
 long, since our old guide alighted at each of the Marabut tombs, 
 and threw himself on the ground for prayer. On the southern 
 end of the plain runs the Sig, between steep banks, in a south- 
 eastern direction. The river is not considerable, and its water is 
 dark brown : the Arabs say that every horseman who allows his 
 horse to drink from it may proceed farther on foot. Five miles 
 beyond the Sig, we reached the first of the three ranges of the 
 Atlas, which we had to pass before Mascara. The valleys be- 
 tween them are most fertile, and of luxuriant vegetation. The 
 mastich-tree rises here to sixty feet in height, and I found some 
 splendid specimens of orchis. 
 
 Late at night we arrived at Mascara, without being asked for 
 passports,' or detained by custom-house officers. Abd-el-Kader had 
 the good sense not to imitate the French in introducing those 
 blessings of civilization by which travellers on the continent of 
 Europe are annoyed. We halted in a wretched street, at the 
 house of the French consul, who received us as brothers. He 
 assured us of his gratitude to any European who visited him in 
 his loneliness, and afi"orded him an opportunity of exchanging 
 
EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 109 
 
 thoughts and feelings with Europeans. We were scarcely seated 
 at table when the Arab governor of the city, Haji-Bukhari, sent 
 us a lamb and kuskusu, mixed with raisins, the report having 
 reached him by our guide that it was the son of the Sultan of 
 France who had arrived in the city. 
 
 Mascara is situated on the southern slope of the third Atlas 
 range, on the north side of the splendid plain of Egghres, a few 
 miles distant from the ruins of the ancient Roman colony, Victoria. 
 It is a most wretched place, with small miserable stone-houses, 
 narrow filthy streets, and without any important mosque. The 
 only handsome building, the ancient palace of the Beys, and 
 afterwards the palace of Abd-el-Kader, was destroyed by Marshal 
 Clauzel in 1 835. The Emir did not restore it — nay, he gave a 
 formal command not to remove the rubbish. Nobody was allowed 
 to dwell here : the palace was suffered to remain in ruins, its floor 
 having been trodden by infidels ; Abd-el-Kader himself took an 
 oath never to visit the city which had been soiled by the con- 
 quest of the Rummis. From that time he remained in his tent 
 outside the city, as often as he came to Mascara. Yet, even before 
 its destruction, the palace was not to be compared with the fine 
 Moorish buildings in Algiers, or with the Bey's palace at Con- 
 stantino. Its garden was, at the time of my visit, entirely 
 neglected — the fountains were dried up — the orange-trees had 
 withered — the outer wall was mouldering. In the large court- 
 yard, I saw a few ostriches still remaining, but very badly kept : 
 the ruins are entirely in possession of falcons and storks. The 
 storks here, as all over the East, are hurt by nobody. According 
 to an Arab tradition, they are Marabuts turned into birds for a 
 great sin, and therefore they even now like to dwell on the cupolas 
 of the mosques, and to sit upon the crescent. Only the stables in 
 the smaller court-yard had escaped destruction. I saw here three 
 of Abd-el-I\ader's horses, and amongst them an old silver-grey 
 stallion, on which the Emir had made his first entry into Mas- 
 cara, when the son of the poor Marabut was proclaimed Sultan 
 by the tribe of the Hashems. The horse w^as now old and 
 
110 EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 
 
 lame, but it was carefully tended for its former services to the 
 Emir. 
 
 The summer residence of the Bey, outside the town, is in the 
 same desolate condition as the palace in town. It was destroyed 
 by the Hashems, when Sidi-Mahiddin, the father of Abd-el-Kader, 
 expelled the Turks in 1832 ; yet the garden, full of date-palms, 
 carob and pomegranate-trees, is still the finest place for taking 
 a walk in at Mascara. The city is strategically important for 
 nothing but its central position in the province. It has no in- 
 dustrial or commercial advantages. But whoever occupies it with 
 from four to five thousand light troops, commands the two most 
 fertile and important plains of the province of Oran — that of 
 Egghres in the south, and that of the Sig or Ceirat in the north ; 
 he is the lord of the Hashems, the Beni-Ammers, and of the 
 Garrabas. Marshal Clauzel must have overlooked this ; for had 
 he left a garrison here, instead of sending it to Tlemsan, Abd-el- 
 Kader never would have regained his influence. When the Mar- 
 shal had occupied the city, the Borjias, an important tribe of the 
 plain of Ceirat, immediately sent envoys to the French, to 
 negotiate a treaty and oSer submission. But when the French 
 withdrew, and Abd-el-Kader, reinforced by the Kabyles of the 
 Tafna, returned to Mascara, dissensions arose in this tribe. Some 
 of the leaders proposed to follow the French to the very walls of 
 Oran, where the Duairs and Zmelas had found protection when 
 seceding from the Emir; but others advised to treat with Abd-el- 
 Kader. Whilst they were deliberating, he had surrounded the 
 tribe with his army. The Sheikh of the Borjias succeeded in 
 escaping to Mostagenem ; but the Emir punished the whole tribe 
 by breaking it up. He sent the families singly to the Hashems, 
 the Flitas, and other tribes ; about one-fourth were forced to go 
 to Tekedemt and to Tlemsan, to increase the population of those 
 cities. To the Arabs this was an awful punishment, since every 
 tribe is for them a kind of large family, of which they know the 
 traditions, and are proud of its power and its feats. All the 
 feelings which a noble-minded European has for his country 
 
EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 1 1 1 
 
 and nationality are, with the Arab, concentrated in love for his 
 tribe; his patriotism does not extend beyond it, but it is for that 
 very reason the more intense. When, afterwards, under Bugeaud, 
 the French permanently occupied Mascara, the majority of the 
 Beni-Ammers, and many Hashems and Garrabas, unable to resist 
 the conquerors of the city, emigrated to Morocco with Abd-el- 
 Kader, and the Borjias again formed themselves into a tribe. 
 
 The house of Consul Daumas was probably the best building in 
 Mascara. It had three dark rooms, a small court-yard, a kitchen, 
 and a terrace. French soldiers had in a few weeks repaired this 
 house, and it was furnished with some comforts which even the 
 Arabs and Moors of Mascara did not fail to appreciate. They 
 came often to the Consul for a chat and a cup of coffee. It is an 
 attractive, and, in social intercourse, an invaluable feature of a 
 Frenchman's character, that he knows how to pass easily and 
 with good grace the stiff ceremonial barrier between himself and 
 a stranger, and spares him the tedious time of gradual acquaint- 
 ance. He is soon confidential, but never intruding; he puts his 
 heart and his mind into his conversation ; he does not hide his 
 secrets, and imparts his own frankness to the stranger. Such a 
 true Frenchman, of chivalrous mind and winning manners, is 
 Consul Daumas. He knows how by his friendliness to lead others 
 into conversation, and thus has often succeeded in getting most 
 important information from the reserved Arab chiefs, to whom in 
 return he talked about Europe and the miracles of her civiliza- 
 tion. I often admired his uncommon cleverness with the natives. 
 Through questions apparently most trivial, he elicited from them 
 the most valuable information about the movements of Abd-el- 
 Kader, who was just preparing for his expedition against Ain- 
 Maadi — about his powder-mill at Tekedemt, his cannon-foundery 
 at Tlemsan — about the strength of his array, and the disposition of 
 the tribes towards him. He knew how to involve them in the most 
 heterogeneous topics, and to get, even from the most taciturn of 
 them, such facts as were important for him. I remember that 
 one evening Ben-Araidu, a German renegado, came to visit me. 
 
112 EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 
 
 The Consul immediately had two bottles of wine brought, and 
 urged the renegado to partake freely of the drink. Of course, he 
 became talkative, and I was much amused by the autobiography 
 of that adventurer. His name had been Geistinger ; he was a 
 native of Bavaria. Having served in the Foreign Legion, and 
 being made prisoner by the Arabs in 1833, or perhaps having 
 deserted to them, he learned the Arabic, became a Mohammedan, 
 and got accustomed to Bedouin life. He drilled a small corps of 
 natives for Abd-el-Kader in the European way, and fought gal- 
 lantly for his new master. But at last he got tired of the Arabs, 
 and deserted again to the French, saying that he had escaped 
 from an Arab prison. But General Desmichels took him for a de- 
 serter, and, in order to punish him, sent him back to the Emir. 
 The returned renegado was now most cruelly treated; but the 
 Emir at last pitied him, and spared his life. Abd-el-Kader had, 
 at the Makta, captured a French ammunition-cart, and wished to 
 send this trophy to the Sultan of Morocco. But he did not know 
 how so lumbering a piece of goods might be transported over the 
 high mountains and impassable paths. He, therefore, asked 
 Geistinger whether he would undertake the transport of the cart. 
 The renegado, of course, did not dare to refuse the commission. 
 Though he had no idea of coach-making, he took the cart into 
 pieces, had the wheels and all the other parts loaded on camels, 
 and proceeded to Morocco, having been provided with ample 
 means by the Emir, who told him to remain there if he chose ; 
 but if the renegado loved him, he expected him to return. After 
 a march of thirty days, Geistinger arrived at Fez, put the cart 
 together, presented it to the Sultan, Abder-Rahman, and opened a 
 coffee-house with the money he had got from the Emir. But as 
 he was no man of business, he soon failed, and returned to Abd- 
 el-Kader. The Emir again took him into his service as inspector 
 of his powder-mill. Geistinger had become entirely African. I 
 never should have recognised a countryman of mine in the sun- 
 burnt Bedouin, clad in the Arab garb. When I spoke in German 
 to him, he seemed to get into a fit of home-sickness. " Fare- 
 
EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 113 
 
 well," he cried out, " you are happy that you can return to our 
 country. I am doomed to live and die amongst savages.'' 
 
 Consul Daumas had by the conversation elicited several state- 
 ments from the renegado about the state of affairs — the failure of 
 Abd-el-Kader's cannon-foundry, which had cost much money — 
 the bad feelings of the Angads towards the Emir, and other local 
 matters. The German had taken many glasses of wine with our 
 host, and seemed at last to have forgotten all reserve. I was 
 surprised that Dr. Varnier, the friend and inseparable companion 
 of the Consul, did not make his appearance during our conversa- 
 tion^ But scarcely had the renegado gone away, when a curtain 
 was raised close to the chimney, and I saw the bearded jolly face 
 of the Doctor, laughing at my astonishment. He had posted 
 himself there with pen, ink, and paper, and carefully written 
 down the conversation ; he had become a thorough stenographer, 
 and reported every word of the natives. His writings were the 
 staple of the most valuable despatches of the Consul. 
 
 Nearly every evening we had a visit from some Sheikh or 
 Marabut, who liked to drink coffee with the Consul. I made here 
 the acquaintance of Haji-Bukhari, the governor of Mascara; of 
 Haji-Mustapha, the vicegerent (Khalifa) of the Emir ; of Sheikh 
 Mohammed-Bussid, the chief of the Hashems, and several Mara- 
 buts of the ill-fated tribe of the Borjias. They often spoke of 
 their Sultan and his early life, and told us the traditions and tales 
 of the tribes. Sometimes they entered into a disputation about 
 Christianity and Islamism, and they seemed to like my defending 
 my faith with warmth, since with the Arabs the religious indiffer- 
 ence of the French is an inexplicable riddle, and is productive of 
 much astonishment and disgust. 
 
 The afternoon I usually spent with Dr. Varnier, who received 
 at that time of the day the visits of the Arab patients. They had 
 great confidence in the " Dubi-el-Rummi" (the Christian physi- 
 cian.) I became here convinced that even the most simple and 
 natural mode of life, open air and exercise, do not prevent human 
 sufferings of the most awful description. The traveller who rides 
 
114 EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 
 
 through the countiy of the Bedouins, and does not see any other 
 specimens of the nomades than the healthy men visiting the mar- 
 kets, prates easily about the primitive health of the race, uncon- 
 taminated by civilization; and his speculations readily get credit in 
 our overcrowded cities. But in the court-yard of the Consulate at 
 Mascara, I saw that the tent hides as hideous diseases as the hovel 
 of the agriculturist pauper, or the garret of the manufacturing 
 labourer. Ophthalmia and cutaneous diseases, leprosy and her- 
 petic eruptions, I noticed in fearful development. Moreover, I 
 saw many imaginary sufferers among the patients of Dr. Var- 
 nier, such as I should have expected to find only among the effete, 
 idle classes of great cities, who fancied themselves to be ill, only 
 in order to visit the Doctor, and to swallow his prescription. The 
 case of one individual amused me very much. He was a gigantic 
 Arab, who assured us that he had a live tortoise in his belly, and 
 felt it pinch and squeeze him. The physician gave him an entirely 
 harmless drug, and the Bedouin was soon satisfied that it had de- 
 stroyed the beast. As to gratitude, they did not seem to feel any 
 towards the infidel Doctor ; they looked upon him as an instrument 
 of God, and reserved their thanks for God alone. Still the Doctor 
 was never molested on his occasional rambles through the country, 
 though he was not allowed to extend them farther than to a radius 
 of ten miles ; but this he deemed an ample reward for his exer- 
 tions, as it furnished him with many opportunities of acquiring 
 information. 
 
 Haji Bukhari, the Hakem, or Governor of the city of Mascara, 
 was the friend and companion of Abd-el-Kader from early youth. 
 He lived in a small house, in a lonely street, but he was during 
 the whole day in the hall of justice, close to the market. Here 
 he sat on a mat of bulrushes, several Kh6jas or clerks sitting 
 around him, and six chaush or beadles, with long sticks, being 
 posted at the door, awaiting the orders of their master. Their 
 principal calling was to bestow the bastinado on the culprits, and 
 they did it with good grace. Scarcely any market-day passed 
 without five thousand lashes being awarded. And the man who 
 
EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 115 
 
 ordered them to be applied, had the most tender, pious, and de- 
 vout expression of countenance I ever saw. He much resembles the 
 Emir himself; but Abd-el-Kader's features are still more refined 
 and spiritual, whilst the H^kem is more muscular. Hlji-Buk- 
 hari has often given proofs of his faith and attachment to his 
 friend and master. When Abd-el-Kader fell wounded from his 
 horse in the battle against Mustapha-Ben-Ismael, it was Bukhari 
 who covered him with his body and carried him off; he followed 
 him likewise against Mussa-el-Sherif, and was one of the few 
 chiefs Avho never wavered in their allegiance to the Emir, 
 even when Marshal Clauzel was at Mascara. In conversation, 
 the Hakem is kind and friendly with Christians and with Arabs, 
 who, in spite of the often awarded bastinado, love him for his 
 prompt administration of justice. 
 
 Haji-Bukhari received us in the most courteous manner ; but 
 when I requested permission to visit the thermal springs of 
 Hammam-Sidi-Ben-Hanefiah, he gave an evasive answer, and 
 offered to have the water brought to Mascara for our examination. 
 The principal motive of his reluctance was perhaps less his own 
 distrust of Christians, than an apprehension lest the tribes in 
 the interior might become dissatisfied with him, and charge him 
 as conniving with spying Rummis, and allowing them to soil the 
 Marabut graves by their presence. Abd-el-Kader's power rested 
 so entirely on the religious fanaticism of his people, that every 
 kindness shown to a Christian was liable to become dangerous, as 
 some Marabut might make use of it as the theme for a fanatical 
 speech. 
 
 As a beginning, we had to be satisfied with extending our ex- 
 cursions to the immediate vicinity of the city. From the moun- 
 tain Shruab-el-Rehah, I had a good view of the three Atlas ranges 
 to the north, and of the whole country up to the sea, as well as of 
 the more monotonous plain of Egghres in the south, to which the 
 Atlas slopes down by a series of small valleys. In one of those 
 dales is the hermitage of SIdl-MahiddIn, the birth-place of Abd- 
 el-Kader, the residence of the chief of the Marabut family, Ma- 
 
116 EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 
 
 hiddln. At the time of my visit, this chief was the uncle of Abd- 
 el-Kader, the only one surviving brother of old Mahiddin. As 
 already mentioned, young men are educated in these hermitages 
 (Ghetnas) to become Marabuts. They are, in fact, Arab colleges, 
 wh^re only young men of good families or of uncommon talents 
 are admitted as students, and trained to become Arab saints. The 
 hermitage of Sidi- Mahiddin, was for many years the most cele- 
 brated of those educational institutions in the province of Oran, 
 and consisted of four buildings, one storey high. One of them is 
 the residence of the chief, containing likewise his library and par- 
 lour ; in the second, he kept his three wives ; the third, which is 
 separated from the house of the Marabut by a garden, gave ac- 
 commodation for twelve students; the fourth was the chapel. All 
 the valley resembles a garden; vines creep along the walls of the 
 buildings ; a palm-tree stands before the chapel, and the garden is 
 full of vegetables, melons, fruit-trees, and flowers, which are attended 
 to by the saint himself. Many guests arrived daily at the hermi- 
 tage for prayer, or for consultation with the Marabut. They never 
 came with empty hands: one brought an animal from his herd; 
 the other, a bag of wheat ; the third, cash. Sidi-Mahiddin, an old 
 man, sat before the door, and greeted the new-comers, accepting 
 their presents, and treating them with kuskusu and pure water, 
 whilst the guests sat around him for hours in friendly conver- 
 sation. Almost every one had some peculiar request. One 
 wished to have his neighbour reconciled to him, with whom he 
 lived in enmity; another was not blessed with children, and re- 
 quested the saintly man to join in prayers with him to God for 
 them. Another, again, was unwell, or had a member of his 
 family in ill health, and the Marabut was to help them all. Poli- 
 tical affairs were likewise discussed here, news exchanged, and 
 diplomatic counsels held. Whoever brought tidings from Oran, 
 true or false, and every Haji,'^ coming from Mecca, or with news 
 from the Sultan in Constantinople, was always a welcome guest 
 at the hermitage. The most influential Kaids, Sheikhs, and 
 Marabuts, appeared here regularly, nearly every month, and the 
 
EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 117 
 
 most serious questions were decided. It was here that the 
 murder of the Turks in Mascara was plotted, and that Mahiddin 
 preached the holy war against the French. As often as Abd-el- 
 Kader visited the vicinity of Mascara, he came daily to the old 
 family residence, to visit and to consult his aged uncle. 
 
 At the south end of the plain of Egghres, lies Kashruh, the 
 family cemetery of the Mahiddin family. It is one of the finest 
 spots of the province: a ravine of the Atlas, bounded on both sides 
 by wild, sharp-edged granite walls, and studded with the most 
 beautiful trees : palms, pomegranates, carobs, oaks, wild olives, 
 and mastich, all united by climbing plants in the most pictur- 
 esque shapes — here like a canopy, and there like a throne. Seven 
 small mosques are built in. one range, separated by fences of 
 cactus, only the mosque of Abd-el-Kader's father being sur- 
 rounded by a double row of masonry. Mustapha-Ulid- Mahiddin, 
 the elder brother of Abd-el-Kader, has built here a frail hermi- 
 tage of branches, and lives in an ascetic way, in dreamy contem- 
 plation. He had become the Kaid of the mighty tribe of the 
 Flitas, on the banks of the Shelif, and had revolted against his 
 brother. The Emir conciliated the tribe, and the young man re- 
 tired to the cemetery of his fathers, and lived here secluded, 
 avoiding the contact of men. Religious enthusiasm and dreamy 
 contemplation seem to be the characteristic features of the 
 Mahiddin family. But with Abd-el-Kader, it has been modi- 
 fied by political sagacity, love of conquest, and unbounded am- 
 bition. 
 
 After an interval of a week, I tried again to get permission for 
 an excursion to the thermal springs. The Governor of Mascara 
 sat in the hall of justice among his clerks and beadles: he seemed 
 to be in bad temper, and did not invite me to sit down ; but I took 
 my place opposite to him on his mat, and we had the following 
 conversation : — 
 
 *' You have," said I, " promised me an escort and a guide 
 whenever I might intend to visit some more distant points. I 
 come now to ask a guide to Hammam-Sidi-Hanefiah." 
 
118 EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 
 
 '•' What are you to do at the springs?" asked Bukhari, without 
 deigning to look at me. 
 
 " I wish to get water of the spring; its virtue has been praised 
 to me. We have several sick people in Oran, for whom it might 
 be health-restoring." 
 
 '* I will spare you the long journey, which leads over stones 
 and precipices. You could not return to day. My beadles will 
 fetch as much of the water as you may require." 
 
 " It would not be of any avail to me; I must try its virtue while 
 it is still hot, and at the spring itself." 
 
 " You cannot be allowed to approach the spring. A Marabut 
 lies buried there, who did not like the Rummis. He would send a 
 disease on you, and your patients might drink death instead of 
 health." 
 
 *' I respect the Marabuts. I know they are pious men, who 
 deserve your love by their wisdom, their exemplary life, and their 
 conciliating spirit. The Christians, returning from captivity, 
 mention them with gratitude, as they always found in them de- 
 fenders against the outrages of your warriors. I cannot believe 
 that a saint, for whose remains I have profound reverence, could 
 harm me." 
 
 " The Marabut might spare you," said the chief, after some 
 minutes, " but your companions would surely fall under his 
 curse." 
 
 " Yet they are ready to try their good-luck ; if they fare ill, 
 you have no responsibility." 
 
 " But the Consul is my friend, and I cannot allow that he 
 should go anywhere where he might be endangered." 
 
 Seeing that distrust was the principal reason of all the diflS.- 
 culties, I shifted the ground. " You know," said I, " that I am 
 not a Frenchman, but a German. I do not care for your aflfairs : 
 my people has never warred with yours, and the Sultan of the 
 Germans is a good friend to the Padishah in Constantinople." 
 
 Hiji Bukhari interrupted me, saying, " It is quite the same 
 whether you are German or French : we have made peace with 
 
EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 1 ] 9 
 
 the French, and we do not deny to them what we would grant to 
 another Rummi." 
 
 After some more discussion, Bukhari consented to have me 
 conducted half-way to the springs, from whence any Arab might 
 fetch the water. Having gained this point, the Consul, his 
 brother, Dr. Varnier, our dragoman and I, set out immediately. 
 Our guide was a young man, and we hoped he might not be in- 
 accessible to a bribe. Our horses carried us rapidly across the 
 plain of Egghres, which is about sixty miles long, and twelve 
 wide. It is the territory of the Hashems, who have tilled about 
 one-half of it, as it is uncommonly well suited for wheat. No 
 swamps here pollute the air ; it is healthy throughout, but not 
 so well watered as the plain of the Sig to the north. The 
 Hashems, therefore, go with their flocks in spring regularly to 
 the north, and return only at harvest to that excellent wheat 
 land. 
 
 We had soon reached the spot whither the governor had 
 ordered our guide to conduct us : but he refused to lead us 
 further onward. I was prepared for that, and gave him two 
 Spanish dollars, with the promise of a like sum when we re- 
 turned from the spring. He weighed the money in his hand, 
 requested me to repeat the promise, and said then resolutely, 
 " Ten boojoos! I don't care if now the Governor bastinades me." 
 After a ride of two hours along mountain paths, we reached 
 a broad valley, surrounded by high and well- timbered mountains, 
 and studded with Arab tombstones. Soon we saw the white 
 Marabut sepulchre, and the Talebs rushing out of the hermitage, 
 and reproaching the guide for having led Christians to the holy 
 spot : they declared they would not permit us to go to the spring. 
 I promised money to their chief, but he rejected the offer indig- 
 nantly. It would have been very disagreeable to fail so near the 
 goal. I therefore drew several dollars out of my pocket, and 
 showed them to him : he refused them a second time, but his 
 glance was riveted to the silver ; and when I was about to pocket 
 them again, the saintly man snatched them from my hand and led 
 
120 EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 
 
 me towards the mosque, on condition that my companions did 
 not follow. The thermal spring here runs from the rock into a 
 basin about five feet in circumference, which formerly must have 
 been much larger, as it is filled with a lime- sediment, which 
 sooner or later will obstruct the spring. But the deposits of car- 
 bonate of lime are far from being so considerable as at Haramam- 
 Meskhutin. The water is likewise much scantier than at those 
 splendid springs : the temperature of this was 65° Reaumur. I had 
 scarcely time to fill my jugs and bottles, when the Taleb judged I 
 had seen enough for my two dollars; but how surprised and angry 
 was he, when, turning round, he found that all my companions 
 had followed us silently, and were here on the forbidden ground. 
 He requested us to hasten away. We asked him some questions 
 about the neighbourhood, and he told us that there were other five 
 similar springs in the valley, but not so hot as these of Hammam- 
 Hanefiah. In another valley, he said, there were old ruins, great 
 temples, rows of columns, and many inscriptions ; probably the 
 ruins of Victoria, a colony mentioned by Ptolemy. From fre- 
 quent experience, we know how little such Arab descriptions can 
 be trusted ; these people like to exaggerate the marvels of anti- 
 quity. After having admired the splendid scenery of the valley, 
 which had been selected for a cemetery by the Arab tribes around, 
 we retraced our steps to Mascara. 
 
 On my return from Oran to Algiers, I visited several points of 
 the coast. New Arzew lies twelve French leagues east of Oran. 
 It is a new establishment, consisting of two forts, several barracks, 
 and large storehouses, and owes its existence to the fact, that the 
 roads of Arzew afibrd the best protection for ships on the whole 
 coast of Barbary. In the vicinity of the settlement, there was no 
 trace of agriculture to be seen : the country is too dry, and the 
 supply of wholesome water very scanty, the brooks and rivulets 
 in the east and south of the town being unwholesome. No trees 
 enliven the scenery around, but the bushes are very thick, scarcely 
 leaving any pasture-ground for the excellent breed of horses for 
 which that portion of the province is renowned. AVild beasts and 
 
EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 121 
 
 game are found in abundance ; lions come nowhere so near within 
 the reach of European settlements as here. New Arzew was 
 founded in order that it might replace Old Arzew on a more con- 
 venient spot, that city, the Arsenaria of the Romans, having been 
 destroyed in 1834. The old town was small, and inhabited only 
 by about 400 Shellukhs (Kabyles from Morocco). They were a 
 peaceful and kind people, acknowledging the supremacy of an 
 intelligent Kadi, of the name of Bethuna, who, immediately after 
 the capture of Oran, opened a friendly commercial intercourse with 
 the French, and by that proceeding incensed Abd-el-Kader so 
 much, that, as he still continued to trade with the French even after 
 a solemn warning from Mascara, the Emir had him seized, carried 
 to Mascara, and strangled. Abd-el-Kader, though on the whole 
 more lenient and humane than other Arab and Kabyle chiefs, did 
 not entirely resemble the sentimental picture drawn of him by 
 Lord Maidstone and other sympathisers. General Desmichels 
 hereupon gave orders to occupy Arzew; but the Emir anticipated 
 him, destroyed the houses, carried the population off to the inte- 
 rior, and distributed them among the tribes in the plain of Ceirat. 
 Only very few succeeded in fleeing to Mostaganem and Oran. 
 Old Arzew now presents to view nothing but a heap of ruins, 
 entirely unfit for human habitation. 
 
 Considerable quantities of rock-salt are to be found fifteen miles 
 south-east of New Arzew ; but the mines are scarcely worked, 
 except for the daily supply of the Flitas, the other tribes finding 
 it easier to supply themselves from the salt lake of Messerghin, 
 which, drying up each summer, leaves a thick crust of salt in its 
 bed. Though it is less pure, it can be more easily gathered 
 than the rock-salt. 
 
 About twenty miles east of Arzew, the river Makta, famous 
 on account of General Trezel's defeat, empties itself into the sea. 
 It comes from the plain of Ceirat, and is formed by the juncture 
 of the Sig and of the Habra. In spring it is rapid, but is not 
 navigable at any season of the year. 
 
 About thirty miles farther east is Massafran, celebrated for its 
 
122 EXCURSION FROM ALGIERS TO THE WEST. 
 
 heroic defence against Abd-el-Kader, and Mostaganera, a rising 
 sea-coast city, on a plateau of lime-cliffs. In the principal moaque 
 I saw an Arabic inscription, giving in a few words the origin of 
 the city in the time of Sultan Yussuf. According to it, " some 
 shepherds drove their herds into this neighbourhood ; and the 
 sheep, attracted by the luxuriant pasture- grounds, would not 
 be driven farther. The shepherds, therefore, settled here, being 
 themselves surprised by the beauty of the country : God gave 
 his blessing, and Mostaganem arose." The community has suf- 
 fered much by the late wars, and many trees have been felled 
 in the orchards. But the climate is still more genial than that 
 of Algiers ; cotton thrives, and the henna, which furnishes the 
 red dye, prospers in the gardens, though it cannot be cultivated 
 in Algiers. Twenty miles east of Mostaganem we saw the 
 Shelif, the most important river of the Regency. It comes from 
 the desert, winds its way to the north-east, where, between 
 Miliana and Medeah, it breaks through the valleys of the Atlas, 
 and takes a north-westerly course to the sea. Yet even this river 
 has in summer not sufficient water for inland navigation, and can 
 scarcely become of any importance for trade. Nature has not 
 blessed the northern coast of Algeria with natural communica- 
 tions to the interior. 
 
THE NATIVE RACES OF THE REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 123 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE NATIVE RACES OF THE REGENCY OP ALGIERS. 
 
 The native inhabitants of Barbary, that is to say, of the north- 
 western coast of Africa, belong to seven different nationaHties, 
 each of them of peculiar descent, and having customs and man- 
 ners of their own. They are separated by features, language, arid 
 costume, and rarely intermix with one another; six of them belong 
 to the Mohammedan faith, the seventh is of Israelite origin. 
 
 1. The Arabs form the great majority of the inhabitants of the 
 Regency of Algeria ; they are the ruling race in the interior, and 
 likewise in Morocco, whilst in Tripolis they push the Turks con- 
 stantly back to the coast. 
 
 2. Next to the Arabs, the Kabyles, or Amazighs, as they are 
 called in Morocco, and Tibboos and Tuariks in the Desert, are 
 the most numerous race; they inhabit the country from an earlier 
 period than their neighbours, and dwell principally on the moun- 
 tain-slopes of the Atlas. 
 
 3. The Moors belong, with the Kabyles, to the earlier inhabi- 
 tants of north-western Africa; they live exclusively in the cities, 
 and have the mildest manners of all the Mohammedan population. 
 
 4. The Turks, and their descendants the Kuruglis, have dwin- 
 dled down to an insignificant number since their power was broken 
 in 1830; they dwell in the seaports and in Constantino. 
 
 5. The Jews, the most oppressed race in Africa, are diffused 
 throughout all the cities of the country. 
 
 6. The Negroes came nearly all from Western Sudan, and a 
 few from Guinea ; some of them are freemen, the majority are 
 enslaved. 
 
124 THE ARABS. 
 
 7. The Mozabites, or Beni-Mozab, form the seventh nationality; 
 they have their own tongue, and inhabit three Oases in the Sahara. 
 Many of them live in Algiers and Medeah as mechanics. Colo- 
 nists from nearly all the continental nations of Europe have been 
 added to these seven native races, and have introduced an unde- 
 sirable variety of tongues, features, and costumes, especially into 
 the seaports. We begin the description of the native population, 
 with the most numerous and most important race, the Arabs. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE ARABS. 
 
 A GREAT peninsula is situated between the Red Sea and the Gulf 
 of Persia, larger in extent than France, Germany, and the Aus- 
 trian Empire put together. It belongs geographically to Asia, 
 but its features are altogether African. The greatest part of it is 
 described by its designation as " the stony," and " the desert." 
 Whilst the wilderness of middle Asia, and the steppes of Tartary 
 are, for the greatest part of the year, covered with luxuriant 
 grass, the sand plains of the peninsula are interrupted only by 
 steep and barren rocks, and the arid ground, without shadow and 
 shelter, is parched by the rays of a tropical sun. This country is 
 Arabia, the home of that mysterious shepherd people, which, seized 
 by the fanaticism of a new creed, twelve hundred years back, 
 exchanged its roving life for the conquest of a world. Arabia is 
 a poor country, which could not excite by her riches the rapacity of 
 conquerors, though there are old traditions of treasures which once 
 covered the sand -desert. Agatharchides related that gold nuggets 
 of the size of olives and nuts were found on the surface of the soil, 
 in quantities surpassing the marvels of California and Australia, 
 since, according to him, iron became twice, and silver ten times, 
 more costty than gold. But those real or imaginary riches of 
 Arabia belong to a period unknown to us. Her present products 
 
THE ARABS. 125 
 
 cannot easily be exported, from the want of navigable streams ; the 
 country is sparely irrigated by a few torrents which pour down from 
 the mountains and are soon absorbed by the thirsty soil; the winds, 
 especially those of the south-west, carry a noxious, and even a pes- 
 tilential vapour, instead of cool air, over the country. The sand- 
 mountains, heaped up and levelled alternately by those winds, have 
 been compared to the waves of the ocean, and caravans, even 
 armies, are said to have perished, and been buried in the sand 
 by the whirling storm. The trees of Arabia, which are but few, 
 being chiefly the tamarind and acacia, which grow even in the 
 most arid ground, receive all their nourishment by the dew of the 
 night. A scanty provision of rain-water is gathered in cisterns and 
 aqueducts ; the wells and springs are the hidden treasures of the 
 Desert, and the pilgrim of Mecca is often disgusted, after long and 
 thirsty marches, by the bitter taste of the water, saturated with 
 nitre or sulphur. Such is the general character of the country 
 and climate in Arabia. Yet she is not devoid of oases, such as 
 diminish the terrors of the desert, even in the Sahara. It is 
 especially the elevated parts of Arabia, bordering the Indian 
 Ocean, which are less destitute of wood and water. The air is 
 more temperate there, the date and the grape prosper, and coffee 
 and frankincense have attracted the merchants of the world since 
 the earliest ages. Compared with the other parts of the penin- 
 sula, this country may really deserve the appellation of " The 
 Happy," and the Arab poets have in all times celebrated it by 
 songs full of love and longing. The population Is here denser, 
 and were not the love of one's birth-place mightier even than the 
 yearning for the green country of the palms and crystal springs, 
 all the tribes would proceed thither, and leave the Desert to the 
 lion. 
 
 The authors of all ages have given descriptions of the life, 
 manners, and customs of the memorable tribes of Arabia. It was, 
 especially, the never- broken independence of the Arabs which 
 became a subject of praise for natives and foreigners. Yet this 
 praise must be taken with some allowance. Several provinces 
 
126 THE ARABS. 
 
 have been subdued in turn by the Persians, the Egyptian Sultans, 
 and the Turks. But, on the whole, those exceptions are transient 
 and restricted ; the great bulk of the nation has escaped the yoke 
 of the mightiest monarchies. The armies of Ramesses and Cyrus, 
 of Pompey and Trajan, could not complete the conquest of Arabia. 
 Her present nominal lord, the» Sultan, or his Egyptian Pasha, has 
 but a shadow of sovereignty; in spite of his pride, he is compelled 
 to sue for the friendship of a people too dangerous to be irritated, 
 since it is wantonness to attack them. 
 
 Next to the natural features of the country ,^ it was the character 
 and the manner of life of the Arabs on which their ancestral 
 freedom was founded. Their neighbours had felt their undaunted 
 gallantry, both in aggressive and defensive warfare, many cen- 
 turies before Mahomet. The passive as well as the active qualities 
 of the wamor are developed in Arabia by the manners and cus- 
 toms of shepherd life. When feuds are raging, the care of the 
 sheep and camels is entrusted to the females, whilst the warlike 
 youth is on horseback in the camp, under the banner of the Emir. 
 The long remembrance of their independence is the surest gua- 
 rantee of its continuance, succeeding generations being encouraged 
 by it to act worthily of their descent, and to maintain their inhe- 
 ritance. When the Arabs advance to battle, they have the hope 
 of victory before them, and behind them the security of retreat. 
 If they are defeated, their horses and camels, trained to immense 
 marches, disappear before the victor ; the secret wells of the Desert 
 escape his inquiries ; and his victorious troops are destroyed by 
 hunger, thirst, and exhaustion, in the pursuit of an invisible 
 enemy, who defies their exertions, and is secure in the unap- 
 proachable interior of the'Desert. Yet the life of the noraade 
 Arab is, on the whole, full of sufferings, privations, and dangers; 
 and though he sometimes may get the products of industry by 
 barter or by plunder, yet, as a celebrated historian justly remarks, 
 a common man in Europe possesses more comforts and substantial 
 enjoyments, than the proudest Arab Emir who takes the field with 
 ten thousand horsemen. 
 
THE ARABS. 127 
 
 All the ancient authors who wrote ou Arabia agree in their 
 description of the condition and character of that people ; and 
 the qualities described, good or bad, are, according to Niebuhr, 
 d'Herbelot, d' Arvieux, and Burckhardt, yet to be found unchanged 
 with the Arabs of our days. Besides their deeply-rooted love of 
 national independence and individual freedom, it is their desire of 
 glory, their abstinence, their poetical spirit, their hospitality, and 
 sometimes their generosity and magnanimity, which are praised. 
 But their rapacity and avarice, and their vindictive wrath, the 
 venality of their friendship and the inconstancy of their faith, 
 did not remain hidden from those who had to deal with them. 
 Islamism has added some new virtues and vices to their charac- 
 ter, but has left it unaltered in the principal features. 
 
 The religion of the Arabs before the appearance of Mahomet 
 was Sabaeism — the worship of the sun, the moon, and the stars. 
 The lights of the firmament shine as though the visible image of 
 Godhead. Their number and distance excite, in every thinking 
 mind, the idea of unlimited space ; the character of stability is 
 impressed upon those globes, which seem to defy ruin and de- 
 struction. To the learned and fanciful observer, the regularity 
 of their movements seems to indicate the grandest knowledge of 
 geometry and arithmetic ; and their real influence on the seasons, 
 and their imaginary connexion with all that is living in nature, 
 gave rise to the delusion that the earth and its inhabitants were 
 under their peculiar care. A pure unclouded sky and a boundless 
 plain became the school of astronomy for the Arabs. They were 
 guided by the stars in their nightly wanderings — their name, 
 order, and daily position, were well known to the Arab nomade, 
 who had learned by experience to divide the zodiac of the moon 
 into twenty-eight parts ; and to bless the constellations, which, 
 according to his belief, recruited the thirsty wilderness by propi- 
 tious showers. Besides this worship of the heavenly bodies, the 
 Arabs of the different tribes had their local idols, impersonations 
 of the power of nature. 
 
 Such was the condition of the people when Mohammed-ben- 
 
128 THE ARABS. 
 
 Abdallah, whom we commonly call Mahomet, appeared among 
 them. He belonged to the tribe of the Koreish, and to the family 
 of the Hashem, a noble race in his country. According to his 
 contemporaries, he was distinguished by personal beauty, a gift 
 which is seldom despised, except, perhaps, by those who are not 
 endowed with it. He possessed, besides, great eloquence, which 
 was enhanced by a melodious voice, pure diction, and a glow- 
 ing imagination. His hearers admired his commanding appear- 
 ance, his piercing eye, his countenance — which reflected every 
 emotion of the soul — and his gestures, which gave weight to every 
 word his lips uttered. Mohammed was addicted to religious con- 
 templation from his early youth. He withdrew every year, in 
 the month of Ramadan, from the world, and from his beloved 
 wife, Kadisha, and remained for twenty-eight days in the cave of 
 Hera, three miles from Mecca, buried in ecstatic meditation. The 
 faith which he preached, under the name of Islam, to his family 
 and to his nation, is contained in the sentence: " There is but one 
 God, and Mohammed is his prophet." The followers of that 
 extraordinary man, who had their religious enthusiasm roused by 
 his fiery words, and had their courage steeled by his example, in 
 the first successful struggles, extended the new creed with that 
 religious symbol on their lips and the sword in their hand. The 
 Koran, a strange compound of the most beautiful moral precepts 
 and the most absurd contradictions, was favourable to the propa- 
 gation of "Islam" (salvation), alike by persuasion and by vio- 
 lence. By permitting the enjoyment of riches and beauty on 
 earth, and promising the most delightftil pleasures in a future 
 paradise, it attracted as many proselytes, as it inspired zealous 
 confessors, to advance to contest and death for the propagation of 
 the creed, the highest delights of the Mohammedan heaven being 
 especially reserved for the martyrs of faith. " The sword," says 
 Mohammed, " is the key to heaven and hell ; one drop of blood 
 spilt for the cause of Allah, one night passed in watching under 
 arms, is of more avail than two months of fasting and prayer. 
 Whosoever dies in battle, his sins are forgiven. On the day of 
 
THE ARABS. 129 
 
 judgment liis wounds will shine like scarlet, and smell like musk ; 
 and the loss of limbs will be made good by angels' wings." It 
 was natural that where the faith in such a promise was strong 
 and ardent, jjiany swords should be unsheathed, and many enthu- 
 siasts seek death ; and that the success of the followers of such a 
 religion was prodigious in war. Arabia, Persia, Syria, Egypt, 
 Barbary, and Spain, were conquered in less than a century; never 
 has a larger empire risen in so short a time. But the decisive de- 
 feat of the fanatical Arabs by Charles Martel in France stopped 
 their progress — the confidence of success abandoned them ; and 
 from that time Islamism has, even among its followers, lost the 
 prospect of becoming the dom.inant religion. 
 
 In speaking of the Arabs of Northern Africa, w^hose customs 
 and character I am about to describe — I mean the descendants of 
 those fifty thousand families of pure Arabs who, in the seventh 
 century, crossed the Nile, wandered through the Libyan Desert, 
 and, following the armies of Akbar, Hassan, and Mussa, settled 
 in Numidia and Mauritania, after the defeat of the Berbers and 
 Moors. — They generally remained attached to their ancestral mode 
 of life; though it cannot be denied that their transplantation to an- 
 other country and climate, and their contact with so many foreign 
 nations, could not and did not remain without Influence upon them. 
 It is Incorrect to suppose that they remained entirely pure from any 
 crossing with the blood of the conquered people. Though commonly 
 very strongly separated from the Kabyles and Moors, yet there are 
 tribes among whom we see traces of transition. Several tribes of 
 Kabyles, in the province of Constantine, speak Arabic ; with the 
 Kabyles of the neighbourhood of Ghelma, the tongue, type, and cos- 
 tume of the Arabs, are predominant. The tribe of the Amrauahs, 
 near Dellys, Is half Arabic half Berber; and in manners, physi- 
 ognomy, and dress, the Moors of Mascara approach the Arabs. It 
 Is likewise well known, that in the frequent wars, which are the 
 scourge of that country, many Moorish citizens were compelled, by 
 the ruin of their houses, to seek an asylum with the Arab tribes In 
 the wilderness, and either to become entirely Arabs, or to intermix 
 
130 THE ARABS. 
 
 with the tribes. This case has often occurred since 1830. The 
 Kabyle population of the city of Arzew joined the Arab inhabi- 
 tants of the plain of Ceirat, and many Moors of Mostaganem took 
 up their abode with the tribes on the Shelif. Pellisier estimates 
 the Moors who have emigrated and intermixed with Arabs, since 
 1830, in round numbers, at ten thousand families. Yet those 
 crossings of blood are exceptions ; the Arab population remained, 
 on the whole, the purest among the nations of Barbary ; they pre- 
 served their original type most faithfully, and are, without doubt, 
 the most homogeneous, and most vigorous portion of the natives. 
 Geographers and historians divide the Arab people, according 
 to their manner of life, into two classes : into settled Arabs, tillers 
 of the ground, or addicted to commerce, living in fixed abodes, in 
 villages, or cities ; and roving Bedouins, keepers of cattle, and oc- 
 casionally robbers. The German historian, Schlosser, pertinently 
 remarks, that only those people have a history who are bound to 
 a certain country by agriculture or fixed abodes. The nomades of 
 the Desert have only a genealogy, and are easily incorporated 
 into other tribes. The Arabs of Algeria are not acquainted with 
 the word Bedavi, which means, in pure Arabic, the " country 
 people," and became the root of the term Bedouins. They call 
 themselves simply Arabs, and only the few Arabs who have 
 settled in towns, and whose number scarcely amounts to a few 
 hundreds, are designated by the name of Hadars (villagers, citi- 
 zens), which is applied by the nomade tribes to the citizens, with- 
 out respect to nationality. The great Arab country-population of 
 Algeria approaches, in manners and customs, the original Be- 
 douins ; except, however, that as far as the cultivable soil extends, 
 they move only in a certain portion of the country, which con- 
 stitutes the territory of the tribe called Uthan, and Avhich they 
 do not leave without extraordinary causes. Only those tribes are 
 real Bedouins who live in the Belad-el-Jerid (Land of Dates) in 
 the Kobla (the South) and on the confines of the Desert, who do 
 not till the ground, but roam about, with their flocks of sheep and 
 camels, in search of pasture grounds. The language of the Arabs 
 
THE ARABS. 131 
 
 of Barbary is a dialect of the pure Arabic, which is understood 
 by the Egyptians only with difficulty, and scarcely, if at all, by 
 the Syrians and the inhabitants of the great Peninsula. Yet it 
 is easy to find out the Arabic root in every word, though entirely 
 corrupted. 
 
 The Arabs of Barbary are a strongly built, handsome race, 
 equal in height to the Scotch Highlanders. It is rare to see a 
 very lean Arab, and, among the thousands with whom I came into 
 contact, I never saw one who was very fat. This is a race which 
 is preserved against bodily degeneration by dwelling under the 
 airy tent, by its manifold exercise in the fres air, and by uni- 
 form and simple food. The Arabs have a sun-burnt countenance; 
 they wear a short beard and mustache, and shave the head, leav- 
 ing a long lock only on the top. Their teeth are white and 
 handsome ; their black eyes have a proud and fearless expression ; 
 their deportment is daring and commanding ; but when they are 
 on the back of a horse, camel, or ass, they bend the head forward 
 in a stooping attitude. Their garb is a white haikh (robe), which 
 covers the body like a broad shirt from head to foot. Common 
 Arabs wear it next to the skin ; men of rank over an undershirt. 
 The haikh is fastened to the bald head by a brown rope of camel 
 hair, which serves as a turban. The haikh is spun of fine wool, 
 and above it the Arabs throw a wide flowing cloak, called the 
 burnus, woven of coarser wool, white among the tribes of the 
 province of Constantine, but in the western provinces, where 
 black sheep are frequent, it is often of a black colour. The cowl 
 on the top of the woollen cloak is drawn over the head in rainy 
 weather. The bare legs of the Arabs are screened by the burnus ; 
 on the feet they bind a piece of ox-hide with strings, turning the 
 hair outside ; but instead of this poor clothing of the feet, all the 
 chiefs, and generally all the Arabs of rank, wear yellow high boots 
 of agreeable form. Most of the Sheikhs are attired in wide trou- 
 sers, and a few of the highest chiefs wear waistcoats, embroidered 
 with gold, like the Turks ; but in general only on grand occasions, 
 as, for instance, on the Bairan feast. The attire of the females 
 
J 32 THE ARABS. ' 
 
 consists of a wide woollen shirt, with short sleeves, girt with a 
 rope, and fastened on the chest with large iron pins. Their hair 
 is disorderly, braided in long tresses, and often covered by a gaudy 
 handkerchief. They tattoo their legs, breast, and face, from their 
 twelfth year, and dye their nails brown- red with henna. On 
 the arms and legs they wear thick clasps ; among the rich, made 
 of silver ; but among the poor, of brass and iron. In their ears 
 they wear enormous rings, and love generally all such ornaments. 
 Though the Koran enjoins the females to wear veils, yet the Arab 
 women appear unveiled, with the exception of the wives of the 
 saintl}^ Marabuts, who strictly adhere to the precept of the Prophet. 
 With their toilsome manner of life, and their dwelling under the 
 hot sun, the wearing of the veil would be an unbearable burden 
 for the Arab females. 
 
 The majority of the Arabs dwell in black tents of camel hair, 
 which are commonly pitched in groups of ten to twenty, and form 
 a duar (in Arab a round or circuit), or moveable village. In 
 the province of Oran, and in the south of the province of Constan- 
 "tine, there are duars of from three to four hundred tents, pitched in 
 ^ large circle, in the centre of which the flocks are enclosed. Arab 
 life has its distinguishing features in those parts of the country, 
 whilst the miserable tribes of the Metija, near Algiers, are dis- 
 •persed in poor duars of at most twelve tents. A few tribes, as, for 
 instance, ti portion of the Beni-Khalil, and Khashna, in the neigh- 
 bourhood ^f Algiers, have given up the primeval custom of living 
 in tents, and have built themselves huts of straw, almost more 
 wretched than the tents. Those huts are called gurbi, and are like- 
 •wise found standing in groups from ten to twenty ; they form small 
 villages called jeenas in the plain, and dashkrahs in the mountains. 
 The tent or hut is commonly divided by a camel-hair curtain into 
 two compartments. The females withdraw to one of them when 
 a guest visits their lord, though the Arab women are not pecu- 
 liarly shy of being seen by foreigners. The Arabs possess but 
 little furniture ; a few mats braided of palm leaves, some sheep- 
 skins with which they cover themselves in cool nights, a dozen of 
 
THE ARABS. 133' 
 
 earthen jugs for water, milk, and butter, the necessary tools for 
 wearing the burnuses, a small handmill for grinding wheat, arms 
 and horsegear — in this consists the whole establishment of an Arab. 
 Each of the tent or hut-villages is under the command of a 
 Sheikh, or Shekh, in whose family the dignity is often hereditary. 
 From thirty to forty villages commonly form a tribe, but there 
 are tribes which consist of several hundred duars, especially in 
 the fertile countries of the province of Oran. The tribes, like the 
 clans, are an expansion of the family. Accordingly they add to 
 the name of the original family the word Ulid (children), or Beni 
 (sons), for instance, Ulid Maadi^ children of Maadi, or Beni Mussa 
 sons of Mussa, Moshesh. The chief of a tribe bears the title of 
 Kaid. There are such chiefs who can lead from three to four 
 thousand horsemen to the field. These Kaids, as likewise many of 
 the Sheikhs, often live in stone houses, called haushs, surrounded 
 by trees and hedges of cactus; the duars are grouped around 
 them. The Kaids and Sheikhs form a kind of nobility among the 
 Arab people. The Kaid is the chief-justice of the tribe, and 
 chairman in the large meetings, at the fairs, &c., where quarrels 
 and blows are probable, and where his interference is often called for. 
 The Sheikh is the judge in his duar. The Kaids and Sheikhs 
 have likewise the command in war at the head of their horsemen, 
 but their authority is only respected so long as they give evidence of 
 personal gallantry, and advance courageously into the fire. Be- 
 sides this military nobility, endowed with secular authority, every 
 tribe has likewise its religious nobility, the Marabuts, before 
 whose influence the credit of the military grandees often wanes. 
 
 Hamdan Ben Othman Khoja (Hamdan, the son of Othman the 
 clerk), a Moorish author, derives the etymology of the word 
 Marabut (Arabice Marabut) from Rabata, — that is to say, hound ; 
 as the Marabut, according to the strange explanation of Hamdan, 
 has bound himself to Allah, only to live for the weal of his be- 
 lieving brothers. A Sheikh of the Garrabas, who introduced a 
 Marabut of his tribe to me, repeated the word Santos^ in order to 
 explain his dignity emphatically in the Lingua Franca. And 
 
134 THE ARABS. 
 
 really I tliink that it is hardly possible better to interpret the 
 title of Marabut than by that of a " saint." The Marabuts 
 are also priests, but it is not the office of the priest alone which 
 makes them Marabuts. The veneration paid to them depends 
 principally upon their holy course of life, their continency and 
 charity, and likewise, to a certain degree, on their talents and 
 acquirements. The calling of the Marabut requires that he 
 should be able to write, to read, and expound the Koran ; that 
 he should live in retirement, give up sensual enjoyments, (Mara- 
 buts never smoke,) and offer a good example to the Arabs by 
 suppressing the passions, and leading a pious life. He loses his 
 influence by neglecting either of those duties, though he retains 
 the title hereditary in his family. The most renowned Marabuts 
 keep seminaries, or ghetnas, where they instruct the youth. 
 Crowds of devotees frequently assemble there to listen to the 
 sermon and prayers ; and the hermitages of those holy men are 
 asylums for every sufferer, which even the brutal tyranny of the 
 Beys seldom dares to violate, and never without the greatest 
 danger, since the fanaticism of the Arabs always takes revenge 
 for the violation of such a refuge. The conduct and deportment 
 of the Marabuts find a fair reward in the unanimous and cordial 
 veneration of their tribe, sometimes of all their nation, and are 
 highly advantageous to the people. How much blood is spared, 
 how many crimes are prevented, how many enemies are recon- 
 ciled, by the intervention of the Marabuts! With a people so irri- 
 table, vindictive, and anarchical — where the seduction of a female, 
 the theft of a horse, or an insignificant insult, often involves great 
 tribes in deadly feud, in which the terrible excitement apparently 
 cannot be drowned but in torrents of blood — the part of a peace- 
 maker is noble and sublime. At the risk of his life, he throws 
 himself between the struggling antagonists, who through passion 
 are deaf to every reasonable word, and insensible even to the ties 
 of blood. For they do not listen to the voice even of a brother : 
 but are overawed only by the appearance of the saintly hermit, 
 before whose earnest look the yatagan is lowered, and the fury 
 
THE ARABS. ^ 135 
 
 m 
 
 of the passions is soothed. The influence of the Marabuts does 
 not prevent frequent feuds, but their timely interference quells 
 them before considerable blood has been shed. It is, however, 
 not only in such serious and dangerous occurrences that the 
 Marabut is the conciliating mediator; his beneficent influence 
 pervades every relation of the tribes ; he adjusts the quarrels of 
 indiv^iduals, and mitigates their hatred ; he gives good advice to 
 those who are weak in mind, and comfort to those who are un- 
 happy. His words seldom remain without eff*ect ; and where his 
 voice is unheeded, it is generally not to the advantage of those 
 who despise him. I made the acquaintance of many French sol- 
 diers who had fallen into the hands of the Arabs, and had told 
 me the history of their sufferings. They were shamefully ill- 
 treated : the men beat them, the females spit on them, the chil- 
 dren threw dirt and stones, uttering also imprecations on them ; 
 they would in a few days have been overpowered under such tor- 
 tures, but for the interference of the Marabuts. Those pious men 
 became their protectors, as they were in fact the only people 
 whose protection could be of avail for them, since any emotion of 
 compassion or magnanimity in a common Arab would have been 
 immediately put down by the savage fanaticism of the majority. 
 Though the Marabut is always inclined to preach the " lad," or 
 holy war, against the Christians, and to excite the people, in 
 flaming words, to spill the blood of the infidels, yet his hatred is 
 quenched when he sees the Christian a captive, disarmed, and 
 humbled. The higher culture, the more enlightened views, the 
 frequent religious contemplation, and especially the habit of act- 
 ing as the peacemaker and mediator among this savage people, 
 have imbued him with a kind of mildness which is unknown to 
 the rest of the Arabs; and though he incites them to war against 
 the intruding " Rummis," and often fights in the foremost rank, 
 yet no unhappy enemy will make an unsuccessful appeal to his 
 pity. When the French prisoners rejected with scorn the pro- 
 position of accepting the Islam, the Marabut always protected 
 them against ill treatment. Wendelin Schlosser — a soldier of 
 
136 THE ARABS. 
 
 tlie Foreign Leglbn, who was made prisoner in 1834, and lived 
 with the Arabs for several years — and his fellow- sufferers, were 
 always treated with kindness by Sidi AH Ben Aissa (Sidi Ali, 
 the son of Jesus), a celebrated Marabut of the tribe of Flissas, 
 though they remained Christians. Several prisoners in Constan- 
 tine, who fled from the cruelty of Ahmet Bey, found shelter and 
 protection with the Marabuts of the southern tribes, nor did 
 the tyrant dare to violate the asylum of those hermits. The 
 memory of Sidi Mohammed Mubarek, (the Blessed,) the most 
 celebrated Marabut of the province of Algeria, was cordially vene- 
 rated by everybody who had made his acquaintance, the Euro- 
 peans not excepted. He was a mild old man, who exercised great 
 influence over all the tribes of Algeria, and always for peaceable 
 objects. The unjust persecutions which he had to endure under the 
 despotic Duke of Rovigo, and his imprisonment for several years, 
 had not embittered him against the Christians : and up to the 
 end of his life, he remained sincerely attached to General Voirol, 
 the successor of the Duke, who had released him. Sidi Moham- 
 med did not avoid religious disputations with Europeans, but he 
 discussed the question without vehemence. I have myself made 
 the personal acquaintance of the Marabuts of the tribes of the 
 Aribes, Beni Urshia, Duairs, and Zmelas, and have often en- 
 joyed with delight their kind social intercourse and agreeable 
 conversation. 
 
 But though the influence of the Marabuts on the domestic 
 affairs of their countrymen is, on the whole, favourable and bene- 
 ficent, we cannot be blind to the reverse side of their character. 
 As their power is founded exclusively on the religious feeling of 
 the Arabs, and the slackening of the fiery religious enthusiasm of 
 those rough and bigoted tribes would deprive the Marabuts of 
 their undisputed authority and boundless influence in the country, 
 they are prompted by their own interest to estrange the people 
 from every kind of enlightenment, progress, or reform, and espe- 
 cially from all continuous and intimate intercourse with the Chris- 
 tians. They try to keep the Arabs for ever separated from the 
 
THE ARABS. 137 
 
 Europeans ; they try to prevent their people from living amongst 
 the intruders, and becoming friendly to their manners and cus- 
 toms, lest the fanaticism of the Arabs should be lulled into 
 oblivion by too long a peace, and too intimate relations with the 
 Europeans.* It cannot be denied that much bloodshed and many 
 misfortunes would have been spared to Algeria but for the fanatic 
 preaching of the Marabuts. Wherever the French met with for- 
 midable, compact, and lasting resistance, it was always a priest 
 who headed the enemy. The nobles of the military classes tried 
 sometimes to get ascendancy in the interior, to extend their power 
 over several provinces, and to found an Arabic empire, in order 
 to organize the resistance against the French on a grander scale. 
 But their plans were wrecked by the rivalry and jealousy of the 
 other chieftains. Not one of those military grandees succeeded in 
 extending his authority farther than over a few tribes, whilst the 
 country subjected itself without much opposition to Abd-el-Kader, 
 (servant of the powerful), the young son of the Marabut Sidi 
 Mahiddin. Old Mustapha Ben Ismail, Ka'id of the Duairs and 
 Zmelas, had been the Agha of the Arabs as early as the time of the 
 Deys. He was one of the most renowned warriors of the country, of 
 such haughty carriage as is seldom seen ; a man born to be a ruler, 
 full of energy and gallantry ; he was, besides, advanced in years and 
 experience, and well acquainted with all the affairs of the tribes. 
 This chieftain was the most deadly enemy of Abd-el-Kader, and 
 led all his partizans into the field against the rising power of the 
 Emir of the Hashems. But the old hero soon gave way before 
 the young son of the Marabut ; and, forsaken by his followers, he 
 soon had to flee to Tlemsan, where at last he threw himself on the 
 protection of the French. The Arab warrior chiefs are much less 
 dangerous adversaries of the French than the Marabut chiefs. The 
 former have other passions besides their fanaticism, which balance 
 one another. They are greedy of power and money, and less strict 
 in the observance of the precepts of the Koran : they can be 
 
 * Is not this picture of the Marabuts and their influence the exact counterpart 
 of the Soman Catholic priests in Ireland ? 
 
138 THE ARABS. 
 
 bought by bribes ; and jealousy and envy towards their rival.' 
 are often more powerful with them than all religious motives. 
 The Marabuts, on the contrary, are either really more zealous in 
 their faith than the military grandees, or, at least, they keep up 
 the semblance of it. They lose their spiritual influence as soon as 
 they acknowledge the supremacy of the Christians. They can, 
 for a certain time, recommend peace with the " Rummis," but they 
 cannot subject themselves to their sovereignty. When Captain 
 Alegro, who was sent to Abd-el-Kader with proposals from the 
 French Government, advised the Emir to lower his pretensions, 
 and to offer a nominal tribute to the King of France as his liege 
 lord, the chieftain said — " Did I pay to-day a single farthing as 
 tribute, to-morrow I should be forsaken by all my friends." 
 
 What I have said of the character of the Marabuts, applies only 
 to those who are highly venerated by their people, and who enjoy 
 a long tried influence. Sidi Mohammed Mubarek at Coleah, 
 Sidi Abderrahman (servant of the just) of the Flissas, Sidi Ma- 
 hiddin of Mascara, were really men of a noble character, rising 
 by their virtues, if not by their enlightenment, above the standard 
 of their people. But not all the individuals who assume the title 
 of Marabuts, are really saintly men. There is amongst them 
 many a crazy fellow, and many a hypocrite, who puts on the most 
 devout countenance at prayers, and writhes in the dust, whilst in 
 secret such indulge in luxury and rapaciousness. There are also 
 not a few swindlers among them, who deceive the multitude by 
 juggling tricks, affecting to be possessed, speaking in a mysterious 
 and prophetic way, and greedy of power and riches, and find it 
 easier to get influence by deceit than by a restrained life, and the 
 example of their virtues. I saw likewise more than one real mad- 
 man amongst those so-called saints. They were of gloomy appear- 
 ance, with a roving expression in their features, and covered with 
 dirt and vermin. But only a certain degree of reverence was paid 
 to them by the Arabs. The renown and influence of such Marabuts, 
 of the fourth and fifth order, whose number is very large, does not 
 extend beyond their duar; yet most of the great and celebrated 
 
THE ARABS. 1 39 
 
 Marabuts deserve that high respect which the nation pays to them 
 in such a marked manner, by their mildness and charity, which 
 is in entire harmony with the highest Christian precepts. 
 
 Marabuts, Kaids, and Sheikhs, form, with the tribes, the class of 
 grandees (Atsul-el-Kebir) who make their superiority felt as 
 judges in quarrels, as leading men in council, and as chiefs in 
 war. The military grandees sometimes make small exactions, 
 especially on the market, but always in an indirect way, so that 
 the profit which they get, seems rather to be a cheat than an ex- 
 tortion. The celebrated Marabuts receive rich voluntary tribute. 
 Thus, most of them are well off, and able to afford hospitality 
 on a large scale to their numerous visitors. The privileges of this 
 nobility of warriors, and of these saints, are, however, very re- 
 stricted, and I do not know any people in the world where, on the 
 whole, there is more practical equality. All the Marabuts are 
 attired in the same way as the most common Arab : some of them 
 are even distinguished by being dirtier and more ragged. Abd- 
 el-Kader, who ruled over a territory of more than 150,000 square 
 miles, and could gather 40,000 horsemen around his banner, 
 could not be distinguished by his attire from his Bedouins. When 
 he had his celebrated interview with General Bugeaud on the 
 Tafna, he wore an old and shabby burnus like the poorest of 
 his followers. It is only in their arms and horse-gear that 
 Kaids and Sheikhs display more pomp than other Arabs. At 
 festive occasions, especially on the Bairam, they are clad in white 
 trousers and gold- embroidered waistcoats like the Turks; but this 
 is not a privilege of the chiefs; for every wealthy man of the tribe 
 may do the same. The grandees live in a way resembling that of 
 their countrymen. The Kaid is not ashamed himself to fetch a sheep 
 of the flock, to kill it with his own hand, and to roast it on the fire.* 
 Like all the other Arabs, he himself carries his corn or cattle to 
 market; his wife weaves at home the woollen burnus, cooks the 
 kuskusu, and fetches water from the well, while his son guards the 
 
 * As Abraham and the Homeric heroes. % 
 
140 THE ARABS. 
 
 sheep, along with other lads of the tribe. The Arabs are very civil 
 with one another; when they meet, they reciprocally touch their 
 hands, and raise then their own hand to the lips. The questions, 
 Wash halekf Wash hinta? (How do you do?) are repeated on both 
 sides as often as in England, and are followed by a few more cere- 
 monial questions, occupying a few minutes before the real conversa- 
 tion begins. Their serious and wild features then assume a very 
 mild and kind expression. At such a moment, we feel inclined to love 
 this people, though their character is sullied by so many stains. The 
 salutation between the common Arab and the chieftain is the same; 
 they treat one another with equal civility and cordiality. With 
 great Marabuts, however, people first kiss their hand, but after that 
 the visitor takes a seat, without further ceremony, at the side 
 of the saint, and converses with him in an easy and unembarrassed 
 way. The same was the case with Abd-el-Kader, whom his 
 dignity did not elevate above equality. Altogether, the Arab is 
 never embarrassed by human power and greatness, nor cowed into 
 subjection. He never loses his proud* carriage, and does not cast 
 down his eyes, either before the splendour of the throne, or the 
 yatagan of the executioner. The words which he puts in the 
 mouth of Allah : — 
 
 " My slave, why dost thou fear my slave ? 
 Is bis life not as much in my hands as thine ?" 
 
 express beautifully and forcibly this feeling of human dignity 
 with the Arab. He maintains the same sentiment when a pri- 
 soner before his enemy or his judge. I saw in May, 1837, at 
 Belida, prisoners advancing to the presence of General Damre- 
 mont and his staff, who were not at all overawed by his splendid 
 military retinue, and who answered his questions with a haughti- 
 ness which, imder similar circumstances, very few Europeans 
 would display. 
 
 The condition of the Arab females is by no means so unhappy 
 as is generally believed in the West. They have to do the house- 
 hold work, but the harder toil of agriculture is entirely the busi- 
 ness of the men. It is true that the kindness. of their husbands 
 
THE ARABS. 141 
 
 is rarely great, or, at least, that it is not very tender; but ill- 
 treatment is rare, and when severe bodily harm is inflicted, it is 
 punished by fines or divorce. The Koran allows the believers 
 to marry four legitimate wives, but very few avail themselves of 
 this permission. The great majority — among whom is the Emir 
 Abd-el-Kader — are satisfied with one wife. Much has been said 
 about the jealousy of the Arabs, but commonly it has been exag- 
 gerated. AVhen I visited the encampments the Arab females came 
 into the tent without restraint, and often took part in the conver- 
 sation. Many of them, old and young, go to the fairs in the 
 cities. In the encampments, I remarked that the male members 
 of the family keep strictly their precedence before the females on 
 some occasions ; for instance, at meals. The kuskusu dish is 
 placed before the guest first; after him it is the father, son, or 
 kinsman, who sits down to the meal; and when they have all done, 
 then comes the turn of the wife and daughters, who had pre- 
 viously been only allowed to look on the dinner-party from a dis- 
 tance. The young Arabs do not generally display great respect 
 towards their mothers ; they treat them with indifference, and 
 sometimes even slightingly, whilst they cling to their fathers with 
 the greatest affection, and never forget to show their reverence for 
 them. The Arab girls marry at the age of twelve or thirteen ; 
 many are grandmothers at thirty ; and as they generally attain as 
 advanced an age as European females, they often see many of 
 their generations. 
 
 All the travellers who have visited Arabia say much about the 
 hospitable character of her inhabitants ; this is, indeed, the renowned 
 virtue of the Arabs, but is chiefly exercised towards their country- 
 men and co-religionists. Foreigners, and those especially of a dif- 
 ferent religion, who have no previous acquaintance in the encamp- 
 ment, or who are not introduced by some friends, find generally but 
 an unwilling reception, and are often sent away with rough words.* 
 
 * To the German, and yet more to the Hungarian and Pole, accustomed to 
 exercise hospitality to everybody, this seems strange ; the English will find that 
 the Arabs are right. 
 
142 THE ARABS. 
 
 On my journey to the interior of the province of Oran, this 
 often happened to me, though one of Abd-el-Kader's horsemen 
 was my guide. But you are welcome to the Arab if you have 
 previously made his acquaintance, or have shown him some kind- 
 ness in town ; he then rejoices to see you again, entertains you as 
 well as he can, and visits you in town, to become there your 
 guest. Yet, even to friends and acquaintances, the hospitality 
 is not unlimited. Though the Arab does not require money for 
 the treat, yet if you part without leaving a present, he does not 
 like it. As often as on my hunting excursions in the neighbour- 
 hood of Algiers, I visited my friends Mustapha Ben-Jana, or 
 Ali Ben Suati, the Sheikhs of the Aribes, I had always to share 
 my powder with them, and their children continually crowded 
 around me, begging small coin from me. In December 1836 I 
 was invited to attend a wedding in that tribe. Guests had come 
 from far and near, and among them several Frenchmen from 
 Algiers. The kuskusu was choice, and mingled with raisins; 
 sheep were killed, the coffee was boiled in large cauldrons, and the 
 drum and guitar sounded day and night, accompanied by the shrill 
 cadences of the females. The wedding-feast fell just on the 23d 
 and 24th of December. I wished to give an idea of the pleasures 
 of Christmas Eve to the Arab children, and had therefore bought 
 a lot of toys from a German shop-keeper in Algiers. As dusk set 
 in, the Arabs had to leave the tent prepared for the Christian 
 guests. We lighted many wax tapers, and displayed the toys on 
 the ground. The children of the encampment waited outside with 
 curiosity. I gathered them around me, and tried to give them 
 some idea of the Christmas feast. I told them that Aissa (Jesus), 
 whom even the Koran calls a prophet, had come to the world 
 many many years back, on that same day, and that in remem- 
 brance of the event the good children of the Rummi always get 
 the most splendid presents. To-day the same was to happen to 
 them, the little Mussulmans. At that time I could scarcely speak 
 a single Arab word, and the interpreter whom I employed for 
 explaining the mysteries of Christmas Eve to the Mohammedan 
 
THE ARABS. 143 
 
 children was, by a strange coincidence, a Jew. But not a single 
 ray of those delightful feelings which occupy with us the imagi- 
 nation of the children before they are admitted to the glorious 
 Christmas presents, and to the adorned resplendent tree, seemed 
 to enter the minds of the little Arabs. They looked at me with 
 comic amazement, and in their features I could only see that they 
 thoroughly understood that they had something to get, but that 
 they could not understand why they had to wait so long, and why 
 I told them first the history of Aissa before they were to see 
 what was put in the tent for them. And scarcely were they ad- 
 mitted when they began to quarrel for the wooden swords and 
 penny trumpets, though I had put the share of every child in a 
 separate lot ; and as soon as they got hold of something, they ran 
 away to save it. I saw that the happiness of the evening of the 24th 
 December, could not be transplanted to foreign nations without the 
 Christian religion.. Though the boys had their natural delight 
 in the little swords, and the girls in the glass beads, yet it was 
 unattended by poetical charms. 
 
 This episodical account of my stay with the Arabs finds a place 
 here only on account of its conclusion. After I had made trifling 
 presents to all the children of the encampment, I gave two Spanish 
 dollars as my contribution to the feast; to the father of the bride- 
 groom who had invited me, but he did not seem to be satisfied. 
 The children ran after me and shouted, '•'•Aattni sordi, sordi (give 
 me a penny, a penny), and when at last I unpacked my trunk in 
 Algiers, I found that nearly half of my luggage had been stolen by 
 my hospitable hosts. At other places, for instance, amongst the 
 Garrabas in the province of Oran, I had to distribute all my 
 tobacco before my tent was pitched. But with other tribes in the 
 province of Constantine, I really sometimes found a hearty hospi- 
 tality, and even made the experience, that my host refused to ac- 
 cept money. On the whole, the Arabs are most kind and amiable 
 with those Christian visitors, with whom they were previously 
 acquainted. They lead the guest with dignity to the place of 
 honour, which is covered with sheep- skins or carpets. Before 
 
144 THE ARABS. 
 
 dinner, they endeavour to entertain hira with their conversation. 
 The kuskusu is then served on a large wooden dish ; on it there 
 lies a square piece of butter, which is mixed with the kuskusu, 
 and eaten with wooden spoons. From time to time, fresh milk is 
 handed to the guest during the meal ; at last a roast chicken, 
 carved in pieces, is brought into the tent, but the Arab does not 
 touch a single bit until his guest has finished his meal. 
 
 Respect for the dead is mentioned as one of the virtues of the 
 Arab people, but it is common to all the Mohammedan nations. 
 From the eye-witnesses of the Circassian war with the Russians, 
 we may hear of nearly the same feats as happen at every en- 
 counter between French and Arabs. The latter always make 
 the greatest efforts to save their dead from the hands of the enemy, 
 and many of them become the victims of such efforts. It was 
 often seen that Arab horsemen galloped off with one or two 
 corpses on their horses, and did not drop them even when the 
 French chasseurs were on their heels ; or if the dead remained 
 in the hands of the French, the Arabs never failed to re-appear 
 on the battlefield, in order to get possession, if possible, of the re- 
 mains of their countrymen. They carefully bury them, and cover 
 the resting-place with broad slabs or masonry, that the wild 
 beasts may not dig them up. The careless manner in which the 
 French bury their dead contrasts much to their disadvantage 
 with the pious respect paid by the barbarians to the corpses of their 
 beloved. The French throw their killed soldiers into the next 
 ditch or trench, and cover it so superficially, that the jackals and 
 hyenas gather around in crowds at night to feast upon them. 
 Wherever Arab laws are in force, the violator of the grave is 
 punished by death. The Arabs generally select the finest scenery 
 of the neighbourhood for their cemeteries; they plant them with 
 palms, and build a small white temple over the grave of a Mara- 
 but, around which the other tombs are grouped. 
 
 The sober and frugal habits of that people, also an unchanged 
 feature of their ancestors, is a great hindrance in the way of civi- 
 lization; it makes their improvement as difficult as their expul- 
 
THE ARABS. 145 
 
 sion or destruction.* The North American red men were defeated 
 and driven from the country of their fathers by the " fire-water ; " 
 wherever those savages tasted spirits, they were-enslaved by 
 them, and lost both energy and freedom. But such means are of 
 no avail with the Arabs : when invited to the table of Christians, 
 they take with pleasure a glass of wine or brandy, in spite of the 
 Koran ; but they never become drunkards ; they never spend a 
 penny for inebriating drinks ; they take them only when they are 
 asked to do it by their hosts. Spirits never become necessities with 
 them, and all the remembrance of the merriment caused by wine 
 is not able to wrest out a boojoo from their pocket. I never saw 
 a drunken Arab during all my stay in Africa. Only milk and 
 water are tasted in the encampments, and yet this people is not infe- 
 rior to any other, either in bodily strength or mental energy. 
 Satisfied with kuskusu, unleavened bread, and a few fruits for his 
 food, the Arab is capable even of yet greater abstinence. The 
 army of Abd-el-Kader, before Ain Maadi, for months lived on 
 nothing but boiled corn. Very few, if any, beasts of burden follow 
 the Arab army with provisions, for every horseman carries a few 
 loaves of bread and a little bag of flour on his horse, which suf- 
 fices, in case of need, for weeks; and if his provender begins to fail, 
 a few roots of the dwarf-palm, or some cactus figs, keep him in 
 good strength and spirits. 
 
 But frugal as the Bedouins are, their covetousness and avarice 
 are unmeasured. They sell the products of their soil and cattle 
 yearly for about four to five millions of francs, and do not expend 
 the tenth part of that sum for European commodities. Thus 
 a hundred million of francs at least, or even more, have been 
 carried into the interior since the French occupation, not to 
 return; and as the Arab cannot hide his cash in his tent, he buries 
 it in some remote place in the wilderness, as a resort for unhappy 
 times, when, perhaps, he may be plundered by enemies, or im- 
 
 * Is modem civilization really nothing but enervation? Shall -we be aston- 
 ished that the Turks and Arabs and Persians resist that civilizing influence, 
 which cannot succeed without emasculating them? 
 K 
 
146 THE ARABS. 
 
 poverished in other ways. Yet it is rarely that he digs his treasures 
 up ; his property, his cattle, and fields, being either easily move- 
 able, or difficult to destroy, he seldom falls into difficulties, and, 
 as long as he is not in the greatest need, does not touch his 
 piastres and boojoos. Nearly all this sum is, therefore, lost to 
 circulation, and a part of it never sees daylight again ; because the 
 jealous character of the people often induces them to conceal the 
 hiding-place of the treasure even from their nearest relatives ; and 
 many an Arab divests his own son of the inheritance by a silent 
 death. The love of money, however, has always been a strong 
 inducement to the Arabs to maintain peace, and has proved the 
 most efficient lever for counteracting fanaticism. The desire of 
 exchanging the surplus of their cattle and corn for hard cash, soon 
 got the upper hand with the tribes at every outbreak of hostilities, 
 and subdued their hatred so far, that they repeatedly renewed their 
 clandestine trade with the French, even against the orders of their 
 chiefs. The Marabuts, likewise, by no means disdain cash ; so that 
 a clever management can easily break the hatred of many of those 
 influential saints, and bribe them into partiality for the French. 
 Yet the interests of their religion generally prevail with the majo- 
 rity of true Marabuts, whilst the most of the secular chiefs are 
 more easily won. The Consul Daumas, who had an opportunity 
 of studying profoundly the character of the Arabs during his stay 
 at Mascara, was right when he made the proposition to the govern- 
 ment of Algeria, of employing yearly 100,000 francs in bribes 
 to the most influential chiefs of Abd-el-Kader. He expected 
 from such a measure better guarantees for the peace, necessary 
 for the prosperity of the growing colony, and better results for 
 all the schemes of the French, than from a warlike expedition 
 with 10,000 men. 
 
 In spite of this inveterate greediness for money, charity for un- 
 fortunate and infirm people is a prominent feature in the character of 
 the Arab. The numerous blind men who appeal to the commisera- 
 tion of the believers at the fairs, and before the gates of the towns, 
 generally receive copious alms. Greater liberality yet is exercised 
 
THE ARABS. 147 
 
 to the lunatics, amongst whom swindlers are sometimes found, who 
 calculate upon the credulity of their charitable countrymen, and 
 feign madness in order to be fed by the public. I saw such 
 an individual in the market-place of Bona, who, with staring 
 eyes and strong gesticulation, spoke nonsense, whilst copper- 
 money was poured from all sides into his cowl. Such paroxysms 
 of benevolence are strange amongst an avaricious and rapacious 
 people ; and this mixture of the most opposite qualities with the 
 Arabs perplexes the most acute observers, and gives occasion for 
 the contradictory statements made by persons who have come into 
 contact with that people. 
 
 Just as strange as the mixture of covetousness and charity 
 among the Arabs, is the general sobriety and frugality of the people, 
 which is combined with great sexual excesses. Abd-el-Kader is 
 one of the few chiefs who, in this respect, are irreproachable. 
 
 In the war against the French, the Arabs often behaved with 
 great cruelty. At the beginning the French prisoners were first 
 ill-treated, and then beheaded ; it was only later that the natives 
 learned to spare captives and to exchange prisoners. The corpses 
 of fallen enemies were mutilated by the natives. At the first 
 encounters, these outrages were perpetrated by order of the Dey. 
 The exasperation which soon took place on both sides gave the 
 most revolting and savage features to the war, which were discon- 
 tinued only from the time of the battle on the Sikak, where 
 Bugeaud treated the prisoners with forbearance. The peace 
 which had been formally concluded by a treaty of the two 
 belligerent parties, was on the whole well respected, though 
 many murders and other outrages were committed on individuals. 
 After the treaty of the Tafna, we could travel with full security 
 through the interior of the province of Oran in company of a single 
 horseman of Abd-el-Kader. I made the journey from Arzew to 
 Oran, accompanied by a Bedouin whom I did not know. He 
 belonged to the tribe of the Garrabas, and had offered himself as 
 guide. It would have been easy for him to plunder and to slay 
 me in the wilderness, but I had no reason to complain. The same 
 
148 THE ARABS. 
 
 tribes whicb, during war, were most signalized for blood-thirsty 
 outrages, such as the Hajutes and Garrabas, treated travelling 
 Frenchmen, after peace had been concluded, in a hospitable 
 manner. Examples of treachery, however — as, for instance, the 
 breach of the treaty of the Tafna by a murderous foray — likewise 
 occurred. Some tribes which had subjected themselves to the 
 French deserted at the first opportunity ; but others — as, for in- 
 stance, the Duairs and Zmelas — manifested the most exemplary 
 faith and honesty, and fought as bravely for the French as if they 
 had contended for their own people and religion. 
 
 It is difficult to form a correct idea of the character of the African 
 Arab from the above-mentioned principal features, so full of con- 
 trasts ; yet all those features are true, and the contradiction arises 
 from the character of that people, endowed by nature and by 
 religion with many virtues, which hardly seem to be reconcilable 
 with other barbarous vices common among them. It is indeed dif- 
 ficult to form a thorough acquaintance with the Arabs. I knew 
 in Algeria eminent men, acute observers, who had long been 'in 
 the habit of dealing with the Arabs, and who openly acknowledged 
 that they could not pass a decided judgment on this remarkable 
 race, from the fact that they often changed their opinions ; and, 
 occasionally, when excited by some savage outrage, had condemned 
 it unconditionally ; but then, after calm consideration, and inquir- 
 ing into the motives and circumstances from which sprang those 
 bloody outrages, their opinions had again become mitigated. 
 
 We meet with the same diversity of views about the Arabs, alike 
 in ancient and in modern authors. Pellissier and G ent have exag- 
 gerated their good qualities, just asPoiret andRozet have blackened 
 them. The truth lies between the two extremes. The Arabs, 
 though isolated among the nations on earth by their manners and 
 customs, resemble them in so far, that they are neither entirely 
 good nor entirely bad. But the diversity of opinions about them 
 is principally due to the circumstance, that both their \artues and 
 their vices are different from those of the European nations : thus 
 the observer is without a true standard by which to judge them. 
 
THE ARABS. 149 
 
 On the whole, it would be unfair to give too much credit to all the 
 charges of the European colonists of Algiers, who see the principal 
 obstacle to the progress of colonization in the character of that most 
 powerful and energetic race of Barbary. Pellissier, speaking of the 
 terrible instances of blood-thirsty cruelty since 1830, asks very per- 
 tinently, in his " Annales Algeriennes :" "And have we, French, 
 always given lessons of humanity to the Arabs?" And really, 
 the slaughter at Belida, in 1831, when Ben Zamun besieged the 
 French garrison, and many inoffensive inhabitants, old men and 
 women among them, were slain in the streets — the destruction of 
 the tribe El-Uffia, where even the children found no pity — the 
 execution of the Sheikhs Messaud and El-Arbi, who came to 
 Algiers trusting to the written promise of a safe conduct — are 
 such sanguinary deeds committed by the French, that it is not to 
 be wondered at if the Arabs, fighting for their country and their 
 independence, believed themselves not to be bound to keep faith 
 with the intruders, and took terrible reprisals. I fully concur in 
 the observation of Pellissier when he says : " Let us be convinced 
 that cruelty in war is not foreign to any race, and that the most 
 civilized nations are, in this respect, often more barbarous than the 
 savages."* 
 
 It has been asked whether it will be possible to civilize the 
 
 * Is it not a sad spectacle that this same Pellissier, the humane advocate of 
 the Arabs, became, in 1848, guilty of the most revolting cruelty recorded in the 
 annals of Algeria ? A Kabyle mountain-tribe, which had often broken faith with 
 the French, and had pounced upon them from the fastnesses of the Atlas, was 
 pursued by General Pellissier into their recesses. They retired, with their wives 
 and children, into a large mountain-cave, and defended its entrance with un- 
 daunted courage, well aware that their enemies could not remain long among 
 the inhospitable rocks of the Atlas. The French were unable to force the mouth 
 of the cave ; Pellissier therefore ordered heaps of straw and brushwood to be 
 brought before the entrance, and threatened the Kabyles, in case they should not 
 surrender, to set it on fire. They did iK)t submit. The general now carried the 
 threat into effect ; the straw was lighted, the smoke was blown by the wind into 
 the cavern, and the French expected that the Kabyles would now soon come out 
 and surrender. They waited in vain. Their " point d'honneur " proved stronger 
 than their humanity ; the fire was increased ; and all the tribe, nearly 400 per- 
 sons, women and children included, perished in the cavern, suffocated by smoke. 
 The Kabyles preferred death to the loss of independence, as Pellissier preferred 
 the wholesale murder of a tribe to his return into the plain without having 
 broken the spirit of the enemy. 
 
150 ■ THE ARABS. 
 
 Arabs ; that is to say, to induce them to give up their roving 
 shepherd life under the tent, and to accustom them to fixed man- 
 sions, to industry, and to property according to our notions. I 
 think it is very doubtful whether this can be effected; in any case 
 more than a century is required for it. Their intercourse with 
 the French since 1830 has not brought about any change in their 
 manner of life. General Bugeaud tried to colonize the tribes 
 allied with France in fixed villages. He gave them all the build- 
 ing material, and the sappers and miners began to erect houses 
 for them. But the half-built cottages were soon deserted by the 
 Arabs, and had they not been forced by General Bugeaud to 
 remain, the majority would have rather gone over to Abd-el- 
 Kader, than have become fixed to the soil. The love for an entirely 
 independent life is as firmly rooted in the Arab as the belief in 
 Mohammed. The comfortable life of the citizens ; their substantial 
 houses, granting shelter against sun and rain; the furniture on 
 which they comfortably recline; the good fare they relish, the 
 good clothes they wear, — all this the Arab has seen for many 
 years ; but to him it has no peculiar attraction. He could live 
 himself in the same way if he chose ; he is rich, he has hoards of 
 cash, and numerous herds, which he could sell ; he could with the 
 money easily buy a Moorish house, good furniture, and splendid 
 clothing, in any of the cities ; but he likes better to remain in the 
 wilderness, to live under the tent through which the wind whistles, 
 and to wear the dirty bumus, a beggarly attire, but comfortable 
 to him from habit. 
 
 The love of independence with the Arab is, however, not so 
 great as to induce him to buy it, even at the cost of complete 
 anarchy and impunity of crimes. On the contrary, in the eyes of 
 the tribes, it was the greatest merit of Abd-el-Kader that he 
 restrained the anarchy which followed the downfal of the domin- 
 ion of the Dey. After the French had taken Algiers, they, at 
 first, did not much care what was going on in the interior. The 
 Arabs, happy to have got rid of the Turks, committed all pos- 
 sible deeds of licentiousness ; but when the robberies and murders 
 
THE ARABS. 151 
 
 increased, when they suffered from robbery as much as they 
 gained by it, they soon got tired of anarchy, and turned, by 
 and by, to the chief who had the greatest influence to alter 
 this condition. Lawlessness was suppressed, but the love of 
 independence remained unshaken. The Arab is fond of life in 
 the wilderness, because, with the exception of theft and murder, 
 he can do there unmolestedly what he pleases. This was the 
 case even in the time of the domination of the Deys : police 
 regulations never were extended to the encampments. The Arab 
 can remain all night at his fire; he can hunt and shoot what 
 his heart desires ; he can drive his cattle and manage his horse 
 as he pleases ; no wall, no fence, no game-keeper stops his way ; 
 no gendarmes inquire for his passport, no exciseman inspects his 
 luggage. He feels all this, and therefore he raises his head 
 haughtily, and does not bow before any prince, but only before God. 
 Besides this boundless liberty, which only a roving life can 
 give to such an extent, the dwelling in the wilderness has many 
 charms for the Bedouin, reconciling him easily to forbear the 
 possession and enjoyment of comforts. The wilderness and the 
 black tent are dear to him as his home — tlie heirloom of his 
 ancestors. Arabs have founded splendid cities, poetry and science 
 have flourished in Bagdad, and the shining luxury of the East 
 reigned in the palaces of the Kaliphs. But the immense majority 
 of the Arab nation — the shepherds or Bedouins — did not care 
 for this splendour, and continued their simple roving way of life, 
 w^hich was familiar to their ancestors for thousands of years 
 before Mohammed, and which they enjoy up to the present day. 
 Increasing knowledge, and the vast progress of human civiliza- 
 tion, has not had the slightest effect on them ; and as often as 
 I visited an encampment, and saw an old Arab with withered 
 beard, and the expressive dignified calmness and simplicity in 
 the wrinkled features, sitting before the brown tent, and around 
 him his browsing sheep, his kneeling and standing camels, and 
 his females filling the sheep-skin with w^ater at the well, I 
 always fancied that I saw the patriarchal shape of Abraham him- 
 
152 THE ARABS. 
 
 self. The manner of life of this ancestor of mankind, as trans- 
 mitted to us in Genesis, was exactly similar to that of an Arab 
 chief. It is so tnie, that all the great painters who have repre- 
 sented patriarchal scenes, according to the description of Genesis, 
 have always painted real Arab life, though often unconsciously. 
 For instance, in the splendid Parisian print which represents the 
 disowning of Hagar and her son Ishmael, the Patriarch looks pre- 
 cisely like the above-mentioned Sheikh of the Garrabas, who stole 
 the tobacco from my trunk on my journey to Mascara. 
 
 There was among the European colonists of Algeria many an 
 eccentric youth who fell in love with the life of the Arabs before 
 he had tried it — who dreamt of the happiness which might be 
 found in a careless existence with boundless freedom — galloping 
 through the Desert on the fiery steed, as the unlimited lord of the 
 country — hunting the lion and the ostrich, and diving with his 
 steed into the wild and outstretching wilderness. There were 
 .several young adventurers with whom such ideas became so 
 powerful, that they really went to the interior, leaving European 
 life behind them, and accepting Islam.* It was an important 
 step even for thoughtless Frenchmen, since, once Moslems, they 
 could no more enjoy intercourse with their former countrymen ; 
 they could no more participate in the industrious movement of 
 European countries ; nor more learn what was happening on the 
 continent of civilization ; they dared not read anything else than 
 the Koran ; and did not hear any more the sounds of their 
 northern tongue. They had entered a foreign world : it was rather 
 a high price for the barbarian title. I have seen some of these 
 renegadoes, — a few in the capital of Abd-el-Kader, others after 
 their return to their countrymen. All of them had bitterly re- 
 pented that step : a dreadful awakening immediately followed 
 their dream I They had not considered that the first condition 
 for enjoying the happiness of Arab life was to be endowed with 
 the virtues of that people ; that all the hardening and temper of 
 
 * Islavi, means in Arabic, salvation. 
 
THE ARABS. 153 
 
 the Bedouin is necessary to make his life pleasant, and not full of 
 pain and tediousness. Yet I believe that among the nations of 
 Barbary the Arabs are the most happy. They are not poor, 
 nor forced to endure great privations ; they do not live in such 
 anarchy as the Kabyles ; they are not indolent and dull, like 
 the Moors, but are full of energy and imagination. Yet I do 
 not belong to those who exalt the happiness of the Arabs, and 
 think the lot of a mighty Emir, or a celebrated Marabut, more 
 enviable than that of a European who owes his pleasures to civili- 
 zation. The Bedouin life has many attractive and charming 
 features ; but it is required to be born to it, as to poetry. Among 
 the renegadoes in Mascara, I made the acquaintance of a young 
 
 German of education, the Baron , who was led to join the 
 
 Bedouins by his adventurous turn of mind. He was an interesting 
 young man, of handsome features, and high in favour with the Kha- 
 lipha Mustapha Ben Thany. He accompanied him frequently in 
 expeditions through the country, and was treated with greater kind- 
 ness than any other renegade. But in a very few weeks he got tired 
 of the happiness of the Arabs, and would have preferred to read its 
 description in novels and poetry, rather than to taste of it in reality. 
 His body, effeminated by European culture, was not fit for a rougher 
 manner of life. He soon disliked dwelling in tents, and the kuskusu- 
 meal, and the fatiguing rides, which were a sport for the Arabs. 
 He could not like the Desert, either as his home or his realm, as 
 the Arab did : in vain he strove to gain inspiration at the view 
 of the boundless wilderness and its ever-starlit canopy: he 
 struggled fruitlessly for a spark of devotion in his daily thrice- 
 repeated prayers : he acted the comedian : he threw himself 
 down on his face, like the other Arabs, when the sun began to set 
 in the west, and muttered the formulas of prayer after them, but 
 with a hopeless emptiness in his soul, and with perpetual remorse 
 of conscience that he was playing an infamous jugglery with God 
 and with himself. Faith and inspiration did not come, and the 
 unhappy fool who, in the nomade life, had expected the realiza- 
 tion of the Arabian tales which had filled his imagination in 
 
154 THE ARABS. 
 
 early youth, found now his only consolation in tears. But even 
 this comfort was not granted to him, except when his comrades 
 had fallen to sleep. To them he could not disclose his feelings 
 without danger, except when the howling of the hyenas drowned 
 his nightly sighs, and but the dumb stars above saw the confes- 
 sion of his tears. The life of the Arabs has many and mighty 
 charms, but nobody should envy it who has not himself become a 
 Bedouin; and to become such, a body of iron is required, and a soul 
 of fire. 
 
 In the immense steppes belonging to the Angads in the Kobla, 
 in the Belid-el- Jerid, where there grow but few trees and a scanty 
 grass, the most interesting and most energetic tribes of this race 
 rove over the plain. The Angads must often make long marches 
 to find a second green spot for the pasture of their cattle ; and in- 
 stead of wood, which is deficient in that region, they burn the dried 
 dung of the camel. In summer, everything is parched by the 
 heat ; in winter, the pouring rains often turn the Desert into a 
 sea. All this inconvenience is unheeded by the Bedouin. He 
 could easily proceed to the coast, where he would find a green 
 country, and more than sufficient ground for the pasture of his 
 herds, but he prefers to remain in his wilderness. It has been 
 his cradle, and the scene of the sports of his childhood ; it is now 
 his realm, which he has conquered as a roving nomade, and where 
 he does not acknowledge anybody above him but God. To their 
 twentieth year, the nomade Arabs remain real children in their 
 temper and their moral development. They laugh much and 
 heartily, and enjoy themselves in many plays until late at night. 
 I often saw this in the encampments, and in the camp of the 
 Khalipha Mustapha Ben Thany, where scenes of the wilderness, 
 or from the Arabian tales, were performed up to midnight ; and 
 the young warriors sang, made music, and danced, or wasted 
 their time in engaging merriment. There are poets among 
 them who sing of exploits and adventures in love and war. 
 These are their chief themes. There is not one encampment, 
 even if it is formed only of a few tents, which is not the 
 
THE ARABS. 155 
 
 scene of love intrigues ; and there is no Arab of fourteen who 
 has not already discharged his musket at the enemy. No 
 nation on earth is so passionately fond of the noise of powder. 
 Whoever has watched the Arab in the fight — how his eyes 
 sparkle — how his imposing person rises erect on the saddle of the 
 war-horse with barbarous majesty — how the fiery battle- inspira- 
 tion shines forth from every feature of his expressive countenance 
 — how his battle-cry or his songs, which praise the whistling of 
 the bullets as his dearest music, resound over the plain, — who- 
 ever, indeed, has observed the demeanour of the Arab in the field, 
 will be convinced that this is a people born to war, and that 
 a great man, combining the qualities of a good warrior with those 
 of a prophet, might yet perform great deeds with the Arab people. 
 Two men of our own age have proved this in some respect, — 
 Mehemet Ali and Abd-el-Kader. 
 
 The love of independence is a characteristic feature with the 
 Arabs in every time of life ; fondness for war and adventure is 
 more an attribute of youth. With increasing years, the Arab 
 becomes more taciturn and contemplative. About his thirtieth 
 year, he commonly performs the pilgrimage to Mecca, and when 
 he returns from thence, his behaviour is entirely changed. The 
 fondness for plays, dances, and songs, has left him ; he finds it 
 more amusing to see the sports of youth, and to remember the en- 
 joyment of his earlier years, than to join in them. Contemplation 
 and tales begin to have peculiar charms for him ; the silence and 
 monotony of the Desert give free scope to his imagination ; — there 
 is nothing to disturb the raptures of the dreamer, since the stars 
 above, twinkling like the eyes of fairies, and the sometimes rustling 
 wind, which tells to the sand of the Desert tales of distant countries, 
 seem to him only the glances and the voice of the spirits of his 
 tales : they fill the pauses of the story-teller, and lull the listener 
 gently into a yet more cheerful dream. The impressions which 
 the Arab gets from his tales remain lasting with him. They re- 
 appear to him in their brightest lustre when, reclining under 
 the palm-tree, or sitting on a ruin, he watches the browsing herd ; 
 
156 THE ARABS. 
 
 or when he is galloping on his steed through the Desert, and hears 
 from afar the roaring of the lion. 
 
 With increasing old age, the Arab becomes more and more ad- 
 dicted to contemplation, and his chief occupation is the reading of 
 the Koran, and prayer. Though faith in the reality of the 
 doctrine of the prophet, and in the bliss of Paradise to come, is the 
 common property of all the people, -it grows always more in- 
 tense and fiery when his beard becomes whiter, and his pulse 
 slower. This faith, never troubled by a shadow of doubt, is that 
 blessing of the Arab which is most envied by many spirited 
 but unbelieving Frenchmen. How many of them would readily 
 sacrifice a part of their earthly property, could they acquire by 
 it the unshakeable conviction that their glazing eye will be 
 illumed by the sight of a new world, which the poetry of Mo- 
 hammed has adorned with all the sensual charms coveted by the 
 highest desires of Eastern nations ; and which, even in the West, 
 are, for some natures, not sufficient to fill the yearning of the soul! 
 The Arabs, with all uncultivated nations, do not aspire be- 
 yond the natural objects which they can perceive w^ith their 
 senses, and leave idealized goods and enjoyments for the future 
 world. The Oriental, therefore, sees in Paradise palm-trees of 
 gold, and, perched on their branches, the nightingale, the queen 
 of song, whose plumage has become purple, and which now sings 
 verses of the Koran instead of her former unintelligible warbling. 
 Crystal bells are suspended on the golden palm-trees, moved gently 
 by the breeze which proceeds from the throne of Allah. Moreover, 
 this new world is inhabited by beautiful black-eyed virgins, so 
 pure, that a single tear of their eyes would sweeten the ocean. 
 The red man, whose imagination is more simple, and whose de- 
 sires are therefore more modest than those of the Oriental, puts 
 his forests and hunting-grounds into his heaven, and peoples them 
 with buffaloes and elks. Paradises of such earthly enjoyments 
 cannot satisfy the higher soaring spirit of a German. His desires 
 are less dear, but he likes better to have only a surmise of the 
 blessings to come, than definite images which cannot fill his soul. 
 
THE ARABS. 157 
 
 Such is the difference in the aspirations of mankind. The earthly- 
 happiness of the Arab, and his images of Paradise, do not suit us, 
 because the direction of our soul has always been different from 
 that of his. Could the French sceptic, in accepting the life of the 
 Arab, buy likewise all the simplicity of his mind, and all the 
 intensity of his faith, half of the army of Algeria would be ready 
 for the exchange. 
 
 The Koran, with all its contradictions and frequent obscurity, 
 is a very pleasing book to its believers. The Arab scarcely 
 knows that awful torturing feeling, independent of our will, which 
 we call conscience. The thief who has robbed his friend, the 
 murderer who has shed the blood of his brother, enjoys the same 
 peaceable sleep as the most virtuous Marabut. So at least I was 
 told by the renegadoes who, like Moncel and Geistinger, had lived 
 long among the most notorious robber-tribes, the Hajutes and 
 Garrabas, and who had committed with them many such crimes. 
 There is not an evil-doer amongst them who would not believe 
 that the divine mercy is greater than his crimes. On my way 
 to Mascara, my guide was an old Arab, of the tribe of the 
 Garrabas, who live in the plain of Tlelat, near Oran. They 
 boast that they, among all the tribes, have slain the greatest 
 number of French; and, in fact, on the Makta, they maimed 
 and killed the wounded stragglers of Trezel's ill-fated army. 
 They are dreaded by all the other tribes, and there are few men 
 among them who have not shed human blood ; and yet that old 
 Arab was the most fervent devotee whom I ever met with. He 
 vaulted from his horse at every grave of a Marabut, and threw 
 himself on his face, and writhed in the dust. The features of 
 the man, otherwise hardened and repulsive, showed at such 
 moments rather the raptures of a saint than the wrath of the 
 robber. When he mounted again and proceeded with us, he cast 
 a glance of defying triumph on me. " I have a pious faith," he 
 seemed to say, " and a place in Paradise, whilst you, unbeliev- 
 ing dogs, are to be turned into dust." A good Christian has no 
 happy moment without a pure CDUScience: with the Mohammedan, 
 
158 THE ARABS. 
 
 his blind faith suffices to make a long career of crimes support- 
 able, and to deaden remorse. 
 
 During the later years of his life, the Arab never becomes so 
 dull and decaying as the old man is with us. He retains a cer- 
 tain bodily agility and freshness of mind up to a few days before 
 his death, which then ensues rapidly and easily. Though his 
 weary bones can no longer support the hardships of a campaign, 
 yet there are many instances in which, when the lad (the holy 
 war) was preached, even old men took the field, and had the defi- 
 ciencies of bodily strength recruited by the spirit of fanaticism. 
 At the storming of Belida, on occasion of the first expedition to 
 Medeah, the Frenchmen saw many grey beards amongst the 
 storming-party, and others, who had not sufficient strength, 
 inspired their followers by preaching and praying from their 
 horses. However, the old man cannot endure long travels, as for 
 instance the caravan expeditions through the wilderness. On 
 the whole, he likes rest; he seldom goes hunting, and limits his 
 rovings to a narrower district; but, on the other hand, he is 
 little susceptible to the changes of climate. During the nights 
 which I spent in Arab encampments, it was always the old men 
 who kept watch in the open air. Whilst the young men slept 
 in the warm tents, the old enjoyed the moonshiny night. On the 
 whole, the scenes of nature delight the old men more than the 
 young, and this is intimately connected with the growing fervour 
 of their fanatical piety. During thunder-storms, when the citizens 
 hide themselves in their houses, we often saw old Arabs sitting on 
 a rock, or under a withered palm-tree, looking at the struggle of 
 the elements with perfect satisfaction. When the hurricane shakes 
 his house of camel-hair — when the pouring rain deluges the en- 
 campment, and the peals of thunder, repeated by the ghostly echo 
 of the Atlas, frighten every living creature, then the soul of the 
 old Arab exults at the greatness of his God, and his fervent 
 prayer pours in lively strains from his lips. 
 
 Towards the end of his life, the Arab becomes thoughtful and 
 silent. He feels the approach of death, for which he yearns with 
 
THE ARABS. 159 
 
 joyful anxiety, as children with us before Christmas evening: and 
 he has hopes similar to theirs. Comparatively few individuals 
 among this people die from disease : with the majority, death is 
 the sudden crisis of dissolving weakness — a stoppage of the circu- 
 lation of blood, without painful agony. The dying man is carried 
 before the tent, and laid down on soft blankets. The head is sup- 
 ported by a pillow of palm-leaves ; the countenance is turned to the 
 east, in the direction of the Kaaba, and of the tomb of the Prophet. 
 Thus the Arab departs easily, and without a death- pang; turning 
 his closing eye, full of hope, to those worlds of light which have 
 cheered his imagination from childhood. The sons, grandsons, 
 and other relations of the dying man, assemble round him ; as 
 long as he breathes, they are silent; afterwards they break out 
 into their mourning howl; the females utter their dismal, shrill 
 yells, and the Marabut says the prayer. I have already men- 
 tioned the affectionate reverence of the young Arabs for their 
 fathers. It is a deeply-rooted feeling, and the sorrow of the 
 survivors is true and profound. The Arabs always select the 
 finest scenery in the Atlas mountains for their cemeteries; the 
 inhabitants of the Desert bury their dead in those lovely little 
 oases, with bubbling brooks and green palm-trees, which are so 
 frequent on the northern borders of the Sahara. Three simple 
 stones, without any ornament or inscription, designate every 
 grave. The survivors sometimes go on pilgrimages to those 
 places, kiss the tomb- stones, and even shed tears. Thus the Be- 
 douin lies buried amidst his vast realm : his dust rests in an ever- 
 free soil : the tyrants of all ages have never been able to break the 
 liberty of his wild country; and his realm will remain unchanged, 
 as it is to-day, till the time when the dead of the Desert are all 
 to rise! 
 
160 THE KABYLES. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE KABYLES. 
 
 T,HE French, and even the writers of official bulletins in the Moni- 
 teuvj often mistook the Kabyles for Arabs, though they are distinct 
 from them in language, descent, and appearance, and partly like- 
 wise in character, and in their manner of life. But the religion, 
 the love of independence, and the hatred of strangers, common to 
 both, form that bond of amity between the two nations which, in 
 the war against the French, has so often proved strong and dan- 
 gerous, and which helped to consolidate Abd-el-Kader's power. 
 His influence was greatly shaken after the expeditions against 
 Mascara and Tlemsan ; several of the Arab tribes forsook him, 
 but the Kabyles on the Tafna declared for him, and his power 
 was once more re-established. 
 
 The numerous tribes of the Kabyles or Berbers, who inhabit 
 the whole of the coast-mountains of Barbary, from Morocco to 
 Tripoli, but are thinly scattered over the interior, have different 
 names ; and the languages which they speak vary. In Morocco, 
 where they are most numerous, they are called Amazigh, or Shil- 
 luk; in Algeria and Tunis, Kabaili; and the Tuariks and Tibbos, 
 in the south of Tripoli, are probably likewise Kabyles. Their 
 language is called Kafile, in the neighbourhood of Bujia; Shauia, 
 in the interior of the province Constantine ; Shilluk, on the Tafna, 
 and in Eastern Morocco; and Amazigh, in the other parts of 
 Morocco. All those dialects belong to the same mother- tongue, 
 which has little affinity with the Arab. The Kabyles of Algeria 
 and the Amazighs of Morocco understand one another as the Ger- 
 man and Dutch do, whilst both idioms are foreign to the Arabs. 
 
 This people, so little known, inhabits an immense territory, 
 and maintained its independence for more than a thousand 
 years, though close to that Europe which is so covetous of 
 land. The question whence they originate, in the defect of his- 
 
THE KABYLES. 161 
 
 torical evidence, can only be conjecturally solved. The majority 
 of historians and geographers regard them as descendants of the 
 ancient Numidians ; others, who have heard of some fair- haired 
 Kabyle tribes in the interior, on the high lands, took them for the 
 descendants of the Vandals.* It is, however, more probable that 
 the Kabyles of the present day sprang from the mixture of the 
 different nations which have settled successively in Northern 
 Africa, and, repressed by new and warlike intruders, have found ' 
 in the mountains a home of freedom. The blood of Numidians, 
 Phoenicians, and Vandals, mingled when those people sought 
 successively a refuge in the Atlas, and engendered a new nation. 
 In the Eegency of Algeria, they are mostly of short stature, and 
 inferior in every respect to the vigorous, handsome Bedouins; 
 whilst the Amizighs of Morocco are stout and muscular. The 
 Kabyles living between Bujia and Bona are dark-haired, and of 
 dirty-yellow complexion ; on Mount Auras, they are of fair hair 
 and skin ; so much so, that Bruce, who visited them in the last cen- 
 tury, was startled, and found that they reminded him of his Anglo- 
 Saxon countrymen. The inhabitants of the Auras are probably 
 Vandals, though they speak the language of the Kabyles ; f and 
 the tradition current amongst them, that they are descendants of 
 Christians — a tradition of which, as Bruce observes, they appeared 
 rather proud — seems to confirm that opinion. The renegade Bau- 
 douin, who had visited them, told me several interesting particu- 
 lars about these fair-haired Kabyles, who had received him 
 hospitably. The strongest of the fair tribes is called Niardy. 
 They do not shave their heads like the other Kabyles, but wear 
 long hair. The plateau of the Auras is one of the Inost fertile 
 countries of Numidia, and its inhabitants are all agriculturists, a 
 peaceable race, well versed in mechanical arts. They tattoo a 
 Greek cross above their eyes, on their forehead. The same custom 
 
 * The language has nothing of Vandal in it ; so the infusion of Vandal blood 
 cannot have been large. 
 
 f Procopius mentions the crossing of a portion of the Vandals with the 
 aboriginal Africans as having taken place before the death of Valentinian (de 
 Bello Vand. i. 5). 
 L 
 
] 62 THE KA.BYLES. 
 
 is found likewise amongst other tribes of the Kabyles, who are dark, 
 but with them it is practised only by the females. They have 
 the following tradition in this respect: — "Many, many years 
 back, a fair and warlike people came from the north, and con- 
 quered and plundered Africa; but those of the inhabitants escaped 
 their fury who had painted a cross on their forehead." This 
 popular account evidently refers to the invasion of the Vandals, 
 who, in the fifth century, had propagated Christianity in the 
 most remote wildernesses of Northern Africa. But it is remark- 
 able that Procopius mentions a fair-haired, light-coloured tribe, 
 not on the Auras, but in the wilderness, far in the interior of 
 Numidia.* In spite of the assertion of this author, that all the 
 Vandal population was destroyed by the army of Belisarius, and 
 that the Emperor Justinian had, in the year 539, carried away 
 the last remnants, and even the females, it is not unlikely that 
 the Auras tribes are descendants of the Vandals, if we con- 
 sider that the extirpation of a whole people who had swayed 
 all over Numidia for nearly a century, is difficult, or even impos- 
 sible, in a thinly- peopled country, where nature offered them so 
 many hiding-places. -j- Procopius declares in another place, 
 already quoted, that many Vandals had become mixed with 
 their barbarous neighbours. William Schimper mentions of the 
 Kabyles, who worked in Algiers for daily wages, that he thought 
 he saw the true image of the Wurtemberg peasant in them. I 
 convinced myself of the correctness of this observation in Reghaia, 
 where, after the attack of the Amrauahs, a German workman and 
 a Kabyle, both wounded and naked, lay on the bed. The Ger- 
 man had formerly served in the Foreign Legion, and the heat 
 and bivouacs had burned his complexion so much, that he could 
 not be distinguished from the Kabyle. The Berber workmen 
 in Algiers look like sun-burnt German peasants of Suabia, who 
 
 * De Bello Vand. i. 13. They are not of dark skin, like the Moors, but white 
 in complexion, and the hair fair. 
 
 t The fair complexion of the Kabyles is only found amongst those living on 
 the table-iands ; it thus seems that the climate is the cause of that peculiarity. 
 
THE KABYLES. 163 
 
 have not washed for some years. But their dark black eye, 
 of piercing, wild expression, forms a contrast with their vulgar 
 boorish physiognomy. The Arabs, too, have remarked this 
 resemblance of the sun-burnt German soldiers of the Foreign 
 Legion to the Berbers, and they call them French Kabyles. 
 Among the mountain tribes of Bona and Stora, we no longer see 
 those striking German features. There they resemble more the 
 southern tribes of Europe; and an Italian resident of Bona thought 
 that if, instead of the wool-cowl fastened with a rope around their 
 head, they would wear a hat in the shape of ^ p'Ji^iir-loaf, they 
 might be taken for Calabrians. The heterogeneous origin of the 
 mountain people is likewise evident from the formation of the 
 skull, the traditions, and the manners of the Kabyles. Even 
 their mixture with the Arabs can be traced in several parts 
 of the country, especially in the province of Constantine. The 
 transition from the Arabs to the Kabyles is found amongst the 
 tribes which speak the dialect Shauiah — that is to say, the Am- 
 rauahs, Araktas, and the Ulid-abd-el-Nur. 
 
 The Kabyles have been described as a savage, warlike, and 
 liberty-loving people, by Shaw and other travellers in the first 
 half of the last century. But the often-repeated assertion, that 
 they never were subdued, is entirely incon^ect; or can, at least, 
 be only applied to a very few tribes who inhabit the most inac- 
 cessible mountain regions. The numerous ruins of Roman cities, 
 camps, and fortifications, all over the country, even in the most 
 remote wildernesses, afford a lasting evidence of the complete 
 subjugation of Numidia after the Jugurthine War. We find the 
 ruins of Sava, Horrea, and Mussulubium, to the south of Bujia, in 
 the territory of the most independent tribes. Lambessa, on the 
 Auras mountain, far in the interior, was a city of about three 
 hours' circumference. Those numerous towns and fortresses were 
 connected by good roads ; and we do not want even the testimony 
 of the geographers of old, to show that the Provincia Africa of 
 the Romans was a flourishing and civilized state. The remains of 
 the ancient buildings afford sufficient evidence in this respect. 
 
164 
 
 THE KABYLES. 
 
 This great extension of the Roman power proves that the savage 
 tribes of the aborigines were either subjugated or entirely weak- 
 ened ; since, without such success, the lengthened prosperity of the 
 Roman colony would have been impossible. The champions of the 
 proposition, that it was impossible to subdue the aborigines, quote 
 a passage of Procopius, where we read that travellers had always 
 to go by sea from Carthage to Julia Caesarea (Shershel), as the 
 road on land was infested by the barbarous tribes. But Proco- 
 pi^S>.gppnJr5 here of the time of the Byzantine sway in Northern 
 Africa, after it had Icn subjected to Justinian by his general 
 Belisarius. This second Roman dominion was neither so flourish- 
 ing nor so firm as the first : since the old cities were in a great 
 measure destroyed, the defeated Vandals had reinforced the Numi- 
 dians in the mountains; and it is this crossing of blood which 
 probably gave origin to the Kabyles of the present day. The 
 Kabyles, from the times of old, together with the Moors who 
 dwell in their neighbourhood, were again subdued in the seventh 
 century by the Arab armies issuing from Egypt. Their incom- 
 plete conversion to Islam is an evidence of subjugation, for it is 
 improbable that such a savage nation — so much addicted to its 
 customs, so jealous of its liberty, so ill-disposed to strangers — 
 ever could have accepted the faith of a foreign people, speaking a 
 different language, without being subjected to it.* But this sub- 
 jection may have soon ceased, when the Kabyles were raised to 
 equal position with the victors by their accepting the Koran. In 
 fact, shortly afterwards we see the Kabyles fighting in the 
 Moorish- Arab armies which overran Spain in the eighth century. 
 After the Turks had seized the dominion of Algeria in the six- 
 teenth century, a great portion of the Kabyles had to share the 
 fate of the Arabs, who bowed under the new yoke, and paid tri- 
 bute to the Pasha, or Dey. This relation of allegiance lasted until 
 the downfal of the dominion of the Deys in the year 1830, when 
 
 * The Tartars who conquered Persia adopted the faith of the conquered. Does 
 not every superior creed conquer an inferior, when the latter is not stereotyped 
 bv institutions? 
 
THE KABYLEP. 165 
 
 the reaction against the Turks took place in the Interior, and the 
 indigenous people slaughtered or expelled their former rulers. 
 It is therefore Incorrect to state that all the Kabyles have been 
 independent of the Turks, as has been alleged by so many super- 
 ficial tourists and journalists, each of them copying the statements 
 of a previous writer. The Beni-Salah, Musaia, Sumata, Benl-Iad, 
 Amrauah, Beni-Menasser, Ulid-abd-el-Nur, and the fair Kabyles 
 of the Auras, all paid tribute to the Deys, which tribute, however, 
 was smaller than the tribute paid by the Arabs. Even the mighty 
 tribe of the Flissas, on the Jurjura mountain, was tributary to 
 the Turks, though their taxation was rather nominal, consisting 
 only of a few pieces of copper money for every house. The same 
 tribe sent a military contingent to the Turks, which, in 1830, 
 fought gallantly against the French. Only the numerous tribes 
 on the Tafna were really independent of the Deys, composing 
 a great part of the inhabitants of the coast between Dellys and 
 Bona, and at last all the tribes who dwell south of Bujia, be- 
 tween the rivers Summam and Uad-Ajebbi, up to the Biban. 
 The most important of those tribes were the Zuaua and the 
 Beni- Abbes, who were able to take the field with ten thousand 
 warriors. 
 
 The Kabyles are divided into grarubas, or districts — the graru- 
 bas, again, are divided into dashkaras or villages. These villages 
 seldom contain more than thirty gurbis, straw huts, each inhabited 
 by one family. ■^ few tribes have larger villages, with stone houses; 
 some of them have even towns — for instance, the Flissas and the 
 Beni-Abbes. The tribes are under the dominion of Kaids, whose 
 power over their unruly subjects is, after all, very small. Justice 
 is administered by the Talebs, or doctors, but the greatest defer- 
 ence is paid to the Marabuts. This order of saints has been 
 evidently introduced by the contact with the Arabs, together 
 with Islam, as the name is the same with both those nations. 
 What we have said of the Arab Marabuts applies likewise to the 
 Berber ones, only that they are more fanatical, yet more in- 
 tolerant towards foreign religions, and more influential over 
 
166 
 
 THE KABYLES. 
 
 their countrymen. At the attack upon Belida by the Flissas, an 
 old Marabut, with entirely white beard, so weak that he had to 
 be supported by two Kabyles on both sides, was seen riding on 
 the back of an ass in front of the battle. He preached to his 
 warriors with wild gesticulations amidst the most terrible fire of 
 muskets, and retired only when a French cannon-ball had carried 
 away the head of his ass. The Marabuts of the Kabyles speak, 
 besides their own language, likewise the Arabic, as they have to 
 expound the Koran to their Mohammedan countrymen. 
 
 The Kabyles are agriculturists; they have fixed dwellings, live 
 in a frugal way, and do not possess such large herds of cattle as 
 the Arabs. But they are more industrious than the Arabs ; well 
 versed in many mechanical trades — in the manufacture of arms 
 and gunpowder, in the forging of base coin, and the building of 
 stone houses — arts unknown to the Bedouins. Their attire is 
 generally dirty, ragged, and miserable beyond description. They 
 clothe themselves in a kind of woollen tunic, nanaed kandura, 
 which corresponds with the Arab haikh or shirt. Their legs are 
 bare ; their feet are covered with a piece of sheep- skin, for pro- 
 tection against the sharp stones. They shave their heads, have 
 but a scanty beard, are thin, of middle size, but of muscular 
 make. In their features there is no trace of that noble cast pecu- 
 liar to the Moors and Bedouins. Savageness, hatred, thirst of 
 blood, may be discerned in their looks. Their language is yet 
 more noisy than that of the Arabs ; and in speaKing, they show 
 their teeth, which are as white as those of a jackall. The 
 Kabyles being, on the whole, very poor, and addicted to the 
 custom, general among Mohammedans, of hiding their hoards, 
 by which the sons often lose their paternal inheritance, many 
 young Kabyles are compelled to work for daily wages in the 
 cities, until they earn about one hundred boojoos, which enables 
 them to take a wife and to buy a musket. About four thousand 
 Kabyles generally work for wages in Algiers and its neighbour- 
 hood. They sleep in the open air ; live on water and unleavened 
 bread, niggardly and penuriously, until they have accumulated 
 
THE KABYLES. 167 
 
 the above-mentioned sum ; they return to their mountains to live 
 free and independent. They are very frugal; one kandura, a 
 hundred times mended, and inherited perhaps from the grand- 
 father, suffices for their whole life. One wife, a hut, a musket, a 
 yatagan (sabre), a few goats, a mule, and a dog — the Kabyle 
 does not require more, according to his views, for a happy exist- 
 ence. His life is very monotonous. At dawn he prays, then 
 he works for a few hours on his field, amuses himself with his 
 family, as dirty and as savage as he is himself; stretches himself 
 lazily in the sunshine, and looks thoughtlessly on the sea or the 
 plain below — for the Kabyle lacks the poetical turn of mind of 
 the Arab — or plays on a wooden whistle monotonous, tiresome 
 melodies. These are the pursuits and joys of the Kabyles, accord- 
 ing to the accounts of the French and German deserters, who re- 
 turned from them after a miserable servitude of several years. 
 The Kabyle knows no other enjoyments, and has no farther wishes. 
 Those among them who possess a stone house and a horse are 
 esteemed the luckiest of mortals. It is only war which introduces 
 frequent, though not enviable episodes into that monotonous life. 
 They seldom have occasion to fight the " Rummis," as the French 
 seldom climb up their mountains ; but they war incessantly with 
 one another, district contending against district, village against 
 village, house against house. No people on earth live in such 
 anarchy as these men of the Atlas. The returned renegades told 
 me that the inhabitants of the same village often assailed one 
 another in the most furious way, on account of a theft or a seduc- 
 tion ; the nearest kinsmen shed each other's blood ; the brother 
 murdered the brother, until the Marabut came and made peace. 
 
 The war carried on by the French with the natives brought 
 them less into contact with the Kabyles than with the Arabs. 
 The reason of this is obvious : the Arabs are all mounted, and can 
 easily, and without great danger, manoeuvre against the heavy 
 columns of the French, who have but little cavalry ; while the 
 retreat of the Bedouins is always safe, as the French horsemen are 
 -seldom able to overtake them. The Kabyles, on the other side, 
 
168 THE KABYLES. 
 
 always fight on foot; they have but few horses, and cannot make 
 much use of them on their mountains. The Berber horses, how- 
 ever, are the best breed in the country ; and the Kabyle cavalry, 
 though not formidable in numbers, are always gallant in battle. 
 Another reason of the greater combativeness of the Arabs, is their 
 more roving life. As their dwellings, the tents — and their property, 
 the herds — are easily moveable, they do not dread war ; for they 
 know that water and pasture-grounds can be easily found elsewhere. 
 But the Kabyles have huts and houses, which' may be destroyed by 
 the enemy without difficulty; and their property consists in the 
 harvest of their fields, which is not so easily transportable. They 
 have, therefore, more reason to dread war; and, busied with their 
 more peaceable occupation, they are less inclined to engage in it 
 than the nomade Arabs : yet, when an enemy approaches their 
 dwellings, they always fight gallantly. As often as the French 
 had to deal with Kabyles, the struggle lasted longer, and was 
 more bloody, and the victory more hardly contested, than with 
 the Bedouins. The Kabyle fondly loves his country, and does 
 not like to have even his brethren in faith, whether of Arab or of 
 Moorish blood, in too immediate proximity. Hospitality is un- 
 known to them, and distrust is a prominent feature of their charac- 
 ter: the independent tribes are jealoua of their freedom; and even 
 in the time of the Deys, they always received the Turks or Arabs, 
 or whoever approached their habitations, with a volley of bullets. 
 Since 1 830, however, there have been several instances of the 
 Kabyles going to war even when their dwellings were not threat- 
 ened. At the time of the first expedition of Marshal Clauzel, 
 Beh Zamun attacked Belida with his Kabyles, though it is at 
 thirty hours' distance from his tribe. The columns of warriors 
 who in 1837 attacked the fortifications oii the heights of Mejez 
 Ammer, were Kabyles of the tribe Mezzaia, near Bujia. Kabyles 
 fought as auxiliaries to Ahmed Bey in the defence of Constan- 
 tine against the French in 1836 and 1837. Then it was not 
 danger to liberty, but fanaticism, which impelled the mountaineers 
 of the Atlas to fight the war, and so much prevailed over their 
 
THE KABYLES. 169 
 
 attachment to their homes, that for months they remained far 
 from their beloved villages, from their wives and children, and 
 often did not return at all. 
 
 The tactics of the Berber warriors are in so far different from 
 the warfare of the Arabs, that they turn the peculiarities of the 
 country to more account ; whilst the Arab, confident in his fleet 
 horse, does not heed these much. The Kabyles, accordingly, like to 
 fight in their mountains, where they have a great superiority over 
 the French soldiers, being accustomed to climb nearly inaccessible 
 rocks, and trained to agility and endurance. If they accept 
 battle in the plain, it is always only in such localities as furnish a 
 covered ground in their rear, whither, retreating, they can creep 
 into the bushes. Their enemy has always to dread ambuscades : 
 the Kabyle warriors lurk in every creek and on every slope, 
 aiming at the first French who approach, and immediately retiring, 
 after the fatal discharge, into the thickets on the higher moun- 
 tains. Often they assemble in great numbers for the attack of 
 the weakest points of the French posts. Such attacks are gene- 
 rally planned on some festive occasion ; for instance, on the 
 Bairam, or when a great feast draws larger crowds together. 
 Emissaries, nearly always Marabuts, begin to wander through 
 the districts of the tribes, to preach the holy war, and to announce 
 the day when the attack is to begin, and the last hour of the 
 "Rummi" to strike. Every tribe sends then its contingent to 
 the trysting-place, and as these warriors are always volunteers, 
 and, being composed of the most fanatical and most gallant indi- 
 viduals of the country, it is natural that the attack is generally 
 bold and desperate. The block-houses near Bujia were often hard 
 pressed; and, in spite of the cannonade from the forts, the garrison 
 was repeatedly on the point of giving way. There often happened 
 murderous single combats between troopers in the French cavalry 
 and Kabyles, where sabre and yatagan were crossed, and the 
 Kabyles were frequently victorious. 
 
 In their warlike expeditions, the Kabyles are often accom- 
 panied by their wives, who enjoy more liberty, and have greater 
 
170 
 
 THE KABYLES. 
 
 influence over their husbands, than other Arab women. Those 
 wild females encamp near the battle-field, and, like the wives of 
 the old Cimbrians and Teutons, encourage the warriors by ges- 
 ticulations and addresses : they celebrate the strong and brave, 
 and chide the coward. During the siege of Constantine in 1837, 
 many Kabyle females were in the camp of Ahmet Bey. In June 
 of the same year. Colonel Schauenberg was marching with a 
 corps of two thousand men through the plain of the Isser against 
 the Amrauahs, when the infantry and cavalry of the Kabyles 
 boldly attacked the French ; and while the fire of muskets was 
 sounding from every bush, the slopes of the hills and the cliffs 
 were covered with Kabyle females, in fluttering, uncouth attire, 
 with unloosened hair, uttering their savage yells, like so many 
 sorceresses. 
 
 I have known wellrcducated Frenchmen who had become en- 
 thusiastic admirers of Kabyle life, which, of course, they had not 
 themselves seen, but had heard described, and who believed this 
 savage freedom, this easy existence without wants and cares, to be 
 most attractive. With as much reason might they have praised the 
 hyena as happy, which likewise lives in holes, and has no master in 
 the world, and is fond of its mate and its whelp, and shows its teeth 
 to any intruder, and exists carelessly from day to day. Some 
 politicians, on the other hand, advised cultivation of the alliance 
 of the Kabyles in preference to that of the Arabs ; but they had 
 probably forgotten the character of that people, who have so often 
 proved themselves to be fanatical, despising friendly intercourse 
 with the French, and giving such proofs of faithlessness, that even 
 the ''''fides Punica" was eclipsed.* The reader perhaps yet remem- 
 bers the treacherous assassination of the Commander of Bujia, 
 Salamon di Musis. Less known are crimes such as were committed 
 during my stay in Algiers. A planter with whom I was acquainted, 
 
 * The German author forgets that the PhcBnicians of Carthage were by far 
 less faithless than the Romans ; and had Carthage triumphed, and histoiy been 
 handed down to us by the Phoenicians instead of the Romans, we should hear with 
 greater justice of the/cfes liomana. 
 
THE KABYLES. 171 
 
 and who had married a young Spanish lady from Minorca, had a 
 property in the neighbourhood of Algiers, not far from Kuba, and 
 gave work to several European labourers, and to three Kabyles, 
 whose affection he thought to win by kind treatment. He trusted 
 them in so far, that he allowed them to sleep in a house — a thing 
 which even the Turks never had permitted. One night the young 
 wife came, pale, and fleeing into the camp of Kuba. The Kabyles 
 had murdered her husband in his sleep ; they had assassinated 
 her children and the German labourers ; and she had only been 
 spared because one of the Kabyles had fallen in love with her ; 
 from whom, however, she had escaped by a leap through the 
 window. Eight corpses were found in the empty house ; the 
 Kabyles had fled into their mountains, after having plundered it. 
 Captain Rozet, of the staff, who had often visited the Berber 
 labourers in their huts, liked to converse with them, and made 
 them presents iA order to get information from them about 
 their country and their people, once jestingly proposed to accom- 
 pany them to their homes. They cast an ironical glance at 
 him, and remained silent. " Would my life be in danger with 
 you?" asked he; "would you perhaps yourselves cut off my 
 head?" "Ah!" exclaimed they, with a peculiar accent, and 
 said nothing more. A physician asked a Kabyle labourer, who 
 had been most kindly treated by the Sisters of Charity in the 
 Civil Hospital at Algiers, and had left it as convalescent, whether 
 he would injure those females, if he should meet them in the 
 mountains ? The Kabyle answered with a grin, " I would not 
 
 just take their head, but they had better stay where they 
 
 are." Dr. Marseillan, a young French army physician, was very 
 fond of intercourse with the Arabs ; he visited them often, and 
 had never reason to complain. When transferred to Stora, he 
 thought he could be on the same footing with the Kabyles. To 
 his misfortune, he did not know the difference of character between 
 the Arabs and Kabyles : he followed one of their Sheikhs, who had 
 invited him, and was found next day, two hours' distance from 
 Stora, a mutilated corpse. This is the people of which Pellissier 
 
1 72 THE MOORS. * 
 
 says, that they deserve freedom in every respect,* and that a cross- 
 ing between them and the French settlers would be advisable ! 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE MOORS. 
 
 The most ancient inhabitants of the western part of Barbary 
 were the Maurusians, or Moors. Their origin is hidden in the 
 darkness of ante-historic ages, and the facts, or rather hypo- 
 theses, mentioned by the old authors, differ greatly in this 
 respect. Sallust, in his Jugurthine War, tells us that when 
 Hercules perished in Spain, his motley army disbanded ; and the 
 Asiatic mountaineers, the Medians, Persians, and Armenians, 
 sailed to Africa, where they became intermingfed with the abori- 
 gines — the Libyans — a rude race, living, like beasts, on the raw 
 flesh of wild animals, and the herbs of the field. Their name was, 
 according to him, corrupted from Medes into Moors. Procbpius, a 
 much later author, assigns them a different origin ; saying that, 
 according to their tradition, they came from Phoenicia, and were 
 originally Jebusite, Gergasite, and Ammonite tribes, who were 
 expelled by Joshua, the son of Nun, from Palestine, and arrived in 
 Africa after many wanderings. The name of Joshua lived yet 
 amongst them at the time of Procopius; they called him "the 
 robber." Other authors think they were the descendants of those 
 Arabs who, several thousand years before Mohammed, had overrun 
 Egypt ; ■]- and it is not improbable that some swarms might have 
 proceeded farther west, and settled in the country known in later 
 times as Mauritania. The facility with which the two nations, Arabs 
 and Moors, combined in the seventh century, and founded jointly 
 
 * What does Dr. Wagner think the people deserve? slavery? or massacre? 
 or to he let alone? 
 
 f The author means evidently the Hyksos ; but those were not Arabs, but 
 probably a Tartar race like the Medes, TwJcomans, and Turks. 
 
THE MOORS. 173 
 
 the empire of Spain ; the identity of their language, whilst the 
 Kabyles, subdued and converted by the Arabs, yet retained their 
 tongue ; and the resemblance of many customs, for instance cir- 
 cumcision, which was usual amongst the Moors even before the 
 Arab invasion, seem to argue a relationship of the two nations. 
 Leo Africanus, in his Descriptio Africae^ mentions an Arab immi- 
 gration into Africa, headed by Malek Afriki, several centuries 
 after Joshua. But several other ancient authors also mention 
 the similarity of manners between the Arabs and the old inhabi- 
 tants of Africa. Strabo, for instance, says explicitly that the 
 Getullans, who, with the Libyans, were the aborigines of Africa, 
 lived entirely like Arab nomades. 
 
 The modern Moors constitute only about the tenth part of the 
 population of Algeria, and their number has been decreasing ever 
 since 1830. Many of them emigrate, from religious and econo- 
 mical reasons, to the other Barbary states ; others have been 
 driven by the destruction of several cities, and by the calamities 
 of war, into the interior among the Arabs, with whom they soon 
 assimilated. Of all the indigenous populations of Barbary, the 
 Moors have the mildest manners, and the greatest amount of 
 knowledge. From the times of old, they have chiefly dwelt in 
 the cities and sea-ports. There are few races in the world hand- 
 somer than the Moors. They are well built, not so tall as the 
 Arabs, but above middle size; they incline to corpulence; and very 
 few of them are thin. Their features are noble, bat less ener- 
 getic than those of the Arabs : the complexion of the children is 
 clear, white, and rosy, as Shaw has remarked, who says that 
 it is rare to find in Europe so fine a complexion. With adult 
 age, men get pale or a little brown ; the hair, which is shaved 
 in the Arab manner, leaving but one tress on the top, is jet 
 black ; so are their eyes. The physiognomy seems to indicate 
 mildness and melancholy; and nobody could surmise that this 
 race of soft glance and quiet demeanour furnished its contingent 
 to the pirate fleets which, a century back, were the terror of the 
 Mediterranean. The Moorish females, who never expose them- 
 
174 THE MOORS. 
 
 selves to the rays of the sun, but remain all the day at home in the 
 cool shady gallery of the colonnade, or when they go out, cover 
 their faces with veils, retain their brilliant complexion to old age. 
 Their features are uncommonly handsome ; the forehead is very 
 white ; the slightly-bent nose nobly shaped ; the mouth, teeth, and 
 chin, are perfect, and the fiery splendour of their eyes surpasses 
 that of their husbands, whose glance is rather soft and tender than 
 ardent. My observations, however, are confined to a very insigni- 
 ficant number of Moorish females whom I saw on the terraces of 
 their houses, or at hunting-parties, or on occasion of nuptials. 
 
 The costume of the Moors resembles that of the Turks, of course 
 not the reformed ones : it is like the old splendid Turkish attire, 
 with the gaudy turban, the elegant gold- embroidered waistcoat, 
 the wide trousers full of folds, which reach only to the knee, and 
 the rich scarf. Those who have performed the pilgrimage to 
 Mecca wear green turbans ; and the distinctive sign of the Kadis 
 (judges), of the Kodshas (scribes), of the Marabuts (saints), and of 
 the Talebs (doctors), is a peculiarly formed white broad turban, with 
 many small folds. The young Moors, up to their fifteenth year, 
 wear a skull-cap, which covers only the tress left unshaven on the 
 top of their head; many take the turban only when they marry. 
 All the Moors wear white or black burnuses, like the Arabs, but 
 of lighter and more delicate fabric, and of more elegant cut. 
 They wear this cloak only in bad weather, but they always carry 
 it about them, throwing it on the shoulder or across the arm. The 
 higher classes even think it improper to go out without the bur- 
 nus, which is a very picturesque attire, and resembles much the 
 toga of the Romans. With the poor, the cut of the costume is the 
 same ; but instead of fine cloth and gold- embroidered silk, they 
 dress in coarse stuffs, sometimes in rags. The calves of their legs 
 are always bare, the feet being covered with a kind of slippers. 
 The Moorish females in the streets are clad in white from top to toe. 
 They wear white muslin or linen pantaloons ; a haikh covers the 
 upper part of their body; the face they veil with white handker- 
 chiefs, and they leave their brilliant eyes alone uncovered. Their 
 
THE MOORS. 175 
 
 garb at home is of a different description. There they dress 
 gaudily and sumptuously, adorning their heads with a peculiar 
 towering ornament of braided silver. They have silk jackets 
 with short sleeves, and rich embroidery; a broad girdle of the 
 most costly fabric encircles their waist ; their pantaloons are com- 
 monly of white silk, reaching only to the knees, whilst their feet 
 are inserted in half-slippers of peculiar form, the upper part, 
 of green or red velvet, being usually overloaded with gold- 
 embroidery. Such is the attire of the Moorish ladies at home, 
 both sumptuous and pleasing to the eye. 
 
 What I said about the manners and costumes of the Moorish 
 inhabitants of Algiers, is applicable to the entire Moorish popula- 
 tion of the country. The religious observances, the public and 
 private feasts, the social life and occupations, are the same in all 
 the cities. The most characteristic feature of this people which 
 strikes every foreigner, is their apathetic calmness. The majority 
 of the Moors are shopkeepers ; we see them the whole day sitting 
 before their stalls with crossed legs, drinking their coffee, or puffing 
 slowly the smoke of tobacco from their red clay-pipes ; and often, 
 likewise, without coffee and tobacco, staring, motionless, silent, 
 serious, and seemingly forlorn, in abstract meditation. There 
 are many mechanics among them, — joiners, turners, clockmakers, 
 tailors, embroiderers, gunsmiths, and especially shoemakers. 
 But they work with unbearable slowness : they put their tools 
 often aside to take again and again a cup of coffee ; then they 
 examine their work for a long time before setting about it again: 
 they perform everything with the slowest and most measured 
 movements. I have already mentioned the life in the coffee- 
 houses ; there, too, the Moor sits with crossed legs without stirring, 
 and listens to the slow cadence of the monotonous music. 
 
 It is difficult to say whether the Moors are as poor in thoughts 
 as they are scanty in words. I saw some of them leaning on the 
 terraces of their houses, or on the battlement of the pier, gazing at 
 the foaming waves when the mistral of the north-west was 
 clustering. Their pale serious countenances looked so grand, that 
 
176 THE MOORS. 
 
 they might have been taken for mighty magi, at whose command 
 the sea was in rebellion. When, on summer evenings, they sat 
 in groups at the gate Bab-a-Zun, imposing and dignified, and 
 when one of them began to speak, and all the others listened to 
 him attentively, it was the image of the Roman Senate in turbans; 
 and whoever did not understand Arabic would not have believed 
 that this solemn congregation was talking simply of the cattle- 
 market of the next day, or of the hen of the neighbour which 
 yesterday had laid one egg more than usual: he would not 
 have thought that an assembly of such commanding appearance, 
 where heroes and senators seemed to have met, is composed 
 merely of farmers, cheesemongers, school-teachers, and smiths. 
 The science of physiognomy nowhere deceives more strikingly 
 than here. For a long time I could not believe that these noble 
 figures, these melancholy, dreaming eyes, are absorbed in dull and 
 empty brooding. I could not help fancying that it is the sorrow 
 of the broken greatness of their once so mighty race which gives 
 the beautiful melancholy expression to their pale features, or that 
 it was only the body which sat there dreaming, whilst the spirit 
 was wandering over the graves of the Abencerrages, and convers- 
 ing with its deceased ancestors in Granada, and planning how 
 to avenge the injuries of centuries. But the Europeans who for 
 many years have lived at Algiers, in the immediate neighbour- 
 hood of the Moors, who converse with them daily, and have every 
 opportunity of studying them soberly, declare unanimously that 
 this people lack every poetical thought or energetic aspiration, and 
 that they do not think in their shops of anything else except of the 
 coffee-house; and, in the coffee-house, only of their shops or of their 
 kuskusu-dish, or of their wife at home, or of nothing at all; whilst 
 they always retain that deeply thoughtful expression. Though 
 it is difficult to attain a knowledge of the moral resources of an 
 uncommunicative people, yet, as far as I got acquainted with the 
 Moors, during a stay of two years among them, I must say that I 
 concur in the opinion of the other Europeans in respect to their 
 faculties. Beside the countenance and costume, I did not find 
 
THE MOORS. 177 
 
 anything poetical with them. The calmness and the melancholy 
 expression of their features is more a sign of apathy and dulness 
 than of resignation and thought. 
 
 Their mildness of manners facilitates pleasant intercourse with 
 them, and the French never have found them obstacles to 
 the extension of their dominion. Though the Moors, like the 
 other Mussulmans, are fanatical, yet their fanaticism is not dan- 
 gerous ; they are too peaceable, and oppression must grow 
 unbearable before they would think of armed resistance. In the 
 first years of the French sway, the}'- saw their mosques destroyed, 
 and the tombs of their fathers violated ; but they did not dare to 
 show their disaifection to the stern Duke of Rovigo, otherwise 
 than by angry looks. They were afterwards reconciled to the vic- 
 tors ; and many Moors are now in French service as interpreters, 
 police- agents, orderlies, &c. Others, who could not bear to live 
 with infidels, emigrated to Tunis, Tangiers, or the East ; or they 
 retired into the interior, there to be absorbed amongst the Bedou- 
 ins. The number of those emigrants is estimated at rather more 
 than a third of the nation. Those who remained have accus- 
 tomed themselves to their present position and existing rulers; and 
 in many cities, as for instance in Bona, the mutual intercourse is 
 so friendly, that very few of the Moors would be inclined to wish 
 for the restoration of Turkish sway. To an Arab rule they would 
 even make resistance with arms in hand, as, on the whole, there 
 is a great dislike between Arabs and Moors, which is partly tem- 
 pered by community of faith, but cannot be wholly overcome until 
 faith rises into fanaticism. The Arab, who is much more ener- 
 getic, more hardened and warlike, expresses his contempt of the 
 Moor on every occasion, and the name Hadar (town-folks) has 
 with him a degrading additional meaning. 
 
 Kecent travellers have expressed as contradictory opinions re- 
 specting the character of the Moors as regarding that of the Arabs. 
 "William Schimper has been entirely captivated by their mildness 
 and calmness, whilst Bozet did not find a single good quality in 
 them. It is true that the Moors are as avaricious as all the other 
 
178 " THE MOORS. 
 
 Mohammedan nations ; they, too, steal and cheat where they can do 
 it without danger; yet those crimes are not more fi-equent here than 
 in France. In spite of their apparent mildness, the Moors have 
 sometimes been hard and cruel with prisoners ; but this happened 
 before they had entered into closer friendly intercourse with the 
 French : it was more the result of religious fanaticism than of 
 natural disposition, and perhaps arose from the remembrance 
 of a dim tradition of the oppression and sufferings sustained by 
 their forefathers in Spain. They designated all the Europeans 
 by the name of " Rummi," and vowed common hatred to them 
 all. That hatred was inherited by them from their ancestors, 
 who were expelled from the soil of Spain by the cruel zeal of the 
 Philips. For two hundred years they had nearly no intercourse 
 at all with the Europeans ; they knew them only from the history 
 of the Spanish persecutions. The difference of faith, and the 
 establishment of the Knights of Rhodes, had originally given rise 
 to piratical warfare, and the Moors did not know that the civiliza- 
 tion of Europe had changed the manners of the Western nations, 
 that the fanaticism of the crusades is out of fashion, and that even 
 Spain has become tolerant* in some respects. AVhen the war 
 broke out with the French, the recollection of the Ferdinands and 
 Philips of Spain awoke in their minds, and the barbarous fury with 
 which they treated the unfortunate crews of some wrecked men-of- 
 war, though unjustifiable in itself, was yet in some respect to be 
 excused in an uninstructed people, to whom the Dey and the 
 Marabut had preached so much about the danger which threat- 
 ened their faith, their property, and their wives. The population, 
 otherwise so apathetic, peaceable, and cowardly, took up arms, 
 partly from fanaticism against the " Rummi," and partly from fear 
 of the Dey. It was only when the French twenty-four pounders 
 began to batter the Emperor's fort, that they again recovered 
 their senses, and became aware of what European warfare is in 
 
 * That is to say, tolerant enough to accept money from Protestant and Jewish 
 lenders, but not tolerant enough to pay interest to infidels and misbelievers, or 
 to grant them a decent burial-yluce. 
 
THE MOORS. 179 
 
 reality. They soon saw that a suddenly aroused paroxysm of 
 gallantrj'-, and a fanaticism awakened by the approach of the 
 traditional enemy of their faith, could not avail against the 
 columns of arms and cannon. Their dread of death triumphed 
 over all their other feelings. When the French entered the 
 conquered pirate-city, the Moors, stunned by the unexpected 
 blow, returned to their dull, passive apathy. But soon they began 
 to look defyingly when they saw that the victors were not at all 
 so dangerous and blood-thirsty as they had been described. In 
 the first years of the occupation, the Moors shunned all inter- 
 course with the French. The females of rank did not show them- 
 selves in the streets, even though covered with veils; and they hid 
 themselves, crying and trembling, when they perceived a French- 
 man lurking perhaps on the terrace of the neighbour house. But 
 by and by they became accustomed in iVlgiers to have infidel 
 Frenchmen for neighbours, who, after all, were more amiable 
 than they had expected. The most fanatical party emigrated 
 from the city ; an intercourse began to be established, first from 
 commercial motives; afterwards, when acquaintances were made in 
 a business way, even from feelings of mutual cordiality and attach- 
 ment. The beginning was made with the youths, in whose meek 
 and serene souls hatred and fanaticism were not yet confirmed. 
 Moorish boys of the lower classes learned French with remarkable 
 ease ; together with the Jewish children, they became the inter- 
 preters, and negotiators between the European and the indigenous 
 population : some of them even took service with the French. 
 Though the fathers watched them closely, that the boys might not 
 meddle with the "Rummis" more than was necessary, yet they 
 could not prevent the pleasure which the children took in the sights 
 and enjoyments of the Europeans: they could not prevent the boys 
 from running to the harbour when a steamboat arrived from France, 
 or from admiring with envious eyes the shops of the confectioners, 
 with all the delightful cakes displayed in the windows, or from 
 hastening to the gate Bab-el-Uad when the troops were reviewed, 
 or the fire-works discharged ; or from gathering regularly at the 
 
180 THE MOORS. 
 
 great square at eight In the evening, to accompan}'^ the tattoo to the 
 barracks, and thence to return home in rank and file, imitating the 
 French soldiers, drumming and trumpeting, and using the French 
 words of command. Perhaps the continual display of military 
 pomp and ornament might arouse the military spirit of the Moorish 
 youth, and accustom them to look to more energetic occupations 
 than those of their fathers. Or if the report of powder and the 
 neighing of horses does not allure them, perhaps the aspect of the 
 great and striking wonders sent to Africa by European civilization, 
 the mighty ships, the novel buildings, the glistering articles of 
 mechanical skill, may not fail to produce abiding results, and 
 may give them an impulse to imitation and competition. In 
 any case, the defying and fanatical hatred will die out with the 
 old Moorish grey -beards, and the rising generation will not be 
 envenomed against those with whom they have played in their 
 childhood, and with whom they grew up side by side. Without 
 any too sanguine hopes, I yet believe that the Moorish population, 
 if managed with forbearance, and employed with prudence, might 
 in future render substantial service to the European colonization. 
 
 What I have said about the inveterate though silent hatred of 
 the grown-up Moors against the Europeans is, however, only in 
 general true ; exceptions are frequent. Even the circumstance 
 that many Moors derive pecuniary advantage from intercourse with 
 the French, has softened their hostile feelings. Some of them 
 approached the Europeans with open cordiality and without caring 
 for the peevish resentment of their stricter co-religi(»nists. In the 
 large Moorish coffee-house in the Divan Street, I often saw Euro- 
 peans and Moors sitting together on the long benches, and some- 
 times even the Moorish host expelling some of his countrymen to 
 make room for European guests, who commonly pay one sou 
 more for their coffee. I made several agreeable acquaintances 
 with Moorish farmers in the neighbourhood of Algiers. They 
 are, on the whole, better, and of more open charactc r than the 
 citizens, who, by their trade, have become more inclined to selfish- 
 ness and roguery. I remember them, with great pleasure, in their 
 
TUE MOORS. 181 
 
 neat white cottages, and sliould like to meet tbem again. When 
 overtaken by a thunder-storm, on a naturalist's expedition, I often 
 took refuge in those cottages, and found an equally friendly wel- 
 come from poor and rich. I was commonly oflfered coffee or milk 
 and fruit, and the host often refused to take a counter-gift. As 
 the ogave inclosures of the Moorish gardens are nearly all defec- 
 tive and incomplete, I used to rove through them with my musket 
 without ceremony, since I often found insects there, which I could 
 not meet with elsewhere. Yet never did a landlord reproach me 
 for such trespasses. On reaching one of them riding on his ass, 
 he always halted, and, after a kind greeting, offered me tobacco, 
 or even something more substantial. Once I took a walk on the 
 western hills of Bona, and sang German songs, whilst I sought a 
 beautiful green-shining beetle on the flowers of the Daphne 
 gnidium. A Moor stood on the slope of the hill in his vineyard, 
 and listened to me attentively. Suddenly he approached, and 
 offered me an immense bunch of grapes. The air was very sultry, 
 and this refreshment, offered in so kind a way, was very accept- 
 able to me. At the time of the fruit- gathering, many Europeans 
 are invited by their Moorish acquaintances to their farms ; and 
 Christians and Mussulmans then feast comfortably together from 
 the same dish, and drirk from the same cup. Of course, such a 
 Moorish harvest-feast is not so merry and entertaining as a vint- 
 age on the Rhine, or in the Gascogne, where the female wine- 
 dressers appear with the leaves twisted into their shin}'- hair, and 
 enliven society with their amiability. When a female is seen in 
 the Moorish feasts, it is only a negress with thick lips, and ugly 
 animal features. The Mooresses hide themselves carefully when 
 a guest is in the house ; and, if we meet them, they are nearly 
 always covered with white veils from top to toe, like a ghost. 
 But the females being excluded from all intercourse with men, it 
 is natural that social life in Algeria should be dreary and mono- 
 tonous. As I have already remarked, the Moors are by no means 
 communicative, and the best entertainment at such parties is af- 
 forded by the delightful scenery, the view of the trees studded with 
 
182 THE MOORS. 
 
 golden oranges, and of the blooming plain and the dark-blue 
 sea. 
 
 But even with those Moors who would not live in Algiers (the 
 warlike El- Jesair) — after the pirate- queen had to bend her haughty 
 neck under the yoke of the Christians ; or who, at a later period, 
 thought that their hearts must break when they saw how their 
 mosques were destroyed, and the tombs of their ancestors defiled; 
 who, therefore, emigrated to the interior — even with those Moors 
 the old hatred has lost its intensity. Whatever was the mischief 
 brought upon them by the French invasion, they did not resent it 
 on individuals. And as to the individuals, they had really seldom 
 any reason to complain ; the French soldiers evinced, on the whole, 
 great forbearance when the struggle had ended; and exceptions 
 were very rare. I have met some of the emigrant Moors of Algiers 
 at Mascara. Those men whose eyes were opened by a residence 
 of three years in a countiy ruled by Arabs, greeted us with un- 
 feigned joy. These half-civilized Mohammedans found more to 
 sympathize with, in the life, the manners, and costumes of civi- 
 lized Christians, than in the wild character and savage life of 
 the Bedouins. Under French sway, their life and property was 
 at least secure; the unoffending race was not persecuted, whilst 
 with the Arab oflScials of Abd-el-Kader, they had been exposed to 
 manifold vexations, and had to suffer humiliations of every kind 
 in their daily intercourse with the Arabs, who most heartily 
 despise every " Hadar" (citizen), and make them feel their superi- 
 ority. The Consul Daumas and his retinue lived on the best 
 understanding with the emigrant Moors, and scarcely a day 
 elapsed without a visit from them. All those Moors inquired 
 about their French acquaintances in Algiers ; there was scarcely 
 one who had not made the acquaintance of some European to 
 whom he wished to be remembered. One of them accompanied 
 us on our return from Mascara for several hours, and took then 
 such an affectionate leave of us as if we had been his brothers. 
 Should it require any farther instance to show how quickly the 
 hatred arising from ancestral traditions, and maintained by the 
 
THE TURKS AND KURUGLIS. 183 
 
 lack of information about the character of the Christians, is softened 
 and melting away, I may mention Constantine, the population of 
 which was most hostile to the French, and committed atrocious 
 outrages on the prisoners. A few months after the capture of 
 the town, this feeling had altogether vanished ; the conquered 
 people attached themselves openly and readily to the conquerors, 
 and soon took up arms on the side of the French against their 
 late Bey, for whom they had fought valiantly only a few months 
 before against the "Rummi." 
 
 As the majority of the Moors have become dull, cowardly, and 
 demoralized by a long endured tyranny, they cannot become an 
 important prop of the French dominion; yet they constitute no 
 hindrance to the new colonization, and this is most advantageous 
 in a country, the great majority of whose inhabitants are opposed 
 to their rulers in deadly hatred. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE TURKS AND KURUGLIS. 
 
 The number of the Turks in the Regency of Algeria has materially 
 decreased since the downfal of their sway in 1830, and now 
 scarcely amounts to more than a few thousands, who are dispersed 
 in the cities of the coast and the interior. The first Turks came to 
 Algeria in 1516. They consisted of a band of freebooters, whom 
 the renegade Horuk (Haruj) Barbarossa had gathered, along with 
 many other desperate characters from all the different countries of 
 the coast of the Mediterranean. After the death of that renowned 
 pirate-prince, his brother, Khai'reddln Barbarossa, threatened by 
 All Homar, the chief of Tlemsan, sent an embassy to Constantinople 
 to the Sultan Selim, requesting his protection; he promised to 
 subject the country to the allegiance of the Porte, under the con- 
 dition of being invested with tlie Pashallk of Algiers. Selim 
 complied with the request, and sent him two thousand janissaries, 
 
184 THE TUllKS AND KURUGLIS. 
 
 who were afterwards reinforced by new detachments. Thus the 
 Turks acquired a settlement in Algeria, and extended their domi- 
 nion even over the interior of the country. The less accessible 
 mountain-regions and the deserts alone remained independent; 
 such as the country of the Kabyles, south of Bujia, and the dry 
 steppes of the Arab tribes of the Angads, south of Tlenisan. The 
 Turks were continually recruited by voluntary enlistment at Con- 
 stantinople and Smyrna. Many of them married Mooresses in 
 Algeria, but they lost by this a portion of their privileges. The 
 offspring of those marriages were called Kuruglis, and were nearly, 
 in all their qualities, the equals of their fathers; yet they were 
 jealously watched by the Turks, as they had repeatedly attempted 
 to possess themselves of independent power, and had allied them- 
 selves for that purpose with the Moors. After the conquest of 
 Algiers by Marshal Bourmont, the majority of those Turks who 
 were able to bear arms were banished from the city : they are 
 now scarce in the sea- port towns: and the greater part of them 
 live at Constantine. 
 
 All the Turks whom I have seen in the different African towns 
 are less tall, less bony, and more fleshy than the Arabs, though 
 they do not incline to corpulence so much as the Moors. Their 
 features are handsome, and more energetic than those of the 
 Moors; more marked, yet without their interesting melancholy 
 expression. Their eyes are far from being so fine, and rather 
 indicate wild boldness than dream}'- mildness. Their costume is 
 similar to that of the Moors, but commonl}^ more gaudy. The 
 Kuruglis, especially, are fond of a bright and rich attire, and 
 some of them wear clothes of several thousand francs in value. 
 
 Many of the Turks and Kuruglis of Algeria have entered the 
 French service. In Constantine, they form several corps, or- 
 ganized in the manner of the late janissaries of the Deys ; they 
 are chiefly employed as moveable columns, and the French are 
 greatly indebted to them for their favourable progress in that pro- 
 vince. Altogether, the French have reason to repent of having 
 disbanded the army of the Dey, and banished the majority of its 
 
THE TURKS AND KURUGLIS. 185 
 
 soldiers from the country. The invaders thought they could rely 
 on the Arabs, the formerly oppressed race. But they soon found 
 that this nation never can become a prop to the new dominion, as 
 it is wilder, more unruly and fanatical, and more opposed in its 
 manners and customs to the Europeans than the Turks, who had 
 been the dreaded rulers of the country, and knew both how to 
 war with Arabs, and how to keep them in peace. It would have 
 been easy to prevail upon them to accept service with the French. 
 After the explosion of the* Emperor's fort, many of them were 
 heard to say that French silver had as good a sound as that of 
 the Dey. The co-operation of the Turks would have been of evi- 
 dent advantage for the French conquest, since the Arabs could 
 not have risen to such energy and boldness, seeing that their old 
 masters were in the service of the French, so that things would 
 have taken altogether a different turn. 
 
 In point of character and manners, the Turks of Algeria pretty 
 much resemble their brothers elsewhere in the East. They are 
 proud, frugal, gallant, very honest in commercial dealings, very 
 faithful and reliable as allies, even when they have to fight against 
 Mussulmans. They are less fanatical than all their co-religionists, 
 the Mozabites excepted; they keep their word strictly, and are 
 often generous. I hold the Turks to be the noblest and most im- 
 portant Mohammedan nation. But they are likewise not exempt 
 from vices. They are less avaricious, but they are more rapa- 
 cious than the Arabs: they plunder and make exactions without 
 remorse ; they are cruel, lazy, and sensual. The Turks of Bar- 
 bary remain entirety what their countrymen were in Constan- 
 tinople before the reform. They maintain the old costume, and the 
 old manners; where they rule, as for instance in Tunis and Tri- 
 polis, they have likewise the old energetic and despotical turn of 
 mind. The Turk is superior to all the other races of Barbary — a 
 born ruler, before whose proud deportment all the other Moham- 
 medans bow. Even now, when they are no longer rulers in Al- 
 geria, they hold a high rank among the natives. All the qualities 
 of the Turk, even his imposing calmness and his idlenesSj^seem to 
 
186 THE JEWS. 
 
 have stamped this people as the rulers of the Moslems. This 
 accounts for the strange fact that from twelve to fifteen thousand 
 Turks, dispersed all over the country, were able to maintain the 
 peace of Algeria before the arrival of the French, and that they 
 could even carry on a system of oppressive despotism, whilst 
 Arabs and Moors did not dare to stir. 
 
 Most . of the Turks and Kuruglis are well off, and live upon 
 their income. They have but few wants, yet they make a greater 
 display in their attire and in their fare than all the other natives. 
 A portion of the Kuruglis are merchants in retail; they hold 
 several shops in Algiers, • especially in the Divan Street. The 
 shopkeeper sits there with his usual gravity, richly adorned, and 
 serves his customers with dignified courtesy. The Turkish mer- 
 chants principally traffic in handsome embroideries, perfumes, 
 pipes, and arms ; they never ask too high prices, never make 
 abatement, and maintain in business the strictest honesty. They 
 are less apt in mechanical skill than the other native races; in 
 point of scholarship they stand on the same level with the Moors. 
 Their conversation is agreeable; they do not avoid the Europeans, 
 are fond of social life, have already learnt from tlie French how to 
 drink wine, and show sincere attachment to their friends, even when 
 these are Christians. The Kuruglis of Mostaganem and Tlemsan 
 have given abundant evidence of their faith and general honesty. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE JEWS. 
 
 The Jews of Barbary came to that country probably soon after 
 the destruction of Jerusalem, when the remnant of the unhappy 
 nation became scattered all over the world. According to local 
 tradition, however, the great majority of them came to Africa only 
 after the fall of Granada, to share the exile of the Moors and Arabs 
 of Spain. At that time, the spirit of the most bitter persecution 
 
THE JEWS. . 187 
 
 reigned in Christian Europe against the Jews, whilst they found 
 protection with the Moorish kings, and though not admitted to 
 equal rights with the Mussulmans, lived at least under a tolerant 
 policy, which did not prohibit them from the performance of their 
 religious rites, nor interfere with the observance of their manners 
 and customs. According to this tradition, the first emigration 
 took place so early as in 1390, led by the chief Rabbi of Sevilla, 
 Simon Ben-Smia. When he and his fellow exiles landed on the 
 African coast, the Rabbi entreated Sidi-Ben-Jussuf, a celebrated 
 Marabut of Miliana, for an asylum, which was readily granted. 
 It is even said that the Arab Chief and the Hebrew Rabbi drew 
 up a formal agreement, guaranteeing the rights of the new comers. 
 Xhe Rabbis of Algiers assured me that this deed is still kept in 
 the principal synagogue of the city. Under the reign of the 
 fanatical Philips of Spain, the Jewish emigration quietly increased 
 and the Jews extended slowly all over Barbary. We find them 
 now in all the towns, even in the oases of the Sahara. The 
 Jewish dragoman (interpreter) Ben-Amran, in Mascara, who, as 
 a boy, had with his father accompanied the expedition of a 
 Turkish Bey to Ain-Maadi, assured me that a considerable num- 
 ber of Jews live even in that remote and small desert state, but 
 that they have adopted the Bedouin costume. There are Jews 
 in Tuggurt and Gadames, and even in the Mozabite republics ; 
 and it is said that some of them dwell in the villages of the Ama- 
 zighs, in the mountains of Morocco. Everywhere they are toler- 
 ated, but only as a subordinate, despised, and oppressed race, 
 useful in its low sphere, and on which even the Mohammedan 
 beggar can vent his insolence. 
 
 It appeared to me that the Jews of Algeria are superior in bodily 
 strength to those of Europe. Particularly in Constantine, I saw 
 handsome, well-built men among them, similar to the Moors, but 
 not so fat. Their physiognomy has more of the marked Eastern 
 type than that of the Turks and Moors. The females surpass in 
 beauty the Jewesses of Europe; when young, they have a slender, 
 graceful figure, a fine complexion, and soft features, which they 
 
188 THE JEWS. 
 
 retain nearly up to their fortieth year, though without the noble 
 expression of their youth. Towards thirty, they usually become 
 rather stout. 
 
 The costume of the Jews resembles in its cut that of the Moors, 
 but they never exhibit bare calves ; they cover them with stock- 
 ings. The colour of their attire is always dark : even their turban 
 is black. During the time of the Turkish dominion, this colour, 
 an abomination to the present Moslems, was forced upon them to 
 distinguish them from the believers. The attire of the young 
 Jewesses is uncommonly pretty. They wear a long robe, — the 
 wealthy of silk, the poor of wool, without sleeves, but richly 
 embroidered on the chest with gold and silver. The arms are only 
 partly covered by the loose sleeves of the fine white muslin shirt. 
 Around the hips they bind a silk scarf, by which the robe is 
 made closely to fit the waist, and to show the form of the body 
 to the greatest advantage. They put their bare feet into em- 
 broidered slippers, and throw a silk shawl on the head, which does 
 not entirely hide the long, flowing tresses. The hair-dress of the 
 married women is highly curious: it is a kind of cap, woven of 
 silver thread, two feet high, surrounded by a long floating gauze 
 veil, which often reaches the ground ; it is, in fact, tlie exalted 
 horn to which the prophets allude. The face of the Jewess is 
 always unveiled: a strict law of the Deys formerly enforced this. 
 But from the time of the downfal of the Turkish dominion, the 
 Jews enjoy equal rights with the other inhabitants; the}'^, there- 
 fore, and their wives, can live and dress entirely as they please, 
 but the former restrictions have entered so deeply into their 
 manners and customs, that even now they cling to them. The 
 males continue to wear dark-coloured clothes,* and the females 
 
 ♦ The learned author seems to forget that in Eussia, Poland, and Hungary, 
 ■where there are no laws about the costume of the Jews, they likewise wear 
 black clothes ; black having always been their favourite colour. Yellow is an 
 abomination to the Jew; it is the colour of the fire-worshippers and Sabajans of 
 ancient Persia, Assyria, and China. Black is not at all distasteful to Moslems I 
 it was the court-colour of the Turkoman tribes, and of the Abasside Khalifs ; 
 even the veil in the sanctuary of Mv.cca which hangs over the Kaaba is black. 
 
THE JEWS. 189 
 
 remain unveiled, though the Jews have now more reason to be 
 jealous than they had before. As to the younger generation, it 
 has to a great extent accepted the European dress. 
 
 On the whole, the manner of life of the Jews resembles that of 
 the Moors. They dwell in modest houses of Moorish architec- 
 ture; they live frugally, are fondofkuskusu and coffee; and above 
 all, of hard cash. As everywhere else in the world, they also here 
 do not care for agriculture, and few of them are mechanics. Yet 
 there are sailors among them, and shoemakers, tinners, goldsmiths, 
 but especially swordsmiths, who manufacture very handsome arti- 
 cles, such as yatagans and daggers with silver sheaths and orna- 
 ments in relievo. The great majority of them are traders; but in 
 the present day, they can no longer make advantageous jobs as 
 they were wont to do in the time of the Deys, when nearly all the 
 wholesale business was concentrated in their hands. As often as 
 the Dey intended some great speculation, he always turned first to 
 the Jews, who used to act as brokers, not only between the Moham- 
 medans and Christians, but even between Bedouins and Moors. This 
 has now ceased to a great extent, and the Jews encounter consider- 
 able competition from the numerous busy European speculators, 
 who surpass them both in cupidity and avariciousness, though the 
 former have the advantage of a more thorough knowledge of the 
 Arabic language. 
 
 Many Bedouins, bringing their cattle or wheat to market, 
 employ the Jew as a broker, and refuse to sell without his media- 
 tion. When such an Arab arrives in town, he is immediately 
 surrounded by a crowd of importunate Jews, who obtrude their 
 services with loud noise. Each of them pretends to have arrived 
 the first; one takes the bull to be sold by the ears, the other by 
 the tail; they quarrel, and often come to blows, whilst the Arab 
 remains an undisturbed looker-on of the contest, without saying 
 a word, but. always paying honestly the broker who really gets a 
 buyer for him. The activity of the Jews, enhanced by their lov« 
 of lucre, begins in early youth. The market-place of Algiers is 
 daily fidl of industrious little Jews, who ofifer their services to 
 
190 THE JEWS. 
 
 buyers and sellers — now act the interpreter, then again carry the 
 bought wares after the buyer. Nearly all the poor Jewish boys 
 are boot- cleaners. Hundreds of them are roving' through the 
 streets, with their blacking-box under their arm, addressing any 
 passer-by who happens to have dusty boots. Many young Jews 
 have taken service with European merchants : all of them speak 
 French perfectly; some of them likewise write it remarkably well. 
 The schools open to all the natives are frequented almost solely 
 by Jews ; and their talents, desire of knowledge, and progress in 
 study, is really astonishing. The ever-busy industry of that 
 people forms a great contrast to the apathy of the Moors, to 
 whom the Jews are superior in every mental faculty except in 
 courage. 
 
 I had many opportunities of observing the manners of the Jews, 
 since their houses are open to foreigners, and European guests are 
 frequent at their feasts. One of my friends. Dr. Trubelle, had 
 many Jewish patients, and took me, at my request, to their houses. 
 Thus I became acquainted, and at a later time I repeated my 
 visits. Young Jewesses do not go out in the streets, from their 
 thirteenth year to their marriage, without peculiar necessity. 
 This is a requirement of the traditional etiquette. Whoever, there- 
 fore, has no access to private families, remains wholly unac- 
 quainted with the lovely figure of the Jewish girls, just in their 
 most interesting age. Those who are seen in the streets are always 
 of questionable reputation. Yet the Jewesses in Algiers are 
 wrongly charged with immorality; only some of the poorest are 
 unable to withstand the temptation. On the whole, the houses of 
 bad repute are peopled rather by French and Moorish girls than 
 by Jewish ones. The Jewesses of the wealthier classes are modest 
 and virtuous, though they do not hide themselves before the 
 stranger like their Mohammedan sisters. Their virtue is so much 
 the more to be commended, as scarcely anything is done for their 
 moral, religious, and mental education ; and attempts at seduction 
 are nowhere more common than in Algiers. But they are not 
 devoid of natural understanding, and of the gift of agreeable con- 
 
THE JEWS. 191 
 
 versation. They often become intimate with a Christian, if he 
 behaves well ; but they do not tolerate an improper word. They 
 are thrifty and industrious ; they wash and sew and embroider 
 under the eyes of their mothers, and are fondly attached to their 
 parents and relatives. I have often witnessed the most affec- 
 tionate care for a poor father or a sick brother. The treatment 
 of the Jewesses by their husbands is, on the whole, good here, 
 though they are kept under greater restrictions than in Europe. 
 
 The Jews, as compared with, other natives, are less sensual, 
 and equally frugal in eating and drinking. They avoid intoxi- 
 cating liquors, though they are not forbidden to taste them by their 
 religion, as is the case with the Moslems. Avarice and cupidity 
 are common amongst them, as amongst the other races of Bar- 
 bary ; but this vice is with them less dangerous to others. The 
 love of money makes the Arab a robber, and the Turk an oppressor; 
 whilst with the Jew it only stimulates his commercial industry and 
 his spirit of speculation. His trading activity is an advantage to 
 the other races, and facilitates intercourse ; though, on the other 
 hand, their obtrusiveness is often unpleasant, and their meddling 
 into every affair most mischievous. The Jews of Algiers cling 
 strictly to their religious ceremonies ; but they are not fanatical, 
 though very charitable to all their co-religionists. The Jews, 
 fleeing from Belida, found food and shelter with their brethren in 
 Algiers. In spite of their fondness for trade and money, they 
 cannot be induced to transact business on Saturday, however ad- 
 vantageous it may be; or to touch coin, were it even glittering 
 " sultanis" (gold coin). They wear their best attire on the festive 
 day, go with their richly- dressed wives three times to the " gemaa" 
 (synagogue), and hasten thence to their amusements. They have 
 coffee-houses of their own, where they sometimes dance, and are 
 fond of a music which is yet more monotonous and tiresome than 
 the Moorish. 
 
 I have often been present at their family feasts. The girls com- 
 monly marry at from thirteen to sixteen : with the men, the age is 
 less early ; and many of them remain bachelors to their thirtieth 
 
192 THE JEWS. 
 
 year. It is not customary with the Jews, as it is with all Moham- 
 medans, for the man to pay a certain sum for his wife; on the 
 contrary, the girl brings a dowry, and the richer her parents, the 
 greater is the number of her suitors. AVhen a' girl has accepted 
 a ring from a young man, she is betrothed to him ; and should 
 her parents withhold their consent to the union, he can claim the 
 girl as his legal bride from the chief Rabbi, the so-called Jew- 
 King ; but usually he is satisfied with a sura of money as a com- 
 promise with the family. The Rabbi draws up the marriage 
 agreement. The festivities begin as early as six days before the 
 marriage ; all the kin assemble for feasting and enjoyment, but 
 the males and females remain separated. On the marriage morn- 
 ing, when the bride is fully adorned, two old men lead her by the 
 hand to the house of her future husband, followed by a crowd of 
 friends and relations, each of them carrying a paper lantern, and 
 yelling incessantly '-'•Yuh! yuliV^ In the house, the Rabbi recites 
 a long prayer : the young lady receives a golden ring from the 
 hand of the young man : the guests sit down in the hall, and 
 dishes and trays and tumblers, filled with all the delicacies of 
 the season, are handed round, whilst music is sounding and danc- 
 ing is going on. At midnight the crowd leaves the house, and 
 the young pair retire to the fantastically-adorned bridal chamber. 
 For eight days they are expected not to leave the house, even on 
 business. Polygamy is forbidden among the Jews; but the hus- 
 band can repudiate his wife, if he has reason not to be satisfied 
 with her ; after which he may marry another wife. 
 
 At deaths I remarked very ludicrous ceremonies. All the 
 female relatives assemble around the corpse, and yell and cry 
 with the most pitiful accents. They do it in turn : each of them 
 has her peculiar time for crying, and as soon as she is relieved 
 by another, she becomes as composed as ever ; occupies herself 
 with her regular pursuits, and seems not to think any more about 
 the dead until her hour returns again, when she has to cry, to 
 yell, and tear her hair. At the burial, after some curious cere- 
 monies, some pieces of gold coin are thrown to a distance, and 
 
THE JEWS. 193 
 
 the corpse is hastily plunged into the grave and covered with 
 earth. The Jews gave an explanation of this custom, saying 
 that the devil is lurking around the dead body in order to seize 
 it. When the corpse is to be laid in the grave, the devil must 
 be allured elsewhere by gold ; whilst he is running after it, the 
 dead is housed in his last dwelling, and the devil is cheated of his 
 prey I The tombs of the Jews are very handsomely adorned by 
 monuments of white marble. On the 30th, 90th, and 330th day 
 after death, the next kin of the deceased visit the cemetery, to 
 pray at the tomb, and to kiss the grave- stone. 
 
 The Jews were an ill-used people under the sway of the Deys, 
 and suffered under the insolent arrogance of the Mohammedans of 
 all sects and races. Such is still their position in Tripolis, in 
 Tunis, and especially in Morocco. There they have still to bare 
 their feet before every mosque — peculiar attire is forced upon them 
 — they are not allowed to ride on horses — have to wait at the well 
 until the last Mussulman has filled his jar — nor are they allowed 
 to make use of the Arab alphabet ; any offence against those re- 
 strictions being followed by punishment. The rich Jew was not 
 permitted to enjoy his wealth in the days o£ the janissaries ; he 
 could only escape extortion, or perhaps death, by anxiously con- 
 cealing his treasures, which he commonly hid in the earth, and 
 did not dare to contemplate or to count, except when at night- 
 time the thick iron bolt was drawn across his door, and he had 
 no other witnesses than his dim lamp and his own pale face. On 
 occasion of every financial pressure of the Deys, Beys, or Kaids — 
 at every riot of the unpaid janissaries — at every foreign war which 
 absorbed the regular income, the government did not resort to 
 the iron chests in the vaults of the Kasbah, that held every- 
 thing which tyranny had extorted during a long series of years, 
 but to the wealth of the Jews. The richest of them w^ere im- 
 prisoned and sentenced to death upon insidious charges, and 
 constrained to forced loans, either by tortures or by the fear of 
 death. 
 
 Since 1830, the Mohammedans, when exasperated at the pro- 
 
194 THE JEWS. 
 
 gress of the Christians, have always vented their fur j on the poor 
 unoffending Jews who lived among them. When, in December 
 1835, the army of Marshal Clauzel approached the city of Mas- 
 cara, the disbanded Arabs of Abd-el-Kader fell upon the Jews, 
 ill-treated the men, violated the women, and plundered the shops. 
 When, in 1837, the French army appeared before Constantine, it 
 was again the unhappy Jews who were forced by threats and 
 blows, to dig the trenches under the fire of the French artillery, 
 by which Ben-Aissa had hoped to check the progress of the 
 enemy after the breach was open. The victorious armies of 
 France were always liberators to the Jews ; but these men had 
 no high aspirations, and were so much accustomed to the yoke, 
 that they have not shown any sign of gratitude for their present 
 security and liberty ; and I have heard more than one Jew regret 
 the times of the Turks, when, in spite of the tyrannical pressure, 
 it was easier for them to earn money than now. 
 
 Tyranny and persecution nowhere oppress this hapless race 
 more than in Morocco, Fez, Fezzan, and Mogador, where their 
 number is considerable. A French tourist, speaking of the 
 Moroccan Jews, justly remarks that their sufferings do not awaken 
 the sympathy and compassion of any nation, and that this is the 
 greatest misfortune of that race. No white people on earth have 
 ever been more shamefully crushed, and yet they have found 
 fewer protectors among philanthropists than the heathen Negroes. 
 They have not met, amongst nations of different creeds, with a 
 friend who would take them by the hand. Nor did the tortures 
 inflicted upon them raise their bearing into that of martyrs. 
 In all the countries of the world — among Mussulmans and Chi- 
 nese, among Protestants and Roman Catholics — the Jews are 
 looked upon as a foreign plant which has no root in the country, 
 and which is tolerated only from motives of interest. The Jew is 
 therefore homeless everywhere : he does not care for the well- 
 being, the independence, or the glory of the nations with whom 
 he dwells. Any country, or dwelling-place, be it the most dirty 
 town of Africa, is acceptable to him, provided he can there earn 
 
THE NEGROES. 195 
 
 money. He meekly bears oppression and insult : there is in history 
 no other instance of such degradation of a people, which accounts 
 for the popular prejudice* that an everlasting curse is attached to 
 the descendants of Israel, which has scattered them all over the 
 world, which does not allow them to become a nation again, which 
 makes them everywhere the object of scorn and abhorrence ; for 
 even the poorest and most miserable serf amongst those who 
 differ from them in creed would not exchange his lot with that of 
 the richest Jew.-}- The spirit of oppression, inherent in so many 
 religious sects, accounts, to a great extent, for the degradation of 
 the Jews. But a great deal of the fault lies with the Jews them- 
 selves, who have everywhere yielded to tyranny with the patience 
 of the wretch who never armed himself with a single spark of en- 
 thusiasm when he had occasion to raise himself from his miserable 
 condition ; and who, instead of risking life and property for his 
 deliverance, rather submits to his fate with almost a stoical pas- 
 siveness and endurance. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE NEGROES. 
 
 The number of Negroes in the sea-ports of Algeria is by no means 
 small. There are free blacks and slaves amongst them. But 
 the latter live in a kind of voluntary servitude to their Moham- 
 medan masters, as the French Government does not acknowledge 
 slavery in Algeria, and has prohibited the sale of Negroes. The 
 
 * The German Doctor is too unjust against the Jew : in the United States, 
 in Hungary, in England, he did and does care fer the well-being of his country ; 
 and it is the prejudice which caused the degradation, not the degradation the 
 prejudice. 
 
 t Of course all this does not apply to the Jew merchant-kings of England, 
 the United States, Holland, and France, and the capitals of Germany ; still it is 
 true in the rural districts of tliose countries, and all over Italy, Kussia, Spain, 
 and Turkey. 
 
196 THE NEGROES. 
 
 natural increase is slow, the climate of Barbary not being favour- 
 able to it. Most of them have been brought by land from Sudan, 
 the minority was carried by sea from the shores of Guinea to 
 Morocco, and were from thence imported to Algeria. 
 
 All the blacks whom I saw in Algeria were very ugly. The 
 forehead is strongly receding ; their hair is short and woolly ; the 
 nose broad and flat ; the mouth large ; the lips thick ; and the 
 chin protruding. The women are still less attractive than the 
 men, owing to the tattooing by which they disfigure their faces. 
 A peculiar smell renders their presence disagreeable to a Euro- 
 pean. The colour of their «kin differs in its shades : full black 
 Negroes are seldom to be met with ; they are commonly of an 
 ashy hue, and sometimes yellowish. Though some of them are 
 of muscular frame, their legs are usually very lean. In the towns 
 they wear thiC Moorish costume : those who live in the encamp- 
 ments adopt the Arab haikh and burnus. The women walk about 
 unveiled. 
 
 The Negroes conform themselves to the habits and the mode of 
 living of the people amongst whom they dwell. In the towns 
 they live like the Moors ; in the country like the Bedouins. 
 Very few of them are rich : the majority live by daily labour. 
 The Negro women cook scanty meals in the open market for the 
 labourers, and sell bad unleavened bread to the Bedouins and 
 Biskris. Some of the wealthier blacks possess country houses, 
 and cultivate gardens ; others have enlisted in the French ranks. 
 The slaves of the rich Moors or Turks are very mildly treated : 
 they are in fact servants, and not slaves ; and we find them, in 
 general, greatly attached to their masters. This is especially the 
 case with the women, of whom rich Moorish ladies often possess 
 half a dozen. These women willingly share the fate of their 
 mistress, whatever it may be. When, at the storming of Con- 
 stantine, a portion of the inhabitants attempted to save themselves 
 by scrambling over the rocks, the Negresses tore their clothes and 
 tied the pieces together, that their mistresses might use them as 
 ropes to escape over the cliffs. In the house of Ben-Aiss^, the 
 
THE NEGROES. 197 
 
 corpse of a young Negress was found, who had fallen bravely fight- 
 ing, pistol and yatagan in hand. The Mohammedans have no pre- 
 judice against colour and amalgamation. In Algeria, I know of 
 several Moors married to Negresses, and the Mulattoes sprung 
 from such marriages enjoy all the rights of legitimate children. 
 
 The Negroes of Algeria do not lack intelligence. They have 
 little difficulty in acquiring languages, but they do not speak them 
 correctly : the Mulattoes are far more clever in this respect. The 
 blacks are the buffoons of Algeria. Whenever a public festival 
 takes place during the Bairam, as well as on the birth-day of the 
 Emperor of France, they act as the harlequins of the people. 
 They make music with drums and iron-rattles, and perform gro- 
 tesque dances in the streets with the most comical gestures. Danc- 
 ing and music they especially enjoy. 
 
 I found the Negroes generally good-natured, and I cannot agree 
 with the opinion of those who represent them as cruel, and de- 
 lighting in the tortures of their fellow-beings : on the contrary, as 
 regards freedom from fanatical hatred, and cunningly devised ill- 
 treatment of enemies, they far excel the Kabyles and Arabs. For 
 those whom they love, they readily undergo every sacrifice, and 
 they keep better faith than any other African people. The imme- 
 diate body-guard of Abd-el-Kader, as well as that of the Sultan 
 of Morocco, consisted accordingly of Negroes. The black Spahis, 
 in the French army, are second only to the Turks in the courage 
 with which they expose themselves to fire : they always used to 
 carry the banners. The colour-bearers of the Arabs are likewise 
 commonly blacks, who often displayed remarkable bravery by ad- 
 vancing close to the ranks of the French riflemen. A rare instance 
 of Negro heroism occured at the storming of Algiers. When, after 
 the fearful bombardment, the Turkish garrison retreated from the 
 Emperor's fort, the Dey sent a Negro to throw a match into the 
 powder-magazine, and thus to blow up the citadel. The Black 
 faithfully obeyed the order of his master, and was buried beneath 
 the ruins. 
 
198 THE MOZABITES. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE MOZABITES, 
 
 The Mozabites, or Beni-Mozab, are as yet little known, but they 
 are, from their character and manners, a very interesting people, 
 inhabiting three oases of the Sahara. A few hundreds of them 
 have settled in Algiers. Their origin is very uncertain; but 
 several hypotheses have been advanced, any of which may be cor- 
 rect. According to their own traditions, their ancestors did not 
 always dwell in the Desert, but many years back they inhabited 
 a mountainous country far to the east, from whence the blue sea 
 could be seen. Leo Africanus, a learned Moorish author, con- 
 verted to Christianity, who lived in the sixteenth century, tells us 
 that the Canaanites, expelled by Joshua, emigrated to Africa, and 
 settled there. The same author says, that Malek Afriki, several 
 centuries later, 'headed a large emigration of Sabsean Arabs to 
 Africa; and it is singular that the Jews seem likewise to believe in 
 a double immigration of Asiatic nations to Barbary. Up to the 
 present day, they call the Kabyles Palestines and Philistines, 
 identifying them with their enemies of old in Canaan ; and their 
 Rabbis believe that the Mozabites are the descendants of the 
 Moabites, the ancient neighbours of Israel, the offspring of Moab, 
 the son of Lot. Their language is different from that of the Ka- 
 byles, but it is said that there exists some affinity between them. 
 The emigration of Moab to Africa is explained by the persecu- 
 tions of that tribe in the latter time of the Hebrew monarchy. It 
 is singular that there is still a tradition among the Arabs of the 
 incestuous origin of the Mozabites, which subjects them to many a 
 joke and many a sneer. The Biblical Semitic names, Ben-Saram, 
 Ben-Elara, Ben-Salef, Ben-Jobab, are often found among them, 
 and the peculiar exclusion of the Mozabites from the mosques of 
 Algiers, though they are Mohammedans, reminds us of the old law 
 of the Hebrews, which excluded Moab from the community of God. 
 
THE MOZABITES. 199 
 
 All particulars ivnown about the modern Mozabltes, or Beni- 
 Mozab, are based on the oral communications of the renegade 
 Baudouin, whom I found still resident in Algiers in 1836. As 
 far as I know, he was the only European who ever has visited the 
 oase states of that interesting people.* He had an uncommon talent 
 for acquiring languages, had accompanied a Marabut through a 
 great part of the Regency of Algiers, and had learned, besides the 
 Arabic, likewise the languages of the Kabyles and of the Moza- 
 bites. He spoke the latter so well that the Mozabites in Algiers 
 took him for one of their countrymen. He proved that he really 
 had for a long time lived in Gherdaia, the most important town of 
 the country of the Beni-Mozab, by a circumstantial description 
 which he gave to the Mozabites at Algiers of their native town, 
 and of their kinsmen. Baudouin, who was born near Marseilles, 
 and taken prisoner by the Arabs in 1831, had, up to the year 
 1836, roved through the interior of Barbary ; and, to my regret, re- 
 mained only a few months in Algiers after his return. He had 
 become entirely savage, not indeed in mind, but in his manner of 
 life, and could no longer reconcile himself to the manners and 
 customs of the Europeans. He again disappeared towards the end 
 of 1836, and has never been heard of since. 
 
 The three oases of the Mozabites form a federative republic. 
 They have little to fear from a foreign attack, since they live at a 
 great distance from the Tell (the cultivable region of the Kobla 
 or Belad-el-Jerid), and love enthusiastically the independence of 
 their country. Besides, their cities are fortified, and impregnable 
 to Arabs. The Turks have sent expeditions against other oase 
 states of the Sahara — for instance, against Ain-Maadi and Tug- 
 gurt — but they never dared to approach the country of the Beni- 
 Mozab. Even Abd-el-Kader, who had extended his conquests 
 much farther south than the Turks, did not threaten Gherdaia, 
 though in 1836 he went as far as to the Uad-el-Biadh, and had 
 subjected nearly all the Bedouins of that country. The dignity 
 
 * The French occupied the oases of the Mozauites in 1853. 
 
200 THE MOZABITES. 
 
 of Marabuts is unknown to the Mozabites. Instead of them, the 
 Talebs (doctors) exercise considerable influence. These are men 
 who can read and write, who expound the Koran, and lead a pure 
 and virtuous life. They are not fanatical, like the Marabuts. 
 They have not to preach the lad, since no Christians are in their 
 neighbourhood ; and the religion and customs of the people are 
 not threatened in any way. Besides the Talebs, the Mozabites 
 have likewise Sheikhs and Kadis, who are subordinate to the 
 former, and possess but little influence. The Sheikhs combine 
 with their civil authority likewise a priestly office, and pray in the 
 smaller mosques, whilst the Kadis are judges ; but the dissatisfied 
 party is always allowed to appeal from their decision to that of 
 the Talebs. I was told by Baudouin, the renegade, that in no 
 country of the world are crimes so scarce as among the Mozabites. 
 They are a people very kind and pure in manners ; they do not 
 share in the rapacity of the Bedouin of the Sahara, and they respect 
 property. They are principally occupied in the cultivation of their 
 gardens and orchards, which are studded with date-palms. They 
 are likewise very industrious as mechanics, and many of them 
 carry on a considerable trade with Sudan and other oases of the 
 Sahara. The Mozabites have a great many camels, few sheep, 
 and no other cattle. The chase of the lion, of the gazelle, and of 
 the ostrich, are their principal sports. The greatest part of the 
 ostrich feathers exported from Algiers to Europe come from the 
 country of the Mozabites. They are excessively fond of social 
 entertainments. Between the village of Melika and the city of 
 Gherdaia, many cofl'ee-houses are raised on the banks of the Uad- 
 el-Biadh. These are surrounded by palms, under the scanty sha- 
 dow of which, crowds of guests assemble in the evening, in order 
 to enjoy music, to listen to the story-tellers, or to indulge in harm- 
 less chat. The females, who are better treated than any other 
 Mohammedan people, likewise assemble for similar purposes, and 
 enjoy social entertainments. The Mozabites fall easily in love. 
 Elopements are frequent; and in such cases, the difierent towns 
 and villages sometimes break out into feuds, which, however, are 
 
THE MOZABITES. 201 
 
 commonly quelled by the interference of the Talebs. In spite of 
 the amorous character of the people, faithlessness is in no respect 
 more frequent than among other nations. Though the Koran 
 allows them to marry four wives, a Mozabite is contented wdth 
 one, at least until she becomes old. The climate of the Sahara 
 is not favourable to the fertility of the females ; many of whom 
 die in child-birth. In the oasis Metlili, there was at one time 
 such a scarcity of females, that the otherwise peaceable and con- 
 scientious inhabitants made an expedition against the Bedouin 
 tribes of the Beni-Amer and Beni-Luat, who live about a hundred 
 and twenty miles north of them ; and whilst the majority of the 
 men of these tribes had gone to Medeah with their camels in 
 order to buy corn, the Mozabites carried away about one hundred 
 females. The Bedouins, enraged at this high-handed robbery, 
 requested the Bey of Titteri for assistance ; and as he refused to 
 send his troops to such a distant region, the Beni-Amer and their 
 allies resolved to try the fortune of war, and to attack Metlili at 
 their own risk. The Taleb, Ben- Aram of Gherdaia, offered his 
 interference as mediator ; for though the Mozabites had no occa- 
 sion to dread war with the Arabs, yet they felt the injustice of 
 the deed committed by the inhabitants of Metlili ; and as their 
 people had, until that time, always enjoyed the reputation of 
 honesty and equity, the Talebs of Gherdaia, Bonora, and Uaragla, 
 resolved to force their fellow-countrymen of Metlili to return the 
 booty. The chiefs of the Beni-Amer themselves had appeared in 
 Gherdaia with presents as a ransom for the females ; but their 
 gifts w^ere not accepted, and Ben- Aram led his army against 
 Metlili, followed by the chiefs of the Beni-Amer. The Mozabites 
 of Metlili still refused to restore the females, and took the field, 
 determined to resist; but at the first shots the captured Arab 
 females rushed between the fighting warriors, and, like the Sabine 
 women of old, requested their fathers and husbands to sheath 
 their yatagans. A convention followed: the married Arab women 
 were returned ; the girls remained with the Mozabites of Metlili, 
 who undertook to pay damages to their relatives. This happened 
 
202 THE MOZABITES. 
 
 about fifty years ago ; and the high opinion which the Arabs had 
 always entertained of the wisdom, justice, and energy of the Mo- 
 zabites, was farther enhanced by this incident. Many travel singly 
 with sufficient security through the different territories of the Be- 
 douin tribes, between their country and Algiers, though the 
 Arabs refuse to acknowledge them as tnie believers. They are 
 however looked upon as heretics, and are therefore excluded from 
 the mosques. 
 
 Amongst no people in the old world do the ideas of freedom and 
 equality pervade public life more thoroughly than amongst these 
 republicans of the Sahara. The comparatively few officials — the 
 Talebs, Sheikhs, and Kadis — are elected at public meetings, 
 where universal suffrage is unrestrictedly exercised. There are 
 so few ambitious men among them longing for such dignities, 
 that it often happens that the elected official flees suddenly from 
 his city, not to be compelled to accept office ; but commonly he is 
 pursued, and constrained to accept the dignity bestowed upon him. 
 This curious custom, related by the Mozabites living in Algiers, 
 and confirmed by the renegade Baudouin, is explained by the 
 circumstance that these* republican offices are not connected with 
 any sufficient remuneration ; and while the power of these officials 
 is very restricted, and they do not enjoy their former independence 
 whilst in office — for they are not allowed to trade, to travel with 
 caravans, or to hunt the ostrich in the Desert — it is easily to be 
 conceived that the Mozabite, who is as fond of personal freedom 
 as he is of national independence, does not covet public duties. 
 Amongst the Talebs, it is always the eldest who is chairman, but 
 without enjoying any higher authority than the others. Some of 
 them exercise greater influence; but this is the consequence of 
 higher personal esteem, earned by an exemplary life, or accorded 
 in consequence of peculiar popularity. The office of the Talebs is 
 not hereditary, like that of the Marabuts : it is only by election 
 that the son may succeed his father. Simplicity, frankness, meek- 
 ness, piety without fanaticism, calmness blended with energy, 
 intelligence and industrious habits, distinguish this interesting 
 
THE MOZABITES. 203 
 
 people of the Republic of the Desert, which is probably one of 
 the happpiest tribes in the world. 
 
 The Mozabites dwelling in Algiers carry on continual inter- 
 course with their countrymen; they have the monopoly of the 
 mills, baths, and slaughter-houses. They have enjoyed this privi- 
 lege from the time of the celebrated expedition of Charles V. At 
 that crisis, the JNIozabites sent a considerable sum of money to the 
 Turks, which aided them in repelling the Emperor. The Moza- 
 bites obtained this monopoly from the gratitude of the Turks, and 
 make much money in consequence. Their costume is scarcely 
 different from that of the Arabs : their face is sun-burnt, their 
 features are interesting : the expression of the eye is melancholy 
 and enthusiastic : their physiognomy is on the whole soft. They 
 are much liked by the whole population on account of their peace- 
 able life ; but I remarked that they are rather exclusive towards 
 Mohammedans, and prefer to hold social intercourse with their 
 countrymen ; yet they often converse with Europeans, and seemed 
 to like them better than the Arabs or Moors. 
 
PART III. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REGENCY OP ALGERIA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 NORTHERN AFRICA, FROM THE EARLIEST EPOCH TO THE LANDING OF THE 
 TURKS IN ALGERIA. 
 
 The historians of antiquity give us only a few uncertain facts 
 about the aborigines who originally inhabited Northern Africa 
 from the Syrtis to the Atlantic. These were the Getulians and 
 Libyans, rude savages, who lived on raw meat and the herbs of the 
 field. We have mentioned already the traditions current about 
 the first immigration : Persians, Armenians, and Medes, according 
 to Sallust ; Canaanites and Arabs, according to Procopius and Leo 
 Africanus. 
 
 Later, it was the Phoenicians who occupied the coast of Nor- 
 thern Africa, and founded many cities about 1500 b. c. : Utica, 
 Hippo, Hadrumetum, Leptis, and Carthage. The Phoenicians did 
 not extend their sway towards the Desert, but remained in posses- 
 sion of the coast from the Syrtis to the Columns of Hercules, trad- 
 ing with the tribes of the interior and of the coast of the Medi- 
 terranean. A colony of Lacedsemonians had established itself 
 east of the Phoenician settlements, in the Pentapolis Cyrenaica, 
 now called Jebel Akdar. The Numidiana and Moors of the 
 interior were at that time divided into smaller states, were 
 ruled by kings independent of one another, and often involved 
 in bloody contest. When, in the second Punic AVar, the Romans 
 landed on the coast of Africa, Syphax and Massinissa were the 
 
REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 205 
 
 mightiest of the Numidian chiefs ; of whom Syphax sided with 
 Carthage, Massinissa with Rome. The former were defeated, and 
 the dominions of Syphax were annexed to those of Massinissa. 
 
 After the destruction of Carthage, the Romans converted its 
 continental domain into their Provincia Africa ; but the power- 
 ful Numidian realm in the interior, governed by King Micipsa, 
 the son of Massinissa, was a formidable rival to them. They had 
 raised up its might in order to check Carthage; now they no longer 
 needed the Numidian alliance. When, therefore, Jugurtha, the 
 nephew of Micipsa, had deprived his cousins of their heritage, the 
 Romans seized this opportunity for war, pretending to avenge the 
 murder of Adherbal, their protege, but in fact in order to get pos- 
 session of Numidia — a long-coveted booty. The Roman historian, 
 Sallust, has described the Jugurthan war. His work is a highly 
 important document, the study of which cannot be sufficiently re- 
 commended to the present conquerors of Numidia. It character- 
 izes the epoch and the country, and contains very interesting and 
 useful disclosures of the policy and tactics both of the Romans 
 and Numidians. Jugurtha' s way of carrying on the war greatly 
 resembles that of the present natives ; and the faithlessness of the 
 people has likewise remained the same. After a struggle of three 
 years, full of the strangest vicissitudes — in the course of which an 
 army of Rome had to pass under the yoke — Jugurtha was con- 
 quered, and at last taken prisoner. He was killed by cold and 
 starvation in a stone dungeon in Rome, after having adorned the 
 triumph of his victorious enemy, though his undaunted energy 
 deserved a better fate. His realm became a Roman province, with 
 the exception of one portion, bestowed on the Moorish king Bocchus 
 for having treacherously delivered up Jugurtha, his ally, to Rome. 
 
 The empire founded in Africa by the Romans was one of the 
 greatest and most flourishing on earth. It comprised the largest 
 portion of the present Regency of Tripolis, the countries of Tunis 
 and Algiers, and the great empire of Morocco, extending from the 
 Libyan Desert, which divides the two Syrtes from Egypt, up to 
 the Atlantic. Large cities were built all over that country; the 
 
206 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 ruins of which, mighty and imposing like everything bequeathed 
 to us by those conquerors of the world, are seen in the most re- 
 mote wildernesses, to the very borders of the Sahara. Even in the 
 almost inaccessible mountain-regions of the Atlas, we meet with 
 such remains. South of Bujia are the ruins of Sava and Musulu- 
 bium, which have not been seen by Europeans for a thousand years ; 
 for even after 3 830 no French army has dared to advance far into 
 those mountain-fastnesses, inhabited by the most warlike and most 
 unruly people on earth. A mighty Roman city, Lambessa, stands 
 on the Auras mountains, not far from the border steppes of the 
 Sahara: its ruins cover considerable ground, and are of great 
 extent. But of many once celebrated cities of the interior, even 
 the traces have disappeared. Scarcely a few stone heaps mark the 
 site of Sitifis, the capital of Mauritania Sitifensis. 
 
 The dominion of Rome over those countries has something mys- 
 terious for us. The Romans had there no garrison of 100,000 
 men, as the French of our days have, yet they held the country 
 in undisputed and complete possession. In founding this mighty 
 empire, the Roman settlers worked for their descendants as well 
 as for themselves, since they undertook great enterprizes, the com- 
 pletion of which One generation could not hope to see ; as, for in- 
 stance, the immense cisterns and aqueducts of Russicada, Hippo, 
 and Cirta, where the present European settlers, the publicans 
 from France and Malta, build only frail huts, which are destroyed 
 by storms and rain as soon as the number of their drinking cus- 
 tomers falls off in consequence of a change of garrison, and the 
 publican colonists leave, seeking elsewhere their temporary pro- 
 fits.* 
 
 The Numidians were driven to the mountains by the Romans, 
 or were kept in strict order in the cities ; they therefore became 
 harmless : occasional riots were easily put down. Had the inse- 
 
 * The learned author forgets that those aqueducts, theatres, cisterns, &c., were 
 built in the course of centuries. Let the French occupation be consolidated hj 
 half a century, and theatres, and market-places, and water-works, will again rise 
 in Africa. 
 
REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 207 
 
 cunty, in tlie epoch of the first Roman dominion, been only half 
 so great as now, the Romans never could have built large cities 
 on the border of the Desert, in the neighbourhood of a population 
 against which the French cannot always defend their corn-fields, 
 even close to their camps, within reach of their cannon. I saw 
 temples, amphitheatres, circuses, and baths, among the ruins of 
 Calama and Aruna, which indicate a peaceable life of wealthy 
 colonists, fond of enjoyment. 
 
 Under Constantine, Northern Africa was divided into seven pro- 
 vinces : Mauritania Tingitana, from the ocean to the Malva 
 (Moluiah), which up to our days forms the boundary between 
 Morocco and Algeria; Mauritania Csesarlensls, east of the Malva; 
 Sitifensis, up to the River Ampsaga (now the Rummel) ; Numldia, 
 between the Ampsaga and Tusca (Zaine), which divides Algeria 
 from Tunis ; Zeugitania, from the Tusca to the Cape of Mercury ; 
 Byzaclum, bordering on the smaller Syrtis, in the west; and 
 Cyrenaica, divided by the Libyan Desert from Egypt. 
 
 When the Roman empire was partitioned under Theodoslus, 
 Egypt and Cyrenaica were given to the Eastern emperors, whilst 
 the other provinces of Africa became the share of Rome. Christi- 
 anity had soon extended to North Africa, and spread so rapidly, 
 that the three Mauritanias contained one hundred and sixty bishop- 
 rics, ennobled by many celebrated men, among whom we may 
 mention principally St. Augustine, bishop of Hippo Regius, and 
 St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage. 
 
 Towards the end of the fourth century, the warlike spirit of 
 Rome began to decline, and feuds and treachery among the chiefs 
 accompanied the demoralization of the effeminate armies, which 
 could no longer keep the field against the vigorous barbarians of the 
 North. In 428, Bonifacius, the Roman proconsul of Africa, who was 
 to- be deprived of his command by the intrigues of the great hero 
 Aetius, in Rome, raised the standard of revolt against the Emperor 
 Valentinian; and, unable to maintain himself against his master, 
 he Invited to Africa the Vandals, who had just conquered a great 
 portion of Spain. Genseric, the Vandal king, a fierce barbarian 
 
208 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 prince, who knew how to keep alive Ae spirit of conquest with 
 his hordes, landed, in May 429, on the Moorish coast with 90,000 
 men, including, besides his Vandals, many Alans and Goths, — all 
 reckless adventurers, who expected rich booty in the thriving 
 Roman provinces of Africa, which had not been ravaged by war 
 for many centuries. The army of Genseric was reinforced in Africa 
 by many Romans. By the sect of the Donatists, which had to 
 endure the most severe persecutions, the Vandal king, who was 
 an Arian, and therefore a dissenter from the dominant church, 
 was hailed as a liberator. The cowards among the Donatists 
 favoured the public enemy secretly : the enthusiasts went openly 
 over to him. Numerous tribes of savage Numidians and Moors, 
 driven by the Romans into the inaccessible mountain- fastnesses of 
 Mauritania Tingitana, came down from the woods when they 
 heard of the arrival of an army opposed to the Romans, and 
 joined the foreigners, with whom they hoped to take revenge on 
 their oppressors. Genseric's army grew every day, and crowds of 
 sun-burnt, half-naked savages of the Atlas were seen in company 
 with his fair-haired, blue-eyed German warriors, trampling down 
 the crops, destroying and sacking the cities, and drenching the 
 soil with Roman blood. It was too late for Count Bonifacius, 
 now bitterly repenting that he had invited the dreadful barbarians, 
 to resist them effectively. He was defeated under the walls of 
 Hippo Regius, and the seat of the pious Augustine was invested 
 by the Vandals. The saint died in the third month of the siege : 
 Providence had granted him to close his weary eyes before his 
 heart should be broken by seeing his cathedral burnt down, 
 and his bishopric dissolved. Eight years after the fall of Hippo, 
 Carthage too was taken by the Vandals, and Genseric allowed 
 his troops here, as everywhere, to give vent to all their bad pas- 
 sions in the conquered city. A certain tendency to destructive- 
 ness is inherent in all armies, even in the best disciplined troops 
 of the most civilized nations, and where no national hatred 
 envenoms the contest. But what scenes must have happened in 
 Africa at a time when no people had yet divested itself of its ori- 
 
IIEG'.NCY OF ALGIERS. 209 
 
 ginal ferocity, — when the religious fanaticism of the long- perse- 
 cuted Donatists, and ths burning desire for revenge of the Numi- 
 dians, who had been driven from the country of their ancestors 
 into the mountains or to the Desert, were added to the savage 
 fury of Vandals, maddened by encountering a fiercer resistance 
 than they had anticipated ! The wanderer of our days gets an idea 
 how such fierce elements must have raged during an internecine 
 war of ten years, when he travels over the desolate wilderness of 
 the once celebrated granary of Rome, and visits those heaps of 
 stone which once were monuments of Roman art. Nearly all 
 which the Romans had created during a series of centuries perished 
 either in that ten years' war, or under the subsequent sway of the 
 Vandals, which lasted for ninety- six years. 
 
 The dominion of the Eastern emperors was in the first part of 
 the sixth century once more established in Northern Africa. Jus- 
 tinian sent Belisarius, his celebrated general, with an army to 
 Africa. They landed at Cape Capaudia, west of Carthage. The 
 Vandals had in the mean time grown effeminate by the warm 
 climate, and by their wealth : the bravery and adventurous spirit 
 of Genseric's followers had vanished in their grandsons, swallowed 
 up in luxury and wantonness. According to the historian Pro- 
 copius, who was the companion of Belisarius, they enjoyed the 
 delicacies of the table offered to them by land and sea. Their 
 wide- flowing silk robes were embroidered with gold, love and the 
 chase were the only occupations of their life, and their leisure was 
 spent in pantomimes, races, music, and scenic performances. Such 
 were the descendants of that rough warlike people, who had 
 cherished the sound of the steel more than the sweetest music, 
 and to whom every sort of luxury was an abomination. The city 
 of SuUicte was the first to open her gates to Belisarius; Leptis 
 and Hadrumetum followed the example. Gelimer, the Vandal 
 king, prepared now for defence, and hastened with his a^my to 
 the rescue of Carthage; but he was defeated, and fled to the 
 desert. Belisarius occupied Carthage on September 15, 533. The 
 Vandals fought one battle more, but without the spirit and confi- 
 
210 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 dence of victory, and were accordingly signally beaten. Gelimer 
 fled to the mountains, and had there to endure such privations, 
 that when summoned to submit to Justinian by Pharas, the chief 
 of the Herulians, he requested the prince for a lyre, a sponge, 
 and a loaf of bread. The King of Africa had for a long time not 
 tasted bread : with the sponge he wished to wipe his eyes, which 
 had become sore by tears ; and with the lyre, to comfort his hours 
 of sorrow by singing the history of his own pitiful fate. Misery 
 no longer to be endured forced him at last into submission ; he 
 appeared in one of the suburbs of Carthage to declare himself a pri- 
 soner of Belisarius. The moment the king beheld his conqueror 
 he burst into frantic laughter : it was a fit of insanity. Such was 
 the end of the Vandal empire in Africa. The old authors are not 
 sufficiently explicit about what has become of the mass of the con- 
 quered people. The bravest Vandal youths were put into five 
 cavalry divisions, which had immediately to leave the country, and 
 which rendered effective service to the Romans in Asia in the war 
 against the Persians. Justinian granted large property to the ex- 
 king Gelimer in the province of Galatia, where he and his family 
 and friends lived in a quiet way. -But the majority of the Vandals 
 who had not fallen victims of the war found probably a refuge in 
 the mountains and the wildernesses, and the offspring of their 
 intermarriages with the aborigines may probably be the origin of 
 the present Kabyles, among whom, as already mentioned, an occa- 
 sional white complexion, and the flaxen hair of the sons of the 
 North, may be identified as traces of Northern descent. 
 
 The armies of Justinian had one more dangerous enemy to en- 
 counter after the defeat of the Vandals, namely, those Numidians and 
 Moors who, under the former dominion of Rome, had kept aloof from 
 the coast at a respectful distance. Under the less energetic sway 
 of the Vandals, they had sometimes attacked the cities ; they had 
 occupied the coast from Tingis (Tangiers) to Csesarea (Shershel), 
 and pitched their tents even in the fertile province of Byzacium. 
 After the departure of Belisarius, they attacked the new con- 
 querors at different points, and single Graeco-Roman corps were 
 
REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 211 
 
 defeated. The eunuch Salomon, who had succeeded Belisarius 
 in the command, now made an expedition from Carthage into the 
 heart of the country, and defeated the natives in two great battles, 
 in which 60,000 barbarians are said to have been slain. He ad- 
 vanced to Mount Auras, the citadel and the garden of Numidia, 
 as Procopius calls it, and built a fortress on its highest top to 
 keep the numerous population of the plateau in subjection. Yet 
 in spite of this fort, the Graeco-Roman dominion, which lasted up 
 to the invasion of the Arabs, was principally confined to the 
 coast, especially around Carthage. It was rather a military occu- 
 pation than a real dominion of the country, since the old Roman 
 colonies existed no longer, and no new emigrants came from 
 Europe to till the waste ground, and to rebuild the destroyed 
 cities. The savage natives had nearly everywhere in the interior 
 become masters of the country, and in the western provinces they 
 had occupied even the coast. In Mauritania Tingitana, the do- 
 minion of the Romans had, on the whole, always been less firmly 
 rooted than in- the eastern provinces; the rougher mountains and 
 the more warlike spirit of the natives made the progress of con- 
 quest very difficult. 
 
 The first attempt of the Mohammedan Arabs to subdue Barbary 
 was made in the year 647, when 40,000 Arab warriors crossed 
 the Desert between Egypt and Tripolis, under the command of 
 Abdallah-ben-Said. The decisive battle was fought near Tripolis 
 between the Arabs and the Byzantines, who were led by the Pre- 
 fect, Gregory. The Arabs remained victorious, after a long pro- 
 tracted resistance of the enemy, especially through the gallantry 
 of Zobeir, who killed the Greek general in single combat, and 
 who, a true warrior for his faith, refused even the price put on the 
 head of Gregory, namely, the hand of his beautiful captive 
 daughter, and one hundred thousand gold pieces; declaring that 
 his sword was devoted only to the service of his religion, and that 
 he aspired to higher recompense than all that the charms of ter- 
 restrial beauty or the riches of this transient life could offer. After 
 this dearly -bought victory, the Mussulman schemes of conquest in 
 
212 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the West were kept in suspense for nearly twenty years by the 
 feuds of the princes, until their internal dissensions were healed 
 by the firm establishment of the house of Ommijah. In 665, the 
 first lieutenant of Moawiah defeated an army of 30,000 Byzantines : 
 he conquered also several Numidian cities, and got immense booty. 
 Many Greeks thereupon adopted the faith of the conquerors in 
 order to escape extortions, being well aware that by this step 
 they entered into all the rights of the Arabs, — a concession which 
 was always made by the Mohammedans to their proselytes, and 
 by which the cause of Islam was considerably strengthened. 
 
 The first real conqueror of Barbary was, however, Akbah, who 
 in 670 arrived with a reinforcement of 10,000 fresh troops from 
 Damascus, selected from amongst the warmest and most fanatical 
 warriors of the faith, and took the command of the victorious Arabs 
 in the West. Akbah, whom the Mohammedan historians compare 
 to Alexander the Great, conquered the majority of the cities on the 
 coast from Tripolis to Tangiers ; he founded the city of Kairoan, 
 marched through the mountain-fastnesses, where his successors 
 built the cities of Fez and Morocco, and reached at last both the 
 coast of the Atlantic and the borders of the Sahara. The course, 
 but not the enthusiasm of the Mohammedan hero, was checked by 
 the view of the boundless plain. Akbah spurred his steed into 
 the waves, raised his eyes to heaven, and exclaimed : " Great 
 Allah ! were my course not checked by this sea, I would proceed 
 to the unknown countries of the West to preach the unity of thy 
 holy name, and to cut off with my sword the rebellious people who 
 adore other deities than thee." Yet this enthusiastic hero, who 
 sighed for a new world to subdue it, could not maintain even his own 
 immense conquests. The defeated Greeks and Africans rose 
 everywhere in his rear: he had too rashly proceeded onward. 
 Immense wildernesses, and daring enemies, who would not ex- 
 change the creed of their fathers for all the alluring promises of 
 the new faith, separated him from his resources. Akbah could not 
 do more than die in a glorious battle, in which all his followers 
 were slain to the last man. 
 
REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 213 
 
 When, in 692, the restoration of the internal peace of the 
 Khalifate rendered it possible for Abd-el-Malek to turn his atten- 
 tion once more to the conquest of Africa, Hassan, the Governor of 
 Egypt, got the command of an army of a hundred thousand men. 
 He took Carthage by storm, and sacked the city, which had 
 always risen mighty and grand after the frequent disasters which 
 had befallen her, and which even now yet towered above all other 
 cities of Africa by her wealth. But the much-tried city of Dido, 
 the old empress of the seas, did not survive the last desperate 
 struggle between the Cross and the Crescent. After Hassan's 
 victory, the Prefect John landed in Africa with an army of Goths 
 and Greeks, and reconquered Carthage. But a new Arab host 
 poured forth from the East. A battle was fought at Utica, which 
 decided the fate of Africa. The Greeks and Goths were com- 
 pletely routed, and only their hasty embarkation saved them 
 from the scimitars of the pursuing Saracens. Carthage was once 
 more stormed, and consumed by fire. The celebrated city which 
 had acted so conspicuous a part in the history of the world, dis- 
 appeared now for ever. Her old rival in Europe had likewise to 
 bow her triumphant and haughty head ; her walls had likewise 
 been stormed by barbarians, who defaced her noble buildings, 
 and trod into dust the trophies of a thousand victories, and the 
 bequests of millions of heroes. But Rome has always retained 
 a shadow of her greatness. Even when she had lost the supre- 
 macy of the sword and the supremacy of genius, she remained a 
 sainted spot, to which religious and poetical enthusiasm constantly 
 leads crowds of devoted pilgrims, some for the sake of the holy 
 water in St. Peter's Church, and others for the sake of the broken 
 columns of the Forum. But who has ever thought of undertaking 
 a pilgrimage to the ruins of Carthage, the city branded by the 
 hatred of her enemies with the charge of faithlessness, and never 
 praised by the song of any poet ? and her ancient splendour has 
 passed without leaving any trace : there is not even a broken 
 column to mark her site. On the few mounds, of which it can- 
 not be said with certainty that they really designate the site of 
 
214 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Carthage, there sit sonly the ragged Bedouin, inspecting his brows- 
 ing camels ; and, at night-time, nothing but the jackal visits the 
 home of Hannibal and St. Cyprian.* 
 
 After the expulsion of the Byzantines, the Arabs had yet many 
 a war to wage against the Berbers and Moors. The natives 
 offered brave resistance under the banner of their queen, Kahina. 
 Hassan, the Arab commander, had once more to retire to the 
 frontiers of Egypt, and to remain there inactive for five years, 
 until he got the promised reinforcements from the Khalif. At 
 last they arrived : he proceeded again onward to the west, and 
 was hailed with joy by the inhabitants of the coast, who had less 
 to fear from the Mohammedans than from the savage natives 
 of the interior ; fi^nally, he defeated the Berbers in a battle, in 
 which their prophet- queen, Kahina, was slain. Mussa-ben-Noseir 
 completed the conquest of Africa after the death of Hassan, first 
 by arms, and then by persuasion. This great man was as eager 
 to get souls for Islam, as he was to extend the boundaries of the 
 empire. He treated the conquered natives with kindness : he 
 preached the Koran, and succeeded first in converting the Moors, 
 who, under the Romans, had been orthodox Christians, had become 
 Arians under the Vandals, and, being devoid of religious fervour, 
 had little objection to exchange the faith received from their for- 
 mer oppressors for a creed which gave them equal rights with the 
 conquerors. It was more difficult to convert the heathen Kabyles. 
 Yet the allurements of Islam, which have a peculiar charm to 
 the southern mind, did not remain without influence. When, in 
 710, the first Mohammedan host landed on the shores of Spain, 
 there were already many Berbers under the standard of the Pro- 
 phet, eager to take vengeance on the Goths, and to win booty. 
 
 The successors of Mussa, who governed Africa in the name of 
 the Khalif, resided in Kairoan, the city founded by Akbah. They 
 
 divided the Mohammedan -African empire into provinces, each of 
 
 jf 
 
 * The harbour of ancient Carthage is too shallow for modem ships. That is 
 the reason Avhy the city has not risen again, and why Tunis supplants her ; but 
 Tunis is so near, that it is all but Carthage. 
 
REGENCY OF ALGIERS. 215 
 
 them under the administration of a Wali, the chief of the civil 
 and military offices. The provinces were divided into districts, 
 governed, as they are up to this day, by Kaids. The adminis- 
 tration of justice was in the hands of Kadis ; the Arab, Kabyle, 
 and Moorish tribes had their own Sheikhs, whom they were 
 always permitted to elect. Under such an administration, Africa 
 remained quiet until the downfal of the illustrious house of the 
 Ommiades, when, during the internal struggles, the Kabyles rose 
 in arms; but they were defeated by the Arab Governor. In 750, 
 Abderrahman-ben-Abib, Governor of Kairoan, made the first at- 
 tempt to throw off allegiance to the Khalifs; but he was murdered, 
 and the Abasside Khalif, El-Mansar-Giaffar, subdued Africa once 
 more by his general, Yerid. In 800, however, the Governor, 
 Ibrahim-ben- Aglab, declared himself Independent, and Africa was 
 henceforth lost for the Khalifs. Ibrahim became the founder of 
 the Aglabite dynasty, which resided in Kairoan. Some of the 
 western provinces had, about the same time, likewise thrown off 
 their allegiance ; and Edris-ben- Abdallah founded here the empire 
 Moghrib-el-Aksa: he built the city of Fez, and became the founder 
 of the Edrisite dynasty : his later successors, however, were vassals 
 of the Spanish Khalifs, and reigned up to 985. The different Arab 
 dynasties in Africa seldom lasted longer than a century, as there 
 always appeared in the frequent internal disturbances successful 
 generals, who dethroned the descendants of the former usurpers, 
 and founded new dynasties. Yussuf-ben-Zeiri founded in this 
 way the dynasty of the Zeirites in Kairoan (972-1148), which 
 was overthrown by Abd-el-Mumen, the successor of El-Mahiddin, 
 who, aided by the Kabyles, had got possession of a great portion 
 of Morocco and Oran, and became the founder of the Almohades. 
 His successors were the lords of Western Barbary and of Spain. 
 A century later, the Arabs threw off the yoke of the Almo- 
 hades, who had based their power on the Kabyles; and in 1270 
 even Morocco was snatched away from them by^the family of 
 the Beni-Merin. After the downfal of the Almohades, several 
 smaller kingdoms arose from the ruins of the great empire: 
 
216 « HISTOllY OF THE 
 
 ^ 
 
 among the rest, Tlemsan, Tunis, and Tripolis. It was at that 
 time that the new Barbary States were formed. Tlemsan, under 
 the dominion of the Ben-Zian (1295-1560), comprised the greatest 
 portion of the present Regency of Algiers ; yet the cities Algiers, 
 Bujia, and Tenes, formed little independent states. 
 
 The reaction of the Christian nations against the Mohammedan 
 conquerors began likewise at that period. Saint Louis under- 
 took an expedition against Tunis, where the Beni-Hafzi reigned. 
 The Arabs and Moors were pushed back, and at last were 
 expelled from Spain. The Spaniards invaded Africa, and seized 
 the coast-forts of Ceuta, Melilla, Oran, Bujia, and an isle near 
 Algiers ; whilst the Portuguese landed on the coast of Morocco, 
 and made considerable progress, but were at last defeated by the 
 Moors. 
 
 Algiers, as already mentioned, formed an independent state 
 towards the end of the thirteenth century, which was tributary to 
 the King of Tlemsan. When, in 1505, the Spaniards had taken 
 possession of an islet near Algiers, the Moorish inhabitants offered 
 their allegiance to Selim Eutemi, Emir of the Metija, under the 
 condition of aiding them against the Spaniards. Eutemi was not 
 strong enough to expel the intruders ; he therefore invited the 
 pirate, Horuk Barbarossa, a Sicilian renegade, to come to Algiers 
 with his brother Khairaddin, and promised him a considerable 
 recompense in case he should succeed in taking the occupied 
 islet. Horuk had already possessed himself of the town of Jijeli, 
 and founded there a pirate den; whence he used to sail with 
 his galleys into the Mediterranean, and attack all the Christian 
 traders. He had a numerous retinue of freebooters — Turks, 
 Moors, Arabs, and European renegades — and was the terror of 
 all the Christian coasts, where he often landed, carrying away 
 booty and prisoners. This pirate-chief came now with a few 
 thousand followers to Algiers. Eutemi met him in triumph, and 
 housed him i%hi8 own palace ; but the dreadful guests behaved as 
 in a conquered city. Horuk murdered the confiding Eutemi with 
 his own hand in the bath, and had himself proclaimed Sultan of 
 
KEGENCY OF ALGIERS. » 217 
 
 Algiers. The wealthiest inhabitants were strangled ; the others 
 oppressed by heavy taxation ; nobody dared to stir ; and when the 
 wild and cunning tyrant passed through the streets, the trembling 
 inhabitants hid themselves. 
 
 The King of Spain hereupon sent a fleet, with ten thousand sol- 
 diers, under the orders of Don Diego de Verro, to expel the pirate- 
 chieftain from Algiers ; but a storm dispersed the fleet, and cast 
 some of the ships on the shore : the wrecked Spaniards were 
 cut off, or captured. Horuk then extended his empire into 
 the interior, defeated the King of Tenes, and annexed his little 
 kingdom. Thence he proceeded against Tlemsan, and was rein- 
 forced on his way by Moors and Arabs, eager for plunder. The 
 King of Tlemsan met him with an army, but he was routed by 
 Horuk, and slain by his own soldiers on his flight. The inhabit- 
 ants of Tlemsan opened their gates to the pirate, and received him 
 in triumph ; but they had soon reason to rue their public joy : 
 Horuk renewed here his Algerine outrages, had many inhabitants 
 beheaded, and their property confiscated. In 1517, a Spanish 
 army, under the command of the Marquis Gomarez, advanced 
 from Oran to deprive the pirate-prince of his new conquest of 
 Tlemsan. Barbarossa was besieged in the citadel : unable to 
 hold out, he escaped by an underground passage ; but he was 
 overtaken on his flight, and beheaded. 
 
 When these tidings reached Algiers, the adventurers who were 
 left there proclaimed Khairaddin Barbarossa, the brother of 
 Horuk, Sultan of Algeria. This chief was as savage and cruel 
 as his brother, but he did not think he could alone withstand the 
 Spaniards ; he therefore sent an embassy to Sultan Selim re- 
 questing his aid, and offered to put his realm under Turkish 
 sovereignty if the Sultan would invest him with the dignity of 
 Pasha. Sultan Selim accepted the proposition, and sent two 
 thousand janissaries to Algiers, who were followed soon after by 
 further reinforcements. With the aid of those troops, Khairaddin 
 reconquered the islet occupied by the Spaniards, and joined it 
 to the mainland by a vast dyke. Algeria became in this way 
 
218 
 
 ALGERIA, UNDER THE TURKISH DOMINION. 
 
 a Turkish pashalik ; and Khalraddin, who soon was appointed 
 Kapiidan Pasha (admiral) at Constantinople, was succeeded by 
 Hassan Aga, who continued with success the piracy established 
 by Horuk Barbarossa, and became the scourge of the Mediter- 
 ranean. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ALGERIA,FR0M THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TURKISH DOMINION TO 
 THE FRENCH CONQUEST. 
 
 The Algerines being thus assured of regular reinforcements from 
 Turkey, increased their piracy so much that, in 1541, Charles V. 
 had to undertake his celebrated expedition against the mighty 
 robber- state. The chivalrous and costly enterprise of the Em- 
 peror, however, was wrecked by a storm which destroyed the 
 greatest part of his fleet, whilst his army had to encamp for 
 several days on the hostile coast, without shelter and without 
 provisions, incessantly attacked by fanatical Mussulmans. The 
 remains of the unfortunate army embarked again at Cape Matifu, 
 where Admiral Doria had assembled the remaining ships. The 
 number of Christian prisoners was at that time so great at Algiers, 
 that, as the Moors relate until now, a slave could be bought for an 
 onion. This unlucky expedition took place under the second Pasha, 
 Hassan, whose remains are buried in the mosque of the gate 
 Bab-a-Zun, and who is reverenced by the Mohammedans as a 
 saint. He was a lucky chief, and shortly before his death he had 
 conquered the territory of Tlemsan. 
 
 The history of Algiers under the successors of Khairaddin and 
 Hassan presents very few interesting episodes. The Algerines 
 carried on an uninterrupted war in the Mediterranean with all the 
 Christian powers. They often captured European traders, and 
 landed sometimes on the coasts of Spain, of the Baleares, or Sar- 
 dinia, for plunder, and the kidnapping of white slaves. They 
 were likewise in Africa always involved in struggles with their 
 
ALGERIA, UNDER THE TURKISH DOMINION. 219 
 
 neighbours, though there they had no enemy of the faith to en- 
 counter. The Pashas of Algeria had already, before the end of 
 the sixteenth century, conquered all the western country up to 
 the river Maluia. Oran alone remained in possession of the 
 Spaniards. Bujia, in the east, which had been occupied by the 
 Spaniards for thirty-five years, was likewise stormed in 1554 by 
 Salha Rais. Southwards, the Algerines extended their conquests 
 to the Desert: they captured Tuggurt and Wurgelah. The 
 Spaniards often tried to check the progress of the pirate-state, 
 but all attempts failed. In 1561, a Spanish army under the com- 
 mand of the Count d'Acaudate was destroyed near Mostaganem, 
 and twelve thousand prisoners fell into the hands of the Pasha of 
 Algiers. In 1568, the Porte invested a notorious pirate, Ali 
 Fartaz, with the Pashalik : he conquered Tunis, and subjected 
 all the province to the Porte. His success on the sea, however, 
 was so great, that he was soon called to Constantinople for a 
 higher dignity, — that of Kapudan Pasha (chief admiral). Another 
 pirate-hero, Menuni-Rais, got the pashalik in 1585. The Bar- 
 bary pirates ventured under him for the first time into the 
 Atlantic Ocean, and landed on the Canary Islands, carrying off 
 plunder and slaves. In 1660, the Algerine militia sent a deputa- 
 tion to Constantinople with the request to be allowed to elect a 
 Dey* from among their ranks, to have equal power with the 
 Pasha, and to provide for the regular pay of the janissaries. The 
 deputation carried rich presents to Constantinople, and the request 
 was granted, though it could not but be seen that collisions would 
 take place between the two chiefs which must result in a rupture 
 between the pirate- state and its suzerain. 
 
 When the corsairs of Algiers began to extend their depreda- 
 tions to the coasts of Provence, Louis XIV. sent an expedition 
 against them, which in 1683 bombarded Algiers for three days. 
 The fleet of the pirates and the lower part of the city were de- 
 stroyed ; the humbled Dey sued for peace, and delivered up all 
 
 * Dey means in Turkish, uncle, and was originally a nickname of the chiefs. 
 
220 ALGERIA, UNDER THE TURKISH DOMINIOX. 
 
 the Christian slaves. This peace was to last for a century, but it 
 was broken in three years by the Algerines. A new fleet, under 
 the command of Marshal d'Estrees, left Toulon in June 1688, 
 threw ten thousand four hundred shells into the robber-den, burned 
 six men-of-war to the water's edge, and destroyed a great portion 
 of the city. But even this expedition remained without lasting 
 effects, and piracy continued, though Algeria once more concluded 
 peace with France. In 1708, the janissaries seized Oran, which 
 had been in the hands of the Spaniards for one hundred years. 
 This happened under Ibrahim Dey, who was murdered two years 
 later. His successor was Baba-Ali, a great warrior, but a savage 
 man. In the first month of his reign he had seventeen hundred 
 persons strangled, in order to strengthen his power. The Pasha 
 having been opposed to his election, the Dey had him sent back 
 to Constantinople, and threatened him with death in case he 
 should return. At the same time he sent ambassadors with rich 
 presents to Stambul, and made the proposition to the Porte no 
 longer to name a Pasha, but always to invest the elected Dey 
 with the pashalik, since two chiefs with equal rank could never 
 govern the country without collisions, which always must turn to 
 the advantage of the Dey, who can rely upon the militia who has 
 elected him ; whilst the Pasha, a fpreigner, must remain isolated. 
 The Porte felt the impossibility of governing a distant country of 
 unruly freebooters under the form of a pashalik, and granted the 
 request of Baba-Ali merely because the state of things could not 
 be altered. From that time the Deys were in fact independent of 
 the Porte : they made war and concluded peace without caring 
 for the orders of the Porte. Not even tribute was paid to the 
 Sultan : the robber- princes were too haughty and too rapacious. 
 They thought it sufficient to send presents at every new election 
 to Stambul, and the Porte never refused to confirm the elected 
 Dey in his dignity as Pasha. The real independence of the 
 pirate-princes of Algeria begins with Baba-Ali. 
 
 Under the Deys, Algeria was a kind of military republic. 
 After the death of their chief, the Turkish militia assembled 
 
ALGERIA, UNDER THE TURKISH DOMINION. 221 
 
 before the palace, and began to shout the name of the candidate 
 who was to succeed the deceased Dey. The shouting continued 
 until a majority decided for any individual. The minority were 
 generally brought to silence by intimidation and open threats. 
 But the election often resulted in bloody scenes. The Dey- elect 
 was placed upon the throne, and invested with the kaftan (tunic) of 
 honour ; he was forced by circumstances to accept the dignity, 
 however disinclined he might be, since to decline the election 
 would have been j:he signal for his murder, as his successor would 
 not have dared to spare a man more popular than himself. After 
 the election, the red flag with the crescent was reared on the 
 palace, and the report of cannon announced the fact to all the 
 neighbourhood. The new Dey had to take an oath administered 
 {o him by the Mufti ; he had to promise the maintenance of peace 
 and order, and guarantee the regular payment of the militia. 
 All the superior officers and officials had now to declare their 
 allegiance by kissing his hands. But it often happened that 
 even before this ceremony was gone through, the malcontent party 
 succeeded in creating a riot, in forcing their way to the palace, 
 and murdering the new Dey. The chief of the rioters clad himself 
 immediately in the bloody kaftan, and ascended the throne. It 
 happened once that, with a nearly equal division of the militia, 
 seven Deys were elected and murdered in succession in one and 
 the same day. Their tombs are yet to be seen before the gate 
 Bab-el-Uad. The new Dey did not know any more efficient 
 means for strengthening his throne than terror, and nearly every 
 election of Deys was accompanied by executions ; and yet their 
 reign seldom lasted long : half of them died by violence. After 
 all the blood spilt, after all the sleepless nights of jealous dis- 
 trust, the moment arrived at last when the pale tyrant was 
 dragged by his own conspiring guards through the galleries of his 
 palace, and delivered up to the yatagan of the Braham-Chaush 
 (executioner). 
 
 The janissaries filled up their ranks by volunteers enlisted 
 yearly in Constantinople and Smyrna from among the lowest 
 
222 ALGERIA, UNDER THE TURKISH DOMINION. 
 
 classes. The recruits were in the beginning severely treated, 
 and not permitted to leave the barracks; but the longer they 
 remained in the country, the greater became their privileges: 
 their pay, too, was yearly increased. Married Turks had full 
 freedom; they dwelt in their own houses together with their 
 families ; they seldom took the field, and had nearly no service 
 to perform. The Kuruglis, offspring of Turks and Mooresses, 
 could likewise enter the militia, but they were only exceptionally 
 admitted to a high officer's rank. The Turks treated them with 
 suspicion ; the Kuruglis remained in a subordinate position, though 
 in all their faculties fully the equals of their fathers. 
 
 The military force of the Algerine Government did not consist 
 exclusively of Turkish militia ; there were many individuals in 
 all the Arab tribes who had their names inscribed on the rolls of 
 the Deys of Algiers as irregular cavalry, and formed the Makh- 
 sen. The Arab auxiliary corps, who were free from taxes, had 
 to take the field as often as required, and were regularly paid 
 when in the field. These auxiliaries were of great use to the 
 Turks whenever there was a refractory tribe to be punished ; 
 they were then summoned to go with the Turks against them, 
 and they often got likewise a share of the spoils. 
 
 The Dey used to receive advice from the Divan, or Council of 
 State, consisting of the sixty chief officers of the Regency. This 
 Board had, of course, the greatest influence on the election or 
 deposition of the Dey. The Khasnadji was prime minister : he 
 had to administer the finances and the home affairs. The Agha 
 was minister at war: he commanded the Turkish militia, and 
 exercised the power of life and death beyond the boundaries of 
 the capital. The Ukil-el-Hardji had to provide for the navy, 
 and was at the head of foreign affairs. Khodja-el-Kril was 
 the title of the minister of the crown estates ; and the Mahatadji 
 was the chief of the Khodjas, or clerks. The administration of 
 justice had two chiefs : the Kadi-el-Haneji was judge of the 
 Turks; the Kadi-cl-Maleki presided over the tribunal of the Moors 
 and Arabs. The lianejites and- the Malekites are Mohammedan 
 
ALGERIA, UNDER THE TURKISH DOMINION. 223 
 
 sects, differing from one another in religious ceremonies. Above 
 the Kadis stood two Muftis, as the highest clerical authorities. 
 The Mufti- el- Hanefi^ or Sheikh- el- Islam, was one of the most im- 
 portant persons in the time of the dominion of the Deys. 
 
 The State of Algeria was divided into four provinces ; and it 
 was only the province of Algiers, the smallest of the four, which 
 stood under the immediate authority of the Deys. The other 
 three — Constantine, Titter?^ and Oran — were governed in the name 
 of the Deys by Beys, who levied the taxes, commanded the war- 
 contingents, and exercised power over life and death in their 
 provinces. The different tribes of the Arabs and Kabyles obeyed 
 their Kaids, who were appointed by the Turks ; whilst the Sheikhs, 
 or chiefs of the villages, were elected by the inhabitants them- 
 selves ; nevertheless they had to be confirmed by the Kaid, and 
 w^ere subordinate to him. The independent Kabyle tribes south 
 of Bujia had likewise Kaids, but they were elected by the tribes. 
 With other Kabyle tribes, this dignity was hereditary in certain 
 families : the chiefs of the most important tribes — for instance 
 the Zuauas and Beni- Abbes — called themselves Sultans. 
 
 Such was the organization of the Regency of Algeria during 
 the hundred and twenty years of the independent sway of the 
 Deys. The Porte had, since 1710, when its Pasha was expelled, 
 lost all its influence, and derived scarcely any advantage from 
 that country, which, however, belonged nominally to her. The 
 history of Algiers under the Deys is a series of janissary riots 
 and murders of the Deys, varied by several expeditions of the 
 maritime powers for putting down piracy. The Spaniards, in 
 1732, occupied Oran and Mers-el-Keblr once more. In 1775, a 
 Spanish fleet of four hundred sail, and two thousand two hundred 
 soldiers, arrived before Algiers, under the command of Admiral 
 Castljo and G eneral O'Reilly. The landing was easily eflfected ; 
 but an immense number of Arabs and Moors hastened from 
 the interior to the defence of the capital. A sharp action 
 followed, in which twenty thousand natives are said to have 
 been slain ; yet the Spaniards hastily embarked again, and left 
 
224 ALGERIA, UNDER THE TURKISH DOMINION. 
 
 eighteen hundred wounded soldiers and all their artillery in the 
 hands of the Algerines. After the great wars of the present 
 century, when the large fleets had disappeared from the Medi- 
 terranean, piracy once more became so rampant, that the English, 
 who until now had not come into so many collisions with the 
 States of Barbary, sent in 1816 a serious expedition against 
 Algiers.* The Dey of that period was Omar, a savage, warlike 
 Turk, who had rejected haughtily the summons of the English to 
 give up piracy. The English fleet was commanded by the cele- 
 brated Lord Exmouth, and comprised, after the junction with the 
 Dutch fleet under Admiral Van Der Capellen, five ships of the 
 line, five frigates, and four bomb-vessels. Lord Exmouth was 
 on board the Queen Charlotte, which cast anchor on the 26th 
 of August 1816, so near to the pier that her bowsprit almost 
 touched the first houses on shore. Omar replied to the summons 
 of the Admiral by the order to fire upon the ships. But the 
 English line-of-battle ships opened such a murderous fire upon 
 the crowds on shore, who had assembled to view the defeat 
 of the Christians, that they were immediately scattered asun- 
 der: the shells and rockets pursued them into the town. By 
 
 * Charles Sumner gives the following description of the American expedition, 
 which had preceded the English: — " The lawlessness of the corsair again broke 
 forth by the seizure, in 1812, of the brig Edwin, of Salem, and the enslavement 
 of her crew. All the energies of the country were at this time enlisted in war 
 with Great Britain ; but even amidst the anxieties of this gigantic contest, the 
 voices of these captives were heard, awakening a corresponding sentiment through- 
 out the land, until the Government was prompted to seek their release. Through 
 Mr. Noah, recently appointed Consul at Tunis, it oflfered to purcliase their free- 
 dom at three thousand dollars a-head. The answer of the Dey, repeated on 
 several occasions, was, that " not for two millions of dollars Avould he sell his 
 American slaves." The timely treaty of Ghent in 1815, establishing peace with 
 Great Britain, left us at liberty to deal with this enslaver of our countrymen. 
 A naval force was promptly despatched to the Mediterranean, under Commodore 
 Bainbridge and Commodore Decatur. The rapidity of their movements and 
 their striking success had the desired effect. In June 1815, a treaty was ex- 
 torted from the Dey of Algiers, by which, after abandoning all claim to tribute 
 in any form, he delivered his American captives, ten in number, without any 
 ransom; and stipulated that hereafter no Americans should be made slaves, or 
 forced to hard labour; and still farther, that " any Christians whatever, captives 
 in Algiers, making their escape, and taking refuge on board an American ship 
 of war, should be safe from all requisition or reclamaticn." 
 
ALGERIA, UNDER THE TURKISH DOMINION. 225 
 
 evening the Algerine fleet was destroyed, the fortifications scat- 
 tered, and a great part of the city was a crumbling ruin. The 
 English had likewise suffered much by the land-batteries, and 
 their loss of life was severe. Omar was willing to continue the 
 struggle, but the militia forced him to yield. He set all slaves 
 free, and agreed to put an end both to piracy and white slavery. 
 He was murdered in 1817. His successor, Ali Dey, formed the 
 scheme of making himself independent of the janissaries, and 
 took every precaution against a possible outbreak. He trans- 
 ferred his residence from the great open palace in the centre of 
 the city to the fortified Kasbah, which, built on the highest point 
 of Algiers, served as a citadel to keep the city in fear. He died 
 of the plague in February 1818. Hussein, his prime minister, 
 was elected in his stead, the last prince of the pirate republic. 
 It was under him that the famous expedition of the French took 
 place in 1830. 
 
 France had several grievances against Algeria. In 1818, a 
 French brig was plundered in Bona, and the government of 
 Algiers refused to indemnify the owners. In 1823, the house of 
 the French consular agent was violated by the Algerine authori- 
 ties, under the pretext of searching for smuggled wares, and no 
 satisfaction was given. Roman vessels, sailing under the protec- 
 tion of the French flag, had been taken by Algerine corsairs. 
 At last a rough insult was alleged as the ultimate cause of war, — 
 the way in which the Dey had treated the French consul publicly 
 before the Divan. Bakri, a rich Jew of Algiers, had supplied 
 the French commissariat with grain at the time of the expedition 
 to Egypt: his accounts had not been settled. In 1816, a com- 
 mission was named, in order to sift the claims of the Algerine 
 creditor. The commission acknowledged the justice of the claim, 
 which amounted to about fourteen millions of francs ; but that 
 sum was reduced by consent, in 1819, to seven millions, with the 
 stipulation that the French creditors of Bakri were first to be 
 satisfied; and, in fact, several of them, influential persons at 
 court and in the chambers, got their money. But the principal 
 p 
 
226 
 
 creditor of Bakri was the Dey himself, who had sold to him a 
 considerable quantity of wool, and who looked upon the debt of 
 France as the guarantee of his debtor. The rumour was spread 
 that many of the French claims which had been paid by the first 
 instalment were fictitious, and Mr. Deval, the French consul in 
 Algiers, was suspected of being in secret understanding and 
 partnership with some of the French claimants. This opinion 
 prevailed both in France and in Africa. The Dey, seeing that 
 the value of Bakri's guarantee was day by day decreasing, wrote 
 an autograph letter to the King of France. The letter remained 
 without answer. The Dey, therefore, when in 1827 he publicly 
 received the foreign consuls at the Bairam feast, asked Mr. Deval 
 for the reason of that silence. The consul answered in words 
 conve3"ing the idea that the King of France could not lower 
 himself so much as to write to a Dey of Algiers. At any rate, 
 it is believed that Mr. Deval, either from his deficient know- 
 ledge of the Arabic or from hastiness of temper, used expressions 
 offensive to the Dey. The Moor, Hamdan-ben-Othman-Khodja, 
 who was present at the scene, assures us that the answer of the 
 consul was literally the following : — " The King of France does 
 not think a man like thee worthy of an answer." The Dey 
 was maddened by such insulting language ; and, with a fl^^flap 
 which he just happened to hold in his hand, he slapped the 
 face of the consul, bursting out into a disrespectful speech against 
 the King of France. Mr. Deval made his report to the Govern- 
 ment. It was M. VillMe who at that time stood at the head 
 of the ministry, and the opposition had often charged him with 
 weakness and cowardice towards foreign powers. M. Villele, 
 therefore, seized the opportunity of displaying cheap energy 
 and silencing the opposition. He declared that the king would 
 take revenge for such an insult; and the blockade of the har- 
 bour of Algiers was decreed, but it remained without result. The 
 ministry of Polignac, wishing to turn the attention of the nation 
 to foreign affairs, and believing that military glory might blind 
 the French to the restrictions of the press which were intended 
 
ALGERIA, UNDER THE TURKISH DOMINION. 227 
 
 by the Government, resolved to send the memorable expedition 
 to Africa. 
 
 On the 25th of May 1830, a fleet, consisting of a hundred 
 men-of-war, amongst them eleven line-of-battle ships and twenty- 
 four frigates, and of three hundred and fifty- seven vessels hired 
 for transport, weighed anchor from the road of Toulon. It 
 carried an army of thirty-four thousand one hundred and eighty- 
 four men, the officers included. The commander of the fleet was 
 Vice- Admiral Duperre, who had the reputation of being the best 
 and most experienced French naval officer. The army was led 
 by Lieutenant- General Bourmont, minister at war, whose prece- 
 dents did not justify the nomination, and whose name could not 
 inspire the soldiers either with confidence or with courage, neither 
 of which, however, was deficient. Many of the officers had served 
 in the wars of the Republic and of the Empire, and were accus- 
 tomed to enemies more terrible than the undisciplined hordes of 
 savage Africans. Besides, the army had always been honoured 
 by the French youth, and it won fresh favour when they saw that 
 it had a nobler task than the dry uniformity of drilling and bar- 
 rack life. Many volunteers, admirers of the deeds of Napoleon, 
 entered the ranks, not a few of them young men of wealth and 
 education. They introduced a good spirit into the army, and 
 communicated their fresh enthusiasm even to the more rough or 
 apathetic of the common soldiers. 
 
 On the morning of the 13th of June, the fleet came in sight of 
 the African coast, and landed on the sandy shores of Sidi-Ferruh, 
 thus called from the tomb of a Marabut, twenty-five miles west of 
 Algiers. The landing began on the 14th at dawn, and every- 
 body expected a considerable resistance from the enemy; but only 
 a few hundred mounted Arabs were seen in the distance, who 
 seemed to spy the movements of the fleet. Scarcely was the 
 first division (under the command of General Berthez^ne) on 
 shore, when it marched in columns against the enemy, who 
 had taken position on a hill at about half an hour's distance 
 from the sea, and had covered it by his batteries. They opened 
 
228 ALGERIA, UNDER THE TURKISH DOMINION. 
 
 fire, but could not check the advance of the French. At that 
 moment. General Bourmont, who hastened onward to lead the 
 attack himself, had a narrow escape ; two balls fell at his feet, 
 and covered him with sand. As the French approached the 
 batteries, the janissaries fled ; all their artillery was taken by the 
 victors. 
 
 General Bourmont had much too favourable an opinion of 
 African tactics. He expected to have to encounter a cavalry 
 similar to that of the Mamelukes in Egypt. He had even 
 announced to the army, in an order of the day, dated from Palma, 
 that the enemy were to send a mass of camels into the first line of 
 battle, with a view to intimidate the French horse ; but only a 
 few of those animals were seen at a distance, carrying the baggage 
 of the Turks. The dreaded African cavalry avoided every en- 
 counter : their method of warfare was a succession of skirmishes. 
 The horsemen advanced suddenly, one by one, stopped their 
 horses, discharged their long muskets, and rode away as suddenly 
 as they had come, in order to charge their muskets again and to 
 repeat the manoeuvre. The Algerine army was commanded by 
 the son-in-law of the Dey, Ibrahim, the Agha of the militia, a 
 man without capacity. It amounted to 30,000 men, one-fourth 
 of them being the auxiliaries brought by the Beys of the pro- 
 vinces. The Algerine Turks amounted to about 5000 men ; the 
 remainder were Arabs of the Metija, and Kabyles from the Jur- 
 I'ura mountain, mostly of the Flissa tribe, and led by their Kaid, 
 Ben-Zamun. 
 
 As soon as the army had taken position on the coast, it built 
 a fortified camp, as the over-prudent Bourmont did not dare 
 immediately to attack the city. Since there was abundance of 
 green trees in the neighbourhood, green huts and halls soon rose 
 by the industry of the French soldiers. The camp looked like 
 a city, and was enlivened by merry movement. In the mean- 
 time the struggle continued uninterruptedly at the outposts ; the 
 natives had a superiority in skirmishing over the French, because 
 their muskets were of a longer range ; but they dreaded the 
 
ALGERIA, UNDER THE TURKISH DOMINION. 229 
 
 artillery, especially the howitzers. As often as a shell exploded, 
 the crowds of horsemen dispersed in all directions. 
 
 On the 18th, some Arabs came stealthily to the French out- 
 posts, and disclosed to General Berthez^ne that he was to be 
 attacked on the next day by all the forces of the Dey. One of 
 them, a Sheikh of the Beni-Jad, told the General that the Arabs 
 were tired of the war, and that his tribe was favourable to the 
 French ; he himself promised to pass over to them with all his 
 followers. This promise was not fulfilled, but the predicted 
 attack really took place. The battle was stoutly contested, espe- 
 cially by the Turks, yet the natives were everywhere routed, and 
 lost many men. The struggle lasted long, for General Bourmont 
 lingered in giving the order to attack. At last he mounted his 
 horse and gave the signal, and the first two divisions advanced 
 rapidly over the broken ground, covered with bushes. The 
 Algerines fled ; their artillery, camp, and baggage was taken, and 
 with it the splendid tent of the Agha, sixty feet long. This battle 
 (called that of Staueli, from the name of the plain on which it was 
 fought) cost the Dey from three to four thousand men in dead and 
 wounded ; but the French, too, lost six hundred men. All the 
 natives say that had the French continued the pursuit of their 
 routed enemy, they could have immediately taken the city, as the 
 troops iled in such unruly disorder and consternation, that nobody 
 thought of a serious defence of the gates. But Bourmont remained 
 faithful to his system of prudence and slow progress; he did not 
 advance, and remained in Staueli up to the 24th of June. 
 
 Ibrahim Pasha, the commander of the Algerines, had lost his 
 •wits after the battle. He hid himself in his country-place, and 
 did not dare to appear before his father-in-law, who sent the Moor, 
 Hamdan-Ben-Othman-Khodja to him to cheer him up, in order to 
 collect the remnants of the army. In the mean time the French 
 entered into communication with one of the Arab tribes. The in- 
 terpreter visited even one of their encampments, and bought some 
 oxen. The Arabs assured the French again that they felt weary 
 of the war, and were ready to provide the French camp with 
 
230 ALGERIA, UNDER THE TURKISH DOMIKION. 
 
 victuals, if protected against the revenge of the Turks, and prin- 
 cipally, if paid in cash. The French promised it; they were not 
 yet aware of the character of this people, and put more trust in 
 those overtures than they deserved. Bourmont exhorted the 
 army to treat the Arabs kindly and honestly, as they were on 
 the point of joining the French, and fighting their oppressors, the 
 Turks. But a few days dispelled the delusion ; on the 24th, a 
 new general attack was made on the French, both by Turks and 
 by Arabs, who thought that the lingering of their enemies was a 
 sign of weakness and cowardice. They were once more defeated, 
 and yet the undecided Bourmont did not allow his men to pursue 
 the enemy to the city. 
 
 The French army was occupied in building a solid highway 
 for the convoy and baggage- waggons. The generals and engineers 
 were so little accustomed to Arab war, that they went forward 
 only with the greatest prudence and circumspection. A few years 
 later, the most wanton rashness succeeded to the over- anxious 
 system of tarrying. Whilst Bourmont required three weeks in 
 summer to advance twenty-five miles on a field comparatively 
 little broken. Marshal Clauzel undertook, in winter 1836, an expe- 
 dition to Constantine, across dangerous mountain-ridges and 
 ravines, without having had the path reconnoitered. On the 28th, 
 a column of the enemy surprised a battalion of the 4th light- 
 infantry regiment, just in the act of cleaning their muskets, which 
 they had unscrewed ; and killed one hundred and fifty of them, 
 who were unable to make any resistance. 
 
 On the 29th, the army advanced and occupied the heights and 
 slopes of the Bujarea mountain, which commands the city and 
 the forts of Algiers. The resistance of the enemy was not very 
 serious, though they had now a more energetic commander 
 than heretofore. The Dey, convinced by the failure of fhe 24th of 
 June, of the incapacity of his son-in-law, had given the chief com- 
 mand to Mustapha-Bu-Mesrag, the Bey of Titteri, a courageous 
 Turk. The trenches were at last opened on the 3d of July, and 
 Admiral Duperre appeared on the same day in the roadstead of 
 
ALGERIA, UNDER THE TURKISH DOMINION. 231 
 
 Algiers. On the 4th, the French batteries began their fire at 
 once against the "Emperor's Fort" and the Kasbah, the two 
 principal defences of the city. The Turkish batteries returned 
 the shots with great energy for four hours. When, however, the 
 majority of their cannons were dismounted, and the walls riddled 
 by the balls, the fire slackened, and was silenced towards noon. 
 The Emperor's Fort was evacuated, and Its powder-magazine set 
 on fire by order of the Dey. The explosion destroyed all the 
 vaults and the inside walls. A few French companies immediately 
 rushed forward and occupied the fort. They found three Turkish 
 cannons still in good order ; two French ones were carried Into 
 the fort, and with those five, the fort Bab-a-Zun, on the shore, was 
 fired upon, and its batteries silenced. The fleet likewise attacked 
 the fortifications on the sea- side, but the fire made no Impres- 
 sion on account of the distance. 
 
 Great consternation prevailed In the town after the fall of the 
 Emperor's Fort. The inhabitants, who dreaded the capture of the 
 city by storm, and the disorder and outrages usual on such occa- 
 sions, rushed In crowds to the Kasbah, and with great noise 
 demanded that the Dey should capitulate. Hussein now sent his 
 chief clerk to General Bourmont with the promise to pay the 
 costs of war, and to give any satisfaction. As the French General 
 declined that proposal, the chief clerk, a worthless traitor, as were 
 nearly all the grandees of that pirate state, offered to kill his 
 master, saying that it would be easier to treat advantageously 
 with the new Dey. But the French General, who had orders to 
 extinguish the domination of the Deys, rejected those proposals 
 as incompatible with the honour of France. 
 
 Hussein Dey hereupon sent the Moors, Achmet-Buderbah 
 and Hamdan-Ben-Othman-Khodja, as negotiators to General 
 Bourmont. Both were clever and cunning ; they had lived a 
 long time In Europe, and spoke French with great facility. After 
 a negotiation of about two hours, a capitulation was brought about, 
 according to which the Kasbah, and all the forts and gates of the 
 city, were to be delivered to the French army. The Dey was 
 
232 ADMINISTRATIONS OF MARSHAL CLAUZEL 
 
 permitted to remove from the country with his family and his 
 private property whither he pleased. An escort was to provide 
 for his safety. The same concession was granted to the Turkish 
 militia. On the other side, General Bourmont further pledged 
 his honour to respect the Religion, the personal freedom, property, 
 commerce, and industry of the inhabitants. Hussein Dey ac- 
 cepted this capitulation, which was equivalent to an abdication. 
 
 On the 6th of July, the French entered Algiers as victors ; and 
 their white flag, which soon was to change its colour, was reared 
 on the Kasbah, and on the Emperor's Fort. 
 
 CHAPTER IH. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OF MARSHAL CLAUZEL AND OF GENERAL 
 BERTHEZENE. 
 
 On the day after the capture of Algiers, General Bourmont, who 
 soon after received the marshal's baton, sent a column to Cape 
 Matifu to take possession of the stud and herds which were kept 
 by the Dey on the " Haush el Kantara" (now maison carree) 
 and Rassota, two important crown- domains. But Ahmet, the Bey 
 of Constantine, had, on his return to his province, anticipated the 
 French : he had plundered those two establishments, and the 
 French found nothing but bare walls. 
 
 The army remained quietly in the neighbourhood of Algiers up 
 to the 23d of July. The destruction of the luxuriant gardens and 
 handsome villas, by the French, took place in that time. Nobody 
 knew then whether Algiers would be retained, and nobody cared 
 for its future. The officers, therefore, remained indifferent when 
 the first palms and orange- trees were felled by the axes of the 
 soldiers, to be used for camp-fires. Gangs of Frenchmen broke 
 into the neat villas, deserted by their frightened inhabitants, and 
 destroyed even the walls in the hope of finding hidden treasures. 
 
AND OF GENERAL BERTHEZENE. 233 
 
 The traces of this Vandalism are not yet all obliterated, especially 
 on the Bujarea, where we often suddenly fall in with modern 
 ruins in the midst of the finest gardens. 
 
 Such disorders were not confined to the encamped army. A 
 much more shameful charge is brought against the superior 
 officers, who were quartered in the public buildings of the city. 
 The rarities of the Dey's treasure were nearly all stolen. The 
 splendid vases, the rich arms — many of them belonging to the best 
 period of Spain, carried off by the pirates, and buried in the 
 vaults of the Kasbah — were squandered away : the rich plate, of 
 considerable artistic value, was melted and coined. It is believed 
 in Algiers that many superior officers, generals, and persons of 
 the military household of Marshal Bourmont, had taken part in 
 these embezzlements. Inquest was afterwards made into the 
 matter by a commission, but the report has never been published. 
 Even the cash of the Kasbah was said not to have reached France 
 without. serious defalcation. But Pellissier, a conscientious man, 
 contradicts this rumour, in his Annales Algeriennes, with the 
 greatest positiveness. 
 
 On the 23d, Marshal Bourmont made an excursion into the in- 
 terior with a small column of from one thousand to twelve hundred 
 men, and about one hundred horsemen. He went in a southern 
 direction towards the Atlas, crossed the Sahel and the Metija, 
 and encamped in the neighbourhood of Belida, where he was well 
 received by the inhabitants. Ben-Zamun, the Kaid of the impor- 
 tant Kabyle tribe of the Flissas on the Jurjura mountain, a man 
 of considerable influence on all the surrounding tribes, had 
 entered into negotiations with the French commander-in-chief, 
 and had offered his good offices for bringing about an understand- 
 ing between the conquerors of Algiers and his countrymen. 
 When he heard of Bourmont's intention of making an excursion 
 nto the interior, he advised him to delay it until a formal treaty 
 should be made between the natives and the French in regard to 
 their mutual intercourse. But Bourmont did not care for Ben- 
 Zamun' s representations, and scarcely deigned to give him any 
 
234 ADMINISTRATIONS OF MARSHAL CLAUZEL 
 
 answer, though common prudence advised to treat such an impor- 
 tant man with more respect. 
 
 Curiosity was, in fact, the only motive of this excursion. But 
 soon after the arrival of the column at Belida, it was seen by 
 the movement of the Arabs and Kabyles, assembled at the 
 foot of the mountains, that an attack was imminent. The care- 
 lessly disposed soldiers, who were admiring the beautiful scenery 
 and the luxuriant orange-gardens, had scarcely time to take 
 up their arms : a captain of the staff was killed, and the column 
 continually harassed on its retreat towards Buffarik. Bourraont 
 was maddened by this unexpected hostility. After the downfal 
 of the Dey, he expected to find the whole country subjected, 
 grateful for the expulsion of the tyrants ; and now he encoun- 
 tered unprovoked hostility. Unacquainted with Arab character, 
 and fancying that they were to be the future allies of France, he 
 thought that their resistance was organized by the Turks. In 
 consequence of this mistake, he decreed the expulsion of all the 
 Turks who had remained in Algiers after the departure of Hus- 
 sein -Dey. It was a most serious blunder, ever since repented ; 
 for the Turks and Kuruglis proved at an after period to be 
 the only reliable support of the French. Those who remained 
 in other .places which were occupied by the French, fought faith- 
 fully and gallantly in the service of their new masters ; but they 
 were too few to quench the powerfully-roused enthusiasm of the 
 Arabs for the re-establishment of an Arab empire. The five to 
 six thousand Turks, expelled by Bourmont from Algiers, formed 
 the nucleus of the Dey's army, and they alone had kept the coun- 
 try in subjection. Conversant with the character of the Arabs 
 and Kabyles, with the position and mutual relations of the tribes 
 and chiefs, their services would have been most advantageous to the 
 French. By their support and instrumentality, the new dominion 
 could have been extended immediately all over the country, and 
 might have replaced the Turkish sway before the tribes became 
 conscious of their power, and before they grew familiar with the 
 idea of an Arab empire. But instead of this, the country was 
 
AND OF GENERAL BERTHEZENE. 235 
 
 thrown into disorganization ; the former officials were expelled, and 
 the deeds and rolls of the administration thrown away in the con- 
 fusion which followed the capture of the Kasbah. The provinces 
 and tribes of the interior were left to shift for themselves, and 
 even the country in the immediate vicinity of the capital was only 
 partially cared for. The natural consequence was, first anarchy, 
 then a union of the tribes under the supremacy of the mightiest 
 and most fortunate chief. 
 
 Marshal Bourmont had, even before his excursion to Belida, 
 sent two small expeditions by sea to take possession of the cities 
 Bona and Oran. Both corps were suddenly recalled at the tid- 
 ings of the outbreak of the July Revolution. The troops sent to 
 Oran, under the command of Colonel Goutfrey, had not even 
 landed when they received the counter- order. But Bona had 
 been occupied by General Damremont, and bravely defended 
 against an attack of the Arabs. However, the city had to be 
 evacuated by the distinct order of Bourmont. 
 
 The news of the July Revolution was brought by a merchant- 
 vessel to Algiers on the 11th of August. Bourmont, always of 
 an undecided character, did not know what to do. He would 
 neither attend to the advice of some enthusiastic Legitimists (such 
 as were not scarce among the superior officers), who wished to 
 embark the army, and to carry it to the shores of La Vendee, in 
 order to fight there for Legitimacy ; nor did he yield to the wishes 
 of those who, as the Generals Lahitte and Tholoze, insisted upon 
 the necessity of not bringing the army into collision with the 
 majority of the country, and thought that it had passively to obey 
 whatever government France chose to establish. But when the 
 details became known that the triumph of the Revolution had 
 nowhere been contested, the voice of the junior officers rose louder 
 and more urgent that the new order of things must be acknow- 
 ledged, and a great number of officers were about to proceed to 
 the Marshal, summoning him to rear the tricolor instead of the 
 white flag. Bourmont prevented this demonstration by the pub- 
 lication of an order of the day, dated August 16th, in which he 
 
236 ADMINISTRATIONS OP MARSHAL CLAUZEL 
 
 announced to the army the abdication of Charles X. and of the 
 Duke of Angouleme in favour of the Duke of Bordeaux, and noti- 
 fied that, in consequence of an order of the Duke of Orleans, 
 Lieutenant-General of the country, the white flag and cockade 
 were to be replaced by the tricolor. 
 
 The last hours of command were embittered to the General 
 by events which were but the result of his wavering indecision. 
 The Arabs of the interior, seeing that the French did not stir, 
 took the offensive, advanced towards the city, and blockaded it 
 Whoever ventured too far beyond the walls was pretty sure of 
 being killed. This happened to the colonel of the 17th regiment 
 of the line, and to several other officers who were slain close to 
 the small plain of Mustapha Pasha. Moreover, Mustapha-Bu- 
 Mesrag, the Bey of Titteri, residing in Medeah, who had first 
 acknowledged the dominion of the French, now declared war 
 against them, under the pretext that the capitulation was broken 
 by the expulsion of the Turks. 
 
 On the 2d September, General Clauzel, who had been entrusted 
 with the command of the African army, arrived in the roadstead 
 of Algiers. Marshal Bourmont embarked the same day. He had 
 first the intention of proceeding to France, but he suddenly changed 
 his mind and went to Spain. He claimed a government ship for 
 the passage, but it was refused. The IVIarshal had therefore to 
 negotiate with the traders, but it was long before he found a small 
 Austrian vessel, which received him on board. Thus the conqueror 
 of Algiers left the scene of his victory as an exile. Two of his 
 sons accompanied him, the third was gone to France with the 
 captured flags, a fourth had fallen in the affair at Sidi-Khalaf. 
 
 Though the name of General Clauzel was known and renowned 
 under the Empire, his arrival roused no enthusiasm amongst the 
 troops, who knew that the opposition, which had come into power, 
 and to which the General belonged, was averse to the expedition. 
 The first proclamation of the new commander announced Louis 
 Philippe's accession to the throne, without mentioning by a single 
 word, whether the country was satisfied with the army in Africa, 
 
AND OF GENERAL BERTHEZENE. 237 
 
 and whether it adopted the lionour of the conquest.* Many of 
 the officers and soldiers were at this time in favour of Marshal 
 Bourmont. His last feat of arms had to some degree wiped out 
 the stain which had sullied his name since 1815, when he had 
 passed over to the enemy on the eve of the decisive battle. His 
 misfortune now conciliated many of his former opponents, and 
 their good wishes accompanied the banished conqueror of Algiers 
 to his exile. Clauzel immediately appointed a commission to en- 
 quire into the mismanagement with which the army of Africa was 
 charged in respect to the treasures of the Kasbah ; but in spite of 
 the zeal of the commissioners, they came to no result ; and it will 
 always remain unknown into whose pocket the jewels and money 
 had fallen which were pilfered from the vaults of the Kasbah. 
 
 General Clauzel now set himself to a fresh organization of the 
 army. A battalion of natives was formed under the name of Zuaves, 
 mostly of Kabyles from the Regency of Constantine, who always 
 used to sell their services to the Government of the Barbary States, 
 as the Swiss do in Europe. This excellent corps of skirmishers, 
 clad in Turkish costume, has been since greatly increased ; but it 
 consists now mostly of French volunteers, as the natives cannot 
 endure European military discipline. The most important act of 
 Clauzel was the organization of the courts of justice. But the Moors 
 were not favourable to it, since it destroyed the supreme jurisdic- 
 tion of the Kadi-Hanefi. All the European colonists who specu- 
 lated on the future of the country were Clauzers partisans. A 
 society of settlers was formed under his auspices, and took posses- 
 sion of the farm of Hussein- Pasha, containing about a thousand 
 acres of land, which was called from that time the Ferine Modele. 
 
 After these administrative measures. General Clauzel turned 
 his attention to his military schemes. Mustapha-Ben-Mesrag, 
 the Bey of Titteri, had sent ambassadors to Hassan-Bey of Oran, 
 
 * It was perhaps known among the superior officers that the French Govern- 
 ment gave the English a positive assurance, when sending the expedition to Al- 
 giers, that no territorial occupation was intended. Charles X.'s Government 
 was in this respect false from the first, but in August it was not yet known 
 whether Louis Phillippe adopted the falsehood. 
 
238 ADMINISTRATIONS OF MARSHAL CLAUZEL 
 
 and to Ahmet Bey of Constantine, claiming that they should re- 
 cognize him Dey of Algiers, and send their war-contingent against 
 the French. Hassan was inclined to accede; but Ahmet, who 
 himself wished to become Dey, refused with the haughty 
 answer : " Thou art not more than I am." Clauzel left Algiers 
 on the 17th of November 1830, with 8000 men, to visit Medeah, 
 the capital of the warlike Bey of Titteri, who thought himself in- 
 vincible in his mountains. On the progress to Belida, a band of 
 Arab horsemen was seen, who seemed hostile. One of the 
 Zuaves, the young Italian renegade, Yussuf, who at that time 
 did not dream of the importance which he was to acquire, was 
 sent to the Arabs by the French commander in order to enter 
 into negotiations. Yussuf returned with their chief, a proud 
 Arab, of imposing features, who, when Clauzel told him he had 
 the intention of spending the night in Belida, replied, " and 
 I have the intention not to allow it." Hostilities immediately 
 began, and Clauzel occupied Belida ; left there a garrison of 500 
 men, and proceeded onwards towards Medeah. On the 20th, the 
 small army arrived at the foot of the mountains. The artillery 
 greeted the classic Atlas with a salute of twenty-five cannons, 
 and a proclamation was issued in the Napoleonic style. At the 
 evening camp-fire, the Paris volunteers, recapitulating their 
 college-remembrances, told their less instructed comrades that 
 from the time of the Romans — those great warriors with whom 
 every nation feels honoured to be compared — no European army 
 had crossed the Atlas. The French crossed it by the difficult 
 defile of Teniah, on the 21st of November, not without a serious 
 struggle with the Turks of the Bey, and with the warlike moun- 
 taineers, who were dislodged from their positions only by a severe 
 fight of several hours. The French lost here 220 men; and Gene- 
 ral Clauzel put forth, from the heights of the defile, a bombastic 
 and characteristically French proclamation, telling his soldiers 
 that " they had fought like giants." On the next day, Medeah, 
 the capital of the Beylik of Titteri, was occupied without resist- 
 ance, and a new Bey, Ben- Omar, was left here with a garrison. 
 
AND OF GENERAL BERTHEZENE. 239 
 
 But whilst the General had been advancing, the city of Belida had 
 become the scene of frightful events. Ben-Zamun and his Kabyles 
 had attacked the small garrison. He succeeded in entering the 
 city by the half-destroyed walls; a desperate street-fight ensued, 
 and many children and women were murdered by the French in 
 the heat of the battle, who thought themselves betrayed by the 
 Moorish inhabitants. At the approach of the army returning 
 from Medeah, the Kabyles took to their heels. Clauzel, however, 
 evacuated Belida, as he thought it would be too dangerous to leave 
 a garrison amidst such a hostile and exasperated population. 
 
 The obstinate resistance of the natives induced General Clauzel 
 to devise a scheme which would have been highly advantageous 
 to the progress of the French, without compromising their honour. 
 Seeing the difficulties of such an extended basis of operations 
 whilst his army was small, he made a treaty with Tunis, by 
 which the provinces of Constantine and Oran were ceded to the 
 brother of the Bey, under the suzerainty of the French. *The new 
 Bey bound himself, under the guarantee of his brother, to a 
 yearly tribute of one million of francs, and promised to favour all 
 the commercial settlements of the French in the interior, whilst 
 he was assured of the assistance of the French army. In this 
 way, France would have got allies instead of foes in the tribes of 
 Oran and Constantine, and could have acted with concentrated 
 forces on the provinces of Algeria and Titteri. This treaty, how- 
 ever, was not ratified by the Government; for the vanity of the 
 minister. General Sebastiani, was hurt by the too independent 
 course of General Clauzel, who therefore was soon recalled from 
 Africa. The immigrant colonists and speculators deeply lamented 
 his departure; they knew that he was favourably disposed to the 
 colony, and had confidence in its future. The army lost with him 
 an energetic and enterprlzing leader : among the natives, opinions 
 were divided. The Arabs of the Metija had liked his decree, 
 which released them from the tribute they had paid to the Beys ; 
 but their fanaticism was not disarmed. The Moors could not 
 forget that he had destroyed several mosques. 
 
240 ADMINISTRATION OF MARSHAL CLAUZEL 
 
 Clauzel's successor was General Berthez^ne, who had com- 
 manded the first division under Marshal Bourmont, and whose 
 merits were, at that time, overstated by the opposition papers, in 
 order to depreciate those of Bourmont. But Berthez^ne was a 
 very nan-ow-minded man, both as Administrator and as General. 
 In the beginning, he occupied himself much with measures of 
 general government, but he did it without any system or consist- 
 ency, and could not prevent increasing disorder. He had a 
 peculiar predilection for the Moors. Intriguers such as Ahmet 
 Buderbah, and Hamdan-Ben-Othman-Khodja, got considerable 
 influence under him ; for the Arabs, he did not care. It seemed 
 as if he found it not worth his while to consider their affairs ; 
 generally he left it to the interpreters to despatch the business of 
 the Kaids and Sheikhs who had come to Algiers. The Moor 
 Mendiri, who had been invested with the office of Agha of the 
 Arabs, did not dare to leave the city, fearing for his life among 
 the Bedouins. Mohammed-Ben-el- Amry, the Kaid of the tribe 
 Kashna, who had visited the Agha and brought him some pre- 
 sents, was murdered by his own tribe on his return as a traitor, 
 and General Berthez^ne did not punish the crime. 
 
 Ben- Omar, the Bey installed in Medeah, was in the mean- 
 while in a dangerous position ; for the small French garrison 
 had retired while Clauzel was still in authority. Ben-Omar was 
 a Moor, cunning and brave, but he lacked the energy required 
 for such a critical post. He remained nearly always in town, got 
 no influence over the surrounding Arab tribes, and was more intent 
 on extorting money from the inhabitants, than to extend his power 
 and the suzerainty of France over the province. A considerable 
 portion of the population of Medeah entered into a conspiracy 
 against Ben-Omar. Their head was Ulid-Bu-Mesrag, the son 
 of the deposed Bey, who had left the city and had joined the dis- 
 contented Arab tribes, with the assistance of whom he blockaded 
 Medeah. Ben-Omar, who had to fear the outbreak of the conspi- 
 racy in the city, and trembled for his life, wrote to General 
 Berthez^ne the most urgent letters, and asked to be released from 
 
AND OF GENERAL BERTHEZENE. 241 
 
 his most painful situation. In consequence, Berthez^ne started 
 on the 25th of June 1831, with two brigades from Algiers, passed 
 the defiles of Teniah without a struggle, and entered Medeah on 
 the 29th. But the presence of the French incensed, instead of 
 intimidating, the fanatical tribes of the province of Titteri. The 
 French out-posts were continually harassed, and the fire of the 
 hostile skirmishers lasted from morning to night. On the 1st 
 of July, the General left Medeah, and advanced to Mount Auarah, 
 where the hostile tribes had their trysting-place. But the tribes 
 did not wait to meet the French, and, true to their Arab tactics, 
 withdrew to attack the enemy on retreat. General Berthezene, 
 finding no Arabs to fight, had the crops destroyed and the fruit- 
 trees felled. But as the French began to retire, the enemy ap- 
 peared on every side, and skirmished and harassed the rear- 
 guard up to the gates of Medeah. Provisions were here scarce, as 
 the surrounding country was held by the tribes ; the General had 
 therefore to retreat to Algiers. Ben-Omar was not willing to 
 remain in Medeah : he went with the army. It was on the evening 
 of the 2d of July that the disastrous retreat of Medeah began, 
 the moral results of which, and of their barbarous ravages, were 
 long fatal to the cause of the French. The tribes followed the 
 rear-guard of the column, who trusted to pass the defile of Teniah 
 without loss, in the dead of night. But soon an inexplicable 
 confusion arose in the march of the battalions ; they were seized 
 with a panic, and hastened down the northern slope of the Atlas 
 with a speed resembling a flight. General Berthezene committed 
 the gravest errors : he did not even send a few companies on the 
 heights west of the defile, in order to cover the retreat. The 
 Kabyles therefore took up a position on those heights, and opened a 
 murderous fire on the descending French column. Many soldiers 
 were disabled, and the difficulties of transporting the wounded 
 men heightened the confusion dreadfully. A battalion of the 
 20th regiment of the line lost its commander ; he was not replaced 
 by any one : all order was forgotten, and each man cared only for 
 his own safety, and fled to get out of the reach of the Kabyle 
 
242 ADMINISTKATIONS OF MARSHAL CLAUZEL 
 
 bullets fis soon as possible. The army would have been lost in 
 that critical moment but for the courage and presence of mind of 
 Duvivier, afterwards so celebrated. Though not ordered to form 
 the rear-guard, he threw himself with his battalion on the 
 Kabyles on his own responsibility. The mountaineers fought 
 with a gallantry, such as the French had not experienced from 
 the Arabs. Many of them came down into the pass to fight the 
 French, man to man. Several of the Paris volunteers who had 
 taken militar}^ service shortly after the Revolution of July, and 
 who formed at a later time the 67th regiment of the line, were 
 not yet broken to the fatigues of a campaign ; and, in extreme 
 weariness, straggled behind the army. The Kabyles threw them- 
 selves principally upon those ill-fated men, who could scarcely 
 offer any resistance, and flung several of them down into the steep 
 abysses on the left of the rocky path. Duvivier fronted the 
 enem}'- till all the stragglers had gathered round him ; then he 
 retired slowly, always fighting ; again halting to repel the enemy, 
 when the attack became too fierce. Whilst this brave officer 
 and his soldiers risked their lives for the defence of the other 
 battalions, these fled panic-stricken, and halted only at the foot 
 of the mountain, where they formed silently into columns, ashamed 
 of the weakness they had displayed, which had not been the 
 result of cowardice, but solely of want of prudence and skill in 
 their General. They were pursued as far as to the Chiffa, which 
 they crossed by night. Their loss in this ill-fated retreat 
 amounted to three hundred men in dead and wounded. But the 
 impression made on the Arabs by the tidings of this first rout of 
 the army, which until now had always been victorious, was far 
 more serious than the material loss. Fanaticism broke out in a 
 blaze. The most celebrated Marabuts, and amongst them Sidi- 
 Saadi, who had just returned from Mecca, perambulated the tribes 
 and preached the lad (the holy war). Ben Zamun, the Flissa 
 chief, came with an army of Arabs and Kabyles up to the Ferme 
 3Iodele, tenanted by the first European colonists, whilst Ulid- 
 Bii-Mesrag advanced with his hordes to the block-house on 
 
AND OF GENERAL EERTHEZENE. 243 
 
 Uad-el-Kerma. The model farm was attacked by Ben Zamun, 
 and the first crops sown by European hands were destroyed. 
 General Berthezene made now a sally with all his cavalry and 
 six battalions, and drove the enemy over the Araj. The attack 
 of Ulid-Bu-Mesrag on the block-house on the River Uad-el- 
 Kerma, was likewise repulsed ; the undisciplined hordes of the 
 Africans could not keep the field against the French. But seeing 
 that they did not succeed in regular war, they continued their 
 harassing skirmishes, in which the natives are always superior 
 to any intruder. 
 
 Whilst this warfare was carried on in the province of Algiers, 
 other events happened in the more remote provinces of Constan- 
 tine and Oran, not less disastrous to the extension of French 
 dominion. Ahmet, the Bey of Constantine, had on his return 
 from Algiers found the gates of his capital closed against him. 
 A sedition had broken out amongst the Turks left in Constantine, 
 headed by Hamud-Ben-Shakar, the Vicegerent of Ahmet. The 
 Bey, seeing that he could not achieve anything against the city 
 with his scanty troops, was just about to retire to his kinsmen in 
 the Sahara — the mighty Beni-Gana, the chief of whom, Bu-Asis- 
 Ben-Gana, was his maternal uncle — when suddenly a counter- 
 revolution broke out in Constantine in favour of Ahmet. Hamud- 
 Ben-Shakar was first expelled with his Turks, and soon after mur- 
 dered by his own followers, who thought in this way to appease 
 the wrath of the Bey, to whom they again returned. Ahmet 
 received them very kindly, but afterwards had them nearly all 
 beheaded, one after the other, under various pretexts. He was a 
 Kurugli, jealous of the thorough-bred Turks, and favouring the half- 
 breed Kuruglis ; all his officers belonged to that denomination. He 
 now increased his regular force, principally by Kabyles, of whom 
 he was peculiarly fond. They did not pay more than a nominal 
 tribute, and their Marabuts received even presents from him, w hile 
 he held the Arabs of his province in a state of complete oppression. 
 Ben-Aissa, the vicegerent and favourite of Ahmet, was a Kabyle. 
 The city of Bona, which belongs to the province of CoiLstantlne, 
 
244 ADMINISTRATIONS OF MARSHAL CLAUZEL 
 
 had heen besieged by the surrounding Arab tribes, after the de- 
 parture of the brigade Damremont, recalled by Bourmont. The 
 fanatical tribes were desirous of chastising the Moorish inhabitants 
 for having received the infidels without resistance. The Com- 
 mander of Bona was Sidi- Ahmet, a Turk, who had occupied the 
 Kasbah, or citadel, with a few hundreds of his nation, and defended 
 the city. This chief wrote to General Berthezene, and requested 
 of him assistance in auxiliaries and ammunition, expressly stating 
 that the auxiliaries were to be exclusivel}'' natives. The General 
 sent him one hundred and twenty-five Zuaves, all Mohammedans, 
 but under the command of two French officers, the commander, 
 Houder, and Captain Bigot. The presence of French officers, 
 which he had deprecated, made Sidi- Ahmet suspicious. Quarrels 
 soon arose between him and Houder, and at last it came to an 
 open rupture. Houder took possession of the Kasbah, and, with 
 it, of the city. But the janissaries, accustomed to riots, soon 
 became mutinous against the French commander, and took 
 Ibrahim, a deposed Bey of Constantine, for their leader. This 
 cunning and faithless man had previously obtained the con- 
 fidence of Houder, and had received money from him, which 
 he employed for bribing the Turks. Whilst the commander 
 was in town, Ibrahim closed the gates of the Kasbah against 
 him, and when he returned with a few faithful Zuaves, they were 
 received by bullets. Upon this, the inhabitants notified to 
 Houder, that they could not be responsible for his safety, as the 
 Arabs were about to attack the city, and could calculate upon 
 many fanatics in town for their support. The French officers 
 hastened now to the harbour to embark in the corvette Creole, 
 which was at anchor in the roads, but at the same moment the 
 gates were forced by the Arabs. With fearful yells they rushed 
 into the town; some Moorish wretches joined them; a street fight 
 ensued, in which Captain Bigot was slain; the French of the 
 corvette, and the Zuaves, threw themselves into the boats; the 
 Arabs fired upon them ; the ill-fated Commander Houder received 
 a bullet through his head, and several French marine-soldiers 
 
AND OF GENERAL BERTHEZENE. 24^ 
 
 were taken prisoners. Upon receiving these bloody tidings, 
 General Berthezene sent Commander Duvivier, with two hundred 
 and fifty Zuaves, in two brigs to Bona. The prisoners were 
 delivered up to him; but even that enterprising officer did not 
 dare to attack the well-fortified Kasbah, as his troops were not 
 numerous enough. He had to return to Algiers without having 
 taken revenge for the death of the French officers. 
 
 The city of Oran had been delivered up to the French without 
 resistance by Hassan- Bey, an old man, who wished for peace and 
 rest. This happened under Clauzel, who gave the command of 
 the city to the Khalifa of the Prince of Tunis. But as the 
 French Government did not ratify the treaty between the General 
 and the Prince of Tunis, the Vicegerent left the city, and General 
 Boyer became its commander. Boyer had been notorious in the 
 Spanish war for his iron severity. He thought he had to apply in. 
 Africa the same rule of terror which had produced such bad effects 
 in Spain. Without previous trial, he had several citizens, who 
 had been charged with a secret understanding with the Sultan 
 of Morocco, beheaded, and their property confiscated. But his 
 authority did not extend beyond the walls of the city. The Arabs 
 used to come to market with their products, and when they left 
 the gates of the town, often amused themselves by turning round 
 and firing upon the French sentinels whilst they galloped off. 
 None of the towns except Arzew, which was inhabited by a 
 Kabyle tribe from Morocco, remained in friendly intercourse with' 
 Oran; this was through the instrumentality of the Kadi of Arzew, 
 who exercised supreme power there. All the rest of the extensive 
 province was in a state of dreadful anarchy. The Arab tribes of 
 that region are more warlike and fanatical than anywhere else. 
 Though treated with forbearance by the Turks, they unwillingly 
 bore the supremacy of the Dey, and eagerly seized the opportunity 
 of throwing off the yoke. Soon after the downfal of Hussein- 
 Dey, the mightiest tribes took up arms. Sidi-Mahiddin, an old and 
 highly-revered Marabut, the father of the afterwards so celebrated 
 Abd-el-Kader, exercised unlimited influence on the numerous 
 
246 ADMINISTRATIONS OF MARSHAL CLAUZEL 
 
 tribe of the Hashems. He appeared with a great retinue before 
 the city of Mascara, overpowered the Turkish garrison, and de- 
 stroyed the summer-palace where the Beys had formerly occa- 
 sionally resided. The inhabitants of Mascara hereupon elected 
 Sidi-Mahiddin to be their chief, but the Marabut declined the 
 dignity in favour of his youngest son, Abd-el-Kader, who had 
 accompanied him on his pilgrimage to Mecca, and who had 
 attracted the attention of his tribe by his melancholy, his conti- 
 nency, and the high gifts of his spirit. To influence the people 
 in behalf of his favourite son, Sidi-Mahiddin related to them the 
 prophecy of a dervish in Mecca, who had predicted the dignity 
 of Sultan to young Abd-el-Kader, during their stay in the holy 
 city. The fanatical people believed it, and elected Abd-el-Kader 
 their Emir. The young son of the Marabut entered Mascara in 
 triumph, accompanied by the horsemen of his tribe, and was 
 hailed by the cheers of the citizens, who liked the thoughtful, pious 
 expression of his pale countenance. Abd-el-Kader was at that 
 time very poor : he wore a ragged burnus, and had only half a 
 boojoo (golden coin) in his cowl when he took possession of the old 
 palace of the Beys at Mascara, and received there the allegiance 
 of the people, and among them even that of his lather. Sidi- 
 Mahiddin did not remain in town ; he returned to his Ghetna, or 
 liermitage, and was occupied in his last days in strengthening the 
 power of his son by his own influence on the Arabs, and in preach- 
 ing the holy war against the French. 
 
 The rest of the province of Oran was subdued by other Arab 
 ^chiefs. Sheikh Sidi-el-Gomary held sway over the large steppes 
 of the Angad; the warlike robber- tribes of that country obeyed 
 his commands. Sidi-Buhamedi exercised a limited authority over 
 the Kabyle tribes on the Tafna, and Milud-Ben-Arash was the 
 most influential Sheikh amongst the Garrabas. But the most 
 important chief next to Abd-el-Kader was Mustapha-Ben-Ismael, 
 the former Agha of the Bey of Oran, a powerful, energetic old 
 man, highly respected among all the tribes, and of peculiar influ- 
 ence among the Duairs and Zraelas, whose horsemen had been 
 
AND OF GENERAL BEllTHEZENE. 247 
 
 the nucleus of the auxiliaries of Hassan- Bey. Each of these 
 chiefs tried to extend his authority as far as possible. Thus the 
 claims of these ambitious men gradually began to clash with one 
 another, until the sway of the one had to yield to the other, either 
 voluntarily, or under constraint of arms. Abd-el-Kader had the 
 great advantage over his rivals, that the seat of his power lay in 
 the centre of the province; the tribe who supported him, though 
 less numerous than the Angads or Beni-Ammers, was very coin- 
 pact, enterprizing, and fanatically addicted to Sidi-Mahiddin. 
 Besides those native chiefs, there was likewise a foreign monarch 
 who tried to turn the downfal of the Dey and the anarchy of the 
 province to his own account, in order to extend his dominions. It 
 was Muley-Abder-Rahman, the Sultan of Morocco, who, as a 
 prince of Arab extraction, is in high esteem among all the 
 Bedouins of Barbary. Accordingly, a Vicegerent of the Emperor 
 of Morocco occupied the city of Tlemsan, and appeared with a few 
 hundred horsemen even under the walls of Oran, deriding the 
 weak French garrison, who did not dare to make a sally. 
 
 Yet peace reigned in the province of Algiers towards the end 
 of General Benthez^ne's administration, who had concluded a 
 convention with the Arabs, according to which they might remain 
 undisturbed and independent in their own territories, but, when 
 armed, were excluded from the French lines. He had appointed 
 their Agha, the most influential man of the Metija, the Marabut 
 El-Haji-Mahiddin-el-Sghir-ben-Mubark, chief of the Marabut 
 family of the Mubarek of Coleah, who for many generations had 
 been in odour of sanctity. This Marabut bound himself to enforce 
 the punctual fulfilment of the convention with the tribes, for a 
 yearly allowance of 70,000 francs. The French thus paid a kind 
 of tribute to the Arabs ; and Berthezene did not interfere in any 
 way in their affairs, though the quarreling parties often appealed 
 to his decision. He let a precious opportunity escape to gain 
 for France these Arabs, who, tired of anarchy, wished for an 
 energetic rule. One of the most etFicient expedients of Deyish 
 policy had been to attach the Sheikhs and Marabuts to the 
 
248 THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE DUKE OF ROVIGO 
 
 Central Government by personal interests, and to make use of one 
 tribe in subjecting the other. The indolence of the General, or 
 his deficiency in clear notions about the relations of the interior, 
 prevented him from applying such means for the interest of France. 
 He allowed time to the mightier chiefs for extending and strength- 
 ening their sway, and for establishing at last that Arab empire, 
 which for a long period was able to resist all the French armies; 
 whilst an energetic, decided, and timely interference, would have 
 crushed it in its beginning. It was a misfortune for Algiers that 
 the Government of Louis Philippe neglected the African affairs 
 altogether. Yet these great mistakes of Count Berthez^ne, 
 equally incapable as General and as Administrator, at last caused 
 his recall. He left Algiers regretted by no one, except probably 
 by some Moorish intriguers, who had made very lucrative jobs 
 under his administration. 
 
 CHAPTER ly. 
 
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE DUKE OF ROVIGO AND OF GENERAL VOIROL, 
 
 Lieutenant- General S a vary, Duke of Rovigo, was appointed 
 successor to General Berthez^ne, and landed at Algiers on the 
 25th December 1831. The part he played under Napoleon, 
 both as General and as Police Minister, is sufficiently known. 
 After the July Revolution, he had, together with all the more 
 pliable Napoleonists, attached himself to the new dynasty, and 
 was offered the command of Algiers, there being no diplomatic 
 post vacant, such as was suited to a Napoleonist notability. The 
 Duke felt satisfied with the appointment : high rank and riches 
 alone never could have contented an active ambitious man of bis 
 stamp ; he wished for power. Though old, and weaned from 
 business by an interval of fifteen years, the Duke could never 
 forget that he had had once considerable share in the government 
 
AND OF GENERAL VOIROL. 249 
 
 of his country, and had then found passive obedience among an 
 extended circle of officials. Savary saw that the commandership 
 of Algiers was now the only post fit for him. He went thither 
 with the intention of devoting himself entirely to that country 
 and its new organization. He looked upon his post neither as a 
 stepping-stone to higher offices, nor as a source of riches — ^motives 
 which have been imputed, not without cause, to several of his 
 successors. He was never suspected of such motives, though 
 there are plenty of people at Algiers always ready to bring 
 forward charges, even when utterly unable to prove them. 
 When the Duke of Rovigo left the province, he was perhaps less 
 wealthy than at the time he assumed the command, and he had 
 made many a personal sacrifice for the welfare of the African 
 colony. Thus, for instance, he turned the garden-palace, late 
 the property of Agha Ibrahim, son-in-law of Hussein-Dey, and 
 the summer- residence of the governors, into a magnificent mili- 
 tary hospital, on account of its healthy situation, and chose to 
 remain himself all the year in the city. How was it then, that 
 with so much good-will, with so praiseworthy a zeal, and such 
 decided talent, the administration of the Duke was not only 
 unlucky, but even compliQated difficulties in the subjection of 
 the country? Pellissier gives us, in his Annales Algerimnes, a 
 sufficient explanation. The Duke lacked the organizing power 
 which cannot be acquired by experience, and he had contracted 
 habits which cannot be abandoned at an advanced age. Had it 
 been his task to continue the French dominion on the system of 
 the Deys, Savary would have been the right man : he understood 
 the maintenance of a tyrannical policy in a masterly way. But 
 the old system did not do for the new conquerors. Formerly, it 
 was the whole tribe which had to rue when a crime was com- 
 mitted on its territory ; or if an Arab had resisted the soldiers of 
 the Dey, a few heads fell, and amongst them several innocent 
 ones. Such summary despotical justice spread terror among the 
 tribes : no chief dared to stir, or he had to retire with his tribe to 
 the Desert, out of the reach of the janissaries. However, such a 
 
250 THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE DUKE OF ROVIGO 
 
 despotism could only be practised by a ruler who was connected 
 with the Arabs by the tie of the same religious faith. The 
 continuation of such a system by the French could not but have 
 quite different consequences, because fanaticism would have soon 
 superseded terror. Death by the yatagan of a Mohammedan 
 executioner was far more fearful to the Arab than death in the 
 battle against the Rummis, when bis blood was boiling with 
 hatred and enthusiasm, and when the hostile bullet sent him 
 straight to the enjoyment of that highest bliss of Paradise pro- 
 mised by the Prophet to the martyr of the faith. The principle 
 of the Dey to hold innocent men responsible, and to punish them 
 for the riots or robberies of their kinsmen when these escaped, 
 would, if imitated by the French, have occasioned and justified 
 dreadful reprisals. Such a theme for an appeal to the holy war 
 would have been welcome to every Marabut. But even if it 
 might have been possible to continue the reign of terror from the 
 Deys, it would have destroyed the moral aim of a European 
 settlement in Africa. The old system of the janissaries was 
 excellent for maintaining their tyrannical oppression ; but it de- 
 stroyed the resources of the country, and prevented all progress. 
 The Arab did not care to increase the produce of his fields, or 
 to improve his cattle; for, as he grew wealthier, he was more 
 liable to extortion. With such a system, the natives would have 
 changed masters without getting rid of oppression ; the country 
 would have remained uncultivated, and the people savage and 
 ignorant. But had the Duke of Rovigo united conscientious 
 justice to the severity and energy of his character, — had he dealt 
 forbearingly with the religious prejudices and habits of the natives, 
 but punished crimes strictly, and without delay, though never on 
 innocent men, he might have achieved great results. There is 
 nothing so well adapted to win the respect and affection of a half- 
 savage people than even-handed justice. But the Duke was 
 accustomed, as a police-minister, never to be restrained from 
 harsh and arbitrary measures by regard to justice and equity. 
 Every means, even the most cruel, was welcome to him, if it 
 
AND OF GENERAL VOIJIOL. 251 
 
 answered the purpose he had to carry, namely, to extend the sway 
 of France all OA^er the old dominion of the Dey, and to subdue 
 the tribes unconditionally. But that system failed altogether ; 
 hearts were hardened by mutual misdeeds ; every drop of blood 
 spilt cried for revenge ; and any sincere accord between the con- 
 querors and the natives became impossible when the passions of 
 national and religious hatred were let loose. It was, in a great 
 measure, the influence of the Duke which gave to the war between 
 the Arabs and French that savage and terrible character which 
 it maintained as long as it lasted. 
 
 Casimir Perrier was premier in France when the Duke entered 
 upon his administration ; but this talented statesman had little 
 time to look into Algerine affairs : he left them entirely to the 
 commander. Yet he enforced one important measure, which 
 might have advanced the colonization of the coast under favour- 
 able circumstances, — he separated the civil and military adminis- 
 tration, and appointed Mr. Pichon Civil-Intendant, who, though 
 subordinate to the commander-in-chief, was to be in immediate 
 correspondence with the premier. In this way he could some- 
 times thwart the oppressive measures of the General, and the 
 colonists had some one to appeal to if military despotism became 
 too oppressive. But the civil-intendant was just as ambitious and 
 unyielding a man as the commander- general ; collisions ensued ; 
 Mr. Pichon had to withdraw; but his successors, Genty de Bussy 
 and Bresson, were likewise energetic and active men, with the 
 will to do their best for the settlement as far as their restricted 
 power allowed it. 
 
 The Moorish population of Algiers grew embittered against the 
 Duke, principally on account of two measures. As the army was 
 in the greatest need, and had no other shelter than their light 
 tents, where they slept on the bare ground, the Duke imposed a 
 contribution of 5400 cwt. of wool on the Moors, and had it levied 
 by force. The other measure which had justly roused the indig- 
 nation of likewise many a European, was the destruction of great 
 numbers of Moorish tombs which stood in the way of the hand- 
 
252 THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE DUKE OF ROVIGO 
 
 some high-road constructed by the Duke to the Sahel. More- 
 over, the Moors, who had sent their complaints to Paris, were 
 banished from Algiers by the Duke. 
 
 We must acknowledge that the system of General Savary for 
 the occupation of the country was suitable to the then-existing 
 circumstances. He had camps and block-houses raised for the 
 protection of the colony, and secured in that way an extent of 
 forty square miles round the city against every attack of the 
 Arabs. He saw that it was neither necessary nor advisable for 
 the small number of European settlers to spread farther, as his 
 array was not numerous. 
 
 In April 1832, an embassy arrived at Algiers from Farhat- 
 ben-Said, a powerful chief, who dwelt in the south of the province 
 of Constantine, in the steppes of the Belad-el- Jerid, on the bor- 
 ders of the Sahara. All the numerous nomade Arab tribes of the 
 Jerid and the steppes in the Sahara always acknowledged the au- 
 thority of a chief who was under the suzerainty of the Bey of Con- 
 stantine, and had the title of Sheikh-el- Arab. This dignity had 
 for centuries alternated in the two most important families of 
 the south, the Ben- Said and Ben-Gana. At the time of the 
 French expedition to Algiers, Farhat, the chief of the Ben-Saids, 
 was Sheikh- el- Arab. But Ahmet-Bey of Constantine distrusted 
 this ambitious man, deposed him, and appointed in his stead Bu- 
 Asis, the chief of the Ben-Ganas, his maternal uncle. The de- 
 posed Sheikh did not yield immediately. He had great influence 
 in the Sahara, gathered an army of cavalry around him, and ad- 
 vanced towards Constantine; but was defeated by Ahmet, who led 
 his array against the chief of the south. The horsemen of the 
 Desert were dispersed, and the authority of the new Sheikh-el- 
 Arab acknowledged by the great majority of the tribes. When 
 Farhat saw that he could not succeed against the Bey with his own 
 forces, he turned to the French, and encouraged the Duke of Rovigo 
 to an expedition against Constantine by the promise of an assistance 
 of 10,000 raen. The Duke, who did not know yet how swaggering 
 and unreliable the Arab chiefs are, received the arabassadors of 
 
AND OP GENERAL VOIROL. 253 
 
 Farhat with great splendour and ceremony ; he gave an evasive 
 answer to the proposal, but expressed it in most flattering terras. 
 It was agreeable to the Duke to know that there was in those re- 
 gions a mighty partisan of the French, whose assistance, though 
 for the moment not wanted, might hereafter advance the extension 
 of the dominion of France, and a future expedition against Con- 
 stantine. Thus thought not only Savary, but likewise his suc- 
 cessors, who entertained too great an opinion of Farhat's re- 
 sources, and relied too much on the word of the Arab. When 
 the expedition was really undertaken, it became clear that the 
 commanders had all been deluded by the boasting and the pro- 
 mises of that chief. 
 
 Farhat's ambassadors left Algiers laden with rich presents. 
 They had, among other gifts, received red burnuses of honour, em- 
 broidered with gold, such as the Deys were wont to bestow upon 
 mighty chiefs. A few hours from town they were plundered by 
 Arabs of the tribe El-Ufifia, and robbed of their red burnuses. 
 They returned to Algiers, complaining to the Duke, who just 
 chanced to have an evening-party, and had gambled and taken 
 wine. He rashly gave the order to one of the generals, a guest 
 at the party, immediately to start with some troops, and to de- 
 stroy the tribe. The general took this order literally. For this 
 sudden attack he chose two corps of the army most notorious for 
 their cruelty, the Foreign Legion and the Chasseurs d'Afrique ; in 
 the dead of night he surrounded the encampments of the El-Uffia, 
 which lay in the neighbourhood of the fortified ^^ Mais on carree,'' 
 and slaughtered the whole population; — old men silently awaiting 
 the death-blow, women crying for mercy, and children, who did 
 pot know what was to befall them, were unmercifully slain by the 
 sabre and the bayonet. The soldiers returned with rich booty, 
 carrying in triumph gory heads on the tops of their lances and 
 bayonets to the camp. There they feasted and revelled till the 
 next night, in an inhuman way : not one of them seemed to re- 
 pent their horrid deed. 
 
 Manyinjudicious Europeans in Algiers approved of the barbarous 
 
254 THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE DUKE OF ROVIGO 
 
 slaughter as an act of energetic policy. " Just so," said they, 
 "had the Deys established their sway." But they had forgotten 
 the difference of condition between the old rulers and the new 
 conquerors. Instead of spreading terror, the execution kindled 
 the fire of vengeance all over the country. Three weeks after the 
 wanton murder of the tribe El-Uffia, a detachment of the Foreign 
 Legion, commanded by Lieutenant Cham, a Swiss, was surprised 
 and cut down by the Arabs near the " liaison carree." Only 
 one soldier, a German, was spared, because he uttered the name 
 Mohammed at the moment when the yatagan was raised against 
 him. The Arabs carried him away as prisoner, but he suc- 
 ceeded in escaping, and returned to the army. It so happened 
 that nearly all the soldiers slain belonged to the companies which 
 had been active at the slaughter of the El-Uffias, and that their 
 heads fell close to the spot where, three weeks before, they had 
 spilt the blood of babes and females. The Arabs, who destroyed 
 this detachment, belonged to the tribe of the Issers, who dwelt 
 east of Cape Matifu. The Duke of Rovigo sent a great expedi- 
 tion against them by sea. But the Issers were on their guard, 
 and General Buchet, who had the command of the expedition, did 
 not dare to land. In consequence of the slaughter of the El- 
 Uffias, the holy war was preached all over the country. The 
 most celebrated Marabuts, especially the restless Sidi-Saadi, 
 hastened from tribe to tribe, and excited all good Moslems against 
 the French. Even Sidi-Mubarek, the Agha appointed by General 
 Berthezene, and paid by the French, joined the insurrection. A 
 great meeting of the principal chiefs of the province of Algeria 
 took place at Suk-Ali, a farm in the Metija. Above a hundred 
 Kaids, Sheikhs, and Marabuts, were present, and Ben-Zamun, 
 the Kabyle Flissa chief, was their chairman. After many speeches 
 and harangues full of fanatical passion, the military and religious 
 chiefs unanimously resolved to carry on a war of extermination 
 against the intruding Rummis, and every tribe promised to send 
 its contingent. Even the cities Belida and Coleah entered the 
 league. The Duke of Rovigo was pretty well informed of every- 
 
AND OF GENERAL VOIROL. 255 
 
 thing that happened; but 'he feigned not to care for it, whilst in 
 secret he fitted out a party for sudden action. He waited only 
 until the enemy had united his forces, in order to make the blow 
 more decisive. On the 2d October, two French columns started 
 at night from Algiers, one in the direction of the farm Suk-Ali, 
 the other towards the city of Coleah. The first column mot the 
 enemy at the wood Sidi-Kai'd. It was received by the musket- 
 fire of the Kabyles, lying in ambuscade, which threw the vanguard 
 into confusion. Yet the Chasseurs attacked the enemy bravely, 
 and were followed by the Zuaves of Commander Duvivier. The 
 Arab cavalry, though in number six times superior to the French, 
 were put to flight, and left the Kabyle infantry in the lurch. 
 Several hundreds of the mountaineers were slain after desperate 
 resistance. Their chief, Ben-Zamun, indignant at the cowardice 
 of the Arabs, retired into the mountains, and swore that he never 
 would interfere in their affairs, and remained for several years 
 quietly on his farm amongst his tribe — the Flissas. The other 
 column, under the command of General Brossard, met no resist- 
 ance at Coleah; the treacherous Agha Mubarek had fled. The 
 French general took his relatives Sidi- Allah and Sidi-Moham- 
 ined-ben-Mubarek prisoners in his stead, though there was no 
 evidence of guilt against them, and though their participation in 
 the insurrection could not have been direct. The Duke had them 
 thrown into jail, where they remained up to the time when they 
 were released by the successor of Eovigo. The cities of Belida 
 and Coleah were fined to the amount of 1,100,000 francs; but the 
 inhabitants proved too poor ever to pay the total of such a large 
 sum. 
 
 The administration of the Duke of Rovlgo in Africa was 
 closed by a deed which brands his memory yet more than his 
 participation in the judgment of the Duke of Enghien. Two 
 Arab chiefs, Ben-Mussa, late Kaid of the Beni-Khalil, and 
 Messaud, Kaid of the El-Sebt, were denounced to the commander 
 as bitter enemies of the French. He determined on their doom, 
 and as the Kaids took care not to come to Algiers, the old police 
 
256 THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE DUKE OF ROVIGO 
 
 minister tried to ensnare them. The inhabitants of Belida were 
 about that time to send a deputation to him, and he let them know 
 his wish to have the two Kaids to join the deputation. They tarried 
 for some time; it seems they suspected the trick, and required, 
 therefore, a written assurance of safe conduct, which the Duke 
 sent to them. The Kaid of the Kashnas, a friend of France, 
 trusting the word of the commander-in-chief, accompanied them. 
 But scarcely had these chiefs arrived in Algiers, when they were 
 handed over to the gendarmes and thrown into prison. The 
 Kaid of the Kashnas, indignant at this breach of trust, claimed to 
 share the prison of the two chiefs, and offered his hand willingly 
 to the fetters of the French. Messaud and Mussa were brought 
 before a court-martial, and, under a pretence of felonj^, unconnected 
 with politics, sentenced to death, and beheaded before the gate 
 Bab-a-Zun, in the public market-place. The Duke excused this 
 breach of his pledge, which revolted many French officers, by 
 saying that the safe conduct was issued for political, not for 
 common crimes. But the dragoman who had written the letter 
 declares that no mention was made of such a distinction. Soon 
 after this deed, the Duke returned to France, attacked already by 
 the malady of which he fell a victim in a few months. 
 
 By Savary's administration, the system of his predecessors had 
 been entirely reversed. General Berthezene had renounced any 
 direct influence on the Arabs, and when it was indispensable to 
 deal with their affairs, he did it exclusively through his Agha, 
 Ben-Mubarek. But this Agha had now become an enemy of 
 France; no other chief was appointed in his stead, and the Duke 
 of Rovigo renewed the direct intercourse with the Arabs. That 
 system would surely have been the best had it been pursued from 
 the beginning ; but the frequent change of treatment had worse 
 results than a bad system consistently carried out. The Arabs, 
 a cunning and clear-sighted people, had soon penetrated the 
 character of the French, and of their Government. The fickle and 
 inconsistent behaviour of the different commanders weakened the 
 effect made by the conquest of Algiers all over Barbary. 
 
AND OF GENEEAL VOIllOL. 257 
 
 During the warlike excitement which, in the province of 
 Algiers, followed the slaughter of the tribe El-Uffia, fighting 
 went on fiercely in the provinces of the east and of the west. 
 Ben-Aissa, the Khalifa (lieutenant or vicegerent) of the Bey of 
 Constantine, had besieged the city of Bona, where the Turkish 
 garrison had retired into the Kasbah (citadel) ; but induced by the 
 persuasion of Captain Yussuf, threw themselves unconditionally 
 into the hands of the French. Yussuf, a young Italian renegade, 
 who had been carried away when a child by Tunisian pirates, and 
 brought up by the Bey of Tunis, fully possessed a knowledge of 
 both the Turkish and Arab languages, and had taken service with 
 the French soon after the conquest of Algiers. Ibrahim, who 
 had treacherously shut the gates of the citadel against the 
 French officers when they came to his aid with the Zuaves, and 
 had thus caused their death, was now expelled from the citadel 
 with some of his staunchest partisans, and the French flag reared 
 on it. Ben-Aissa, seeing it in the hands of the French party, 
 evacuated the town, but not before plundering it, burning down 
 the houses, and forcing the population to follow him. Yussuf and 
 his Turks took possession of the empty houses and smoking ruins. 
 The Arab tribes, incited by Ibrahim, attacked the city repeatedly; 
 but Yussuf, who had in the meantime reorganized his Turkish 
 corps, took the offensive, and made several sallies, or razzias, as 
 the Arabs call these expeditions, the principal object of which is 
 the plunder and destruction of the encampments. A sufficient 
 French garrison arrived soon in Bona, and General Monk d'Uzer 
 received the command. This general knew how to deal with the 
 Arabs : he united much kindness with the necessary energy. 
 Some tribes were won by his mildness, as for instance the Beni- 
 Urshin and Kharesas, who pastured their herds in the neighbour- 
 hood of Bona. Others, as the Merdass on the banks of the 
 Mafragg, and the Elmas close to Lake Fezzara, were forced into 
 subjection by his severity. He punished their hostility by driving 
 away their cattle, and they came at last to ask aman (pardon), and 
 to promise the strictest neutrality. Yussuf, who had distinguished 
 
258 THE ADMINISTRATION OP THE DUKE OF EOVIGO 
 
 himself in every engagement by his personal bravery, continued 
 with his Turks to render efficient service to the French. 
 
 In the province of Oran, the French made less progress than 
 in the province of Algiers. Though the Moroccan troops had 
 evacuated the city of Tlemsan at the serious protest of France, 
 yet Abd-el-Kader made greater and greater progress. General 
 Boyer attempted several forays without result. The Arabs struck 
 their tents at every approach of the French troops, and drove 
 their cattle into the mountains. But as often as the French had 
 to retreat for want of provisions, the Arab horsemen reappeared on 
 all sides, harassed the march of the columns, skirmished with the 
 rear-guard, and cut the stragglers to pieces. Not a single tribe 
 made submission; nay, the tribes which, from the proximity of 
 their pasture-grounds to Oran, had most to fear from the sallies of 
 the French — the Garrabas and the Beni-Ammer — were the most 
 hostile. On the 3d and 4th of May, the city of Oran was attacked 
 by several thousand Arabs, led by the young Emir Abd-el-Kader, 
 and his father, the Marabut Sidi-Mahiddin, in person. At that 
 time the cannon and howitzers still inspired much fear in the 
 Arabs. But Abd-el-Kader, a most excellent horseman, galloped 
 up and down close to the walls, and paraded his horse and jocosely 
 greeted the bullets whistling around him. He displayed this cool 
 courage partly to raise yet higher the respect of his countrymen 
 for himself, and partly to dispel their fear of the cannon. On the 
 9th of May, however, he saw that he could not succeed against 
 Oran, and left the neighbourhood. But his Arabs often re- 
 appeared again, and cut off all intercourse between the city and the 
 surrounding country. General Boyer was recalled in November 
 1832, and was succeeded by General Desmichels. 
 
 Whilst the Duke of Rovigo hoped to restore his health in 
 France, the administration of the North- African French posses- 
 sions was provisionally in the hands of General Avizard. He in- 
 stituted the Bureau Arabe, which was to devote its peculiar atten- 
 tion to the affairs of the Arabs, and to carry on the negotiations 
 with the chiefs. The young Captain Lamorici^re, since so cele- 
 
AND OF GENERAL VOIROL. 259 
 
 brated in the history of his country, became the chief of that Board, 
 as, besides his military talents, he was remarkable for the zeal 
 with which he had studied the language, the manners and 
 customs, and the internal relations of the Arabs. His successor 
 was Captain Pellissier, likewise a good administrator, and, more- 
 over, an excellent author ; but the opinion in Algiers is divided 
 about his public merits. Even his numerous opponents agree that 
 his views are enlightened and expansive, that his knowledge is 
 profound, and that his character is upright and energetic. But 
 they say that his activity was disastrous for the colony on ac- 
 count of his obstinate predilection for the natives, especially for 
 the Arabs, and his contempt for the European colonists, who, it 
 must be confessed, were really, to a great extent, either the very 
 refuse of all the countries of Europe, or rapacious jobbers. 
 
 After the death of the Duke of Rovigo, General Voirol became 
 Commander-in-Chief of the African army. He was a man of 
 frank and open views, and immoveable justness, but rather too 
 weak ; the very reverse of his predecessor, of whose energy he 
 should have borrowed the surplus. This strange and sudden 
 change of men and systems was undoubtedly one of the principal 
 causes of the slow progress of the French in Algeria. Clauzel had 
 ventured to go right into the interior: he crossed the Atlas, and 
 captured Medeah. Berthez^ne evacuated that city, intrenched the 
 colony on the coast, and would not have any intercourse with the 
 Arabs, but threw himself into the hands of Moorish intriguers. 
 Rovigo tried to restore the lost prestige of the French arms in 
 the interior, and intended to rule over the tribes directly without 
 a native Agha; and he chose for this aim the old system of arbi- 
 trary despotism and bloody severity. General Voirol might have 
 achieved great results had he conciliated the excited tribes by 
 moderation, and maintained, at the same time, a prompt and 
 severe justice against malefactors. But he was too weak: he did 
 not avenge the murder of Buseid, the Kaid of the Beni-Khalils, 
 nearly the only chief among the Arabs who never had betrayed 
 the French, and who was slain for his adherence to the Europeans. 
 
260 THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE DUKE OF ROVIGO 
 
 After the Arabs had been excited by the cruel severity of the 
 Duke of Rovigo, they took the lenity of General Voirol for a sign 
 of weakness, and renewed their audacious insults. 
 
 The administration of General Voirol was, on the whole, peace- 
 able. This officer had great merit in constructing splendid high- 
 roads between the different camps and villages; and not less in 
 the organization of the Fhas, or territory of the city, for the pro- 
 tection of which he formed a corps of gendarmes, all natives. 
 Already his predecessor had founded two European colonist- 
 villages, Kuba and Deli-Ibrahim. The inhabitants were mostly 
 poor Germans, who originally had had the intention of going to 
 America, but could not afford the passage-money. The French 
 Government granted to these helpless men the soil, the material 
 for their houses, cattle, agricultural implements, and even victuals, 
 just as to the soldiers, until they should be able to maintain 
 themselves. Thus these men were saved from starvation; yet 
 they showed little gratitude. Some of them sold the cattle and 
 implements, lived in idleness and dissipation, and spent the 
 money in drink. Kuba, situated in a fine but unhealthy neigh- 
 bourhood, was visited by diseases; half of the inhabitants died; 
 the remaining settlers left it, and two years after its foundation, 
 this village was empty and uninhabited, and its cottages tumbled 
 into ruins. A praiseworthy measure of General Voirol was the 
 beginning to drain the plain of Metija. For that gigantic but 
 necessary undertaking, he employed the military officers, Arab 
 and Berber labourers, and even a portion of the arm3\ It is a 
 pity that this drainage was not continued systematically under 
 the successors of Voirol. The works for draining the swamps, 
 which in the neighbourhood of Bona reach the walls of the city, 
 were likewise begun during his administration. 
 
 Already, under the Duke of Rovigo, the occupation of the 
 seaport of Bnjia had been determined upon. A protest of Eng- 
 land gave occasion to it. An English merchant-vessel having 
 been insulted by the natives in the roads of Bujia, the English 
 Government declared to France that if she could not prevent such 
 
AND OF GENERAL VOIROL. 261 
 
 occurrences on a coast which she considered her own, England 
 would herself take measures for punishing such insults. The 
 French Government considered this to be a menace, as if England 
 intended to take Bujia, and therefore hastened to prevent such an 
 occupation. On the 23d September, 1833, a small squadron, 
 carrying two battalions of the 59th regiment of the line, left the 
 roadstead of Toulon. The troops landed under the command of 
 General Trezel on the 29th, at Bujia, after they had silenced the 
 fire of the forts and of the citadel by the cannon of the French 
 men-of-war. General Trezel was greatly mistaken when, at his 
 departure from Toulon, he said to the officers of the expedition, 
 " Our troops are not destined for a very warlike expedition; they 
 will have to wield rather the spade and the axe, than the sabre 
 and the bayonet." These peaceful expectations were cruelly dis- 
 appointed by the reception which the expedition experienced from 
 the Kabyles. The resistance of the inhabitants was nowhere so 
 gallant and so obstinate as at Bujia. It was only after a fierce 
 fight of four days that the French got possession of the place, 
 after they had destroyed its greatest part by their cannon. All 
 the inhabitants had left the city and joined the Kabyles of the 
 mountains. The French occupied empty ruins, in which nothing 
 but corpses and gore had remained; the population had carried 
 away all their moveables. Duvivier, chief of battalion, was ap- 
 pointed Commander of Bujia, and earned much honour there by 
 his frequent gallant fights with the Kabyles, without achieving any 
 important result. The Kabyles of the vicinity of Bujia belong to 
 the most warlike and unruly tribes of Barbary; they are so 
 deeply imbued with religious fanaticism and love of independence, 
 that in spite of all material advantages and promises, they could 
 not be induced to enter into peaceful communication with the 
 French. 
 
 In the province of Algiers, General Voirol had won some tribes 
 for allies: — the Kashna, in the east of the plain of Metija; the 
 Beni-Mussa, in the most fertile part of the plain; and a portion of 
 the Beni-Khalil, in its centre. Those tribes were, on the whole, 
 
262 THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE DUKE OF ROVIGO 
 
 not quite friendly to France, but their territory was so near to the 
 walls of Algiers, and so much within the reach of the French, 
 that they thought it advisable to be on good terms with the con- 
 querors, in order to avoid the fate of the El-Uffia. Only one tribe 
 entered the service of the French, the Aribes, formerly powerful 
 and numerous in the Sahara, who had first emigrated to the 
 plateau of Hamsa, but having met with ill-luck, had dispersed 
 in different directions. One portion of them went to the Metija; 
 but as they had no territory of their own, they lived upon theft. 
 General Voirol granted them a territory east of Algiers, close to 
 the farm named Rassota; he formed a corps of irregular Spahis out 
 of their numbers, and appointed Ben-Zecri, a refugee chief of the 
 province of Constantine, their Kaid. One tribe alone disturbed the 
 peace in the neighbourhood of Algiers, the Hajutes, who made 
 continual irruptions into the territory of the Beni-Khalil and in 
 the Sahel. The Hajutes are Arabs; they dwell in a fertile terri- 
 tory between the Shiffa and Shershel, defended by swamps on the 
 east and north. Their horses are excellent, and they have the 
 reputation of being the best horsemen of the country. Many of 
 them belonged to the auxiliaries of the janissaries during the sway 
 of the Deys, and were renowned for their warlike and adventurous 
 spirit. At the time of the conquest, the number of their horsemen 
 did not exceed four hundred ; but they have increased in number 
 ever since, as all the malefactors of the other tribes, as well as all 
 the individuals eager for war and plunder, fled to them in order to 
 take part in the forays which the Hajutes had organized against 
 the French, and against their Arab allies. Scarcely a day passed 
 without some bold irruptions; isolated horsemen were plundered 
 and the cattle were driven away. Such a condition became un- 
 bearable, and the energetic remonstrances of the Beni-Khalil, 
 who had most to suffer from the robberies of the neighbouring 
 Hajutes, roused the General at last from his peaceable apathy. 
 Two expeditions were undertaken against the robber- tribe; the 
 first failed; the other, led by General Br&, met with complete 
 success. The Beni-Khalil and Beni-Mussa, who had joined the 
 
AND OF GENERAL VOIROL. 263 
 
 French columns, recaptured their stolen herds, and drove the 
 cattle of the Hajutes away in turn, upon which the tribe made 
 submission for a time, fearing a new visit from the French columns. 
 Kuider-ban-Rebeha, their Kaid, appeared personally in Algiers, 
 and was invited by General Voirol to dine with him. The com- 
 manding appearance of the chief formed at that time the absorb- 
 ing topic of conversation in the city. 
 
 Whilst the province of Algiers enjoyed peace, and the hostilities 
 were unimportant in the province of Constantine, w;ar raged in 
 the west. General Desmichels was a restless, active, unprincipled 
 officer; brave in the field, tried in diplomatic craft, full of ambi- 
 tion, and of an independence of character which made him unfit 
 for a subordinate command. New to the country, not knowing by 
 experience the manner of war and the way of thinking of the 
 Arabs, he was desirous first to try what he could achieve by force 
 against them. He made excursions against the Garrabas and 
 Zmelas, surprised a few encampments, and drove the cattle 
 away. Then he released the prisoners, in order to see what 
 might be the result of severity united with mildness. But it was 
 already too late to adopt such a course of policy. Abd-el-Kader's 
 power and influence had been so far extended, that no single 
 tribe dared any longer to make a convention with the French for 
 itself without the consent of the other tribes. Some females of 
 the Zmelas having been carried away by one of the French ex- 
 peditions, this tribe tried to come to an agreement, and gave 
 hostages to General Desmichels as pledges of their good faith. 
 But Abd-el-Kader surprised the Zmelas with his horsemen, and 
 forced them to give up all intercourse with the French, and again 
 to take part in the war against the Christians, in spite of their 
 pledge and their hostages. A subjection of the tribes of those 
 provinces, or even a peace with them, was now no longer possible 
 for the French, without having previously either annihilated the 
 power of Abd-el-Kader, or won him over by agreement. His 
 influence extended over all the tribes between Mascara and the 
 sea. He possessed himself likewise of the city of Tlemsan, and 
 
264 THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE DUKE OF ROVIGO 
 
 the Turks and Kuruglis did not oppose him, though they closed 
 the citadel against him. Soon after the conquest of Tlemsan, 
 Sidi-Mahiddin died, — Abd-el-Kader's father, the celebrated Mara- 
 but of the Hashems; but the power of the young Emir, and the 
 reverence paid to him and his family by all the tribes, did not 
 decrease in consequence. 
 
 On the 3d of July 1833, General Desmichels occupied the 
 harbour and the forts of Arzew. The city itself (which by the 
 instrumentality of Bethuna, its Kaid, had always remained in 
 friendly intercourse with the French) had been stormed a few 
 days before by the army of Abd-el-Kader, who had destroyed the 
 houses, and forced the inhabitants to emigrate. Arzew ceased 
 •from that time to exist as an Arab city; its inhabitants have 
 again become savages, and live now among the Arab tribes of the 
 plain of Sig. 
 
 Soon after, the French troops occupied likewise the city of 
 Mostagenem. It was delivered to them by the Turkish Kaid, 
 Ibrahim, without resistance. General Desmichels left it to the 
 choice of the inhabitants either to remain under the protection of 
 the French, or to leave with their moveables. The great ma- 
 jority, above one thousand families, chose the latter alternative, 
 and left their comfortable houses, their splendid gardens and 
 villas, emigrating to the interior. The sullen fanaticism of the 
 Moors could not rouse them to armed resistance against the 
 French ; but yet it was powerful enough to induce them to ex- 
 change their effeminate and quiet manner of life for the rough 
 habits of the barbarous Bedouins, and to expose themselves rather 
 to the exactions of the chiefs, who despise the Hadars (townfolks) 
 most heartily, than to live under the rule of Christians. 
 
 On the 3d of December, Abd-el-Kader and General Desmichels, 
 who both led their troops in person, fought a hard-contested 
 bloody fight in the plain of Tlelat, to which the Emir had formally 
 invited the French. But this battle too remained without result. 
 The field-artillery of the French made terrible havoc in the 
 swarms of Arab horsemen; but the French columns had after all 
 
AND OF GENERAL VOIROL. 265 
 
 to retreat for want of provisions, and were followed by the restless 
 enemy, who hovered around them on their battle-horses like birds 
 of prey, pouncing upon every straggler, and attacking the column 
 on its weakest point up to the walls of Oran. 
 
 General Desmichels, seeing that it was impossible to achieve 
 an^'thing by force of arms, in a country where the army could not 
 find either food or shelter, and against a people which easily en- 
 dured the most dreadfal fatigues, and seeing that even victorious 
 fights did riot lead to any result, determined on negotiation. 
 After a long correspondence, an agreement was signed between 
 the General and the Emir, which Desmichels was audacious 
 enough to conclude without the authority or even the know- 
 ledge of either of his superiors, the General Yoirol, or the mi- 
 nister-at-war. The treaty had two clauses: the first allowed 
 the Arabs to buy arms and ammunition in the French seaports ; the 
 Emir received the monopoly of the exportation of grain, and the 
 Arab deserters were surrendered to him. In the second clause, 
 Abd-el-Kader promised to stop the hostilities, to return the French 
 prisoners and deserters, and to allow the Christians to travel with- 
 out molestation in the interior, under the protection and with the 
 firman of the Emir. General Desmichels found it advisable to 
 keep the first clause of this treaty secret, and to submit only the 
 second to his Government. The truth became known only under 
 the successor of General Yoirol, and Desmichels was immediately 
 recalled. The majority of the well-informed Algerines explain 
 this strange behaviour of the General by asserting that Abd-el- 
 Kader had granted to him a share of the profits of the corn- 
 monopoly. 
 
 The administration of the Regency of Algeria received a new 
 organization towards the end of 1835. The command of the 
 army, and the supreme administration of the country, now styled 
 " The French possessions of North Africa," was given to a Gover- 
 nor-General; Lieutenant-General Count Drouet d'Erlon was ap- 
 pointed to the governorship. The nomination of Count Drouet 
 d'Erlon, who had not sought the post, was an unfortunate one. 
 
266 THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE DUKE OF ROVIGO, ETC. 
 
 As with most of the veterans of the empire, age, and the results 
 of harassing military life, had debilitated his energies and his 
 faculties ; it was difficult for him to see his way through the com- 
 plicated relations of the country, which only a young and enter- 
 prizing genius could have mastered. Of all the used-up men 
 who had conducted the affairs of Algeria since 1830, General 
 Voirol was the most happy. He was not responsible for the im- 
 mense blunder of the treaty with Abd-el-Kader, and he protested 
 against it in Paris to the last. In the province of Algiers, he 
 knew how to restore peace and order. With a little more energy 
 he might have succeeded in installing native chiefs in the cities of 
 the interior, namely, in Medeah and Miliana, who would have been 
 allies of the French, and might have established a rival power 
 against the ambitious Emir of Mascara. This neglect of General 
 Voirol, and the treaty of General Desmichels, had the most disas- 
 trous results. But the administration of Voirol has the merit of 
 having organized the country occupied by the French; nor did 
 any of his predecessors or successors in office, before Bugeaud, 
 ever do as much as he did in this respect. This fact was like- 
 wise fully acknowledged by the European settlers in Algiers, and 
 the regrets and best wishes of Mohammedans, as well as Christians, 
 followed the vessel which carried that noble man back to the shores 
 of France.* 
 
 * He died in September 1853. 
 
ADMINISTRATION OF COUNT DROUET d'eRLON, ETC. 267 
 
 CHATPEK V. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF COUNT DROUET d'ERLON, AND SECOND ADMINIS- 
 TRATION OF MARSHAL CLAUZEL. 
 
 Peace and tranquillity prevailed during the first months of the 
 administration of Count Drouet d'Erlon in the vicinity of all the 
 cities occupied by the French army ; and, with the exception of 
 the tribes around Bujia, the natives remained in commercial inter- 
 course with the French. They visited the fairs, and seemed to 
 be well pleased when they returned with plenty of money to their 
 wildernesses. But this state of things did not last beyond a few 
 months; there were people on both sides who began to be tired of 
 peace. With the French, it was principally the ambitious officers 
 who longed for warlike exploits, for advancement and decorations, 
 and who valued their personal interests and the glory of the 
 French army higher than the extension of the settlement and the 
 prosperity of the colony. One of the first measures of the Gover- 
 nor was to send troops to Buffarik, where the principal fair of the 
 Metija is held, and to form there a camp, which, in his honour, 
 received the name of Camp d'Erlon. The situation of Buffarik 
 in the centre of the Metija, is of the highest importance. Camp 
 d'Erlon soon became the principal place of arms in the vicinity of 
 Algiers. In a short time many houses were raised in the large 
 plain, and the view of the wine-shops and coffee-houses contrasted 
 strangely with the surrounding wilderness. 
 
 Lieutenant- Colonel Marey, a very wealthy officer, who had 
 high patronage in Paris, became the Agha of the Arabs, and the 
 Bureau Arahe was discontinued. The new Agha took the com- 
 mand of the Spahis, and had to exert a somewhat extensive 
 authority over the Arab tribes of the Metija. He had the reputa- 
 tion of eccentricity. The manners and customs of the country 
 suited his taste; he let his beard grow, shaved his hair, wore a 
 turban, and a rich attire of Moorish cut. Though aping the 
 
268 ADMINISTRATION OF COUNT DROUET d'eRLON, 
 
 manners of the natives in such external ways, he did not become 
 familiar with them; the Hajutes scoffed at his grotesque appear- 
 ance, and disowned him when he interfered in the internal affairs 
 of their tribe. A theft of cattle was committed in the Sahel, and 
 the blame was laid upon the Hajutes. The opportunity was 
 eagerly seized of again exchanging some bullets with the Be- 
 douins, and a column, under the command of General Rapatel, 
 was sent to chastise the offending tribe. But the Arabs had been 
 on their guard, and retreated with their tents, wives, and herds, to 
 the forest of Khorasa. General Rapatel found only a few empty 
 huts, which he destroyed; but the Hajutes now continued their 
 depredations and incursions with increasing boldness up to the 
 peace of the Tafna, and all the expeditions against them remained 
 without result. 
 
 In the interior, the power of the Emir Abd-el-Kader, who, 
 since he had concluded peace with the French, could turn all his 
 forces against his rivals, rose in a most alarming degree. He 
 forced successively all the tribes of the left bank of the Shelif and 
 of the plain of Ceirat to acknowledge his supremacy, and to pay 
 him the ashur (a tribute paid in raw produce). The Beni- Ammer, 
 one of the most powerful tribes of the province, refused to pay 
 this tax. Abd-el-Kader, before employing force against them, 
 took advantage of the occasional presence of some of their Sheikhs 
 in Mascara, and delivered such a pious, fiery, and persuasive 
 sermon from the pulpit of the great mosque, that those chiefs 
 were won to him, and| with them all their tribe. The most im- 
 portant rival of Abd-el-Kader was now Mustapha-Ben-Ismael, a 
 powerful old- man, who had been Agha of the province under the 
 Bey of Oran, and who retained his influence as Arab chief even 
 after the expulsion of the janissaries. The growing jealousy 
 between the old warrior and the young Marabut came to a bloody 
 outbreak. Mustapha surprised the camp of Abd-el-Kader, de- 
 feated and dispersed his troops, and nearly slew his enemy. The 
 Emir had two horses killed under him, and, for his ultimate 
 rescue, he had to thank the assistance of his cousin, a most power- 
 
AND SECOND ADMINISTRATION OF MARSHAL CLAUZEL. 269 
 
 ful man, who carried him off from the fight, and lent his own 
 horse to the wounded chief. Mustapha wished now to come to 
 terms with the French ; but they refused, since they were bound 
 to Abd-el-Kader by Desmichels' treaty. The triumph of Mustapha 
 lasted, therefore, but for a short time ; in a second battle he was 
 defeated, and had to implore the mercy of the young victor, which 
 was granted to him. After that victory, Abd-el-Kader, who was 
 supplied by General Desmichels with muskets, turned against the 
 Angads, and took their chief, El-Gomary, prisoner. But now a 
 mighty chief of the Sahara, Mussa-el-Darkui, came with a large 
 army of horsemen, and announced that Allah had called him from 
 his sandy regions in order to throw the intruding infidels into the 
 sea, and to cut off by sword and torch all their friends and allies, 
 especially the son of Mahiddin. This fanatical desert-chief found 
 numerous adherents : all the adventurers fond of plunder, and the 
 enthusiasts of the tribes through whose territory he passed, joined 
 his host. At the tidings of Mussa's approach, Abd-el-Kader 
 advanced to the Shelif, subdued the important tribe of the Flitas, 
 which, led by the Emir's own brother, had revolted against him, 
 and halted on the left bank of the river, remembering the threats 
 of the French Commander-in-Chief, who had announced that the 
 crossing of the Shelif, which was the acknowledged boundary of 
 Abd-el-Kader's territory, would be taken for a declaration of 
 war. The ambitious young chief seemed to hesitate, and to pon- 
 der over the grave results of a breach with the French, how far 
 they might affect his contested and not yet firmly established 
 power. But when he heard that Mussa-el-Darkui had triumph- 
 antly entered Medeah, the approaching danger overcame all other 
 considerations ; he crossed the Shelif, and occupied the city of 
 Miliana, where the people received him with joyful enthusiasm, 
 and the late Agha of the French (under Berthezene), El-Haji- 
 Mahiddin-Ben-Mubarek, and Mohammed-el-Barkani, late Kaid of 
 Shershel, entered into his service. Abd-el-Kader proceeded from 
 Miliana onward to meet the army of Mussa, who advanced from 
 Medeah. The two enemies met at the farm named Amura, in 
 
270 ADMINISTRATION OF COUNT DROUET d'eRLON, 
 
 the territory of the Summata. The battle lasted long without 
 results. The ragged Bedouins of the Sahara and the cavalry of 
 the Emir wheeled long round one another, yelling like birds of 
 prey which show their claws before they come to a serious fight. 
 Abd-el-Kader had a more numerous infantry than his enemy, 
 and even some cannon which he had got from Desmichels : these 
 decided the defeat of Mussa. The sunburnt horsemen of the 
 Sahara, who never had witnessed the effect of artillery, dispersed 
 at the thunder, and could not be rallied again. The Chief of the 
 Desert fled with a few followers to his sandy home, pursued and 
 harassed by the horsemen of Abd-el-Kader, and they never 
 attempted to return. Mussa' s baggage and wives fell into the 
 hands of the victor ; but Abd-el-Kader treated the females with 
 respect, and generously sent them back to his defeated enemy. 
 The reception of the Emir at Medeah was as enthusiastic as at 
 Miliana. Tribute was everywhere readily paid to him, because 
 the tribes trusted that he would maintain peace and order. Mo- 
 hammed-el-Barkani was appointed Bey of Miliana. 
 
 After the defeat of Mussa, no rival rose any more against the 
 Marabut of the Hashems. All the cities and tribes of the pro- 
 vinces of Oran and of Titteri gave him the title of Sultan ; the 
 more remote tribes sent ambassadors and presents. He had now 
 an easy game. His most dangerous trials were during the time 
 when the religious fanaticism of the Arabs, the basis of his power, 
 was likely to be turned against him, — when his rivals decried 
 him as a friend of the infidels, and summoned the enthusiasts in 
 the name of the Prophet and of the Koran to defection and to his 
 destruction. It was then that Abd-el-Kader's genius displayed 
 itself. A less resolute chief would have hastened to break the 
 peace with the French, and to preach once more the holy war, in 
 order to turn the fanaticism of the masses to his own account, and 
 thus conjure up the storm which inevitably would have destroyed 
 any less energetic and less cunning leader. But Abd-el-Kader 
 possessed in the highest degree that strong confidence in himself 
 which always accompanies genius. The outcry of blind fanatics 
 
A><D SECOND ADMINISTRATION OF MARSHAL CLAUZEL. 271 
 
 did not disconcert him ; he fronted the most dangerous crisis ho 
 ever had to meet, since his accession to power, with courage and 
 resolution, and overcame all dangers with such constant good 
 fortune, as could not fail to make the deepest impression on a 
 people which attributes all greatness to the special favour of God. 
 They were reminded of the prophecy of the dervish of Mecca. 
 Moreover, the Emir had probably whispered to the most influential 
 Sheikhs and Marabuts that his peace with the Christians was false 
 play, and that, as soon as all the tribes had joined him, he w'ould 
 turn his arms against the intruding foreigners, being called by 
 Allah to save Islam in Africa, and to restore a great Arab empire. 
 
 The resolution which Abd-el-Kader showed in the interior 
 was in just proportion to the cunning and craft he displayed 
 in his dealings with the French. He carried on his inter- 
 course with Count Drouet d'Erlon by the Jew Ben-Durand, an 
 uncommonly sly diplomatist, who spoke French with facility, and 
 knew how to treat Frenchmen. This intriguer succeeded so com- 
 pletely in getting the confidence of the old Governor, that he was 
 invited to his table, and accompanied him in his drives through 
 the town and its neighbourhood. Ben-Durand tried to persuade 
 the Governor that Abd-el-Kader was intent in preparing the tribes 
 of the interior for the direct sway of the French, by establishing 
 the affairs of the Arabs on a European footing, and so paving the 
 way for civilization. The old Count was deceived ; and, far from 
 enforcing his treaty against Abd-el-Kader as to the crossing of 
 the Shelif, he sent an officer of his staff to compliment the Emir 
 on his success, sending him even presents, which of course were 
 received as tribute. 
 
 Whilst the weak Governor-General did not see the dangers of 
 a union of the tribes under the sway of a native prince, the 
 Commander of Oran took a course just contrary to that of his 
 superior, by trying to detach the more important chiefs from the 
 cause of the Emir. General Trezel had succeeded to the com- 
 mand of Desmichels, and he began immediately to carry on ne- 
 gotiations with the most influential Sheikhs of the Duairs and 
 
272 ADMINISTRATION OF COUNT DEOUET d'eRLON, 
 
 Zmelas, who lived close to Oran, until he succeeded in persuading 
 them to abandon the Emir. Abd-el-Kader, informed of those 
 proceedings, sent one of his Aghas with some troops towards 
 Oran, in order to force the Duairs and Zmelas to strike their 
 tents, and to carry them away into the interior, where they could 
 not come into contact with the French. Those tribes now hastily 
 sent ambassadors to the French General, and claimed protection 
 against the persecution of Abd-el-Kader. Trezel, a man of 
 energy, immediately gathered all his troops, and started with them 
 on the 16th of June from Oran; proceeding about twenty miles 
 to the south in order to cover the territory of the tribes. The 
 Agha of the Emir retreated at the approach of the French, and 
 General Trezel advanced now to the plain of Tlelat. He con- 
 cluded here a formal treaty with the Duairs and Zmelas, accord- 
 ing to which these tribes entered the service of France. Trezel 
 now wrote a threatening letter to Abd-el-Kader, requiring him 
 to give up his pretensions of suzerainty over the tribes who had 
 recognized French sovereignty. The Arab chief answered that 
 his religion forbade him to leave Mussulmans under the sway of 
 infidels, and that he was determined to pursue the rebel tribes up 
 to the walls of Oran. At the same time he claimed his Vakil 
 (representative) from Oran, in return for the French Consul in 
 Mascara. This amounted of course to a declaration of war, and 
 the passionate Trezel advanced immediately to the banks of the 
 Sig. Though he had not sufficient provisions for more than a 
 few days, yet he proceeded to attack Abd-el-Kader, who was en- 
 camped there with his troops, and had issued proclamations to all 
 the faithful for the war against the infidels. The first engage- 
 ment took place in the wood of Muley-Ismael, half way between 
 Oran and Mascara. The battle was contested with great exas- 
 peration on both sides : the skirmishers fought from bush to bush. 
 At last the Arabs were dislodged from the wood ; but the French 
 suffered severe loss. Colonel Oudinot, who commanded the 
 French cavalry, fell, and his corpse was with difficulty saved 
 from the hands of the enemy. The chief of Abd-el-Kader'3 
 
AND SECOND ADMINISTRATION OF MARSHAL CLAUZEL. 273 
 
 cavalry, his Khalifa, was likewise slain, and the Arabs disap- 
 peared. The small French army halted for a short time on the 
 banks of the Sig; but General Trezel had likewise to retreat 
 from want of provisions, and from the difficulty of transporting 
 the wounded. He topk the direction of Arzew. But when his 
 weary troops had reached the banks of the streamlet Makta, they 
 were suddenly attacked by the whole force of Abd-el-Kader, who 
 had gathered an army of twenty thousand horsemen. The French 
 columns were thrown into confusion ; several companies who had 
 to occupy the hills flanking the way were pushed back by the 
 Arabs; a panic seized the Foreign Legion; one of its battalions 
 behaved with cowardice, shouting ^^ Sauve qui peuU" and threw 
 itself, fleeing, on the other battalion, augmenting the confusion 
 dreadfully. The other battalion fought bravely, but it was com- 
 posed of soldiers of all nations, — Poles, Germans, Dutch, and 
 Spaniards, and commanded by French officers whom they did 
 not understand; they knew only the words of command : it was in 
 vain to appeal to their soldiers' heart, and try to kindle enthusi- 
 asm. The fine speeches of the officers discouraged them rather 
 by reminding them of their danger: the waggons in which the 
 wounded were transported stuck in the swamps of the Makta; the 
 waggoners, in fear of the enemy, had the cowardice to cut the 
 traces and escape on the horses, leaving their unhappy comrades 
 to the yatagan of the Bedouins. One waggon only, with twenty 
 wounded, was saved, since the Serjeant who commanded it 
 threatened to shoot any waggoner who should dare to for- 
 sake his wounded comrades ; and so it was rescued from the 
 swamp in spite of the bullets of the enemy. The confusion had 
 in the meantime seized all the other corps, officers and soldiers : 
 no order was obeyed : the yelling of the attacking Arabs, and the 
 cries of distress uttered by the pursued, drowned the voice of the 
 commanders. Companies and battalions, following the instinct of 
 self-preservation, fled on the way to Arzew. The author has 
 heard the defeat on the Makta described by several eye-wit- 
 nesses. There were amongst them men who (as for instance 
 
274 ADMINISTRATION OF COUNT DROUET d'eRLON, 
 
 the Commander Saint Fargeau) had been present at the greatest 
 battles of the Empire, at Liitzen, Dresden, and Leipzig. All 
 these officers unanimously affirmed, that in spite of powder, 
 smoke, and roaring of cannon, those great battles were by far less 
 dreadful than the scenes on the Makta, where the wounded knew 
 that they were pursued by an enemy who had no mercy. They 
 ran with bleeding wounds as long as their strength supported 
 them, and when the loss of blood forced them to stop, they en- 
 treated their comrades to kill them, that they might not be 
 exposed to the cruelty of the pursuing savages. Some began to 
 sing the Marseillaise^ others prayed ; shouts of courage and de- 
 spair, war- hymns and prayers, filled the air. In such a desperate 
 position, the army was saved only by the energetic self-sacrifice 
 of a small number of resolute men who had not lost their pre- 
 sence of mind, and who voluntarily formed the rear-guard, continu- 
 ally repulsing the attack of the enemy. It was principally the 
 mounted rifles [Chasseurs d^Afrique) who, though at last reduced 
 to some forty men, constantly attacked the pursuing enemy and 
 slackened the pursuit. They had in Captain Bernard a heroic 
 leader. About forty or fifty officers and soldiers of the corps 
 joined them voluntarily : but for this handful of heroes, all the 
 column would have been destroyed. At last they reached Arzew, 
 where, ashamed of their defeat, they rallied again. Their loss was 
 about five hundred dead ; but the moral influence of the event was 
 beyond calculation. The natives ceased to believe the French 
 invincible even in pitched battles ; and all the tribes turned to the 
 young Emir, who displayed five hundred French heads, one can- 
 non, and the camp-baggage, as trophies of his victory. The 
 ill-fated Trezel, who had given evidence of his great personal 
 bravery and great incapacity for command, was removed. But 
 public indignation in France turned justly against the Gover- 
 nor of Algiers, whose weakness and indulgence had given such 
 power to Abd-el-Kader, and had caused the defeat on the Makta. 
 Drouet d'Erlon was accordingly replaced by Marshal Clauzcl, 
 whose appointment caused no small satisfaction among the Euro- 
 
AND SECOND ADMINISTRATION OF MARSHAL CLAUZEL. 275 
 
 pean settlers in Algeria, as by his first administration he was 
 known as the most fervid defender of the African settlement. 
 
 The very day of the arrival of Marshal Clauzel in Algiers 
 (10th of August 1835), the cholera broke out, and raged for a 
 whole month with the most dreadful violence. The mortality 
 was greater amongst the natives than amongst the Europeans; 
 yet there died about 1600 men of the French army. The great 
 expeditions which the Marshal had planned, were for the moment 
 stopped. In the meantime, troops and material of war were sent 
 from Toulon to Oran, since the French Government wished, as 
 soon as possible, to efface the bad impression which the defeat on 
 the Makta had produced both in France and in Algeria. On the 
 26th of November 1835, an army of 11,000 men undertook the 
 march from Oran to Mascara. Marshal Clauzel had the com- 
 mand ; the Generals Oudinot, Perregaux, and d' Arlanges, served 
 under him. The Prince of Orleans accompanied them. Abd-el- 
 Kader's resistance to that small but picked army, which was suffi- 
 ciently provided in every way, was much slighter than expected. 
 The expedition to Mascara was one of the most successful feats 
 of the French arms. Marshal Clauzel commanded with so great 
 a skill that even his personal enemies in the army were delighted. 
 All the march by the plain of the Sig, where the Marshal in- 
 duced the Arabs to believe that he was taking the direction to- 
 wards Mostagenem, was a series of admirable manoeuvres, dis- 
 playing both the talent of the commander and the excellent drill- 
 ing of the army. This campaign was in every respect most in- 
 structive for the younger officers of the army, as even Pellissier, 
 the fiercest opponent of the Marshal, avows. The Arabs made 
 some resistance on the Sig and Ilabrah. They obstinately de- 
 fended themselves behind the sepulchral temples of the Marabuts 
 of the family of Sidi-Mubarek. But they were driven from 
 every position. Abd-el-Kader here, for the first time, made use 
 of his artillery against the French ; but he kept it at so great a 
 distance as to be of no avail. The Duke of Orleans did not com- 
 mand any one brigade, but as a volunteer he went to all the 
 
276 ADMINISTRATION OP COUNT DEOUET d'eRLON, 
 
 points where the fight was hottest, and received even a slight 
 wound in the thigh. In bivouac he mingled with the soldiers, 
 entered into conversation with them, and amused himself with 
 their chat around the camp-fire. Whoever is unacquainted with 
 the susceptibility, the power of invention, and the humour of the 
 French soldier, can have no idea of the originality of the bivouac 
 scenes and camp-life in Africa. 
 
 On the 6th of December, the vanguard of the French army 
 entered Mascara. All the Mussulman population had left the 
 town; the Jews alone remained. The bands of Abd-el-Kader, 
 who had plundered Mascara before the French entered the city, 
 committed the greatest outrages against those poor people. 
 Females were violated, men ill-treated, and these horrors did not 
 cease even when the vanguard of the French, which was com- 
 posed of Zuaves, had arrived; for, as the soldiers, greedy for 
 plunder, did not find the hoped-for treasures, they gave vent to 
 the anger of their deluded expectations on the poor Jews with 
 shameful brutality, which the officers could not immediately stop. 
 The arrival of the staff put an end to the outrages. Marshal 
 Clauzel and the Duke of Orleans took possession of the palace of 
 Abd-el-Kader, whilst the army remained outside in camp. A 
 ■proposal was made to Ibrahim, late Commander of Mostagenem, 
 to remain an Mascara with the Duairs, Zmelas, and a few Turkish 
 regulars. But the chief saw too clearly that without the aid of 
 French troops he could not maintain himself in the interior. He 
 therefore declined the proposal, and declared that he would rather 
 return with the army. Marshal Clauzel thereupon resolved to 
 evacuate and to destroy Mascara. In order to justify this singular 
 resolution, he described Mascara in his official report as an in- 
 significant position, not worthy to be erected into a Beylik. This 
 representation was eminently untrue, and the Marshal could not 
 have expressed his military' conviction sincerely, since Mascara 
 is, according to all the most instnicted officers, the most important 
 point in the province of Oran. Whoever occupies that city with a 
 garrison strong enough to make excursions, holds sway over the 
 
AND SECOND ADMINISTRATION OF MARSHAL CLAUZEL. 277 
 
 two largest and most fertile pasture grounds of the province, 
 namely, the plains of Egghres and Ceirat, north and south of 
 Mascara. The numerous tribes inhabiting them would not 
 easily be induced to leave their dwellings, where the fields are so 
 fruitful, and the herds find green pasture the whole year through. 
 They would first retire, but soon negotiate with the lord of Mas- 
 cara, and, after all, submit to the power which threatens them from 
 the immediate vicinity. Besides, Abd-el-Kader's power was 
 centred in Mascara. Here lay the nucleus of his force ; the other 
 tribes joined him only because he was the mightiest of the chiefs. 
 Close to Mascara extends the territory of the Hasheras, the tribe 
 to which he belonged, in which his Marabut family had always 
 exercised the greatest influence. The hermitage of Sidi-Mahiddin, 
 and Kashruh, the cemetery of Abd-el-Kader's ancestors, both 
 sacred places which attract the pilgrims, are in the neighbour- 
 hood of Mascara. These points once firmly grasped in the hands 
 of the Christians, the religious influence of the young Marabut 
 would soon have been gone. Men who had a deeper insight into 
 the relations of the province of Oran than the Marshal, and espe- 
 cially the French officers who, as Captain Daumas and Colonel 
 Mauzion, had lived in Mascara, knew perfectly well the high im- 
 portance of that city, which was underrated by Clauzel, either 
 from blundering superficiality, or some other unknown reason. 
 
 On the 9th of December, the French army retreated. Mascara 
 was to be destroyed, but the stone houses resisted the flames, and 
 a sudden rain quenched the fire on the few points where it had 
 begun to spread. Only the palace of Abd-el-Kader and the gates 
 of the city were demolished; the other buildings, though injured and 
 defiled by the soldiers, were, immediately after the evacuation, again 
 taken possession of by the returning inhabitants. The Emir, after 
 the capture of Mascara, had remained nearly alone in Kashruh, 
 at the tombs of his ancestors. All the tribes, even the Hashems, 
 had forsaken him, under the impression that the French were to 
 remain in Mascara. But the Arabs took the retreat for an evi- 
 dence of weakness, and Abdel-Kader, not disheartened by the 
 
278 ADMINISTRATION OF COUNT DROUET d'eRLON, 
 
 defeat, soon regained all his former power so much the more 
 easil}", as he turned the expedition of Marshal Clauzel against 
 Tlemsau to his own advantage. 
 
 That expedition was undertaken at the urgent entreaties of the 
 Turks and Kuruglis, who were besieged by the Arabs in the citadel 
 (Meshuar) of Tlemsan. Already for a whole year these gallant 
 fellows had been shut up in the small fort, and the old Mustapha- 
 ben-Isinael, the restless enemy of the Emir, succeeded in keeping 
 up the courage of the garrison. The Angads tried to relieve the 
 citadel, but Abd-el-Kader hastened to reinforce the besiegers, and 
 compelled the Angads to retreat to their wild steppes. On the 
 8th of January 1836, Marshal Clauzel marched with a small 
 army of seven thousand five hundred men to Tlemsan. He 
 arrived there without any fight; the besiegers dispersed before 
 him, and the besieged garrison, with the venerable Mustapha-ben- 
 Ismael at their head, hailed them with enthusiasm. The majestic 
 frame of Mustapha, and his energetic character, delineated in his 
 features, made a most favourable impression, and the Marshal ap- 
 pointed him Kaid of the Duairs and Zmelas. The old chief served 
 the French ever afterwards with zeal and fidelity, and his services 
 were acknowledged by his promotion to the rank and pay of a general. 
 
 The Moorish population of Tlemsan had been forced by Abd- 
 el-Kader to emigrate ; but the French, while reconnoitering round 
 the city, fell in with the majority of them; the Arabs of the Emir, 
 ■who had to escort them, were dispersed by the renegade Yussuf ; 
 after which the Moors were brought back. Abd-el-Kader held 
 now scarcely more than one thousand horsemen in his service. 
 The Arabs had lost their confidence in him. But Marshal Clauzel 
 undertook an expedition from Tlemsan towards the Tafna, and the 
 powerful and numerous Kabyles on the banks of this river, a most 
 warlike and fanatical race, suddenly took the side of the Emir. 
 Their tribes lived in continual feuds: their Sheikhs (amongst 
 whom Buhamedi was the most influential) were jealous of one 
 another. Threatened by the enemy, they desired to unite; but 
 rather than give pre-eminence to any of themselves, they called 
 
AND SECOND ADMINISTRATION OF MARSHAL CLAUZEL. 279 
 
 upon Abd-el-Kader, the stranger, to be their chief against the 
 French. The scheme of the Marshal to advance to the mouth of 
 the river was defeated by the gallant resistance of the Kabyles; 
 the loss was considerable on both sides; old Mustapha had fought 
 like a lion with his Turks and Kuruglis; but the horsemen of 
 Abd-el-Kader were likewise brave, and their young chief was 
 seen on his black steed wherever the danger was greatest. The 
 French army was forced to return to Tlemsan, and Abd-el-Kader 
 had regained his prestige. 
 
 At the outset, the Marshal had only intended to relieve the 
 garrison of Tlemsan ; but when he perceived the superiority of the 
 site of this place, in one of the most fertile plains of Barbary, 
 where the soil shows such exuberant vegetation as remains un- 
 surpassed in any other district of the Regency, he resolved upon 
 leaving a French garrison in the Meshuar. One battalion, under the 
 command of Captain Cavaignac, took possession of the citadel. 
 The array left Tlemsan on the 7th of February, returning by a 
 different way to Oran, and skirmishing continually with the 
 horsemen of Abd-el-Kader, who followed at their heels. 
 
 This second expedition of the Marshal remained likewise 
 without the results hoped for. The garrison of Tlemsan, not being 
 strong enough to undertake expeditions round the city, was soon 
 blockaded, and became short of victuals; and Abd-el-Kader re- 
 turned to Mascara more powerful than ever. He had got new 
 allies, — the Kabyles on the Tafna, who had acknowledged him as 
 their leader; and the Angad, who, hurt by the haughty reception 
 which their envoys had met from the Marshal, likewise submitted 
 to the Emir. Many Kabyles took service in the infantry of 
 Abd-el-Kader, and accompanied him back to Mascara. When he 
 arrived at his capital, reinforced by such powerful allies, all the 
 tribes who had forsaken him after the capture of the city, returned 
 suing for pardon and amnesty. Abd-el-Kader granted them 
 forgiveness, and had not a single man executed, though the 
 Hashems themselves had formerly requested the Emir to have the 
 most guilty of their tribe beheaded. 
 
280 ADMINISTRATION OF COUNT DROUET d'eRLON, 
 
 Marshal Clauzel left the province of Oran for Paris in order to 
 be present in the Chamber of Deputies during the discussion of 
 the affairs of Algeria. ' The Generals Perregeaux and d'Arlanges 
 made several expeditions in his absence in accordance with his 
 orders, but they remained just as void of results as the expeditions 
 to Mascara and Tlemsan. On the whole, no administration had 
 wasted so much powder as that of the Marshal. It seemed as if 
 this general took Africa for a camp of exercise for the French 
 army. Perhaps he attempted so many expeditions in order to 
 retain his post, as being well aware that with his nation he must 
 become popular by bulletins of conquests and victories, even al- 
 though the condition of the Kegency should become worse by the 
 system, and colonization not proceed at all. General Perregeaux 
 extended his operations to the banks of the Shelif and Habrah, 
 whilst General d'Arlanges went by sea to the mouth of the Tafna, 
 where he established a camp. On one of his reconnoiterings in 
 the direction of Tlemsan, his column met with severe loss ; it was 
 only with extreme difficulty that he could reach the camp. Sur- 
 rounded by from eight to ten thousand Kabyles, led by Buhamedi, 
 the French, who were not more than eighteen hundred men, were 
 nearly crushed. The Kabyles of the Tafna fought as desperately 
 as the tribes near Bujia ; they often advanced up to the mouth of 
 the cannon, and the yatagan constantly crossed the sabre. The 
 French left above three hundred dead on the battle-field, their 
 camp was surrounded, and General d'Arlanges had to send a boat 
 speedily to Oran to announce his critical position. 
 
 When the tidings of this defeat reached France, it was de- 
 termined to send General Bugeaud with reinforcements to Oran. 
 lie landed on the 6th of June 1836, with three regiments, at the 
 mouth of the Tafna, released the besieged garrison of the camp, 
 and proceeded to Tlemsan. The battalion which had been left in 
 the citadel of that place under the command of the gallant Cavaig- 
 nac, had maintained itself against all the* attacks of the Arabs, 
 and was bravely supported by the Kuruglis. The column of 
 General Bugeaud, accompanied by three hundred and fifty camels, 
 
AND SECOND ADMINISTRATION OF MARSHAL CLAUZEL. 281 
 
 carried provisions for the garrison of the citadel. On the 6th 
 of July, Abd-el-Kader, -who had lately established his head- 
 quarters at Nedruma, a small town close to the Moroccan frontier, 
 and had gathered a few thousand Amazighs (Kabyles of Morroco) 
 under his banner, attacked the long marching line of the French 
 in a narrow valley bisected by the river Sikak. The Arab horse- 
 men pounced upon the vanguard, whilst Abd-el-Kader attacked the 
 flank with his Kabyle infantry. But General Bugeaud succeeded 
 by a skilful manoeuvre in cutting off one part of the infantry. The 
 horsemen who had to support it were repulsed by the French 
 cavalry, and the Kabyles were soon defeated and dispersed in all 
 directions, seeking refuge behind the rocks and in the bushes. 
 Two hundred corpses and six hundred muskets lay on the battle- 
 field, and one hundred and thirty prisoners and six flags were the 
 trophies of the victory. Abd-el-Kader, who was always in the 
 foremost ranks fighting like a common soldier, had a hair- breadth 
 escape ; his horse was killed under him ; he fell on the grounc" 
 and escaped death, only because he was clad as all other Arabs, 
 and therefore was not recognised by the French. On the 12th, 
 Bugeaud left Tlemsan, after having left provisions with the 
 garrison, and returned to Oran unmolested by the Emir. And 
 yet this victory again remained without results; not one tribe was 
 won over, and the confidence of the Arabs and Kabyles in Abd- 
 el-Kader continued unshaken. 
 
 In the meantime, the provinces of Constantine and Algiers were 
 little disturbed. It was only the robber-tribe of the Hajutes 
 which continued its forays in the country on the right bank of 
 the Chiffa, and could not be subdued. General Rapatel crossed 
 the defile of Teniah-el-Musaiah, and introduced a Bey, appointed 
 by Marshal Clauzel to Medeah. But the new Bey could not 
 maintain himself; three days after the retreat of the French 
 columns, he was captured, bound by the partisans of Abd-el- 
 Kader, and sent to the Emir. 
 
 Ahmet-Bey remained quiet in Constantine, his capital. With 
 the exception of the tribes in the vicinity of Bona, all the pro- 
 
282 ADMINISTRATION OF COUNT DROUET d'eRLON, 
 
 vince obeyed him ; he continued the old system ; his cruelty para- 
 lyzed the Arabs by terror, but he did not gain their affection. On 
 the whole, he was on good terms with Abd-el-Kader, as both were 
 fighting against the enemy of the faith ; but they did not give one 
 another mutual aid: they were secretly jealous of each other, so much 
 the more as Ahmet was a Kurugli continuing the traditional 
 Turkish policy, whilst the Arab Emir destroyed every trace of the 
 late domination of the janissaries. Both attacked the French with 
 all their power, and with the fanaticism of the people; but both 
 with the intention of struggling against one another for the sove- 
 reignty of Algiers, as soon as the French were expelled. Ahmet- 
 Bey's greatest support lay likewise among the Kabyles, among 
 the tribes south of Bujia, between the Rivers Wad Ajcbbi and 
 Summan. These mountaineers were free from taxes, and lent 
 their aid to the Bey, exclusively against the Christians. The 
 Mezzaia, near Bujia, were noted for their violent fanaticism. 
 They often attacked the city with the greatest determination, 
 though the cannon and howitzers of the French made terrible 
 havoc amongst them. The fortified block-houses, Salem and Klifia, 
 near Bujia, were once attacked at night by twelve thousand Ka- 
 byles, and nearly overpowered, since the garrison of the city were 
 too weak to support them by a sally. Yet the Kabyles were re- 
 pulsed, an(^ retreated with no small loss. When the mountaineers 
 saw that their attacks remained without result, they planned an 
 act of treachery against the French commander, Salomon-de- 
 Musis. Sheikh Amisian, the chief of the Ulad-abd-el- Jebar, sent 
 envoys to that officer, apparently in order to negotiate about the 
 submission of his tribe. The Commander eagerly seized this 
 opportunity to enter at last on peaceable intercourse with the 
 wild inhabitants of the Atlas, and spurned the warnings of the 
 .few of his friends who were aware of Kabyle treachery. On the 
 4th of August, Amisian, accompanied by some twenty horsemen, 
 came from the mountains to the interview, for which he had 
 appointed a place on the sea-shore, about two hundred yards be- 
 yond the most advanced trenches. The French dragoman, Taboni, 
 
AND SECOND ADMINISTRATION OF MARSHAL CLAUZEL. 283 
 
 approached the chief, whilst Captain Blangini, with the Compagnie 
 Franche^ remained on guard a few yards behind them. Amisiau 
 greeted Salomon- de-Musis with polite words and friendly hand- 
 shaking; but suddenly the Kabyle horsemen surrounded the 
 French commander, and shot him and the dragoman dead: the 
 Compagnie Franche hastened forward, but could neither prevent 
 nor revenge the murder of the unhappy officer ; the murderers 
 had galloped off out of musket reach, laughing and insulting the 
 French. Amisian, the treacherous Sheikh, remained ever after- 
 wards highly respected by the Kabyles; the French could not 
 chastise him. 
 
 After a long stay at Paris, Marshal Clauzel returned to Algiers 
 towards the end of August. He had laid a complete plan of con- 
 quest before his Government, according to which all the cities and 
 all strategical points of the interior were to be occupied by French 
 troops, whilst flying columns were to maintain the communications 
 between them. Such a system would have prevented the Emir 
 of Mascara and the Bey of Constantine from building magazines 
 and powder-mills, and both chieftains would have lost the possi- 
 bility of concentrating large masses of troops, as for that purpose 
 they always had needed some populous centre. It was much the 
 same plan as had formerly been advised by Cavaignac and Pellis- 
 sier, and which afterwards was carried out by Bugeaud. But for 
 such a system of conquest, an army of from eighty to one hundred 
 thousand men was necessary, implying a budget of sixty million 
 francs, and neither the Cabinet nor the Chambers were disposed to 
 such a sacrifice. Marshal Clauzel, however, was imprudent enough 
 to try this system, though the means for carrying it were not 
 granted to him, and therefore a complete failure could not but be 
 foreseen. The new military operations were begun in the eastern 
 province, which until now had been neglected, though its con- 
 quest was easier, and promised to be more advantageous than that 
 of the western country. 
 
 On the 7th of November, the army left Bona, with the view of 
 capturing Constantine. Marshal Clauzel took the command ia 
 
284 ADMINISTRATION OF COUNT DROUET d'eRLON, 
 
 person. Captain Yussuf, who was appointed Bey of Constantlne 
 in the place of Ahmet, led the Spahis and Arab auxiliaries; but 
 instead of the thousands of horsemen promised by Farhad, only 
 a few hundred Saharians appeared. The rashness of Yussuf had 
 alienated the tribes in the vicinity of Bona: they went over to 
 Ahmet. General Rigny commanded the vanguard, and took, on 
 the 10th, possession of the ruins of Calama (Ghelma), whilst the 
 main army slowly followed. The Due de Nemours accompanied 
 the Marshal as volunteer, and participated in all the trials and 
 dangers of the army, which was only seven thousand strong. 
 
 On their progress to Constantine, they did not meet any other 
 obstacles than those of the weather and soil. The rain poured 
 down in torrents, and none of the roads had a firm bottom ; the 
 few camp-fires, in a country destitute of timber, were extinguished 
 by the wet ; the waggons which carried the provisions stuck in 
 the mud, and had to be abandoned. 
 
 The army arrived before Constantine in a most pitiful condition. 
 Frequent suicides gave evidence of the sufferings of the soldiers. 
 Some of them, exhausted by the march, lay down, refusing to 
 follow the column, and chose apathetically to await death from 
 the yatagan of Bedouin marauders rather than proceed onwards. 
 Yet the opinion prevailed that Constantine would not offer any 
 more resistance than Mascara or Tlemsan. When at last the 
 city was in sight from the plateau of El-Mansurah, every one of 
 the weary soldiers selected with his eyes the house which he was to 
 occupy, and was glad to have the prospect of a dry bed after 
 eight wet and severely cold nights in the mountains. But sud- 
 denly the red flag was reared on the " gate of the bridge," and 
 the batteries of the citadel opened their fire against the plateau. 
 The Marshal tried now to capture the city by a sudden storm. 
 The first attack took place under the eyes of the commander on 
 the Roman bridge, whilst two brigades crossed the river Rummel 
 and attacked Constantine from the east, where the city is connected 
 with the mountain Kudiat-Ali by a natural dyke, its most vul- 
 nerable point. But both attacks failed in spite of the heroic exer- 
 
AND SECOND ADMINISTRATION OF MARSHAL CLAUZEL. 285 
 
 tions of the French, because they were without heavy artillerj'. 
 They had brought with them nothing but six-pounders, which did 
 not avail against massive walls and iron gates. The Marshal 
 was soon satisfied that success was impossible, and resolved to 
 retreat ; and though eagerly pursued and pressed by the enemy, 
 he did it in a masterly way, and with far less loss than could 
 have been expected. Yet the retreating army offered the most 
 doleful sight. The soldiers, exhausted by fights, marches, and the 
 unceasing rain, lived for several days on unground corn boiled in 
 water; and those were deemed happy who succeeded in carrying 
 off the food of jackals and carrion- birds, the carcasses of dead 
 horses. In this pitiful condition, the small army reached Ghelma 
 again, where the invalids were left under the protection of a 
 few companies and the command of Colonel Duvivier. The 
 main army continued the march to Bona; half of the sol- 
 diers "had to enter the hospitals, and fevers and dysentery made 
 more serious ravages amongst them than the bullets of the 
 Bedouins. Marshal Clauzel was soon after summoned to Paris 
 to defend his conduct in the Chambers. On the 1 2th of February 
 1837, the Moniteur announced his dismissal. In Algiers, nobody 
 bewailed his departure except a few of his personal friends. Of 
 all his splendid promises which he had trumpeted in high-flown 
 proclamations, not one was fulfilled. "In three months," he had 
 often said, " the Hajutes shall have ceased to exist ;" but at his 
 departure this tribe was more powerful than ever, reinforced, as it 
 was, by bands of robbers infesting the immediate neighbourhood 
 of Algiers. Abd-el-Kader, whom the Marshal had several times 
 officially declared to have fled to the Desert to hide his shame, was 
 now blockading the French garrisons in Tlemsan and in the 
 camp on the Tafna, and his horsemen scoured the country up to 
 the gates of Oran. Colonization had made no progress under 
 Clauzel. Always occupied by warlike schemes, he had neither 
 time nor will to do more for agriculture than to prophesy a most 
 happy future for it. He had acquired extensive landed property 
 around Algiers, but he had not cultivated it himself, as the French 
 
286 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 expected him to do: he let it to farmers in the English way, which 
 is unpopular among the French. The Algiers people charged him 
 with rapacity and avarice, and tales were current about extortions 
 and general corruption. Many of these charges may probably be 
 exaggerated, or even altogether fictitious ; yet it is certain that the 
 population fully credited them. Not one voice was raised from 
 Algiers for the defence of the Marshal ; and never had the position 
 of the colony been more desperate than after his ill-fated expedi- 
 tion against Constantine. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, AND THE EXPEDITION TO 
 CONSTANTINE. 
 
 The successor of Marshal Clauzel was Lieutenant- General Count 
 Denys de Damr^raont, already honourably known in Algiers. He 
 had in 1830 commanded a brigade under Bourmont, and taken 
 active part in all the fights against Turks and Arabs up to the 
 surrender of Algiers. The command of the first expedition against 
 Bona was confided to him ; he had occupied the city without any 
 loss, and had gained the love and attachment of the inhabitants 
 during his short stay, by the mildness of his temper, his justice, 
 and the severe discipline he maintained in his army. When, a 
 few days after the occupation, the city was attacked by the Arabs, 
 Damremont made a gallant resistance, and inflicted no small loss 
 on the enemy. On receipt of the tidings of the July Revolu- 
 tion, Bourmont recalled the brigade of Damremont from Bona. 
 The General was sent to' France, and from that time had no com- 
 mand in Africa. 
 
 Damremont arrived at Algiers on the 3d of April 1837, and 
 one of his first measures was the re-establishment of the Bureau 
 Arabe^ with more extensive power than before. It had to carry 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 287 
 
 on direct correspondence with all the Arab chieftains who wished 
 to come into communication with the French. The chairman 
 of this Board was Captain Pellissier — an officer of distinction, 
 and of the highest character, though little popular with the 
 European colonists for his obstinate advocacy of native rights, 
 and a predilection ^for the Arabs which really amounted to 
 weakness. His hobby was the amalgamation of the French 
 and Arabs ; he imagined that the difficulties might be overcome 
 which stand in the way of such an amalgamation, because 
 he viewed only the bright features of the Arab character ; and 
 when a long intercourse with this people might have given 
 him a different view, his obstinacy forbade him avow the delu- 
 sion under which he had been labouring. But to the new Gover- 
 nor-General Captain Pellissier was principally recommended by 
 a series of attacks, published by him against the administration 
 of Marshal Clauzel in the '■'■ National" of Paris. General 
 Damremont wished to amend the blunders of his predecessor, 
 and was pleased with the views of the captain. 
 
 A few weeks after the arrival of the Governor-General, Abd- 
 el-Kader made an expedition from Mascara, in order to visit the 
 tribes not yet subjected to him. He approached the city of 
 Shershel, and the Kabyle tribe of the Beni-Menasser, claiming a 
 tribute as recognition of his sovereignty. The population of 
 Shershel submitted ; but the Beni-Menasser refused tribute and 
 submission, though they pledged their friendship and aid against 
 the French to the Emir. As that tribe inhabits a mountainous 
 country, and is very warlike, Abd-el-Kader remained satisfied 
 with their declaration, proceeded farther into the province of 
 Titterl, and entered Medeah triumphantly on the 22d of April. 
 His emissaries came down from the Atlas, preached war against 
 the Christians, and incited the tribes of the Metija to revolt 
 against the French. Even the city of Belida — though only at three 
 hours' distance from the French outposts, and the Beni-Khalil, 
 whose encampments were placed under the cannon of the camp 
 of Buff'arik — secretly sent envoys to the Emir, and paid the tribute 
 
288 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 claimed. Such was the influence of Abd-el-Kader, even over the 
 tribes allied with France. 
 
 In consequence of such proceedings, General Damremont con- 
 centrated six thousand men at Buffarik in order to occupy Belida, 
 and to frighten the tribes of the Metija into complete submission. 
 On the 28th of April, he made a reconnoitre in the mountains, 
 and tried to pacify the Ilajutes and Beni-Salah by negotiations; 
 but he found them ready for resistance. The Governor had sent 
 Captain Pellissier with a dragoman to them. But the French 
 envoys were received with bullets and narrowly escaped with 
 life. Next day Damremont marched against Belida ; and two 
 brigades having surrounded the city, defence became impossible : 
 he entered it with his staff, but the inhabitants had fled. On 
 the mountains, the Beni-Salah made some resistance : they were, 
 however, hunted from peak to peak by the Zuaves, and their 
 encampments were burned down. The plan of occupying Belida 
 permanently was given up by Damremont, on the report of the 
 engineers' corps that it would be impossible to fortify the place 
 without destroying the beautiful orange- groves around the city. 
 
 A few weeks later, another Kabyle tribe made an incursion into 
 the east of the Metija. The Amrauahs attacked Reghaia, the 
 pretty farm of M. Mercier, the most important European planta- 
 tion in the vicinity of Algiers. The cattle of the colonist was 
 driven off: some of his servants were slain. The Governor im- 
 mediately despatched Colonel Schauenburg with the mounted 
 rifles and Spahis, and some infantry, against the Beni-Isser, 
 though they had not themselves taken part in the attack, but had 
 permitted the horsemen of the Amrauahs to pass through their 
 territory. The guilty tribe was too far off to be chastised ; revenge 
 was therefore to be taken on the more proximate people of the 
 Isser for conniving with the trespassers. Whilst Colonel Schauen- 
 burg advanced eastwards, and chased before him the frightened 
 Arabs in the direction of the river Isser, General Perregeaux was 
 ordered to land on the mouth of the river with two battalions to 
 cut off the retreat of the flying tribe. But a sudden storm pre- 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 289 
 
 vented the landing, and Colonel Schauenburg's column remained 
 alone in the struggle. lie had advanced too far. Ben-Zamun 
 and the Kabyles of the Jurjura mountain had come to the aid of 
 the Beni-Isser, and the Amrauah horsemen had likewise arrived. 
 They defeated the Aribes, the auxiliaries of the French ; and the 
 colonel had to retreat, after a brilliant fight, in which many of the 
 Arabs were killed. It became now necessary to enforce respect 
 on the mountaineers ; trenches were therefore raised on the left 
 bank of the river Buduau, and a garrison left in the camp. The 
 Kabyles, thus exposed to a sudden French irruption, were deter- 
 mined to expel their enemy from that aggressive position. On the 
 25th of May, five thousand mountaineers made an attack on the 
 French camp, which was defended only by one thousand men and 
 two field-pieces. The fight was obstinate and murderous ; the 
 Arab village of Buduau was first taken by the Kabyles, and 
 stormed again by the French. The enemy left the scene of battle, 
 only in the dusk carrying away their dead ; but above one 
 hundred corpses remained on the field, as the Kabyles were un- 
 able to carry them all off. The French took now to the offensive : 
 they marched into the territory of the Isser : the tribe made its 
 submission, and promised to make good the loss of M. Mercier. 
 But the colonist never saw this indemnification : he got some lean 
 bulls in place of his hundreds of fattened cows and sheep, and it 
 was reported that even those were not furnished by the Isser, but 
 had been bought by the secret service-money. General Damre- 
 mont lacked the energy of remaining consistent in the course he 
 had taken. 
 
 General Bugeaud had, in the meantime, taken the command of 
 nine thousand men in the province of Oran, in order to fight 
 Abd-el-Kader, and to induce him to pacification by the display of 
 an imposing army. The principal aim of the French was to 
 avenge the failure at Constantine ; it became, therefore, impor- 
 tant to get rid of the Emir as soon as possible, in order to have 
 all the forces at their disposal against Ahmet-Bey. On the 15th 
 of May, the army, carrying provisions for forty days, marched to 
 
290 THE ADMINISTKATION OF GENERAL DAMRE5I0NT, 
 
 Tlemsan, left the necessary powder to the blockaded garrison, and 
 proceeded towards the Tafna. The hostile army was not visible ; 
 a few horsemen exchanged shots with the Arab auxiliaries of the 
 French, — the Duairs and Zmelas, who were commanded by the 
 venerable Mustapha-ben-Ismael, that bitter enemy of Abd-el- 
 Kader. He Tiad no more ardent desire than to engage the Emir, 
 who remained with his troops at a certain distance, in order not to 
 prevent negotiations by premature hostilities. Diplomatic trans- 
 actions had been initiated already by Marshal Clauzel, but had not 
 led to any result, the pretensions being, on both sides, overstrained. 
 Bugeaud resumed negotiations once more, and made use of the 
 services of the Jew Ben-Durand, the confidential man of the 
 Emir, who knew how to ingratiate himself with the French 
 generals. But as all the messages to and fro did not advance the 
 agreement, Bugeaud, suspicious of the greedy Jew, selected 
 another negotiator in the person of the Moor, Sidi-Hamadi-ben- 
 Seal. The difficulties were, — first, the supremacy over the pro- 
 vince of Titteri, claimed by Abd-el-Kader, whilst the French 
 Government had designated the Shelif as his boundary on the 
 east. General Bugeaud, accustomed to act independently, con- 
 ceded this first pretension to the Emir. The instructions of 
 the minister-at-war to Bugeaud insisted principally upon Abd-el- 
 Kader's paying a yearly tribute to the French ; but the Emir 
 resisted this demand, and Bugeaud took again on himself to yield 
 to Abd-el-Kader, and to depart from his instructions. The 
 French General was forced to settle the affairs in the most speedy 
 way, as the opportunity for military operations had passed during 
 the negotiations : his provisions sufficed only for a few days. The 
 badly made saddles wounded the backs of the mules which carried 
 the baggage, and which consequently became useless, and the 
 army was in a critical state before it had begun to act. 
 
 At last, on the 30th of May, a treaty was signed by the belli- 
 gerent parties, and a final interview arranged for the next day 
 between the General and the Emir. The principal parts of the 
 treaty were the following : The Emir Abd-el-Kader acknowledges 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 291 
 
 the sovereignty of France in A frica. France retains the posses- 
 sion of Oran, Arzew, Masagran, Mostagenem, and Algiers; of 
 the Sahel, and the plain of Metija from the right bank of the 
 Chiffa to the Wad-el-Kadderah, and the territory beyond that 
 river; moreover, the cities of Beli da and Coleah. The Emir has 
 the administration of the provinces of Oran and Titteri, and of 
 the parts of Algeria not included in the above-mentioned boun- 
 daries ; but he is not allowed to enter any other portion of the 
 Regency. The Emir furnishes to the French army thirty 
 thousand bags of wheat, as many bags of barley, and one 
 thousand bulls ; but the city and citadel of Tlemsan, together 
 with its cannon, will be delivered to him ; and he is allowed to 
 buy arms, powder, and brimstone, in France. A secret article 
 stipulated thirty thousand boojoos to General Bugeaud. This 
 treaty, so favourable to the Emir, was sent to France for ratifica- 
 tion, of course without the secret article; and, to the astonishment 
 of everybody, it was ratified, whilst General Damremont was 
 not even asked about his views. Public opinion has long ago 
 branded this treaty, and General Bugeaud has avowed his regret 
 for having concluded it. 
 
 On the 1st of June, the interview took place between Bugeaud 
 and Abd-el-Kader. It was one of the most interesting episodes of 
 the African war, as it was here that the veteran of the wars of 
 the empire, the courtier of Louis Philippe, the statesman trained 
 in the debates of the Chamber, was overreached in diplomacy by 
 the young Arab prince whom the General had defeated on the 
 Sikak. Captain Amedee Muralt, of Bern, who had accompanied 
 Bugeaud, and was present at that famous interview, gave me the 
 following narrative of the event: — 
 
 " General Bugeaud started at six o'clock in the morning with 
 his staff from the camp on the Tafna, and proceeded to the place 
 where the interview was to take place. He was accompanied by 
 six battalions of infantry, his cavalry, and artillery. He wished 
 to receive the Emir with all military honours, to have the music 
 sounded, and the salute fired from all the guns. Therefore, as 
 
292 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 soon as they arrived at the place of meeting — a wild spot, with 
 scanty Mastich-bushes and dwarf-palms — he placed the troops in 
 a most imposing array. It was evidentl}'' his intention to im- 
 press the imagination of the Arab prince and his followers with 
 the powerful forces of the French, by the greatest amount of 
 military display. Several hours passed in impatient expectation, 
 but no trace of the Emir was to be seen. At last an Arab chief- 
 tain appeared, the minister of Abd-el-Kader, as it was said, 
 bringing a letter of his ' Sultan' to General Bugeaud. The 
 General opened it: we crowded with curiosity around him. As 
 soon as Bugeaud was apprized of the contents by his dragoman, 
 the Syrian Ranasha, his features darkened, and turning to the 
 interpreter, he said, ' Tell the minister that I am tired of his 
 subterfuges : I have only half of my army with me, yet I invite 
 his master to come, and to fight us in battle.' Ramsha and the 
 chieftain galloped speedily away to carry the defying answer to 
 the Emir. Abd-el-Kader had, in his letter, inquired about the 
 prices of the arms and ammunition promised to him. He and 
 the chieftain openly laid the greatest stress on that clause of the 
 treaty. This circumstance alone should have opened the eyes of 
 the French General about the plans and intentions of the Emir. 
 An enemy who claims arms and powder in a treaty of peace, 
 shows surely that he is not in earnest in his protestations of 
 good will, and that he is preparing already for a breach of the 
 treaty. Bugeaud was too intelligent not to surmise the conse- 
 quences of the agreement, but he knew he had engaged himself 
 too deeply ; the advantageous season for military operations had 
 passed, and his provisions were scanty. He feared to compro- 
 mise himself, and dreaded the just attacks of a hostile press in 
 case he should return to Oran without having either fought or 
 made peace, or attained any result by an expedition so pompously 
 announced. To spare himself a personal vexation he sacrificed 
 all higher considerations. 
 
 " Time passed, the sun began to set, and yet no vestige of Abd- 
 el-Kader I Our dragoman likewise failed to return. Bugeaud 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 293 
 
 could not conceal his mortification; the officers grumbled, and I 
 heard one say: ' Abd-el-Kader will not appear at all, and our 
 General receives a good slap.' Biting remarks were made, and 
 the General, in order not to hear them, and not to see the discon- 
 tent expressed in all faces, lay down on the grass and tried to 
 sleep. Arab messengers came now with laconic words. One 
 said the ' Sultan' had been unwell, and had started late from his 
 camp ; the other assured us that he was coming ; the third, that 
 he was near, but had been detained. Bugeaud received them 
 rudely, had the fronts of his battalions and his cannon shown to 
 them, and sent them back. 
 
 " Amongst those present, the most distinguished, not by rank, 
 but both by talent and character, was Colonel Combes, a man of 
 the highest principles, enthusiastic for the glory of his country, 
 but mild, simple, yet imposing in his demeanour. The Colonel 
 was republican, and therefore in political opposition to the 
 General; but Bugeaud had great confidence in him: they had 
 been personal friends, though they seldom agreed in their views. 
 I saw both in eager conversation: Combes called upon Bugeaud 
 not to waste precious time in futile negotiations ; should the pro- 
 visions not suffice for the campaign of forty days which had been 
 planned, still an expedition of eight days might not be too much, 
 and would keep the enemy in check. The Colonel spoke with 
 warmth, and deplored the millions wasted here by France: every 
 sensible man could not but approve his views. Bugeaud gave 
 vent to his anger and mortification by violent exclamations : 
 ' What is to become of us ! In a few days we have been reduced 
 to an inability of making war ! My orders have not been 
 executed. I would be the first to fight ; I am as brave as you ; 
 but we cannot do it! If the Emir retires and does not come at 
 all, what shall we do then? Oh, this warfare is difficult!' 
 These w^ere the words of Bugeaud: his vacillation was evident. 
 Had Combes been the commander, the events would have taken 
 a different turn. 
 
 " x4t last our dragoman arrived at full speed. Abd-el-Kader 
 
294 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 started with his army just when he left him ; he was to appear in 
 a few minutes. Bugeaud was now again in high spirits. Ramsha, 
 tired to death, sat down on a stone and wrote a few lines, an 
 additional article to the treaty, dictated to him by the General.* 
 But time passed on again, and the Emir was not yet to be seen. 
 In the distance, we saw Arab cavalry occupying the heights. It 
 was five in the evening. The General, who wished to lead his 
 troops back to the camp before night, determined at last him- 
 self to seek the Emir. Accompanied by some officers, five 
 mounted rifles, and a few Spahis, he rode off at a gallop. I fol- 
 lowed them with my friend Captain Stiirler: we were altogether 
 about twenty. The reason of Abd-el-Kader's tarrying was, of 
 course, not distrust, but calculations of pride. Before the front 
 of the hostile army he could not maintain his dignity of Sultan, 
 and had to stand on terms of equality with the French General. 
 But he knew the character of the French, and reckoned upon the 
 impatience of his adversary to give him a triumph over the 
 General, and heighten the respect of the Arabs for their 
 ' Sultan.'f 
 
 " After a ride of nearly an hour on a rough path, we thought we 
 saw Abd-el-Kader and his horsemen on the slope of a hill. It 
 was a delusion: a few Arabs were there waving their white 
 handkerchiefs. At last Buhamedi appeared, the chief of the 
 Kabyles on the Tafna, and assured the General that the Emir 
 was approaching. Some Arab horsemen wheeled their horses on 
 our flanks and in our rear; the retinue began to feel uneasy, and 
 voices were heard — ' General, we expose ourselves too much : let 
 us halt.' Bugeaud immediately answered, — 'Gentlemen, it is 
 too late.' He was right; prudence would have been too late: 
 we were already surrounded by several groups of horsemen, but 
 their demonstrations had nothing hostile. Buhamedi had re- 
 
 * Probably that of the 30,000 boojoos (about £2400). When the secret 
 article became known, Bugeaud made a present of the sum to his electoral dis- 
 trict in France for making vicinal roads. 
 
 t " Abd-el-Kader said to the chiefs around him : ' I wait for the homage of the 
 Sultan of France.' " 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 295 
 
 marked the uneasiness of some officers, and said, ' Be tranquil, 
 do not fear.' ' I do not know fear,' retorted the General, ' I 
 am accustomed to fight; but I find it very rude of thy chief to 
 let me wait, and not to hasten to meet me.' ' There he is," said 
 the Kabyle; 'you shall see him immediately.' The way bent 
 here round a hill, and we saw the Emir suddenly before us. Abd- 
 el-Kader was seated on a black steed ; at his side, his Negro brass 
 band; around him, the principal chiefs in rich costume on the 
 noblest horses ; and behind him, his army, horsemen and infantr^^, 
 encamped on the slopes of the mountain in a most picturesque way. 
 " When Bugeaud perceived the Emir, he took a few paces in 
 advance to meet him, and invited him, with courteous gesture, to 
 do the same. Abd-el-Kader did not pay any attention to him, 
 but gave the spurs to his steed and displayed his horsemanship. 
 The fiery horse made leaps four and five feet high, and again 
 pranced for several minutes, leaning back on its hind-quarters, 
 while its long mane touched the soil, and its snorting was audible. 
 The hundred and fifty or two hundred chieftains behind him, all 
 of them of imposing features, some with jet-black, others with silver- 
 gray beards, began likewise to move, and made their horses 
 prance. Seeing that the Emir did not approach at all, the 
 General galloped towards him, and, cavalier-like, offered him his 
 hand. The Arab prince received him proudly, in an almost 
 offensive way; we looked at one another, and became rather 
 uneasy, suspecting treachery. Bugeaud vaulted from his horse, 
 Abd-el-Kader followed him, and stretched himself immediately on 
 the grass without inviting the General to do the same. x4.s to 
 the retinue, the Emir did not vouchsafe us a glance; he seemed 
 to despise us altogether like dogs. Bugeaud now seated himself 
 unceremoniously at the side of the Emir; close to him Eamsha, 
 the dragoman. Near Abd-el-Kader sat Milud-ben-Arash, his 
 x\gha and confidant; the chieftains, Marabuts, and Sheikhs, re- 
 mained on their horses, and formed a large crescent behind the 
 group; two of them rode close before us and took position 
 between us and their master, evidently with the intention of pro- 
 
29G THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 tecting their Sultan in case any of us might risk his life in order 
 to murder the dangerous enemy. 
 
 " Abd-el-Kader is of small and delicate frame. His forehead is 
 well developed, his mouth rather large, his eye soft. The ex- 
 pression of his features shows devotion and piety, but not without 
 affectation. That day he was clad in the most common garb, a 
 brown burnus, woven of camel's hair. We did not know whom 
 most to admire in this interesting group, the Emir or his chief- 
 tains, with their majestic deportment and rich flowing attire, 
 the interest being yet heightened by the Arab anny of eight 
 thousand horsemen; indeed as many infantry covered all the 
 hills around. Deep silence prevailed, and the conversation 
 began. Ramsha read the treaty. 
 
 " The first article of the treaty was the recognition of the sove- 
 reignty of the King of the French in Africa. 'How so?' ex- 
 claimed the Emir ; ' shall all the Princes of Africa, Morocco, and 
 Tunis, likewise acknowledge him ? ' ' What does this concern 
 you?' answered Bugeaud. Abd-el-Kader remained silent, and 
 the reading of the articles was continued. Bugeaud claimed 
 hostages as a guarantee of the treaty. ' In that case,' said the 
 Emir, ' I have likewise to claim hostages. The faith and the 
 customs of the Arab should suffice you. Every treaty is sacred 
 to me ; I never forfeited my pledge ; the French G enerals cannot 
 boast of the same good faith.' He repeated this once more with 
 emphasis. ' I trust your word,' replied the General, ' and 
 pledge myself for your faith to the King of the French : I offer 
 you my friendship.' 
 
 " ' I accept your friendship; but let the French beware not to 
 lend their ear to intriguers,' was the answer of the Emir. 
 
 " * The French are not accustomed to be led by any one. Iso- 
 lated outrages will not be regarded as a breach of the treaty; but 
 such will be the case if the conditions of the treaty are not strictly 
 held, or if hostilities of importance should be committed. As to 
 isolated crimes, we shall denounce them to one another, and 
 mutually punish the guilty. ' 
 
■ AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 297 
 
 " ' Well,' said the Emir, ' the guilty shall not escape punish- 
 ment.' 
 
 " ' I recommend to you the Kuruglis of Tlemsan for good treat- 
 ment.' 
 
 " ' Be satisfied ; I will treat them like all the Hadars,' (towns- 
 folk.) 
 
 " Abd-el-Kader inquired now about the prices of arms and 
 ammunition. General Bugeaud grew impatient, and said, turn- 
 ing to the interpreter, — ' Mais que diahle ! Tell him we are not 
 children : he shall have them at army-prices.' Abd-el-Kader 
 seemed to be satisfied. 
 
 " After a short pause, Bugeaud asked, ' Have you ordered the 
 commercial intercourse with our cities to be restored ?' 
 
 '" No ; this will only happen when thou shalt deliver up 
 Tlemsan.' 
 
 " ' You are aware that I cannot deliver up Tlemsan before my 
 king has ratified the treaty.' 
 
 " ' Then you have no power to treat?' 
 
 " ' I am authorized to do it, but the treaty must be ratified. It 
 is required for your own sake, since, if sigried only by me, my 
 successor might discard it ; but, when ratified by my king, my 
 successor is likewise bound to keep it.' 
 
 u I jf Tlemsan is not delivered to me, I have no inducement for 
 any agreement. It will not be peace ; only a truce.' 
 
 " ' No doubt it may be only a truce, but always only for your 
 advantage. Do you not dread my artillery ? "What if I destroy 
 and burn down your crops now before harvest?' 
 
 " ' My artillery,' answered the Emir, ' is the sun, which will 
 destroy your army. Burn down our crops if you please: we 
 shall find wheat elsewhere. Our country is great, and your 
 columns cannot follow us : the heat and diseases will overpower 
 you. Wherever you appear, we retreat, and you will soon be 
 short of provisions. We rovers find food anywhere : we shall 
 not fall into your hands.' 
 
 " * I do not think all the Arabs think as you do,' said the 
 
298 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 General. ' They long for peace, and many have thanked me for 
 having spared their fields.' 
 
 " Abd-el-Kader laughed contemptuously, and asked what time 
 it required till the ratification might arrive. 
 
 " ' Three weeks,' said the General. 
 
 " ' It is a long time.' 
 
 " ' You do not lose by it ; it is the time of harvest,' replied the 
 General. 
 
 " Ben-Arash approached, and said to Bugeaud, 'Three weeks is 
 too long : we can only wait for ten days or a fortnight.' 
 
 " ' Can you command the sea?' exclaimed the General. 
 
 " ' Well, we shall not renew the commercial intercourse until 
 the ratification of thy king has arrived,' was the answer. 
 
 " Ramsha told me likewise that Bugeaud said to the Emir, 
 ' Should you take me prisoner, or kill me, it would be of no avail ; 
 there are, besides me, thousands of generals in France.' 
 
 " After the conversation had lasted three quarters of an hour, 
 Bugeaud rose, whilst the Emir, without heeding him, remained 
 stretched on the grass. The Genera^ was startled, and gazed at 
 him, crossing his arms ; then he caught his hand, and raised him 
 with a sudden jerk. The Emir smiled graciously, as if thanking 
 him for a civility. The French public, reading the account of 
 those proceedings, believed the General had done a bold deed. 
 But the Arabs looked at it from the contrary point of view; They 
 saw only a humiliation of the French General, the act of a ser- 
 vant, like that when Emperor Barbarossa held the stirrups of 
 the Pope. It was half-past six when the conversation came to a 
 close : the sun was hidden behind clouds. Abd-el-Kader, with- 
 out looking back, vaulted on his horse, and galloped at full 
 speed up the hill ; his hundred and fifty chieftains followed him. 
 The army, which until now had remained motionless, uttered a 
 long protracted yell, which began at the foot of the mountains, and 
 rolled upwards like the surge of the tide. A sudden clap of thunder, 
 re-echoed by the mountains, heightened the sublimity of the effect. 
 
 " Bugeaud approached us with the words, ' What a haughty 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 299 
 
 man ! yet I have forced him to rise.' He might have felt that 
 the Arabs did not deem his behaviour very heroic. 
 
 " We were seriously affected by all we had seen, and almost 
 thought we had been dreaming. General Bugeaud remained 
 likewise silent and thoughtful. Arrived at the camp, the officers, 
 anxious to know what had been going on, crowded round us, 
 envying our good luck to have been present at the interview. 
 But the old Mustapha-Ben-Ismael sat with darkened glance on 
 the ground : his venerable head sank to his chest : he looked 
 like a dying patriarch. Hearing that all had been settled, and 
 that no fighting was to go on against Abd-el-Kader, he said with 
 bitterness, ' Now I have nothing more to do than to go to Mecca 
 and do penance in the Kaaba for having trusted the French.' " 
 
 General Damremont was apprized of the treaty at the Tafna, 
 just when he had proceeded with a column against the Hajutes. 
 He immediately retreated, and all hostilities were suspended. 
 The French could now turn their forces against the Bey of Con- 
 stantine. Colonel Duvivier had formed a strong place of arms 
 out of the ruins of Ghelma (Calama), since he had been left there 
 by Marshal Clauzel with one battalion, after the failure of the 
 first expedition. He likewise succeeded in gaining the affection 
 of the surrounding tribes for the French. He had employed his 
 soldiers in building a road towards Constantine, and prepared 
 everything for the new expedition. In August, General Damre- 
 mont went himself to Ghelma, and from thence with five thousand 
 men to Mejez-Ammar, where a new camp was formed. Here 
 the governor waited for the result of the negotiations, which were 
 begun by the Jew Busnac, and afterwards continued by the Moor 
 Ben-Kherim. But these remained without result, and the French 
 army had once more to march against the old capital of Numidia. 
 
 On the 26th of September 1837, 1 arrived with Captain Muralt, 
 and the members of the Scientific Commission, at Mejez-Ammar. 
 This new camp was at a distance of twenty-seven leagues from 
 Bona, and had got its name from the Arab denomination of the 
 
300 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 luxuriant forest-valley, bisected by the river Seybuss. The 
 mountain scenery is here somewhat monotonous; but handsome 
 groups of tamarisks, corkoaks, cypresses, mastich-trees, and dwarf- 
 palms, adorn the slopes and the banks of the lonely waters. The 
 vegetation has strange and odd forms, consisting mostly of ever- 
 greens, w'hich do not move in the wind, and give the country a 
 peculiarly melancholy aspect. The valley forms a gigantic caul- 
 dron, and is surrounded by the chain of the Atlas, rising to a 
 considerable height, especially in the west and south-west, where 
 the Ras-el-Akbah presents its conical bald front of rocks. The 
 valley is about two hours' travel in circumference, and nearly 
 half of its extent was occupied by the French camp. 
 
 Whoever had known the country of Mejez-Ammar would not 
 have recognised it after the French army had stayed there for six 
 weeks. The bush- wilderness was partially cleared, and its centre 
 occupied by wooden barracks, white tents, and green buildings 
 made of the branches of trees. They looked uncommonly elegant. 
 The roofs, the walls, and columns, were all put together of pis- 
 tachio-wood, not stripped of the foliage, which, though long cut 
 down, had remained fresh and green. Several of these light 
 houses were united with others by a series of green bowers, used 
 as the mess-rooms of the officers. I had here the opportunity of ad- 
 miring the skill and industry of the French soldiers. To adorn 
 these buildings, they had no other time to devote but their hours 
 of leisure, of which they had but few, since it was their task to 
 make the high-road to the Ras-el-Akbah, to dig trenches round 
 the camp, to raise fortifications on the mountains, and all this 
 under the rays of an African sun in September, whilst continually 
 worried by a lurking enemy. Yet the wilderness of Mejez-Ammar 
 looked like a French park, studded with garden-houses, alleys, 
 and bowers. 
 
 The Duke of Nemours arrived a few hours after us, and re- 
 viewed the army ; nine thousand men defiled before him, troops 
 of every denomination. The regiments lately arrived were in 
 marked contrast with those acclimated; they looked fresh and 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 301 
 
 youthful, whilst the soldiers of the 47th and 63d regiments of the 
 line, and of the 17th and 2d light infantry, who had already tried 
 the harassing service of Africa, were all thin and sunburnt, nearly 
 resembling Kabyles. But the main strength of the army con- 
 sisted in those acclimated regiments : it required an iron consti- 
 tution to endure for five or six years the heat, the fevers, and the 
 vermin-torture of Africa. 
 
 When the French infantry had passed with trumpet- sound 
 before the Prince and his retinue, the African corps followed, 
 which are not relieved like the regiments of the line. First came 
 the Zuaves, one of the most gallant corps, invaluable in mountain 
 warfare. They are foot- soldiers, wearing uniforms of the old 
 Turkish cut, broad red trousers descending to the knee, leather 
 gaiters, waist-coats and jackets of dark blue cloth, adorned with 
 red lace, and no collar. They shave their head and cover it with 
 a turban. Two thirds of the Zuaves are French volunteers, one 
 third natives, Kabyles, Arabs, Turks, Moors, and Negroes. The 
 natives form companies of their own ; they wear a green turban, 
 whilst that of the French is red. As skirmishers they are unsur- 
 passed. Of late years they had taken part in all the important 
 expeditions ; they always made the best booty where there was 
 room for ply.nder, but they likewise received everywhere the first 
 bullets. 
 
 The so-called " Bataillons d'Afrique," are formed of those sol- 
 diers who have been sentenced in France to imprisonment. The 
 French military prisons are disgorged to Africa, and the French 
 regiments purified in this way from bad characters. The service 
 of these soldiers was nearly as valuable as that of the Zuaves. 
 They are dissolute fellows in garrison, but full of daring courage 
 and contempt of death. The Generals Clauzel and Duvivier, who 
 knew how to carry on war in Africa, employed the " African 
 battalions" in preference to others whenever a bold stroke was to 
 be made. 
 
 The "Tirailleurs d'Afrique" were a new corps, which was now 
 for the first time in the field. The " Foreign Legion" was like- 
 
302 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 wise reorganized, mostly out of the remains of the former legion, 
 which had gone to Spain, and had been disbanded after the 
 war. But many were deserters and adventurers of the worst cha- 
 racter. Some of them went to the hospitals feigning ill health, 
 only to escape the perils of the campaign. The mounted African 
 Rifles, in their Polish costume, with the short, wide, light-blue 
 cloak, and broad red trousers, are very fine troops. They carry 
 rifles and sabres, and ride on Arab horses. The review closed 
 with the mounted Spahis and Arab auxiliaries, in the com- 
 mon attire of the country, with a red flag and the crescent: 
 their officers, nearly all Frenchmen, wear the old Turkish cos- 
 tume. 
 
 The Commander-in-Chief, Count Denys de Damremont, was a 
 robust man above fifty. His features were somewhat vulgar, 
 without any marked expression; his deportment heavy, his de- 
 meanour calm and cold. But his conversation was agreeable, 
 courteous, and never passionate. People thought highly of his 
 jnivate character, of his military experience, cool courage, and 
 sound views, but not so highly of his military talents. 
 
 The Duke of Nemours was, until the starting of the array, 
 treated as Prince, and all honours due to his rank were paid to 
 him. But on the 1st of October, he entered on service as 
 General of Brigade, and had only three aides-de-camp in his 
 retinue. He is a handsome man, slender and delicate, with fair 
 hair, blue eyes, and an aquiline nose. His features are noble, 
 his deportment princely. I saw him always calm, thoughtful, 
 and reserved. 
 
 General Perregaux, the chief of the staff, and intimate friend 
 of Damremont, was between forty and fifty. Then, with a bushy 
 moustache and goat-beard, fiery black eyes, he had a merry, 
 expressive, noble countenance. He was the leading spirit of the 
 army : the plan of operations was nearly exclusively his work ; 
 and, besides, he was burdened with the military administration : 
 he had to watch and to care, and was responsible for everything. 
 Whilst in the camp of Mejez-Ammar, he had no rest for a single 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 303 
 
 night: his aide-de-camp assured me that in one week he had 
 grown gray. 
 
 The corps destined for the expedition against Constantine 
 formed an army of 16,000 men, hut 4000 of them lay sick in 
 the hospitals. The cholera had hroken out in one of the regi- 
 ments newly arrived from Marseilles; it had to he put under 
 quarantine, and could not take part in the campaign. The occu- 
 pying of the principal camps intermediate to Bona and Mejez- 
 Ammar absorbed again a considerable number of troops, so as to 
 leave for the expedition little more than 8000 men. Though the 
 12th regiment had been removed, yet there were always cases of 
 cholera in the other corps, and two months later it broke out 
 with dreadful vehemence. The diseases of the army were, at 
 the beginning of the campaign, fever and diarrhoea. The wooden 
 barracks of the camp of Mejez-Ammar, Ghelma, Hammam-Berda, 
 and Drean, were scarcely spacious enough to accommodate the 
 patients. The provision-waggons had to take them daily as back- 
 freight to Bona, and even here the hospitals were soon over- 
 crowded ; the poor men had to be conveyed by steamers to Algiers 
 and to France. I found some of the officers of my acquaintance, 
 who had left Bona full of health, broken by sufferings in the 
 camp. Pale and languid, they heard from the hospital the war- 
 like noise summoning us to start. When the drums were beaten 
 and the cannon roared, their dim eyes glistened with powerless 
 enthusiasm. For a year they had longed for that campaign : 
 they had willingly endured the tediousness and toil of camp life, 
 and hoped for a remuneration in the excitement at the breach of 
 Constantine. Now they were laid upon a sick-bed with broken 
 strength, and gazed with despair on our departure. I felt pe- 
 culiar commiseration for Lieutenant Damas, a young engineer 
 officer. He was a noble heroic youth, amiable, as the French 
 generally are, and fond of his service even more than is usual 
 with the French. On the day of the departure of the army, he 
 left his sick-bed, dressed himself in full regimentals, girded on 
 his sabre, and came out of his tent, gazing on the defiling regi- 
 
304 THE ADMINISTRATION OP GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 raents, who marched onward with French light-heartedness, with- 
 out any gloomy thought, to a bloody expedition. When he saw 
 his own corps passing along, he grew yet paler than before, 
 looked with melancholy sympathy on his soldiers, and silently 
 shook hands with the officers. " Adieu, Damas, we shall meet 
 again at Constantine," said they to comfort him; and Damas 
 nodded sadly. But they, as well as he, were mistaken. The 
 company to which Damas belonged formed the forlorn-hope of 
 the storm, and nearly all the officers were killed by the explosion 
 of a mine, whilst poor Damas died broken-hearted when he saw 
 his flag disappear on the height of the Ras-el- Akbah. 
 
 The camp-scenes of Mejez-Ammar had considerable interest for 
 me, though I had been an eye-witness of African camp-life for 
 nearly a twelvemonth. But here the army was more numerous 
 than in the camps round Algiers ; a caravan of publicans and 
 pedlars followed the troops, and they had built a little village of 
 coffee-houses, gin-shops, and stalls, at Mejez-Ammar, which were 
 always filled with drinking, gambling, and idling officers and 
 soldiers. I never saw one of them resting long in the same 
 place : there is a peculiar restlessness in the French soldier : it 
 would be a torture for him to sit for one hour over a bottle of 
 wine, at the same table, and in the same company. In the 
 coffee-houses there is a continual in-and-out flowing of guests ; in 
 the open air the fires are kindled and the pans are bubbling. 
 Some of the soldiers look for craw-fish in the brooks, or seek 
 for tortoises in the meadows ; others shoot partridges or boars ; 
 others, again, look out for cactus-figs, or dig for the roots of the 
 dwarf-palm, whilst their comrades prepare the dainties for supper, 
 always chatting and singing and moving about. 
 
 Ahmed Bey had been encamped with his army on the heights 
 of the Ras-el- Akbah up to the 28th September. Three days 
 before our arrival, he had made a desperate attack on the out- 
 posts of the camp. It was principally the Kabyles who had 
 resolutely undertaken the storm. The reason of this attack was 
 the scantiness of provisions in the camp of the Bey, His prin- 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 305 
 
 cipal force was Kabyles, chiefly the fanatical tribes south of Bujia. 
 They had arrived in the beginning of August, since Ahmet had 
 then expected the French army, whose delays were to him 
 inexplicable, as the rainy season approached, which makes the 
 transport of heavy artillery almost impossible on the road to Con- 
 ♦ stantine. The Kabyles, much as they longed for a fight with 
 the infidels, were not less anxious to get back to their homes. 
 Like all mountaineers, they are uncommonly fond of their birth- 
 place, of their wives and children, of their huts and fields ; even 
 their gloomy fanaticism is not sufficient to reconcile them to a 
 long separation. When, therefore, nearly two months had passed, 
 and the French still remained immoveable in their camp, the 
 home-sick Kabyles urged the Bey to lead them against the infi- 
 dels ; they wished to give an evidence of their zeal for their faith 
 before they departed. Accordingly, on the 2d, the French out- 
 posts were surprised at daybreak by some three or four thousand 
 barbarians, yelling furiously. The attack was so sudden and so re- 
 solute, that had the Kabyles not betrayed themselves by their 
 yells, many soldiers, who were occupied in the vicinity of the 
 camp in felling trees, or catching tortoises, would have been in the 
 greatest danger. The signals on the mountains spread the alarm 
 through the camp just in time, and the fast approaching enemy 
 was received by a rolling musket-fire. Upon our arrival after- 
 wards, my friends painted this spectacle to us in such glowing 
 colours, that we were very sorry not to have witnessed this inter- 
 esting episode. On the western mountains especially, the combat 
 looked most picturesque : a small fortified post had served here 
 as a look-out, and the Kabyles believed they could easily carry 
 them. The trench was closely surrounded by the enemy, first 
 attacking boldly, but soon seeking a shelter in the thicket against 
 the bullets which poured on them, both from the camp under- 
 neath and from the trenches above. But they returned the fire, 
 which flashed up from every bush, even where the Kabyles could 
 not be seen. After a hard struggle of three hours, the moun- 
 taineers saw how useless their attack was, and withdrew, carrying 
 
306 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 ofif the corpses of their fallen comrades on their shoulders. Yet a few 
 days later, when we accompanied the Prince of Nemours to an ex- 
 cursion to Hammam-Meskhutin, we saw several corpses still lying 
 amongst the precipices. The French army made no sally, because 
 General Damremont knew that from three to four thousand of 
 Ahmet's regulars were supporting the Kabyles, and he wished to 
 avoid any serious engagement before the beginning of the opera- 
 tions. He had well judged the character of the Kabyles; the 
 majority of them grew tired, and returned to their mountain homes. 
 The Bey himself gave up his position on the Ras-el-Akbah on the 
 28th of September, and returned to Constantine. 
 
 On the 29th, I dined with Colonel Lamoriciere, the celebrated 
 commander of the Zuaves. The tent of this officer stood on the 
 right bank of the river Seybuss, at the most advanced out-posts. 
 No trenches defended it, and as a surprise by the enemy would 
 have been easy from that side, a third of the Zuave regiment 
 lay always here in ambuscade. The Arabs knew it, and did not 
 appear. Colonel Lamoriciere relied on his soldiers, and slept 
 quietly in his open tent. This officer has such a winning appear- 
 ance, that even a short conversation leaves a lasting impression. 
 He is a native of La Vendee, the son of a country gentleman in 
 the vicinity of Nantes. His early inclination for military service 
 made him one of the most distinguished students of the Polytechnic 
 School, when he was sent as Lieutenant of the Engineers to the 
 African army. His talents, his energetic character, and his remark- 
 able eloquence, made him so conspicuous, that he was soon trans- 
 ferred from his learned special service — where the opportunity for 
 distinction is rare, and the advancement slow — to the infantry. 
 Here he rapidly rose from rank to rank. He studied African 
 warfare with great success, and was just as clever in devising 
 a plan of operations as in carrying it out on the battle-field. La- 
 moriciere, being one of the few French officers who had soon 
 learned the Arabic, was appointed Chief of the Bureau Arabe 
 established by General Avizard. He filled this post much to 
 the satisfaction of his superiors, but his restless genius was little 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 307 
 
 satisfied with the regular, irksome, and minute labour in the 
 Bureaus : he longed for feats of arms, and for the bustle of the 
 battle. As soon as he was called to the command of the light 
 infantry corps of the Zuaves, he felt that this was the post fit for 
 him. He always stood on the extreme out- post, and usually com- 
 manded the vanguard in smaller expeditions. Whenever there 
 were operations to be carried on requiring boldness and presence 
 of mind, no better officer could be found than Colonel Lamoriciere. 
 He spent all his time in the training of his corps, and made his 
 Zuaves the best regiment of the French African army. He had 
 the Napoleonic tact of dealing with French soldiers, which cannot 
 be acquired, and which is possessed by very few men. Some- 
 times he seemed to be their confidential fellow- soldier, then again 
 their commanding chief; his friendliness never lowered his 
 dignity, nor did his commanding demeanour hurt anybody. 
 Moreover, he was always just, and ready to attend to the com- 
 plaints of those who thought themselves injured. His soldiers 
 loved him enthusiastically, and there was not one amongst them 
 who, in distress, would not have readily shared his last piece of 
 bread with the commander, or would not have been willing to 
 spill his own blood for him. His noble qualities, a chivalric turn 
 of mind and gallantry, enthusiastic love of his country and its 
 glory, frankness and amiability, earned for him so many friends, 
 that even his rapid preferment over officers of longer service did 
 not rouse jealousy. 
 
 Lamoriciere was then twenty-eight years old. He is short and 
 muscular, with an uncommonly winning countenance. His free 
 and bold forehead is shaded by long, jet-black hair; the expres- 
 sion of his large, dark-piercing eye is bold and good-natured; the 
 nobly formed nose, the black moustaches and imperial, and the 
 handsome cut of his countenance, are those of a hero ; his deport- 
 ment, especially on horseback, is imposing, and inspires the belief 
 that he must be a favourite with fortune. 
 
 We had an agreeable dinner, discussing war and Bedouins. 
 With the prospect of the bivouacs, and marches through mud, 
 
308 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 these last hours of social conversation under the comfortable tent, 
 and the well-dressed table, with a good flask of claret, were 
 doubly precious to us. We remained together till midnight. 
 Lamoriciere was uncommonly talkative, and he speaks so well! 
 His brilliant fancies and witty retorts, his pleasant voice and 
 lively conversation, are really irresistible. He evinced a superi- 
 ority over all his guests, even over my friend Berbrugger, whose 
 volubility is usually unequalled. We spoke much about the im- 
 pending expedition. " Should it rain," said one of the officers, "we 
 shall be unable to transport our battery-train." " It will not rain," 
 replied Lamoriciere, with decision. " But," remarked I, " even 
 if we carry our twenty-four pounders to the spot, the result is yet 
 not so certain, according to all I have heard about the strong posi- 
 tion of Constantine. Should Ahmet surround the weak point of 
 the city on Kudiat-Ati with trenches and ditches, then we shall 
 require more than a week to destroy the works ; and both powder 
 and ammunition may fail before the breach is practicable. It re- 
 mains questionable, therefore, whether the first storm will succeed. 
 You are aware how obstinately the Turks defend themselves 
 behind walls and ditches. Remember St. Jean d'Acre, which 
 is not so strong as Constantine. Do not forget what resistance 
 the Russian armies met with before Ibrail, Varna, and Silistria, 
 where the first attack always failed, and the besiegers had to lie 
 before the walls for long months." " I know the Russo-Turkish 
 war," replied Lamoriciere; "I have studied it with minuteness, 
 and I know likewise the advantages of our army over the Russian 
 troops. Be assured Constantine will fall before the eighth day. 
 There is only one possibility of failure. I will tell you what 
 Ahmet has to do in order to save Constantine. I'll tell it," said 
 he, smiling; " since, after all, you will not communicate it to him. 
 Should he attack our vanguard on the flank, he will be beaten ; 
 but if he throws himself on our rear, and attacks our baggage- 
 train on the first day only with two hundred, on the second with 
 two thousand horsemen, and on the third with all his army, then 
 he might throw us into such confusion, that we should arrive 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 309 
 
 before Constantine without any reasonable hope of success." I 
 made some more objections, when Lamorici^re offered a wager of 
 twenty bottles of Champagne against two, that Constantine would 
 fall in a few days. I accepted, and was mightily glad when in 
 Constantine to have lost. 
 
 Amongst the guests was likewise Captain Levaillant, son of 
 the celebrated African traveller, and himself a remarkable man. 
 Tie had the reputation of being the boldest and bravest shot in 
 the whole army. With his double-barrelled rifle, he ranged 
 through the forests round Algiers, and shot there the first lion 
 which fell by a French bullet. He ventured even among the 
 Hajutes, relying on his acquaintance with the language of the 
 natives, his good rifle, and his unusual bodily strength. Scarcely 
 arrived at Mejez-Ammar, he visited the " accursed springs," 
 quite by himself, while Ahmet's army was encamped in their 
 vicinity. He met some Arabs, but none of them dared to attack 
 him. When the Duke of Nemours visited the same spot, it was 
 thought right to send three regiments to escort him. 
 
 On the next day, a deserter arrived in the French camp. He 
 was clad in the coarse regimentals of Ahmet's regular infantry. 
 According to him, discontentment prevailed amongst the troops of 
 the Bey : they had scanty provisions, and were tired of war : many 
 of the Kabyles had returned to their mountains. This deserter 
 was a Spanish renegade : he had lived for a long time in Morocco, 
 had learned the Arabic, which he spoke like a native, and, after 
 having led a roving life amongst the Bedouin tribes, he had come 
 to Constantine, and enlisted in the army of Ahmet. The French 
 took him for a spy, and watched him closely: he took service 
 amongst the Zuaves, and became one of the foremost amongst 
 those who entered the breach of Constantine. 
 
 The most distinguished of the superior officers whom I met in 
 Mejez-Ammar was Colonel Combes. He was far from being so 
 dazzling as Lamorici^re, but his mildness and serenity were j^et 
 more winning. Ever since 1830, he had remained colonel: he had 
 not been promoted, for he was a republican ; yet this did not em- 
 
310 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 bitter his feelings ; he served monarchical France with equal zeal ; 
 he did not seek the patronage of his chiefs ; and when a manoeuvre 
 or operation succeeded which he had planned or carried, he left the 
 merit and advantages of it, without jealousy, to his superiors. 
 Combes, like many of the French, was an admirer of the deeds and 
 of the organising power of ancient Rome; he had studied all the 
 old works on Numidia, and united the simplicity and heroism of 
 the classic conquerors of the world with all the riches of modern 
 civilization. He loved his soldiers like a father, and was always 
 an equitable judge. I never witnessed a more unanimous and 
 deeper mourning than that of the 47 th regiment, when they accom- 
 panied to its last resting-place the corpse of their commander, who 
 fell in the moment of the capture of Constantino. 
 
 General Trezel was likewise a remarkable man among the 
 superior officers. I had made his personal acquaintance while 
 yet at Bona, and was happy to meet him here once more amidst 
 the noise of the camp-life. Long before I came to Bona, I had 
 heard so much of the General, of his gallantry at Bujia, of his 
 energy against Abd-el-Kader, that I imagined him to be a 
 weather-beaten soldier, of martial deportment, and rather rough 
 manners. I found a person of uncommonly small size, of delicate 
 body, elegant form, with an almost female voice, and a most bene- 
 volent expression of countenance. But in sight of the enemy, 
 Trezel was an iron warrior, and on the battle-day his dwarfish 
 figure and mild voice appeared altogether changed. All who 
 had seen him on the Makta spoke with admiration of his wonder- 
 ful energy, and his uncommon personal bravery on that ill-fated 
 day. Trezel is covered with scars. At Waterloo, he lost one 
 eye; at Bujia, he was shot through the thigh; in the first expe- 
 dition to Constantino, he received a bullet in his neck. Accord- 
 ing to the opinion of the most competent men of the army, 
 General Trezel was unfit for chief command, but excellent when 
 acting under superior orders. 
 
 Not the twentieth part of the natives had arrived who had pro- 
 mised to come for the announced expedition. The twenty or 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 311 
 
 thirty Sheikhs, who had pledged themselves to Colonel Duvivier 
 at Ghelraa to share in the campaign, had all failed to come. 
 The few whom we saw at jNIejez-Ammar were deposed chiefs, 
 who hoped to be reinstalled in their former power, or adventurers 
 who had nothing to lose, and calculated on booty or other advan- 
 tages. Only the Beni-Urshin and the Kharesas had sent auxi- 
 liaries. I met here Ben-Zecri, the late Kaid of the Aribes, who 
 Seemed, at meeting me again, immediately to remember with 
 pleasure the excellent dinner we had together enjoyed with M. 
 Suchet at Rassota. Another refugee was Haji-Soliman of Con- 
 stantine, the brother-in-law of Ahmet-Bey, and formerly his vice- 
 gerent. Though short in stature, he had the most distinguished 
 and most handsome Turkish countenance I ever saw. All the 
 Europeans noticed that he decidedly resembled a lion, and his 
 magnificent gray beard looked really like a mane. Haji-Soliman 
 had formerly such influence in the province that the jealousy 
 of his brother-in-law was roused. Soliman, warned of the dark 
 designs of Ahmet, fled to Tunis, whence he came to Bona, before 
 the first expedition against Constantine. He offered his services, 
 and got the pay of a captain. It was generally believed, Damre- 
 mont had the intention of appointing him Bey of the province after 
 the downfal of Ahmet, and had the General lived, this might 
 certainly have been the case. The natives already paid him the 
 honours of their future chief. 
 
 The bustle daily grew greater in the camp. Enormous trans- 
 ports of provisions and munitions of war arrived from Bona ; the 
 coffee-houses were crowded; Marabuts and Sheikhs flocked in, 
 probably to spy our movements. Of foreigners there were present 
 Colonel Sir Grenville Temple, two Danes, an Austrian, a Saxon, 
 and a Bavarian officer, besides my friend and tent- companion. 
 Captain Muralt, a Switzer. Many speculators and traders had 
 likewise arrived, who sold spirits and tobacco to the army, and 
 calculated on buying the plunder of Constantine from the soldiers. 
 Many Maltese had come from Bona, some as muleteers, others seek- 
 ing service as footmen. They were the laziest and most thievish 
 
312 
 
 act of fellows I ever saw. From Bona till our departure from the 
 camp, I had four times' to turn my servant away, and the new 
 one was always worse than the former. 
 
 On the 29th of September, the last detachments of cavalry and 
 the last transport of provisions arrived from Bona. The morrow 
 Avas a day of rest, and the last preparations were made for 
 
 On the 1st of October, long before sunrise, the roll of the drums 
 and the flourish of the trumpets were heard merry and shrill. 
 Clouds covered the sky when our vanguard began to move; the 
 bulk of the army followed rather heavily, as the poor soldiers had, 
 besides their heavy knapsacks, to carry a supply of wood for 
 several days on their backs. We marched with great noise 
 through the wild bushy valley up the Ras-el-Akbah, whose rocky 
 summit was veiled by vapoury mist which soon dissolved into 
 rain. The army consisted of eight thousand soldiers and was 
 divided into four brigades. The first was placed under the orders 
 of the Duke of Nemours ; under him served the distinguished 
 Colonel Lamorici^re, with his Zuaves : General Trezel com- 
 manded the second. Both brigades were under the direct orders 
 of General Damremont. They were followed by an immense 
 baggage-train, which greatly encumbered the army, and required 
 a whole brigade under General Rulhieres for escort. Colonel 
 Combes commanded the fourth brigade, which formed the rear. 
 
 On the height of the mountain-road the two first brigades 
 halted, and bivouacked on the very spot where, only a few days ago, 
 Ahmet-Bey had encamped with his cavalry. Straw was found 
 in abundance. The soldiers took the wood from their knapsacks, 
 and the heights were soon covered with fires ; the frying-pans 
 whizzed, and French cookery prepared, considering the circum- 
 stances, most savoury meals here, where some days ago the kuskusu 
 of the Arabs of Ahmet had smoked. About ten minutes east of 
 our bivouac, on the declivity of the mountain, rose the beautiful 
 ruins well-known in this country under the name of "Anunah :" 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 313 
 
 they appeared quite spectral when the mist began to disperse. 
 There, in the amphitheatre of the ancient Roman city, crowded 
 two thousand years ago by a merry throng of people, all looked 
 dismal now, whilst the desolate path of the Ras-el-Akbah had 
 assumed a sprightly aspect by our presence. French soldiers, 
 Turkish and Arab Spahis, Berber Zuaves, Negroes, and Maltese, 
 busily moved about, stirring the fires, cooking, eating, talking; 
 some led their horses and asses to the water, others pitched tents. 
 Captain Muralt and I possessed a small tent of coloured twill, 
 hardly large enough for us to indulge in a comfortable stretch, and 
 yet this scanty shelter excited the envy of many thousands, as not 
 forty persons in the whole army were fortunate enough to sleep 
 under cover. Whilst my companion and I were enjoying our 
 glass, French officers, physicians, and painters came up, conversed, 
 and then again went on, to look for some other friends. Several 
 officers, among them Captains Levaillant and Magagnos, Dr. 
 Trubelle, &c., were zealous entomologists. As often as they 
 caught an unknown insect, they brought it to me; and even before 
 Constantine, during a most violent cannonade, the aide-de-camp of 
 General Perregaux hastily came to me with two butterflies spitted 
 to his cap : he had caught hold of this prey in the very moment 
 when he was delivering an order of importance to Trezel's 
 brigade. 
 
 After our meal, we likewise wandered through the camp in 
 search of some acquaintances. We found two members of the 
 Scientific Commission occupied in measuring the elevations : curious 
 bystanders were watching these operations. Some bold ramblers 
 had ventured on an excursion to the ruins of "Anunah." Captain 
 Muralt and I ascended the top of the Ras-el-Akbah, and when we 
 passed the out-posts, one of the sentries said to me, " I advise you, 
 sir, not to venture near me at night: jon look too much like a 
 Bedouin." Mindful of this remark, I took care not to leave our 
 tent in the dark, as in truth the Arab burnus which I used to 
 W'Car had already grown shabby enough to look precisely like 
 the common cloak of the Bedouin; and my face was so sunburnt. 
 
314 
 
 that I might easily have been mistaken for an Arab. From the top 
 of the Ras-el-Akbah, a wide view spread before us. In the south- 
 west, our eyes swept over all the mountain -ranges down to Con- 
 stantine. But the prospect had nothing attractive — nothing but a 
 barren mountain-wilderness, without oases, nowhere a living soul. 
 We gladly turned to the opposite direction, to the ever- changing 
 and moving scenes of the camp. Even these, however, could not 
 banish dreary images from our imagination. The lively groups 
 were bounded on one side by the dark unnamed ruins, and on the 
 other side we could distinctly see the clouds of smoke whirling up 
 from the " accursed springs." 
 
 The woods of jujubes, tamarisks, wild olives, and the thick 
 pistachio- shrubs, which cover the declivities and ravines all round 
 Mejez-Ammar, lovely by their varied shades, disappear on the 
 Ras-el-Akbah, which offers but a desolate landscape : the whole 
 way down to Constantine is unadorned by trees or by shrubs. 
 
 On the 2d of October we encamped at the Marabut Sidi-Tamtam, 
 amidst Arab tombs. The third and fourth brigade always re- 
 mained half a day's march behind us, to protect the long baggage- 
 train, which covered about two French miles. I involuntarily 
 remembered the remark of Lamoriciere, that the success of the 
 expedition would be most doubtful, if Ahmet-Bey attacked the 
 rear of our army. In fact, the number of troops would not have 
 proved sufficient for the protection of the baggage: the feeblest 
 attack of the Arabs might have occasioned the most frightful con- 
 fusion amongst it. But fortunately Ahmet had abandoned all 
 thought of a battle: he concentrated his whole resistance in the 
 capital. We often saw single horsemen on the barren heights, 
 but they always disappeared as soon as our vanguard approached. 
 On the od of October, our army bivouacked by the brook Meres, 
 which, higher norlh, is called Bu-Mesrag. Its delicious waters 
 refreshed the soldiers. On the whole, we seldom had scarcity of 
 water, for, though this country is deficient in navigable streams, 
 there are smaller rivulets and springs in abundance. We met with 
 them almost every hour, and their course has frequently a north- 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 315 
 
 eastern direction. It is only in the hot season, from July till 
 September, that many of these little brooks dry up. The monotony 
 of the scenery around us was truly oppressive, most especially to 
 several artists who accompanied the army. Their disappointment 
 was visible in their countenances, until at last, after six days' march, 
 they were comforted by the wildly grand site of Constantine. But 
 with several thousand laughing and talking Frenchmen even the 
 wilderness cannot prove wearisome; whilst, to the isolated traveller, 
 these deserts of the Atlas must be desolate in the extreme. The 
 animal kingdom was yet more poorly represented here than the 
 vegetation. No insect buzzed round the scanty flowers. The 
 white-headed vulture {Vuliur leucoceplialus) was our lasting com- 
 panion. Thousands of these winged giants constantly flew above 
 us. It is impossible to watch without feelings of dismay these 
 carrion birds; they follow the march of the army as the sharks 
 follow the vessel. During the silence -of night, we heard the 
 roaring of the lions at a considerable distance. Probably the 
 camp-fires alone protected our horses and mules against the ap- 
 proach of this terrible enemy. The bald table-lands of the pro- 
 vince of Constantine are the favourite haunts of the king of beasts; 
 here he divides his sway with no one but the Bedouin. Here the 
 lion is the absolute master during night, and then he regularly 
 appears before the Arab encampments, claiming as his tribute 
 some members of the herd. As no antelopes live in these barren 
 parts, the flocks of the Arabs offer the only prey to the rapacious 
 beast. 
 
 Our march to Constantine lasted almost six days. This city is 
 about twenty-three French miles from Mejez-Ammar. We had 
 always encamped close to a brook or a spring, and the bivouac 
 was then baptized by the name of the water, or of the tribe, or by 
 the name of some Marabut tomb, to be met with everywhere in 
 this country. The arrival of the army at night-quarters always 
 presents most interesting scenes. As soon as the square is 
 closed, one cannot but admire the sprightly activity of the French 
 soldiers. Some run to get water, or to collect stalks of thistles, 
 
316 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 where, as here, there is no wood ; others light the fires and prepare 
 the kitchen. In a few minutes, hundreds and hundreds of camp- 
 fires flicker on the spot, which, but a short time ago, was so soli- 
 tary. Here people sing, there they chatter and laugh. The orators 
 of the bivouac^^commonly Paris volunteers, or sons of Gascony 
 — collect their audiences, to whom they give the benefit of their 
 political views, and of their opinions on approaching events ; whilst 
 the honest, but somewhat clumsy recruits of Brittany, listen with 
 open mouths to the news-tellers, whom they deem oracles. The 
 French army has soldiers as different in their appearance and 
 ways, as the different provinces of their birth. When the French 
 soldier has done with his rice soup and his hard biscuit, he 
 immediately proceeds to seek a resting-place, as comfortable as 
 circumstances will permit. Once I even saw an individual of 
 the Bataillon d' Afrique open an Arab tomb, throw out the skele- 
 ton, and quarter himself in its stead for the night. Others again 
 I noticed, long after midnight, sitting round the fire, boiling their 
 cofiee, and talking over their adventures and their beloved ones at 
 home. 
 
 "With the Arabs, the habits of encamping are quite different. 
 Whenever the Spahis, who always form the van, have reached the 
 resting-place, they put their horses in two rows, and attach their 
 feet to wooden poles. The Arab steeds are most docile animals; 
 they bear alike the spur and the galling fetters on their feet with 
 the meekest patience; but they sorrowfully bend their delicately 
 shaped heads, their rich manes almost touching the soil, and seem 
 to gaze reproachfully at their hard masters. They suffer in 
 silence, and I never saw an Arab horse pulling itself off violently. 
 When these noble animals have been provided with their portion 
 of barley and fresh water, since they ever form the first care of 
 their masters, then only the Arabs all unite in prayer. With 
 faces turned eastward, they throw themselves with their heads to 
 the earth, rise and bend down again like men seized by epileptic 
 convulsions, whilst one of them mumbles the customary prayer. 
 When the last ray of the departing sun falls on these bearded, 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONST ANTINE. 317 
 
 pilgrim-like figures, they assume an almost sainted aspect. After 
 the Arab has fulfilled his pious duty, he gets merry and even 
 boisterous. The kuskusu is warmed, the pipe is smoked, the 
 younger of the Spahis begin their games ; the old ones look 
 at them, sitting, with crossed legs, in a semi-circle, whilst the 
 horses form the back-ground. Whole dramas are performed; 
 scenes of love, of sport, of strife, such as the Bedouins are wont to 
 see in the wilderness, are represented by speeches and in panto- 
 mime. In such moments, the Arabs, usually so calm and digni- 
 fied, become like children; they laugh, they frolic, and are so 
 noisy, that they often disturb the sleep of their French comrades. 
 When at last tired of amusement, they all draw together in a close 
 circle, in the centre of which they put a paper lantern, and then 
 one of them begins his guttural song, accompanied by a rough 
 guitar ; the others listen breathlessly. Thus they remain assem- 
 bled for several hours, often long after most of the fires of the 
 French have disappeared. 
 
 Towards four o'clock in the morning, the reveille was beaten, 
 and the regimental music began to play most pleasing melodies. 
 Yet the existence of the poor soldiers ever remains only a glitter- 
 ing misery ; the alluring sounds were to compensate him for the 
 dreariness of the mist and the frosty morning-dew which be- 
 numbed ever}^ one of his limbs. As soon as it grew sufficiently 
 light to distinguish the path, the vanguard began to march. All 
 the corps followed in given order. The Polish coats of the Chas- 
 seurs, the Turkish costume of the Zuaves, the flowing red-and- 
 white burnuses of the Spahis, and the heavy gray capotes of the 
 regiments of the line, moved beside and behind one another. 
 The big cannon and the long baggage-train followed heavily in the 
 rear ; and behind, last of all, came the third and fourth brigades, 
 which joined the army only on the 5th of October. T often used 
 to ride on sunny mornings to some neighbouring height to glance 
 at the picturesque effect of the marching army. 
 
 On the 5th of October, from the top of a hill crowned by the 
 ruins of a beautiful Roman monument, we at last perceived Con- 
 
318 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 stantine, the city which owes its present fame mainly to the re- 
 pulse of a French Marshal. " Constantine ! " exclaimed the 
 soldiers joyfully, clattering with their arms. After five days of 
 march through a desolate wilderness, where no living soul was to 
 be met, the view of such a considerable town proved most cheer- 
 ing. The site of the ancient residence of Jugurtha and Massi- 
 nissa, in the back- ground of a valley, built on a gigantic rock, 
 was uncommonly striking, though from our point of view we could 
 only see a small part of the city. The Marabut Sidi-Mubarek, on 
 the mountain El-Mansurah, and the single buildings on Kudiat- 
 Ati, were distinctly visible. The Roman monument on the 
 height, where the two first brigades halted for several hours until 
 the rear advanced, is called Rommah by the natives ; it is about 
 thirty feet high, and bears some resemblance to the monument in 
 the Place des Innocens at Paris. The great quantity of magnificent 
 square stones, scattered below the monument, and which no doubt 
 once formed a part of it, show that it must have been of consider- 
 able size. 
 
 On the evening of the 5th of October, hostilities began. Until 
 now we had not beheld any Arab, except some distant videttes. 
 The straw-huts of the Arab and Kabyle villages from Ras-el- 
 Akbah down to Constantine were all in flames before we arrived, 
 and the Chasseurs found the greatest difficulty in saving some 
 forage. This fact did not precisely evince a peaceful disposi- 
 tion, and was so much the more striking as, during the expe- 
 dition of Marshal Clauzel, the inhabitants of these very same 
 villages had remained quietly in their huts, allowing their herds 
 to graze under the very eye of the army. When the brigades 
 slowly descended down to the valley of the Ruramel towards Con- 
 stantine, some hundred Arab horsemen began to attack the left 
 flank. But they fired only from a very great distance, not dis- 
 turbing even for a moment the dull progress of the luggage and 
 convoy. At about one hour from Constantine, the camp was 
 formed. Dusk had already set in when we arrived at the bivouac. 
 The number of the enemy increased incessantly. We then all 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 319 
 
 thought that the Bey would attempt a desperate attack during 
 night ; but single shots alone were heard at the outposts, though 
 now, of course, more frequently than hitherto, so that we were 
 sometimes inclined to believe that a struggle was taking place. 
 Yet it was only the watchfulness of our soldiers on duty which in- 
 duced them to fire at the slightest noise. On the 6th of October, 
 we at last encamped close before Constantine. The vanguard 
 slowly approached the plateau of El-Mansurah. The Duke of 
 Nemours rode at the head with hi^ three aides-de-camp, among 
 them Ney, Prince of the Moskwa. The Governor was accom- 
 panied by a much more numerous suite, and during the march he 
 avoided all communication with the Duke, except on business. 
 The young Prince looked at that time in feeble health ; his hand- 
 some face was strikingly pale ; but before the walls of Constantine 
 he recovered his strength. The baggage, the field-hospital, and the 
 rear of the army, encamped on a small plain at the foot of the moun- 
 tain of Mansurah, whilst the suite of General Damremont took its 
 quarters in a little tottering house of the Marabut Sidi-Mubarek. 
 The tent of the Duke of Nemours was set up in a meadow enclosed 
 by a wall, into which likewise the old Soliman Ben-Zecri, and 
 the other fugitives from Constantine, were admitted, who now 
 began to play a more important part. The weather continued 
 favourable until the evening of this day, and the army was in high 
 spirits. In this country, the most harassing enemy is the rain, 
 which usually falls in prodigious quantities, and always lasts for 
 several days. From the Ras-el-Akbah to Constantine, we had 
 uninterruptedly enjoyed the clearest sky. By day the sun was 
 oppressively hot, the evenings and the nights were fresh, but 
 the mornings used to be so bitingly cold that the breath became 
 visible, and even our tent could not protect us from the frost. The 
 poor soldiers, who had nothing whatever to protect them against 
 the climate, were sometimes obliged to lie close together, and so 
 communicate their natural warmth to one another. My northern 
 complexion was less able to bear the African climate than those 
 of the French soldiers; my face skinned, and my lips swelled 
 
320 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 considerably. On the second day of our march, I had an attack 
 of fever, but M. Guyon, the kind head-physician of the army, 
 immediately attended me, prescribed quinine, and I recovered. 
 "Whilst the vanguard took its position on the plateau of El-Man- 
 surah, the left flank of the baggage-train was again troubled by 
 the Arabs. Several thousand white figures on swift horses 
 bustled to and fro along the banks of the river Rumrael : they 
 dashed forward, fired off their long muskets, and galloped back 
 again at the quickest pace. But not one of their bullets reached 
 the ranks of the convoy : they either fell short of them, or whizzed 
 far off. Even the long line of French tirailleurs, which was 
 opposed to them, did not lose a single man, as far as I could ascer- 
 tain. There was little serious purpose in this noisy attack of the 
 Arabs: they fired from too great a distance, and squandered away 
 thousands of their bullets. Several grenades thrown against them 
 burst in their midst; and it was remarkable to witness how these 
 threatening horsemen dispersed in all directions. I chanced to 
 be then riding with the baggage-train, and I had a perfect view 
 of the sham-fight. The train of the army which proceeded close 
 to me, partly on foot, partly on horses, mules, and asses, did not 
 show the slightest fear of the bullets that whizzed over our 
 heads. Even the vivandieres (Amazons, with sun-burnt counte- 
 nances, several of them very elegantly dressed) broke forth in loud 
 cheers as often as a well-directed bomb-shell drove the enemy 
 asunder. Good humour prevailed throughout the whole rear, and 
 French hon-mots hit their point much more accurately than any 
 Arab bullet hit its aim. The French rifles, according to their 
 wont, used more powder than necessary, and their bullets had at 
 this great distance likewise no effect. The fight therefore re- 
 mained an empty demonstration, but the wild noise of the spectre- 
 like riders offered an uncommonly entertaining scene. 
 
 Meanwhile General Damremont, the Duke of Nemours, and 
 most of the other Generals, had assembled on the furthest end of 
 the plateau of El-Mansurah, there to reconnoitre the city, from 
 which they were now separated only by a deep precipice. As 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 321 
 
 the El-Mansurah descends steeply from south-west to north-east, 
 the city cannot be perceived before one arrives at the border of 
 the plateau which perpendicularly looks down upon a deep abyss, 
 beyond which rises the rocky mountain of Constantine. A small 
 natural intrenchment, hardly eight feet high, served the specta- 
 tors as a rampart against the bullets shot across from the city. I 
 saw the General's staff quartered there, protected by a company 
 of the 17th light infantry. The intrenchment prevented me from 
 getting a view of the city ; I alighted from my horse, and asked 
 Mr. Berbrugger, whom I just then met, where a sight could be 
 obtained of Constantine. " There," replied he, " where Captain 
 Muralt stands." Muralt stood at only twelve paces from me, 
 with half his body bent over the intrenchment. I joined him, and 
 at once beheld the remarkable city below, of whose wild and pe- 
 culiar position hardly any correct notion can be formed. Our 
 point of view was especially favourable ; we overlooked Constan- 
 tine, so as even to distinguish the separate streets. The gray 
 masses of the houses of Constantine, situated on the plateau of a 
 perpendicular rock, rise araphitheatrically from north to south. 
 The site of this city is higher, but far from being so steep as that 
 of Algiers. Both cities are of about equal size, but in their aspect 
 they are strikingly different. Though the buildings of Constan- 
 tine are likewise in the Moorish style, with courts and galleries 
 within, yet they lack the fine terraces of Algiers. In their stead 
 we here see roofs covered with bricks, which, in these southern re- 
 gions, hurt the eye. All the houses are of a dull grayish colour, 
 like the rock on which they stand. The towers of the mosques 
 alone are white, and rise, ghost-like, from among the dark walls, 
 like haantlng-spirits in their shrouds. The cypress, an immove- 
 able, silent guardian of the tomb, whose dark-green pyramidal 
 outline is visible among the houses, well suits this picture of death. 
 At the south-western end of the tovvn, the most elevated point of 
 the rock is crowned by the Kasbah, an intricate building of 
 ancient aspect, bearing traces of Roman origin. Our arrival on 
 the El-Mansurah was no sooner noticed, than furious battle-cries 
 
322 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 resounded from all the bastions, and announced the presence of an 
 exasperated enemy. The women had climbed upon the roofs, and 
 raised that melanchol}^, piercing, thrilling cry, in which they are 
 wont to express every passionate emotion of joy or grief, equally 
 heard at the wedding-feast and at the funeral. This time it ex- 
 pressed their hatred of us, and was meant to arouse the enthusi- 
 asm of their champions. Illumed by the reflection of the evening 
 sky, these females, veiled in their white garments, looked quite 
 ghastly. Above the gates Bab-el- Wad and Bab-el- Djeddid 
 fluttered defyingly two red flags of immense size. The same 
 hostile banners had been raised on the very same spots one year 
 before, at the time of Clauzel's expedition. The officers who had 
 been present at that first campaign found on the whole that the 
 aspect of the city was not altered; even the Roman bridge, which 
 was said to have been destroyed by Ahmet-Bey, lay unimpaired 
 beneath us, and the eye-witnesses of the attack which Clauzel 
 here attempted, vividly remembered the scenes of the combat. 
 All the Arab villages far around were in flames, lighted by the 
 Arab inhabitants themselves, whilst, at the same time, the dis- 
 tinctly audible voice of the praying priest in Constantine wafted 
 the name of Mohammed from the spire of the mosques to the 
 clouds reddened by the flames. The sky had already, on the even- 
 ing of the 6th of October, become overcast, presaging the coming 
 days of rain. Whoever has lived in Mohammedan cities knows 
 the strange emotion caused by the monotonous, hollow, but far- 
 sounding accents of the Muezzin, calling to prayer from the 
 minaret aloft, in the evening twilight. When in Algiers, from 
 the terrace of my house, I watched the parting sun, and was 
 called from my reverie by the earnest call of the Muezzin, I often 
 fancied I heard the dirge of the sinking orb. But here, this call 
 seemed rather like the voice of a conjurer, summoning the dark 
 powers to assistance and vengeance. The groups of generals, 
 and of the officers of their suite, stood assembled in deep silence 
 at the brink of the abyss. All eyes were turned, as by magic, 
 upon the ghastly city. " This is the residence of the d 1!" sud- 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 323 
 
 denly exclaimed the Prince of the Moskwa, interrupting the general 
 silence. An involuntary shudder thrilled through everybody, and, 
 with more than one of the persons then present, it proved the pre- 
 sentiment of death. I think, all who shared that first sight of 
 the old Numidian city of the rock will never forget the awfully 
 solemn impression. We were roused from our meditations by 
 the hissing of shot. All the batteries of the city, on the Kasbah 
 and at the gates Bab-el- Djeddid and Bab-el-Kantara, opened a 
 violent fire against the plateau. One of the cannon-balls flew 
 between General Damremont and the Duke of Nemours, just 
 through the narrow space which intervened between them. A 
 few minutes afterwards, a bomb- shell struck the earth at hardly 
 thirty paces behind them, and burst with great noise, but without 
 injuring any one. The old General Yalee, commander of the 
 artillery, gazed at the city with a doubtful glance, and I heard 
 him say: "I am astonished at the courage of Marshal Clauzel, 
 who dared to attack such a city with six- pounders : indeed we 
 have need here of all our means to win our way." For the spec- 
 tators who were not bound by military duty to remain on the spot, 
 it was most uncomfortable to tarry here, where, besides the heavy 
 cannon-balls, the bullets of numberless rampart-rifles whizzed 
 around. I looked about for General Damremont. He did not, as 
 the rest, stand behind the intrenchment, where we were covered 
 at least up to the breast; but he exposed himself on the eleva- 
 tion, where his whole bulky figure offered a mark to the hostile 
 artillery. A telescope in his hand, he long gazed with great 
 composure, thoughtfully bending down towards the city. He 
 here lost precious time : the weather was yet favourable, and the 
 soil dry. With more energetic measures, several batteries might 
 yet on this very day have been set up on El-Mansurah, and the 
 remainder of the heavy artillery might have been carried up the 
 mountain Kudiat-Ati. The enemy now attempted a feeble sally. 
 Several hundred men approached from the direction of the Roman 
 bridge, but they were easily repelled by some platoons of the 
 second light infantry regiment, and of the Zuaveg, Puring the 
 
324 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 evening, the third and fourth brigade passed the Rummel and took 
 possession of the elevation Kudiat- Ati, at the moment when a heavy 
 rain began to fall, which lasted for five whole days, almost without 
 intermission. The passage was very difficult : the bed of the 
 Rummel was filled with large stones, and the mountain was steep 
 and slippery. Two of the enemy's batteries commanded the river 
 and killed several of our men, among them one of the aide- de- 
 camps of Lieutenant- General Fleury, who was torn in two by a 
 cannon-ball. The Generals Rulhi^res and Fleury, to encourage 
 their soldiers, rode to the head of the very difficult path, whilst the 
 wind blinded them with rain. Two battalions posted themselves 
 between the tombs which cover Ivudiat-Ati. 
 
 On the 7th of October, the garrison made a bolder sally. In the 
 direction of El-Mansurah, they soon retreated, but on the Kudiat- 
 Ati, from seven to eight hundred men, amongst whose leaders we 
 distinguished Turks and Kuruglis in magnificent garments, ex- 
 changed a long and obstinate fire with the Foreign Legion and the 
 third African battalion. It was only when the French attacked the 
 enemy with the bayonet, that they fled. Their retreat was covered 
 by the musket-fire from the city. At the same time, about three 
 thousand horsemen descended from the mountains east and north 
 of the Kudiat- Ati, where the Arabs encamped, to attack the two 
 brigades in the rear and in the flank. I perfectly distinguished 
 these grand scenes of war from the mountain El-Mansurah, where 
 I had tarried with the staff of the Governor. These barbaric 
 cavaliers galloped with terrifying noise against the French 
 lines. All the declivities and valleys behind Kudiat- Ati were 
 covered with crowds of white, long-bearded figures, on gray horses. 
 Troops less experienced than the African corps would have felt 
 disheartened by the masses and the noise of the enemy. But 
 the soldiers, accustomed to Arab warfare, well knew how unsub- 
 stantial these demonstrations are. The Chasseurs d'Afrique 
 allowed the boldest of these horsemen to approach them within 
 half gun-shot ; then two squadrons made a furious charge on the 
 Arabs, who did not wait for the shock, and took to hasty flight. 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 325 
 
 Some were overtaken and killed in the fray ; on the other side, 
 some of the boldest pursuers paid for their bravery with their 
 lives, since flight is a manoeuvre of Arab warfare, and does not 
 demoralize. The flying warrior is always ready immediately to 
 turn round upon his enemy, so soon as be can attack with advan- 
 tage. Amongst the killed was a young non-commissioned officer 
 of good family, whom his comrades greatly bewailed. The Ku- 
 diat-Ati, however, had been cleared of the enemy by our charge of 
 cavalry. These howling Arabs had again retired to the higher 
 mountains, behind the colossal aqueduct, one of the monuments 
 of ancient Cirta. 
 
 Constantine was defended by from six to seven thousand armed 
 men, among whom were about three thousand Kabyles, savage 
 people, ragged and fanatical, who, roused by the speeches of their 
 Marabuts, — several of whom were in the pay of the Bey, — had 
 come down from their mountains to take part against the infidels. 
 They had brought their long muskets and yatagans of various 
 forms, and were emploj^ed as sharp-shooters on the ramparts and 
 on the foremost houses, where they proved useful, as they have a 
 practised eye and a steady hand. But for service in the batteries 
 they were unfit. The gunners were for the most part Turks or 
 Kuruglis, who had been expelled or had withdrawn from Algiers, 
 and a few French deserters and prisoners, several of the Foreign 
 Legion. A German, Wendclin Schlosser, from Erfurt, was artil- 
 lery-officer of the Bey; another renegade. Send, from Dresden, 
 rendered no small service as gun-smith. The number of the 
 armed Kuruglis and Turks may have amounted to two thousand : 
 they were the best and bravest troops of the enemy, fighting in 
 good order and with dexterity, and always at the head of the 
 sallies. The Moorish inhabitants, in truth, had only been driven 
 by despair to take up arms : they could not be depended on in 
 the struggle. The chief commander of the town was Ben-Aissa, 
 descended from the Kabyles, but in character and habits he had 
 turned Turk, for he had lived in Constantine many years. His 
 name was the terror of the land. Unheard-of cruelties were per- 
 
326 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 petrated by his Razzias. The Arabs dreaded him ; but he had 
 considerable influence with the Kabyles, whom he treated with 
 regard, and whom he often managed to employ against rebellious 
 Arab tribes. Yet Ben-Aissa had not the credit of personal 
 courage. Under him served the Kaid-el-Dar (the Kaid of the 
 palace), a Kabyle of signal bravery, restlessly appealing to the 
 enthusiasm of the garrison, and who (it was said) in fact directed 
 the defence. In spite of the boastful proclamations which Ahmet- 
 Bey had issued to all the tribes during the last year, he was 
 coward enough not to remain within the walls of the city, since 
 he by no means was so strongly convinced of its impregnability 
 as he made believe by his letters. He had about three thousand 
 Arab horsemen, and from twelve to fifteen hundred infantry, who 
 encamped east of the city, close to a large country-seat, on which 
 his pennon was raised. Several thousand horsemen were stationed 
 on the heights round the Kudiat-Ati. Another Arab camp was 
 in the neighbourhood of El-Mansurah. It is difficult to ascertain 
 the exact number of the enemy round the city : I think, if I esti- 
 mate the whole force at eight thousand men, it is rather too much 
 than too little. The majority of the horsemen were Bedouins of 
 the Sahara, led by Bu-Asis-ben-Ganah, Ahmet's uncle by his 
 mother. The infantry were almost all Kabyles. 
 
 On the 8th of October, streams of rain poured down incessantly, 
 accompanied by tempest and thunder. The artillery and the 
 engineer corps, however, worked actively at the batteries on El- 
 Mansurah, but they could not finish them ; and the bombardment 
 announced for this day could not take place. The night from 
 the 8th to the 9th was a painful one. The army slept in icy wet 
 and mud up to the knees ; no fire would bum, and no covering 
 give shelter against the pouring streams of rain. And these 
 sufierings were enhanced by the terrors of war : the batteries of 
 the city continued their fire, and single bold enemies ventured even 
 into the midst of our lines. The morning had scarcely dawned 
 when the tirailleurs of Constantine were seen on all sides. Our 
 muskets, drenched by the rain of the last twenty-four hours, 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 327 
 
 hung fire, and the poor soldiers had always long to scrub and to 
 cleanse before a shot went off. But the courage of the French 
 proved unbroken : wading in the mud, they so boldly attacked 
 the enemy with the bayonet, that they forced him to retreat again 
 to the city. On the 9th of October, in the morning at seven 
 o'clock, the French batteries at last opened their fire from the 
 plateau of El-Mansurah. Their aim was to silence the enemy's 
 batteries, to dismount his cannon, and to terrify the beleaguered 
 city. General Damremont thought that the inhabitants would 
 capitulate on the very same day ; he certainly did not contem- 
 plate making a serious attack from El-Mansurah, as the first 
 expedition had already given proof that from this side the storm- 
 ing could not possibly succeed. About eleven o'clock the artillery 
 of the Kasbah and of the gate El-Kantara had ceased to play. 
 Most of the cannon there were already disabled, and only from 
 Bab-el-Djeddid did a few pieces continue, until the evening, to 
 answer us. Our mortars seemed to have caused considerable 
 damage even in the quarter where alone the enemy's cannon still 
 stood firm. The palace of the Bey and the abode of Ben-Aissa 
 were likewise aimed at by our guns. Towards evening, the 
 French tried experiments with congreve rockets. In oblique 
 lines, bursting and hissing, and throwing a flaming light around, 
 those projectiles flew into the very midst of the city ; but they 
 remained wholly ineffectual. It is almost impossible to set a stone- 
 built city like Constantine on fire, as the rockets meet here with 
 so little inflammable matter. 
 
 General Damremont had miscalculated the courage of the 
 inhabitants of Constantine : no messenger of truce appeared. 
 Though fanaticism does not impart the energy of action to the na 
 tions of this country, it gives them the power of endurance. Half 
 the city might have been destroyed ; the inhabitants would have 
 borne their disasters with fatalistic indifference, without even 
 entertaining a thought of capitulation. But if the bombardment 
 from El-Mansurah did not accelerate the surrender of Constantine, 
 it at least aroused the moral energy of our troops, especially of 
 
328 
 
 the wounded and sick, whose situation on the swampy ground 
 was almost intolerable. The moving fever- hospital offered a 
 terrible sight. Here lay several hundred patients, partly crammed 
 on waggons, partly stretched on the soil, on which counter- 
 panes were spread. But the unceasing rain had laid the country 
 under water, the flannel covers were thoroughly drenched, and 
 frost stiffened the limbs of the sick. The surgeons, immersed in 
 mud up to the knee, in vain bestowed their care on the sufferers : 
 they were sufficiently provided with medicines, but not with 
 coverings. In the delirium of the fever, or in the agony of death, 
 the thoughts of all the soldiers wandered back to France : they 
 pronounced the name of the village, or the town of their birth, or 
 some Christian names, probably belonging to their relatives or 
 beloved ones ; and they continued to cry and to sigh until morn- 
 ing, when they often were drawn from the mud, lifeless corpses. 
 Every day the physicians saw men dying who could have been 
 saved, had it but been possible to afford them the shelter of a roof. 
 Under such circumstances, the most dreadful necessity demanded 
 the immediate erection of the battering-train. Disease increased, 
 provisions were becoming scanty, and the forage was already ex- 
 hausted on the 10th. 
 
 On the 9th of October, at seven o'clock p.m., one portion of the 
 artillery, destined for the battery-train, was conveyed from the 
 plateau El-Mansurah to the Kudiat-Ati. No one unacquainted 
 with that ground can form a notion of the difficulties it presents. 
 The twenty-four pounders had to be carried down a steep declivity 
 of five hundred feet, thence to be conveyed through a torrent 
 encumbered by huge stones, and then to be dragged up a steep 
 mountain; and all this had to be accomplished during night, 
 exposed to unrelenting rain, which had rendered all the paths so 
 slippery that even practised climbers could not get along without 
 stumbling. The Saxon artillery officer, Bernhard, who accom- 
 panied the army as amateur, after having examined the ground, 
 pronounced it an impossibility to convey the heavy artillery up 
 the Kudiat-Ati: yet the work was accomplished. Sometimes 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 329 
 
 thirty to forty of the strongest horses had to be put to one cannon, 
 and a whole company of soldiers helped, dragging and pushing 
 every single piece. The passage across the Rummel was most 
 trying; here the soldiers worked for several hours after midnight, 
 standing deep in the water, to get off the heaviest stones from the 
 bed of the river. This difficult task was to be done during night, 
 to avoid the fire of the garrison. When the morning approached, 
 two ammunition-waggons were yet standing in the water. The 
 cannonade and fire of small arms began again from the city, but 
 it did not prevent the French soldiers from getting even these 
 last stores up the Kudiat-i^ti. When all the heavy artillery had 
 been carried up the mountain, every one felt astonished that this 
 labour could have been achieved : even those who had carried 
 it out, wondered at their own success; and many could not but 
 remember the expedition of the army of Buonaparte across the 
 Alps. When we saw the hardy soldiers of the 47th regiment, to 
 whom the successful result of the bold enterprise was mainly due, 
 drenched by water, covered with mud, having scarcely tasted food 
 for the last twenty-four hours, calmly encountering the tirailleurs 
 of the enemy, every one of us, and especially the foreign officers, 
 felt the highest admiration. 
 
 On the 11th, the batteries began to play against the walls 
 between the gates Bab-el-Uad and Bab-el- Djeddid. Here is the 
 single narrow point where it is possible to batter a breach, as 
 here ends the deep ravine which encircles Constantine in every 
 other direction. Here the rock, no longer forming a perpen- 
 dicular wall, but an elevated neck of land, offers a natural 
 connexion with the mountain Kudiat-Ati. Without this single 
 vulnerable point, Constantine would be a second Gibraltar — a 
 city which might possibly be destroyed by bomb -shells, but 
 which never could be carried by storm. 
 
 The Governor, the Prince, and General Perregaux, the chief 
 of the staff, whose active zeal had encouraged the soldiers during 
 their work, daily rode from El-Mansurah to Kudiat-Ati to examine 
 the progress of the batteries. The communication between these 
 
330 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 two positions was never interrupted, but the passage across the 
 Ruramel always involved some danger, as on one side the fire of 
 the garrison commanded the river, and on the hills at the other 
 side numerous Arabs lurked, ever read}^, like the carrion -bird, to 
 pounce on their prey whenever a single adventurer attempted to 
 cross the river within their range. A soldier who, to get some 
 wood, had advanced a few paces beyond the outposts, was attacked 
 by some of these horsemen, and before a musket could be fired at 
 them, they had galloped off with the head of the Frenchman. 
 The Arab cavalry and the Kabyle infantry, assembled round the 
 country-seat of Ahmet-Bey, remained almost passive spectators 
 of the struggle. The Kabyles several times approached the 
 French tirailleurs at half-shot distance, but the attack was not 
 energetically supported. These hordes are too deficient in disci- 
 pline to stand against regular troops. When they noticed that 
 their fire had but little effect, they left it off, and during the last 
 days they did nothing but watch our movements. In the camp 
 of Ahmet there was likewise a great number of Kabyle women. 
 Like the ancient Cimbrian and Teuton females, they tried to rouse 
 the courage of the warriors by their noisy exhortations, applaud- 
 ing the brave and chiding the cowards. 
 
 The garrison of Constantine made a determined sally on the 
 10th of October. Turks and Kabyles stealthily approached by a 
 hollow way, and along the deep furrows of the ground, till they 
 neared the batteries. General Damremont, who was on the spot, 
 ordered the Foreign Legion and the " battalion d'Afrique" to 
 attack with fixed bayonets, and threw himself into the struggle. 
 Many a bullet was aimed at his person ; he was noticeable from 
 the feather in his hat, but none touched him ; and the enemy was 
 driven back into the city with considerable loss. 
 
 On the morning of the 12th of October, the breach was already 
 so wide that ten men could storm abreast. The Governor and 
 his suite were early on the Kudiat-Ati to watch the progress of 
 the breach. About eight o'clock, he ordered the fire to be dis- 
 continued, as a messenger was expected back from the city, who 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 331 
 
 had been sent thither with the summons to capitulate. The 
 humane General Damremont had made this last attempt to spare 
 blood. The messenger was a young Arab belonging to the bat- 
 talion of the Zuaves, who had offered himself for this mission, 
 which to many appeared dangerous. When he approached the 
 walls of the city, waving the white flag, the sign of truce, the 
 garrison of Constantine ceased firing, and let down a rope, by 
 which they drew him up. They detained him until they had 
 again filled the breach with woolsacks, and then he was despatched 
 with the following answer : — " There is in Constantine plenty of 
 ammunition and provisions : if the French need provisions, we 
 can furnish them. We do not know what capitulation means. 
 We shall defend our city and our houses to the last ; they shall 
 not become your prey as long as a single defender lives." When 
 this answer was delivered to the General, he said : " They are 
 brave men! Well, the struggle will be the more glorious for us." 
 Towards ten o'clock, the roar of cannon was again heard. The 
 twenty-four pounders and the mortars fired in quick succession, 
 and soon cleared the piles of woolsacks out of the breach. The 
 echo, rolling from mountain to mountain, carried the sound afar 
 to the Desert. General Damremont, after Ijiaving examined the 
 last battery, advanced imprudently near the slope of the Kudiat- 
 Ati, in the direction of the city, in order to view with the telescope 
 the effect produced by the fire. The bombs and the musket-balls 
 whizzing and bursting all around him, did not keep him back 
 from his daring promenade. General Rulhi^res called his atten- 
 tion to the danger. " C^est egaV^ (it matters not), answered 
 Damremont calmly. But he had to pay for this constant defiance 
 of death : a twenty- four pounder ball struck him lifeless to the 
 ground; he had hardly time to commend his fearless warrior-soul 
 to his Lord with the exclamation, "ilfbn Dieul" The brave 
 General Perregaux bent with deep grief over the body of his 
 commander and friend, and in the very same moment his own 
 forehead was hit by a musket-bullet, inflicting a deadly wound. 
 General Rulhi^res was wounded slightly in the left cheek, and 
 
SS2 
 
 his coat was pierced. The Duke of Nemours stood on the same 
 dangerous spot, where the bullets incessantly whizzed. His aides- 
 de-camp vehemently urged him to retire, but he steadily refused, 
 and remained with the others until the corpse of Damremont had 
 been removed. The young Prince manifested uncommon courage 
 during the whole expedition, on every opportunity. I have seen 
 him in the midst of the fiercest fire, on points where the bombs 
 struck the soil twice every minute. We others did not deem it 
 cowardly to throw ourselves flat on the ground, that the bursting 
 pieces might not touch us ; but the Duke despised our precaution, 
 and walked amidst the shower of bullets with a coolness which 
 no one could witness without admiration. After the death of the 
 General-in-Chief, a council of war was assembled, and the com- 
 mand of the army was entrusted to Valee, Lieutenant- General of 
 the Artillery, a veteran of the times of the Empire, the eldest of 
 all the generals present. The sad event of Damremont's death 
 was hardly talked of for an hour among the soldiers, and was 
 soon quite forgotten. The General and the African troops had 
 known one another too little, so that the loss of the man, who, 
 for the first time in his life, commanded a military operation of 
 importance, could not leave a profound impression ; moreover, 
 suffering had blunted the feelings of the army. Among the 
 dicers were many partisans of Marshal Clauzel, who did not 
 like his successor ; and though they could not suppress a passing 
 emotion on Damremont's heroic death, they soon again talked 
 of him slightingly, and with cold indifference. His death cer- 
 tainly had little influence. The storm of Constantine would not 
 have been attempted sooner if he had lived, and it doubtless 
 would have had the same result. A new battery had been raised 
 on the 12th, which stood nearer to the city than any other, and 
 therefore could aim with greater precision. The fire was opened 
 most effectually, and the roar of the whole artillery blended into 
 such an incessant thunder that even the invalids felt cheered. 
 The army was aware that on the morrow the storm was to be 
 attempted, and these tidings greatly enhanced the enthusiasm of 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 333 
 
 the troops. And they certainly required such comfort, as they 
 had heen sorely tried in their muddy camps during five nights of 
 pouring rain. Their poor horses and mules had got no fodder 
 since the 10th ; their rapacious hunger often led them to devour 
 each others' tails and manes. Hundreds of them fell every day, 
 and hosts of vultures preyed upon the carcasses. Wood was like- 
 wise scarce ; the soldiers could hardly find some dry thistles to 
 prepare their scanty fare. The camp offered most distressful 
 scenes, especially during the long cheerless nights. No fire 
 burned : the monotony of the howling wind, and the incessant 
 splashing of the rain, were only interrupted by the neighing of the 
 hungry horses, and the sighs of the invalids. Most fortunately 
 the sky began to brighten on the 12th of October, and with it the 
 courage of the army. In such a predicament alone it is possible 
 fully to appreciate the great influence of the weather on our 
 temper. The night of the 13th was brightened by the moon, and 
 the twenty-four pounders continued to play. On the following 
 morning, the sun rose on a fully clear horizon, and the corps ap- 
 pointed to the storm gladly greeted the moment of action. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Lamoriciere commanded the first storming- 
 party, consisting of three hundred Zuaves, two choice companies 
 of the second light infantry regiment, and forty sappers. The 
 second party, headed by the brave Colonel Combes, was composed 
 of detachments of sappers of the 47th regiment of the line, of the 
 Foreign Legion, and of the 2d and 3d African battalions. The 
 third column had been formed of detachments designated by the lot, 
 in equal numbers, from all the four brigades :. it was placed under 
 the command of Colonel Corbin. The Zuaves had approached the 
 breach within about a hundred and fifty paces in a kind of trench, 
 where they lurked a whole day and a whole night waiting for 
 the signal of the storm. The Duke of Nemours had been ap- 
 pointed commander of the siege : he was at the side of Lamori- 
 ciere. At seven o'clock in the morning, the Prince at last whis- 
 pered to the Colonel, " Whenever you choose. Colonel." Lamo- 
 riciere wielded his sword, and exclaiming with loud voice, " Up 
 
834 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREilONT, 
 
 Zuaves! — follow me!" he ran up the breach: the signal for the 
 storm had just been given by the simultaneous discharge of eight 
 cannon. The balls raised a thick cloud of dust all round the 
 breach, which was to prevent the garrison from aiming at the 
 first men who stormed. At this signal of the guns, the music of 
 the Foreign Legion sounded the storming-march, and all the 
 other regimental bands and drummers joined in the chorus. In 
 the midst of this noise of cannon, drums, and trumpets, the 
 Zuaves, and the other corps of the first storming-partj, speedily 
 followed their Colonel. At that moment, too, the Arabs and 
 Kabyles, who were encamped on all the mountains around, raised 
 a fearful cry, — so piercing, that they deafened even the drums and 
 the trumpets. This single, protracted, heart-rending yell of five 
 thousand manly voices, had in the beginning a wild, warlike 
 effect ; but it died away in exhaustion, with a melancholy vibra- 
 tion like the breaking chords of a gigantic harp. It was the 
 death-cry of the " city of the devil." An hour later, the silence 
 of the tomb reigned again, and the French were masters of Con- 
 stantine. 
 
 Arrived on the breach, the storming- party were surprised not 
 to find any entrance into the city. A labyrinth of ruins — half- 
 crushed houses and streets — prevented them from distinguishing 
 whether they were really in the city, and no one knew which 
 direction was to be taken; whilst the bullets whizzed from all 
 sides, proclaiming the presence of the enemy amidst the ruins. 
 The invisible marksmen aimed especially at the officers, as always 
 is the case here in Africa ; in consequence, one fourth of the killed 
 were officers. At last the Zuaves discovered the entrance to one 
 of the strongly fortified batteries. Without a single shot, they 
 rushed with the bayonet on the gurners, who calmly stood by 
 their guns, meeting their assailants without any attempt at flight, 
 but bravely defending themselves to the very last man. They 
 fell after desperate resistance. From thence the Zuaves forced 
 their way into a large store- house, and reached the second bat- 
 tery: here the gunners did not offer the same resistance; but 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 335 
 
 after having discharged their muskets, most of them fled by- 
 secret passages. To get over the ruins into the streets, ladders 
 had to be used ; but the first troops who penetrated into the town 
 proper w-ere received by a volley, and compelled to open a path 
 with the bayonet, and to march over corpses. The enemy re- 
 treated from door to door, disputing every inch of ground. A 
 dwelling which had been severely injured by our fire suddenly 
 gave way, and buried several privates and officers; among them 
 Commander Serigny, of the second light regiment. The unfor- 
 tunate man lay up to his breast under the ruins which had crushed 
 the lower part of his body: he called and cried for help; no one 
 could afford it: he moaned, until entirely crushed by the weight 
 which had oppressed him. A few moments later, a still more ter- 
 rific scene took place. The storming troops found themselves 
 suddenly amidst flames and smoke; their breath failed, their 
 senses vanished, their clothes and hair caught fire, darkness 
 covered their sight. It was the explosion of a large quantity of 
 powder, probably kindled by a musket- shot, or some other chance. 
 The French engineers, to meet any emergency, had carried powder- 
 sacks along with them ; these, too, caught fire, and heightened the 
 general confusion. Above forty soldiers and officers were crushed 
 and burnt. They suffered a fearful death : most of them met it 
 silently : the heat and smoke stifled even their last moan. 
 Others lived a few moments after the explosion, but their agony 
 was terrible ; they had lost their sight, and groped about as if in 
 search of the limbs and clothes of which the fire had bereft them; 
 wailing in sounds unlike any human utterance. Others, again, 
 escaped with wounds more or less severe; the skin of many had 
 been torn oft'; some had been deprived of the use of their eyes. 
 The ground had given way in several spots ; ruins of walls had 
 tumbled down : the explosion of that crater was followed by an 
 awful pause. The inhabitants of Constantine availed themselves 
 of this moment of uncertainty and confusion. Ragged Kabyles, 
 likewise blackened by powder, yatagan in hand, might be seen 
 scrambling across the glowing and smoking ruins, to massacre 
 
336 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 all those who still breathed and suffered amidst the scene of de- 
 struction and deadly struggle. Several of the crushed Frenchmen 
 roused themselves from under the ruins to sell dearly the feeble 
 remainder of their life. Some of the savages, shunning the combat 
 with the half dead, preferred to vent their rage on the corpses. 
 They plunged the yatagan in the brave hearts beating no longer; 
 they tore the limbs off the corpses, and spearing them on their 
 yatagans, they triumphantly paraded them through the streets, to 
 incite the half- discouraged defenders of the city to new resistance 
 by the sight of the horrible trophies. 
 
 In this critical moment, the second storming-party, led by 
 Colonel Combes, arrived at the scene of action. The soldiers of 
 the 47th regiment and the Foreign Legion supported the Zuaves, 
 who had suffered severely, and Colonel Combes took charge of 
 the command, as Lamorici^re had been wounded by the explosion, 
 and had lost his sight for a time. The enemy had retired 
 behind a kind of barricade, which had formed itself of ruins and 
 corpses. From thence they launched a murderous musket- fire 
 against the French troops. Combes ordered a company of his 
 regiment to take this barrier by storm, awarding the decoration 
 of the " Legion d'Honneur " to the first who would overstep 
 it. The company advanced in rapid march, the lieutenant 
 leaped over the barricade, but fell in the same moment during a 
 general volley. Yet this officer had not been hit, but had only 
 fallen over the ruins. Those who stood behind him, however, 
 were wounded, and several killed; among them the captain of the 
 company. Colonel Combes, too, was mortally wounded b}'* two 
 bullets. He calmly and slowly left the battle-field, without 
 support, and returned to the battery, reporting the action to 
 General Valee and the Duke of Nemours. Neither his demeanour 
 and expression, nor his composed accents, betrayed that he was a 
 dying man. He retired to his tent, where he expired a few days 
 later, with the same calm serenity of mind. This man possessed 
 the noble grandeur which we admire in the heroes of ancient 
 Greece and Rome. After Combes and Lamorici^re had been dis- 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONST ANTINE. 337 
 
 abled for command, the soldiers began the strife in the streets on 
 their own account, fighting their way from house to house. The 
 Zuaves at last reached the abode of Ben-Aissa, where the resist- 
 ance was concentrated. The struggle continued in the galleries 
 and in the yard of the house ; most of the defenders of the place 
 fled by secret passages unknown to the assailants ; but several 
 Kabyles died, arms in hand. A Negro woman likewise lay among 
 the corpses : she had been killed by a musket-ball, and held a 
 yatagan and a pistol yet in her hand. Ben-Aissa himself had 
 escaped to the citadel, but the steward of the palace fell in the 
 streets, bravely fighting. In Ben-Aissa' s abode, the soldiers cap- 
 tured a considerable store of gold and treasures. To rouse the 
 courage of the inhabitants, Ben-Aissa had distributed money 
 amongst them during the latter days of the siege. 
 
 By the capture of the centre of defence, the resistance in Con- 
 stantino was broken. General Rulhi^res took the command of 
 the troops. He was leading them against the citadel situated at 
 the outskirt of the city, when a Moor came to meet him with a 
 paper in his hand. It was a petition of the inhabitants of Con- 
 stantine, who entreated him to spare the city, and who tried to 
 exculpate themselves by imputing to the Kabyles the stubborn 
 resistance. General Valee, to whom the petition was communi- 
 cated, acceded to the request. Resistance ceased ; some Kabyles 
 only, before flying down over the rocks, fired their muskets at the 
 soldiers, who were forcing their way into the Kasbah. In the 
 morning, at nine o'clock, the tricoloured flag replaced the red one 
 on all the main points of Constantine. 
 
 From Kudiat-Ati we had seen the storming columns climb up 
 the breach. They disappeared in the city, and we remained in 
 painful expectation for one whole hour, which was to decide the 
 success of the expedition, and the safety of us all. When, at nine 
 o'clock, we saw the tricolor reared on the Kasbah, we shouted with 
 exultation, and embraced one another ; for the first time in my 
 life I felt the power of the consciousness of victory. The Arabs 
 
338 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 and Kabyles, who, from the mountain-tops, had gazed down on 
 the storming of Constantine, retired in silence when they saw that 
 the red flag was struck. All the curious idlers, who had remained 
 in camp, rushed now to see the interior of that city which, in the 
 short space of a year, had been the scene of two catastrophes, and 
 the gaining of which had cost so many lives. 
 
 At the foot of the breach I met Captain Levaillant. He had 
 been one of the foremost of the storming-party, but had remained 
 unhurt ; he had cut down several Kabyles ; his countenance was 
 blackened by smoke, his regimentals pierced, and covered with 
 dust. We shook hands heartily. " Is Colonel Lamoriciere alive? " 
 was my first question. " He lives," answered Levaillant; "but 
 he fares as if devils had taken a walk with him through hell. 
 He is half scorched, and has lost his sight. Go and visit him : he 
 has already inquired for jou and your champagne." " And your 
 Zuaves?" " Half of them dead or wounded : those who escaped 
 are plundering." " And the inhabitants of Constantine — ^how did 
 they fight?" "Like incarnate fiends; but I have no time for 
 talking, I must go to my tent to cleanse me from blood and mud." 
 He hastened away : I came to the wall. 
 
 The breach was about thirty feet broad. In order to arrive 
 there, one had first to climb an elevation of earth and sand. 
 Many wool-sacks and stones lay strewed about the broken wall ; 
 behind the breach we saw ruins of houses destroyed by the explo- 
 sion. The scorched and mutilated corpses of African and French 
 soldiers lay here so close together, that it was impossible to enter 
 the city without stepping on dead bodies. I never beheld a more 
 frightful sight than this breach : most of the corpses were torn 
 in pieces, some without heads; with others, the features were 
 completely blackened by powder, so that it was impossible to dis- 
 tinguish the white European from the brown Kabyle, and even 
 from the Negro. In the streets, the corpses were less disfigured. 
 Some of the groups of dead were very striking. The struggle had 
 been fought here man to man, and the fallen French soldier rested 
 sometimes on the body of his Kabyle enemy. I can never forget 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 339 
 
 the countenance of an old Kumgli, with a long white beard, whom 
 I saw leaning on the corner of a house in a sitting posture, with 
 eyes and mouth wide open, his left fist raised to the skies, whilst 
 his right hand tightly clasped a pistol. I thought the old man 
 was alive, and was calling for help ; but when I approached, I 
 saw that he was a cold grim corpse. The fury of fanaticism, and 
 sometimes the triumph of glutted revenge, that so many enemies 
 had fallen around them, remained impressed on the features of the 
 fallen Mussulmans. 
 
 Arriving in the town, over this smoking heap of ruins and 
 corpses, I met a band of plunderers, laden with manifold booty, 
 carpets, burnuses, arms, victuals, and even Arab manuscripts; 
 seeking people to buy them. In the entrance to the first street, a 
 coffee-house was open, where pots of coffee stood yet on the hearth. 
 The Moorish customers had fled, and the French grenadiers 
 emptied now the whole supply, jesting and happy. A long row 
 of Moorish and Jewish shops was already entirely plundered; 
 the soldiers of the Foreign Legion busied themselves here much 
 more than they had done at the storm ; but the inhabitants were 
 not injured personally, from the very moment that the struggle 
 had ceased. They stood trembling, without complaint or protes- 
 tation, gazing at the plunderers of their property. The Jews 
 humbly kissed the hands of the soldiers, who seemed to be greatly 
 amused by such submission. On the whole, the officers did not 
 interfere with the plundering, though they did not positively allow 
 it ; yet it would have been difficult, even with the best disciplined 
 troops, to hinder such scenes in a city taken by storm, after so 
 many privations. I saw, however, at least one officer who exerted 
 himself to the utmost in protecting the property of the ill-fated 
 population of Constantine from the rapacity of the soldiers. It 
 was Lieutenant Chardon of the Engineers, a brave young officer, 
 of the noblest character. At one of the street-corners, two blind 
 Moors were sitting, who, not aware of what had happened, or at 
 least feigning not to know it, stretched out their hands and begged 
 for bread. " Is it not too bad," exclaimed a soldier, laughingly; 
 
340 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 " those rogues beg bread from us ! " " Poor fellows," said Char- 
 don, "they have no one now to give them bread besides us; " and 
 he went seeking among his soldiers, till he found some victuals for 
 the beggars. 
 
 Having satisfied my first curiosity, I rode back to our camp on 
 El-Mansurah, where Muralt arrived immediately after me, and we 
 were soon busy in breaking up our tent and packing it on the back 
 of our asses. Muralt was excited; he had entered the city during 
 the struggle, and had been so fortunate as to capture one of the 
 red flags which had floated on the wall. On his subsequent visit 
 to France, he presented it to the Queen of the French as a remem- 
 brance of that memorable day. 
 
 We proceeded with our horses and asses to the Kudiat-Ati, but 
 were unable then to enter the city, as the gates were opened only 
 late in the evening, and nearer access was cut off by the long 
 file of troops and their baggage. We slept once more in the 
 open air close to the gates ; the night was dark and wet, and the 
 poor wounded and invalids on the waggons, which could not enter, 
 moaned all the night. Overwhelmed by weariness, I fell asleep, 
 and awoke only when a horse had broken loose, and caused in- 
 describable confusion among the troops which were bivouacking 
 around us. The swearing and cursing of the soldiers, the yells 
 of the female sutlers, who thought that their cheese and wine were 
 in danger, the moaning of the wounded, and the painful brawl of 
 the hungry mules and asses, formed a most dreadful concert. My 
 friend Muralt remained awake all the night, in order to help and 
 comfort the sick. He complained much of the want of feeling in 
 the French soldiers, who did not care for their wounded com- 
 panions, and thought only of booty. 
 
 At dawn we entered the city, and without further ceremony 
 occupied a house, whose inhabitants, with the exception of an old 
 woman, had all fled. Though it had been plundered, the house yet 
 contained victuals in abundance. We brought our horses and asses 
 into the well-filled barley-store, where the emaciated beasts enjoyed 
 themselves so much, that we had to remove the fodder for fear 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 341 
 
 they should feed themselves to death. Several rooms were filled 
 with bags of flour, kegs of butter, salt meat, honey, and fruit, 
 especially pomegranates, larger in size and sweeter than I ever 
 had tasted before. After having lived on short allowance for a 
 fortnight, we found all this supply very acceptable. Our old 
 Moorish landlady seemed in the beginning very much alarmed 
 about her boarders ; we tried to comfort her, and treated her with 
 the products of our cooking, especially the coffee, which was our 
 own property, and of which she seemed very fond. As often as 
 we brought it to her, she always blessed us, and lauded the 
 humanity of the Christians to her old kinsman, who often paid her 
 visits. He seemed to be a hardened fanatic ; but the intercourse 
 with the Christians had gradually such an influence on his temper, 
 that once he brought us Moorish cakes as tokens of his afl"ection. 
 
 We left the ground-floor to our landlady, and took up our quar- 
 ters in the first storey, where we found excellent carpets and mat- 
 tresses. We soon got a new inmate in the house, namely. Captain 
 Russel, an Irishman, in the Austrian service ; and, as our house 
 was so richly stored, it attracted some more visitors. The Saxon, 
 Lieutenant Bernhard, became our daily guest at dinner, and the 
 Moorish rooms were often filled with gay foreign company. But 
 we were several times disturbed by plunderers, who broke into 
 the house, and could scarcely be restrained by the sight of the 
 regimentals of my friends from carrying away whatever they 
 found. Once I had really to threaten two soldiers of the African 
 battalion with the pistol, when they were about to rob me of my 
 own horse-gear. 
 
 The day after our entry, we visited the citadel. I saw the re- 
 maining inhabitants sitting before the doors of their houses, and 
 conversing quietly as if nothing had happened. The plundering 
 was yet going on; it lasted for three days; but the soldiers 
 became by and by less rapacious, sparing the inhabited houses, 
 and rifling only the empty ones. The Jews, always oppressed 
 by the men of Constantino, aided them in this business ; and as 
 they knew the localities, and were acquainted with the places 
 
342 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 where booty could be found, they stole the most valuable things 
 in advance of the soldiers, and in this way took revenge on their 
 former tyrants. 
 
 The Kasbah, or citadel, is of Roman origin. As the strongest 
 batteries of Ahmet-Bey had been posted here, it was the peculiar 
 aim of the French shells for several days. The missiles had 
 made a dreadful havoc, yet the Roman walls stood out ; though 
 pierced by the balls, they did not tumble down. The citadel is 
 built on the extreme edge of a precipice. The rocks beneath are 
 nearly vertical, and only one path is practicable for men skilled in 
 climbing. Yet many of the ill-fated inhabitants tried to escape 
 this way : some succeeded in descending on ropes ; but others 
 were hurled down by the crowd pressing behind on that danger- 
 ous spot, and were crushed or maimed by the fall. Whoever 
 had taken that direction could no longer return, as the enemy 
 was raging in the rear, and the stream of the fugitives rolled on. 
 The confusion was yet heightened by the musket-fire of the 17th 
 infantry regiment, which stood on the opposite rock, and shot 
 down the flying multitude. Above five hundred men lost their 
 lives. But in spite of the relentless fire of the French, the 
 people of Constantine carried away their dead ; only on some 
 inaccessible projections of the rock there remained a few corpses. 
 On one of these projections, nearly in mid- air, we saw a female 
 lying, who had broken her leg ; and a babe, which had remained 
 unhurt. My friend Muralt summoned the French soldiers to 
 make an effort to save the unfortunate woman, and promised a 
 reward to those who should reach her. A Zuave, who spoke 
 Arabic, succeeded after several attempts ; but the Mooress re- 
 fused any help from Christians, and declared she wished to die 
 on that spot with her infant. She only requested a jug of water, 
 which was handed down to her by a rope. She first gave her 
 child to drink, drank herself, and then threw the jug into the 
 abyss. I do not know what became of her. Next day she had 
 disappeared, together with her child. The same spot where so 
 many inhabitants of Constantine perished, served, under the Beys, 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 343 
 
 as a place of punishment for faithless females, who were hurled 
 down the cliffs, according to an old custom which we can trace 
 even to the times of the Vandals.* 
 
 One of our first visite was to the palace of Ahmet- Bey. The 
 Duke of Nemours and General Valee had taken possession of it : 
 the French head- quarters were established there. The garden 
 contained a lion-yard, where twelve of these majestic animals 
 were in chains ; their keeper was Wendelin Schlosser, a German 
 renegade, from Erfurt. An adjoining wing of the palace con- 
 tained the harem of the Bey, occupied by about eighty females ; 
 but amongst them there was only one really beautiful person, 
 Aisha. According to her recollection, she was of Christian ex- 
 traction, and had been brought by the Corsairs, in her early 
 youth, to Tunis. But the cut of her face was Oriental : Hack 
 hair, a rosy complexion, a Greek nose, and such a majestic de- 
 portment, that even without the superior richness of her attire, 
 she was distinguished from among the other females at the first 
 glance. This queen of the harem was soon reconciled to her 
 altered condition, and received the new inhabitants of the palace 
 as noble guests. She gave a ball in their honour, in which all the 
 harem took part. In the large marble hall, the females performed 
 their dances beneath the light of lamps, and in the presence of 
 the French officers of the staff. These females were, of course, 
 treated with great respect, and nobody was allowed to intrude on 
 their abode. Once only an indiscreet officer entered their rooms ; 
 but the females rushed with dishevelled hair to the Prince, com- 
 plaining of the outrage, and the Prince immediately gave orders 
 to turn out the intruder. 
 
 The dwelling of Ben- Aissa, the Vicegerent, was not to be com- 
 pared with the palace of the Bey. It was much smaller, and 
 devoid of architectural ornaments ; but much cash and many jewels 
 had been found here. A Zuave had the good luck to make a booty 
 of 10,000 boojoos (£800) : thus he at once became a wealthy 
 
 * Victoris Viterbensis Historia de Persecutione Vandalorum, Lib. iv. 
 
344 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, 
 
 man, and did not fancy the drill and service any longer. He 
 was a native, and got his dismissal, married afterwards in Con- 
 stantine, and yet lives there. I found my colleagues of the 
 Scientific Commission quartered in the house of Ben- Aissa ; but 
 they were far from being as well satisfied as we were in our well- 
 stored little house. Dr. Laporte was in bad temper: he had 
 accompanied the expedition, in order to analyze chemically the 
 water of the hot springs of Hammam-Meskhutin ; but he could 
 not get an escort to that place, and the mule which had carried 
 his bottles stumbled on the rocky path, and broke them. My 
 friend Berbrugger was busy buying Arabic manuscripts from the 
 plundering soldiers, for the library of Algiers, of which he was 
 the keeper. Some of them were valuable, especially the collec- 
 tion of the laws of the Kadis, and the " History of the City of 
 Constantine." But many of the manuscripts were lost on the 
 return. The soldiers of the train did not care for scientific trea- 
 sures, and threw some of the heavy book-chests from the waggon, 
 where they stuck in the mud. I hope they were found by the 
 Arabs, and think that they were more in place in the hermitages 
 of the Marabuts, than in the hall of the Algiers Library. There 
 are but very few books in the Regency of Algiers, and therefore 
 they are real treasures. It is rare that a Moorish family has 
 more than one book, and it is the common property of all the 
 family. With the four or five hundred manuscripts carried to 
 Algiers in order to fill the dusty shelves of the library, at least 
 as many Moorish families were deprived of their instruction and 
 comfort. 
 
 It was reported that Ben- Aissa had buried much money in his 
 house. Of course each of us wished to find the treasure. But 
 where could it be found? The building was large, and we 
 had no clue to any spot where to search. But suddenly we found 
 a person who could give us some hint. Among the drinking 
 soldiers of the Foreign Legion, Muralt remarked one, a pale man 
 with fair beard, in Moorish attire, who spoke German. Had his 
 language not betrayed his extraction, his drinking would have 
 
AMD THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 345 
 
 done so ; since he swallowed sucli quantities of brandy as only a 
 Northern man or an Anglo-Saxon can afford to take. Muralt 
 heard that he was a renegade, who had lived for a considerable 
 time in Constantine, and immediately invited him to our house, 
 where he gave us a rather confused account of his adventures, for 
 the brandy had disturbed his logic. 
 
 His name was Send; he was a native of Dresden, had served 
 in the Foreign Legion, and had been captured by the Bedouins, 
 carried to a Marabut on the Jurjura, and converted by him to 
 Islam. He lived there for a time, was well treated, and enjoj^ed 
 a good deal of liberty. But when Ahmet-Bey had heard about 
 him, and learned that he w^as a gunsmith by trade, he requested the 
 Marabut to let him have the renegade. The old Marabut, who 
 had grown fond of him, dismissed him with tears, but assured him 
 that he would meet with a much brighter life at Constantine than 
 he could offer him. In fact, Ahmet treated him kindly ; he gave 
 him a house, a wife, and the means of establishing a work-shop. 
 But he soon made too high exactions of Send, and forced him to 
 work until exhausted ; and when the guns were not ready in time, 
 he had him bastinadoed. In the defence of Constantine, Send 
 had a principal part, being one of the commanders of the batteries. 
 When the French opened their fire against the walls from Kudiat- 
 Ati, Send declared that the city was lost. The fanatical inhabit- 
 ants became so furious at this opinion, that they put him in 
 chains, and dragged him to the place of execution ; but the Mayor 
 of the town, a secret friend to the French, saved his life. Send's 
 house was plundered by the French soldiers, like the other 
 houses; and the poor man, together with his wife and child, had 
 nothing to eat. But it was characteristic, that this German, who 
 had lost nearly all his property, spent immediately the few piasters 
 he had in his pocket in order to get drunk, after he had been 
 obliged for many years to forego his beloved brandy. 
 
 This renegade had been often employed by Ben- Aissa, and had 
 at one time the direction of the mint. "We asked him, therefore, 
 whether he would not give us some information about the hidden 
 
346 
 
 treasures. He led us to a small room on the ground-floor, and 
 said that Ben-Aissa bad here secretly employed two Negroes in 
 digging, whom he had afterwards beheaded, to keep the secret 
 safe. We immediately fetched spades and hoes, and dug until 
 we got tired; but the treasure did not appear. The servants 
 stealthily continued the digging for another day, and found a 
 number of silver coin. Though they concealed their good luck, 
 yet it got abroad, and the military authorities occupied the house. 
 Soon after our departure, the diggings were continued, and the 
 house destroyed. It is said that above one hundred thousand 
 Spanish dollars were found here, though no official report was 
 ever made about it, 
 
 I got tidings about Colonel liamorici^re from ray friend Ber- 
 brugger. All the army manifested the greatest sympathy for 
 that gallant officer, when it was feared he would not recover his 
 sight. He bore his pains without complaint, was in high spirits, 
 and remembered our wager immediately after his mishap. Ho 
 never had been nearer death. Scorched and blinded by the ex- 
 plosion, he fell into a hole, and was nearly killed by the bursting 
 walls ; some of his soldiers, however, arrived in time to extri- 
 cate him from among the ruins. The excellent Colonel Combes 
 died on the 15th. He retained his consciousness up to the last 
 moment, and said to the Duke of Nemours, — " I do not commend 
 my wife to you: she has enough to live upon; but I commend to 
 you my children, the soldiers of my regiment." To his com- 
 panions, who stood mourning at his death-bed, he said, — " Those 
 who survive may be happy of such success : I likewise am 
 happy to have been able to do at least something for France." 
 The Colonel was buried on the Kudiat-Ati; his heart was em- 
 balmed and carried to France : it has since been deposited under 
 the monument erected to him in his native town. The army lost 
 in him one of its best leaders, and France one of her noblest 
 citizens. I do not remember any case in which the sympathies 
 of so many have been more heartily united, than at the death of 
 the high-minded Combes. 
 
AND THE EXPEDITION TO CONSTANTINE. 347 
 
 Once only I saw Colonel Duvivler after the storm ; he seemed 
 depressed, as though his feelings had been intentionally hurt. 
 He had the reputation of being the most talented officer of the 
 army; but during this expedition, he had not got any command of 
 importance. He was employed at the rear-guard ; the reason was 
 that Duvivier was a partisan of Clauzel, and Damremont had 
 therefore a personal dislike to him. In the first expedition, he 
 had had the command of the attack on the gate Bab-el- Djeddid, 
 and was now grieved that he had not got such a dangerous post, 
 where he could have reaped either honour or death. 
 
 The hospital was established in one of the most extensive 
 Moorish houses. The poor wounded lay there on the marble 
 floor of the halls and galleries. It was an awful sight those 
 numbers of deadly pale and scorched features, those mangled 
 bodies, those amputations and dressings of the wounds, those 
 piercing shrieks of the patients, the moaning and the dying. I 
 never could stand it for any length of time, but I often returned 
 to visit our poor wounded friends. Captain Richepanse excited 
 peculiar sympathy ; he had accompanied the expedition as volun- 
 teer, to revenge the death of his brother, who had fallen in the 
 first expedition. Richepanse was in the forlorn hope, and was 
 yet more severely scorched than Lamoriciere; but he likewise got 
 restored to health. 
 
 On the 17 th, the reserve, under Colonel Bernelle, arrived from 
 Mejez- Ammar, and with it Prince Joinville. The meeting of the 
 two princely brothers was warm and touching. Joinville is more 
 muscular and taller than his brother; he looks like an honest tar; 
 but his features are noble, like those of all the princes of the 
 younger French house. He took up his quarters in the palace of 
 the Bey, with three Prussian officers, who, though they arrived 
 only after the storm, yet were all decorated with the cross of the 
 Legion d'Honneur by French courtesy. 
 
 Next day the army was assembled at the breach, outside the 
 city, in honour of their fallen General. Damremont's corpse had 
 been embalmed, and was to be carried to France. The obsequies 
 
348 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL DAMREMONT, ETC. 
 
 were very simple; but the recollections of the place — between the 
 gory breach, surmounted by the triumphant tricolor, and the spot 
 where the General had met his heroic death ; and the presence of 
 the most gallant soldiers, and the brave officers, who had endured 
 such trials, and displayed such courage at the siege — made the 
 scene most impressive. The ceremony consisted in the defiling 
 of the army before the catafalco^ and a general discharge over 
 the tomb. Both princes, General Valee, and the numerous staff, 
 were present; and groups of natives gathered around them, and 
 gazed with amazement on the spectacle. I cannot say that the 
 soldiers displayed much sorrow. After so much endurance and 
 so many scenes of blood, they appeared indifferent. There was no 
 other funeral ceremony; no speech was made; only the muskets 
 thundered their last farewell. But the sky had suddenly cleared 
 up: it seemed as if the sun, which had seen the death of the 
 General, wished once more to greet his corpse with its rays, 
 illuming the bald tops of the Atlas, where here and there 
 scattered bands of Kabyles were yet encamped, gazing with 
 curiosity on the obsequies of the conqueror of Constantine. 
 
 The first column returned on the 20th to Bona : Muralt and I 
 accompanied it. We had nothing more to see in Constantine, 
 especially as the cholera began to rage in the army : a few days 
 after our departure, General Caraman fell a victim to that disease. 
 "VYe made short stages on our journey, in which we were followed 
 by a band of dogs. It was curious that these animals left their 
 former dwellings, and followed the for-eigners without any osten- 
 sible reason, as the French soldiers were not just in a temper to 
 share their scanty provisions with such rapacious guests. The 
 dogs often turned round, and barked and whined most pitifully, as 
 if prophesying some further misfortune to the ill-fated city. 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF MARSHAL VALEE. 349 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 TnE ADMINISTRATION OF MARSHAL VALEE. 
 
 The conquest of Constantine had been achieved without any im- 
 portant aid from the natives. Farhad-ben-Said, the late Sheikh-el- 
 Arab of the tribes of the Desert, who had been deposed by Ahmet, 
 had formerly urged the Duke of Rovigo and Marshal Clauzel to 
 undertake an expedition against Constantine. In fact, he pro- 
 mised thousands of Arab horsemen as auxiliaries, yet did not 
 appear at the trysting-place, Mejez-Ammar. But scarcely had 
 the city been taken, when he arrived at the head of some four 
 hundred ragged Bedouins, and claimed his share of the spoils. 
 General Valee asked him why he had not taken part in the 
 straggle? and Farhad replied cunningly, " Had I arrived 
 before Constantine was taken, people would have said that you 
 were victorious only because Arabs had fought Arabs; your 
 victory would not have had any moral result. It was my friend- 
 ship for you which induced me not to claim the post of honour 
 and peril : I waited until you had entered the city." General 
 Valee appointed him Agha of the province, but Farhad was of 
 no use to the French ; his Bedouins were rude and rapacious, 
 and committed such outrages and murders, that the vicinity of 
 Constantine became insecure, and no Arabs visited the market, 
 lie was therefore ordered to quit the country, and he unwillingly 
 took the way to the south — in pursuit of x4hmet, as he said, 
 whose head he promised to the French. But when the tribes 
 saw that he was not supported by the French, they rose against 
 him : he was defeated by the Aractas, and returned to the Desert. 
 General Valee was soon rewarded by the French Government 
 for his gallantry before Constantine. He received the rank of 
 Marshal, and the appointment of Governor- General ; and it 
 seemed that now, at last, colonization, and not war, was to be 
 the principal care of the French. The dearly-bought peace at 
 
350 THE ADMINISTRATION OF MARSHAL VALEE. 
 
 the Tafna secured, for a while, the French dominion in the 
 west against the incursions of Abd-el-Kader : the province of 
 Constantine was quiet ; the tribes did not dare to attack the 
 French, who had so easily taken a city reputed impregnable. 
 But Abd-el-Kader knew that his own supremacy could not last 
 in time of peace, and he sought to innovate upon the treaty of 
 the Tafna. According to his interpretation, the French had 
 made a cession to him of the country through which the way from 
 Algiers leads to Constantine ; and besides, he claimed the sove- 
 reignty over all the tribes of the Desert, from Tunis to Morocco. 
 Well aware of the French character, he sent his confidential 
 friend and Khalifa, Milud-Ben-Arash, to Paris, with presents to 
 the King, and entrusted him with the mission of negotiating an 
 explanatory treaty, confirming his new pretensions. But, con- 
 trary to their usual custom, the ministers refused to treat with the 
 envoy in Paris on questions of which they did not know the 
 bearing ; and gave him the advice to negotiate in Algiers with 
 the Governor-General. Milud had to return, and, on the 4th of 
 July 1838, he signed an additional convention with Marshal 
 Valee, by which the French interpretation of the treaty was ac- 
 knowledged ; but Abd-el-Kader' s obligation to furnish thirty 
 thousand bags of wheat, and as many bags of barley, with which 
 he had not complied, was commuted into an annual tribute of 
 two thousand bags of wheat, and the same quantity of barley, for 
 ten successive years. But Abd-el-Kader had in the meantime 
 gone to the south, and the additional convention was not ratified. 
 Up to the treaty of the Tafna, the Emir was nothing more 
 than the military chief of the tribes, carrying on the holy war 
 against the infidels. His sovereignty was not regularly acknow- 
 ledged either by the Arabs or by the Kabyles. But after 
 General Bugeaud and the French Government had granted him 
 the important provinces of Oran and Titteri as his territory, his 
 authority was soon recognised in the interior : it was the French 
 who set him up as Sultan. No tribe dared to refuse tribute to 
 the chief, with whom the Sultan of France had made a treaty on 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF MARSHAL VALEE. 351 
 
 terms of equality. Abd-el-Kader's legitimacy was now estab- 
 lislied. His next step was to organize his territory and his forces. 
 The Emir had seen that the French had successively entered all 
 the principal cities of the Regency; and though they had evacu- 
 ated them, still It was dangerous to concentrate the resources of 
 the new Arab empire so near to the French camps as Tlemsan or 
 Mascara. The capture of Constantine was a clear evidence that 
 no fortification was too strong for the enemy; but Abd-el-Kader 
 was aware of the difficulties of a long march through the country 
 of the Arabs for any French army. He therefore founded new 
 cities to the south of the old ones, as places of refuge, to contain 
 his warlike stores, powder-mills, and gun-factories ; they were to 
 become the real centres of his power. Boghar rose to the south- 
 east of Medeah ; Thaza south of Mlliana ; Saida was to become 
 the new Mascara ; and Tafraua the new Tlemsan. His residence 
 was to be Tekedemt, in the midst of an uncultivated plain be- 
 tween Mascara and Thaza, where some Roman ruins show that, 
 from times of old, importance has been attributed to the place. 
 He began to erect here forts and trenches, barracks, -a mint, a 
 powder-mill and store-houses for his army, and a palace for him- 
 self. To fill the city with inhabitants, he transplanted, in the old 
 Oriental way, the Moors of Mazagran and Mostagenem, the Turks 
 and Kuruglis from Mlliana and Medeah, and gunsmiths and 
 mechanics from all the country, into the new settlement. Milud- 
 Ben-Arash had bought for him In France the necessary utensils 
 and engines for his manufacture of arms. 
 
 In organizing his nearly established power, Abd-el-Kader had 
 principally two objects in view : to maintain the religious fanati- 
 cism of the tribes in spite of the peace with France, and to 
 strengthen his military resources, so as not to be entirely depend- 
 ent on the contingents of the tribes. He wished to become 
 independent of the fickle affection of the Arabs, and to be able of 
 overruling them effectually, both by religious enthusiasm, and by 
 fear of his military force. He concentrated all the power in the 
 hands of Marabuts. None of his vicegerents belonged to the 
 
352 THE ADMINISTRATION OP MARSHAL VALEE. 
 
 military nobility, whom he distrusted, as being too much In- 
 fluenced by the momentary interest of their separate tribes, with- 
 out caring for the Arab empire of the Emir ; whilst the Marabuts 
 had a higher and more enduring impulse than regard for their 
 tribes, namely, hatred of the Christians, with some sentiment of 
 nationality beyond the primitive relations of the tribes. But Abd- 
 el-Kader was well aware that, to establish an empire it is essentially 
 necessary to have " pretorians," — a standing army, which has no 
 national interests, and is only attached to the person of the chief. 
 He therefore sent emissaries to all the tribes, and summoned the 
 young and adventurous men to become " sons of the Sultan," his 
 body-guard, receiving a regular pay, to be always around him, and 
 to bear the brunt of the battles. The flower of the tribes enlisted 
 in this way, and became his regular cavalry. For his infantry, 
 he got young Kabyles, who liked better to serve the Emir for 
 pay than to earn a few boojoos from the French, as labourers for 
 daily wages in the cities : his artillery was served by French 
 deserters, Turks, and Kuruglis. 
 
 When the Emir had, towards the end of May 1838, in this 
 way assembled four thousand four hundred infantry, nine hundred 
 horsemen, one hundred and forty gunners, twelve field-pieces, 
 twenty-nine heavy cannon, and nine thousand muskets, he un- 
 dertook an expedition against the oasis-state, Ain-Maadi, in the 
 Sahara, whose chief, the Marabut Tijini, had refused to acknow- 
 ledge the sovereignty of the new Arab Sultan. The city Ain- 
 Maadi is distant nine days' march from Tekedemt : it is fortified 
 by a strong wall and strong towers : its population is not large, 
 scarcely above four thousand inhabitants ; and the tribes depend- 
 ing on Tijini were likewise neither numerous nor influential. It 
 is therefore difficult to understand why the Emir undertook this 
 distant expedition, which could neither strengthen his prestige, 
 nor add to his resources. Perhaps he thought that the city would 
 fall without great resistance, and he might try his new army in 
 a campaign against an enemy less formidable than the French. 
 He did not surmise that his attack was to be repelled, and that, 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF MARSHAL VALEE. 353 
 
 in order to maintain his honour, and not return without a victory, 
 he would need to make a long siege, which would detain him till 
 the end of the year ; and that even the final conquest would not 
 be a fair equivalent for the forces wasted and the resources spent. 
 In fact, his long protracted absence injured him considerably with 
 the tribes in the west. 
 
 The expedition, being carried on with his regular troops, ab- 
 sorbed his finances ; he had to make exactions in order to fill his 
 treasury, and the hearts of the tribes began to be alienated from 
 him. The Arabs of the west, and especially the Hashems, who 
 could not forget that Abd-el-Kader had risen only by their sup- 
 port, were disaffected at seeing the Emir extend his power farther 
 south, and transfer the centre of his government from Mascara 
 to Tekedemt. Ain-Maadi surrendered at last, late in autumn, 
 and paid a heavy fine. Tijini fled to the Desert, and Abd-el- 
 Kader returned again to those tribes which, after all, were his real 
 strength. 
 
 Marshal Val6e had taken advantage of the cessation of hostilities. 
 In spring, 1838, he occupied finally the cities of Coleah and 
 Belida; he fortified their neighbourhood, and connected them by 
 a military road with Algiers. He organized the province of 
 Constantine, reduced the heavy taxes which had been imposed by 
 Ahmet- Bey, conciliated the affections of the natives by respecting 
 their religious and local traditions; and in autumn he occupied 
 the site of the old Roman city Russicada, and laid here the founda- 
 tions for a new city, Philippeville. Milah, in the province of 
 Constantine, was likewise occupied, and the Arab tribes of that 
 province acknowledged as faithfully the sovereignty of their new 
 masters as they had formerly acknowledged that of the Janissaries; 
 and any outrage committed on isolated Frenchmen was imme- 
 diately punished by the chiefs of the tribes without the interference 
 of the French. In the province of Algiers, the tribes of the 
 Kashnas, Beni-Mussa, and Beni-Khalil, who were the allies of 
 France, and therefore often attacked by the Hajutes, had nerve 
 
 enough to combine against those partisans of Abd-el-Kader, and 
 z 
 
354 THE ADMINISTRATION OF MARSHAL VALEE. 
 
 to chastise them severely. But the Kabyles remained as hostile 
 as ever. In the beginning of December, a combined attempt was 
 made to clear the way from Algiers to Constantine by the 
 " Biban," or defile called the Iron Gates. The column, starting 
 from Constantine under General Galbois, advanced without moles- 
 tation to Setif, the ancient Sitifis. But as the Algiers column 
 failed to arrive, because it was detained b}'- the incessant rain, the 
 French had to retreat, and were immediately attacked and harassed 
 by the Kabyles, and forced to abandon the position of Jimilah, 
 which had been garrisoned by order of General Galbois. 
 
 The greatest part of the following year (1839) passed without 
 serious hostilities. A French brig, the " Independent," had been 
 wrecked in February on the shores of Jijeli; the Kabyles had 
 carried the crew into the mountains, and refused to give them up 
 without ransom. Humanity commanded compliance with the 
 proposal of the wild tribe; but it was immediately determined 
 to occupy Jijeli, the ancient Jelgilis, which in the fifteenth and 
 sixteenth centuries was a flourishing commercial city, but in 1830 
 only a miserable "village. In May, the Foreign Legion was em- 
 ployed on that expedition. The place was taken by surprise, and 
 before the Kabyles had time to concentrate their forces for an 
 attack, fortifications were raised sufficient to protect the new 
 military settlement. Other troops destined to reach the same 
 place by land, chastised, in the meantime, some tribes near Con- 
 stantine, which, excited by the emissaries of Abd-el-Kader, had 
 threatened the subjected Arabs of the lowlands between the Atlas 
 and the coast. 
 
 TJie Emir, seeing the dominion of the French daily extending, 
 and taking stronger root in Africa, had carefully evaded the rati- 
 fication of Milud-Ben-Arash's new convention, and began now 
 more openly to incite the Arabs and Kabyles against the French, 
 though apparently still adhering to the treaty of the Tafna. He 
 made in person a secret visit to the Kabyles, south of Bujia, in 
 June; but he found them little inclined either to acknowledge 
 his sovereignty, or to begin an isolated war against the French. 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF MARSHAL VALEE. 355 
 
 He resorted, therefore, to a system of annoyance and cunning", 
 which was adapted to stir up the French, and make them break the 
 treaty. In the province of Algiers, h.e kept up a continuous agita- 
 tion ; in Oran he induced the natives not to visit the French 
 markets, and levied duties on the products sent to the French 
 garrisons. He received ostentatiously the allegiance of Ferhad- 
 Beu-Said, who had now deserted the French; and he did not 
 deliver the quantities of wheat and barley stipulated by the treaty 
 of the Tafna. Sickness prevailing in the French army hindered 
 serious steps against the Emir, but Marshal Valee decided that 
 something must be done to raise the prestige of the French name 
 without making war. The passage of a French corps through 
 the Gates of Iron (the Biban), on the way from Constantine to 
 Algiers, seemed to be most suitable for the purpose. According 
 to the interpretation of the treaty by the Emir, they belonged to 
 his territory, and the natural difficulties of the country had attached 
 to that defile a superstitious awe : it was said that not even Roman 
 armies had ever crossed them ; and the Arabs thought them im- 
 pregnable, a few men being able here to stop an army. In fact, 
 those gates are what the Americans in the Rocky Mountains call 
 a cannon ; that is to say, a long and narrow defile, bordered on both 
 sides by perpendicular calcareous cliffs, eight to nine hundred feet 
 in height. The passage, where it is widest, is only three hundred 
 feet broad; but on four points, emphatically called the " Gates," 
 the cliffs nearly join, and do not leave more space for the traveller 
 than a gap eight feet wide. 
 
 The expedition was hazardous, but the secret of it was so well 
 preserved, that nothing had transpired of its aim even amongst the 
 soldiers, when they left Constantine, on the 25th of October, under 
 the command of the Duke of Orleans and of Lieutenant- General 
 Galbois. The natives, surprised by the sudden arrival of the 
 French, made no resistance, but went to meet them with presents 
 and victuals. The Sheikhs of the Beni- Abbes, called the Guardians 
 of the Gates of Iron, brought grain, grapes, and straw, and offered 
 to guide the army through the pass. The Prince-Royal invested 
 
356 THE ADMINISTRATION OF MARSHAL VALEE. 
 
 them with burnuses of honour, and they promised to serve faith- 
 fully the Sultan of France. The army, on the 28th, passed the 
 dangerous defiles with precaution, but without meeting the slightest 
 resistance ; but on the next day a runner of Abd-el-Kader was 
 captured, with letters summoning the Arabs to the holy war. A 
 sudden march of the French prevented the Arabs from taking 
 possession of the fortified position of Hamza, the Suza of the 
 Romans, which commands a great plain in the centre of three 
 valleys, leading to Algiers, to Bujia, and to the Iron Gates. A few 
 shots only were exchanged with the horsemen of Abd-el-Kader, 
 who had always indeed claimed that territory as lying within the 
 boundaries set up in his treaty with the French, but was not yet 
 prepared for overt rupture. On the 1st of November, the column 
 arrived in the camp of Algiers, and was received with joyful 
 acclamations by the colonists. Such a long and dangerous ex- 
 pedition, undertaken in the teeth of Abd-el-Kader, without meeting 
 any serious resistance, was looked upon as a great fact — as an 
 evidence that the power of France in Africa was firmly seated. 
 The French did not surmise that this apparent triumph was the 
 forerunner of the greatest disaster. 
 
 Abd-el-Kader was now ready for action. Already, in Sep- 
 tember, he had returned from Thaza, in the Belad-el-Jerid, to 
 Mascara; and, against his custom, he stained his hands with blood. 
 Some of the chiefs of the !Mejeher had not displayed sufficient 
 zeal for his cause; they had furnished houses to the French, and 
 seemed inclined to a lasting peace with the Rummis. Abd-el- 
 Kader had the chiefs beheaded, and the tribe disbanded and dis- 
 persed amongst those tribes upon which he could depend. Such 
 harshness foreboded war, but the passage of the Gates of Iron 
 forced him to immediate action. His authority would have been 
 slighted by Arabs and Kabyles, had he not taken immediate 
 reprisals for the expedition of General Galbois through a territory 
 which the Emir had always contested. He wrote, therefore, to 
 Marshal Valee the following letter: — 
 
 JSfov. 20, 1839. — "I have stated already that all the Arabs 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF MARSHAL VALEE. 357 
 
 are unanimous, and that they think there has been enough of 
 words, and that the time for the holy war is come. I have en- 
 deavoured to change their resolution, but nobody wishes for peace 
 any longer ; they are unanimous to begin the holy war, and I 
 cannot do otherwise than listen to them, in order to be faithful to 
 our law which rules over us. Therefore I do not betray you; I 
 give you notice of what is going on. Send back my envoy from 
 Oran, that he may go to his family; and be ye ready, for all 
 Mussulmans will unite in the holy war." 
 
 Scarcely had the letter arrived, when hostile Arabs ap- 
 peared in the Metija, destroying the crops, carrying away the 
 cattle, and slaughtering the colonists who had not immediately 
 fled. All the province of Algiers was involved in a general 
 blaze. 
 
 As soon as these tidings reached France, reinforcements were 
 sent to Africa; still the French garrisons remained on the defen- 
 sive. They were everywhere blockaded; the line of occupation 
 was too extended, and easily broken through, though the troops 
 resisted gallantly the furious attacks of the Arabs. The defence 
 of Mazagran was one of the most heroic episodes of this bloody 
 war. Mazagran is a small fort in the vicinity of Mostagenem. 
 It was garrisoned in the beginning of 1840 by the 16th company 
 of the " Battalion d'Afrique," only one hundred and twenty-three 
 men, under the command of Captain Lelievre. On the 2d of 
 February, Mustapha-Ben-Thamy, the Emir's vicegerent at Mas- 
 cara, invested them suddenly with a motley crowd of twelve 
 thousand Arabs, one battalion of regulars, and two cannon. The 
 struggle lasted for four days and four nights uninterruptedly. 
 An Arab describing it, said: " Those days were black; for the 
 smoke of the powder eclipsed the sun, and the nights were lighted 
 by the camp-fires and the flashes of musketry and cannon." 
 Half of the ammunition of the small garrison was spent already 
 on the first day; on the second, the commander gave the order to 
 spare the powder, and to repulse the storming Arabs only with 
 the bayonet; on the fourth, he assembled his troops, and said: 
 
358 THE ADMINISTRATION OF MARSHAL VALEE. 
 
 " We have but ten thousand cartridges, and one barrel of powder ; 
 when we have spent the cartridges, we shall enter the powder- 
 magazine, and put the match to it, happy to die for our country. 
 Hurrah for France ! hurrah for the King ! " The company re- 
 peated the exclamation enthusiastically : on the next morning, the 
 plain was free from the enemy. The Arabs had disencamped, 
 seeing that they could not succeed in capturing even the smallest 
 fortified post. Three times the flag- staff on the gate was broken 
 by the bullets of the Arabs ; yet it was always reared again, pro- 
 claiming the victorious resistance of the French. 
 
 Some twenty successful actions were fought in the course of 
 the year ; but in spite of French gallantry, they did not lead to 
 any result. Though the Arabs were unable to storm French 
 fortifications, yet the French could not keep the open field. 
 According to the old system, large columns moved in spring and 
 in autumn to the blockaded places, supplying the garrisons 
 with provisions, and were harassed on their march onward and 
 backward by Abd-el-Kader's horsemen, who avoided any general 
 engagement. The country remained unsubdued : it was clear 
 that after ten years the French had made no real progress 
 in the interior: they were looked upon as hostile intruders, 
 whose sway did not extend beyond the places where they were 
 encamped. 
 
 But whilst the war was raging in the provinces of Algiers 
 and of Oran, Constantine remained quiet. The last conquest was 
 the most secure ; no outbreaks here disturbed the peace ; the 
 chiefs were devoted to the French; the Beni-Salah punished 
 every outrage committed on Frenchmen ; the Sheikhs of the 
 Haractas brought the letters of Abd-el-Kader, summoning them 
 to the holy war, unopened to the French commanders ; and the 
 Nemenshah repulsed Ahmet •Be}'', who made an attempt to rouse 
 his former subjects. On the whole, those eastern tribes seemed 
 to be more accessible to European civilization. There was 
 abundant evidence to prove it : seeing potatoes in the gardens of 
 the French, the Arabs requested their masters to furnish them 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL BUGEAUD. 359 
 
 with the seed of that plant, and four hundred natives had come to 
 Constantine to have their children vaccinated. 
 
 The campaign had lasted alread}'- for one year ; the Generals 
 Duvivier, Changarnier, Lamoriciere, and Cavaignac, had dis- 
 played a military capacity of the highest order. Still all the 
 efforts and sacrifices of the army led to no result; it could not be 
 doubted any longer that Marshal Valee did not possess the 
 genius of grappling with such difficulties. The old European 
 system of war was of no avail against the harassing nomade war- 
 fare of Abd-el-Kader ; a new system had to be invented, and the 
 Marshal was too old for it. He was always too late, in attack 
 and in defence ; the indefatigable energy of the Emir anticipated 
 all his movements ; the Governor felt that he was unequal to his 
 task; he insisted on being recalled, and his request was granted in 
 December 184,0, General Bugeaud being appointed his successor. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL BUGEAUD. 
 
 The policy of France in Algeria underwent a complete change 
 with the appointment of General Bugeaud to the governorship of 
 the French possessions in Africa. Up to his time, there was a 
 continual change of commanders-in-chief and of governors ; they 
 remained, on an average, only for eighteen months at their post. 
 Eight times, in the short space of ten years, the administration 
 was changed; and besides, the generals second in command — as, 
 for instance, Desmichels and Bugeaud — did not care much for 
 their superiors. No system had until now had a fair trial. It 
 seemed as if the Government of Louis Philippe looked upon 
 Algeria only as the means of giving occupation to the army, in a 
 foreign country, not in contact with France, where the soldiers 
 were necessarily to become denationalized and brutalized, like the 
 Austrians and Russians. Besides, Abd-el-Kader had been raised 
 
360 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL BUGEAUD. 
 
 to his important position solely by the blunders of Clauzel, and 
 the treaties of Desmichels and Bugeaud. It seemed, therefore, as 
 if France had been more anxious to have a continuous war in 
 Algeria, that would keep up the military spirit of the French 
 nation, than to colonise the country. 
 
 It was plain that there were only two ways for subduing Al- 
 geria: one slow and steady — we might call it the American 
 system of expansion, by which only so much of the country was 
 to be guarded by the army as was actually occupied by agricul- 
 tural colonists, pushing the natives onward by the plough, and 
 expelling forcibly, or exterminating only those, who remain on 
 their pasture-grounds, unwilling to exchange their roving habits 
 for agriculture. The other system — the English system in India, 
 which does not expel the natives, after they have been taught, 
 by severe defeat, to see that resistance is impossible, — required a 
 large army for a short period, and a great aggressive war, crush- 
 ing every independent chief, preventing the union of the tribes, 
 and putting down any feeling of a nationality common to them all. 
 The first sy^jtem, to which Yoirol and Yalee were inclined, was re- 
 jected by the vanity of the French nation, which would not acknow- 
 ledge that a handful of Turkish janissaries, under the command 
 of a barbarous X)ey, was more successful than the disciplined 
 troops of the great French generals. The second system was 
 hampered by the opposition of the middle classes in the Cham- 
 bers, which were always indisposed to increase the budget. But 
 Abd-el-Kader had now really become a formidable power by the 
 blunders of the French, who might have destroyed him easily, 
 either by strengthening his rival native chiefs, such as Mustapha- 
 Bey, or 15y occupying Mascara, which for a long time remained 
 the only centre of power to the Emir. A war on a grand scale had 
 become unavoidable, and the Chambers could not refuse the neces- 
 sary expenditure, unless they were prepared to give up the African 
 possessions altogether, or to keep only the forts of the coast in the 
 same way as the Spaniards keep Ceuta and Melilla, in a state of con- 
 tinual blockade, without any advantage to the mother country. 
 
^ 
 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL BUGEAUD. 3C1 
 
 The governors of the first ten years were nearly, without excep- 
 tion, men of the Napoleonic wars, reputations to be used up, in 
 order to show that the Napoleonic way of ruling did not suit the 
 exigencies of the present ; they were of no political value for the 
 Orleans interest. But as soon as a great war was resolved upon, 
 General Bugeaud was intrusted with the command, though the 
 treaty of the Tafna, and the secret article of the thirty thousand 
 boojoos (sixty thousand francs), did not recommend him either for 
 diplomatic ability, or for integrity. He was an unpopular man, 
 having in 1834 brutally massacred the insurgents, and, with them, 
 many peaceable citizens, in the streets of Paris. But he was en- 
 tirely bound to the Orleans family, retrograde in his political 
 principles, unscrupulous in his diplomacy, energetic in the field. 
 Such a man at the head of an army, to which he had become en- 
 deared by victories, and which had forgotten its national feelings 
 in a long and savage war with a relentless and cruel enemy, was 
 just what might be required in the future ; either at home as a 
 scourge of the Republicans, whom Louis Philippe always dreaded, 
 though he feigned to despise them ; * or the scourge of Europe, if 
 events should, sooner or later, bring France into collision with 
 Europe. Besides, it was just the time when the Oriental compli- 
 cation between Mehemet Ali and the Sultan had been settled by 
 the four great powers of Europe, with the exclusion of France : 
 Louis Philippe had therefore some need of displaying energy, and 
 of showing that the power of France could not be trifled with. 
 The African army was accordingly increased to 100,000 men, and 
 Abd-el-Kader, who formerly had been treated as a rival power to 
 France, was henceforward styled a rebel. The warfare of the 
 Arabs was adopted by the French; the aim of the expeditions 
 was no longer victory, a great blow against the enemy ; but the 
 destruction of his crops, the capture of his cattle, and the ruin of 
 his villages and encampments. The army was to become as easily 
 
 * In 1848, Bugeaud offered to crush the insurrection of February by a 
 vigorous attack ; but Louis Philippe refused to give orders for a general slaughter 
 of the Parisians. 
 
362 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL BUGEAUD. 
 
 moveable as the Arab tribes. Surprises and sudden irruptions 
 into the country of the enemy were the means for carrying on 
 that system of warfare. It did not recognise neutral tribes. 
 Whichever of them did not immediately submit to France, and 
 give practical proofs of its submission, was treated as hostile. 
 When Bugcaud saw that it was impossible to turn the Arabs and 
 Kabyles into Frenchmen, he turned the French army into Arabs 
 and Kabyles ; and the savage, harassing warfare of the razzias, as 
 those plundering expeditions were called, soon became popular 
 with the French generals and soldiers. In fact, it was a school 
 for the coup d'etat in France. 
 
 General Bugeaud was quite aware how important it is with 
 Mohammedans to act upon their imagination, and to show them 
 at once that all their means of defence could not be of any avail 
 against the French. After having made a few scouring expedi- 
 tions along the Shelif, and having sent provisions to the garrisons 
 of Medeah and Milianah, the Governor-General himself headed a 
 strong column, leading it in the beginning of May, 1841, straight 
 to the heart of the enemy's country — to Tekedemt, the new capital 
 and fortress of Abd-el-Kader, which the Emir had thought to be 
 inaccessible to the French. The army left Mostagenem on the 
 18th, and arrived as early as on the 25th, before Tekedemt, since 
 the harassing warfare of the Arabs and Kabyles proved unsuc- 
 cessful against greater masses of disciplined European troops. 
 The Emir rallied his forces before his capital, and fought a battle; 
 but his horsemen could not stand the attack of the French Zuaves; 
 they fled, and the Governor-General entered the city without re- 
 sistance. It was empty ; the inhabitants had all left, after having 
 set fire to their houses. But all that Bugeaud wanted was to 
 destroy the stronghold of the Emir ; the walls were battered down, 
 the fortifications levelled, and Abd-el-Kader, encamped on the 
 hills in the vicinity, had to see his labour of three years destroyed 
 in one day. 
 
 From the ruins of Tekedemt, Bugeaud directed his march 
 across the country to Mascara; and the Emir, who retreated before 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL BUGEAUD. 363 
 
 the Frencli army everywhere, dared not to oppose them even 
 here. Mascara was likewise deserted by its inhabitants, and 
 partly destroyed ; but the stone houses aflorded to the French 
 sufficient shelter. Bugeaud avoided now the blunder of Marshal 
 Clauzel; he left a strong garrison in the city, and returned to 
 Mostagenem. The Emir, seeing the French on their retreat, made 
 a furious attack upon them ; but he was repulsed with no small 
 loss : seven of his principal chiefs fell in that desperate struggle, 
 and the French troops did not get into disorder. On the 3d of 
 June, Bugeaud was again at his head- quarters, after a short, 
 nearly bloodless, but triumphant campaign. General Baraguay 
 d'Hilliers, who at the same time had left Belida with the second 
 column, was not less favoured by the fortune of war. He reached 
 and destroyed the new establishments of Boghar and Thaza, with- 
 out meeting any serious resistance; whilst Lieutenant- General 
 Negri er expelled from the province of Constantine a vicegerent 
 of Abd-el-Kader, who had nearly succeeded in rousing the tribes 
 of the Medjana. In the Desert, the influence of the Emir was 
 likewise broken, since Bu-Asis-Ben-Ganah had declared himself 
 for the French, and Farhad-Ben-Said, the old intriguer, and now 
 the vicegerent of the Emir, was once more defeated. In August, 
 General Lamoriciere made an expedition from Mascara to the 
 south ; he destroyed the sepulchres of the ancestors of Abd-el- 
 Kader ; he levelled to the ground the Ghetna of Sidi-Mahiddin, 
 and captured and ruined Saida, the last of the new forts of the 
 Emir. 
 
 The campaign had scarcely begun, and Abd-el-Kader's powder 
 was already shaken. It seemed as if the French had allowed him 
 for four years to gather strength, and to provide himself with 
 French muskets and ammunition, only that it should become 
 ■worth their while to destroy him. The results were soon visible 
 in all the provinces. Manj'- tribes sent envoys to the French, and 
 submitted. But Abd-el-Kader had not yet lost the hope of 
 opening negotiations, which might result in a new treaty ; he there- 
 fore gave orders to spare in future the French prisoners. A few 
 
364 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL BUGEAUD. 
 
 hundred stragglers were soon in his power, and their liberation 
 was of course anxiously wished by the French. But Bugeaud 
 avoided any direct intercourse with the Emir, which might have 
 been interpreted as an acknowledgment of an Arab sovereignty. 
 The Bishop of Algiers, M. Dupuch, a generous and true-hearted 
 Christian, took therefore the mission of humanity upon himself; 
 he proceeded to the camp of the Emir on his own responsibility, 
 and arranged an exchange of prisoners. 
 
 The disasters of the first campaign had not damped the ener- 
 gies of Abd-el-Kader. Seeing he could not resist the great French 
 columns, he adopted the plan of chastising those tribes which 
 had forsaken him. Besides, he was able to annoy the French, to 
 blockade their advanced garrisons, to interrupt their communica- 
 tions, and to continue a savage, harassing warfare against them. 
 Having lost Mascara, his capital, and all the strongholds which 
 he had established on the boundaries of the Desert, he now organ- 
 ized his Zmelah ; that is to say, a roving city of tents, harbouring 
 his family and those of his lieutenants, and containing his stores of 
 arms and ammunition. This, his nomade camp, was well provided 
 with camels and beasts of burden, for the easy transport of the 
 women, the children, the old and the infirm. It was guarded by 
 his regulars, and, according to the fortune of war, either advanced 
 to the plains, or retreated to the Desert and its northern oases. 
 The personal activity of the Emir was unbounded in surprising 
 small detachments of the French, in carrying away the cattle of 
 the colonists, in destroying their crops, and in forcing the tribes 
 inclined to peace to follow him into his territory between the 
 Shelif and the Mina. He appeared now amongst the Arabs on 
 the border of the Desert, and immediately after, eastwards amongst 
 the Kabyles in the mountains, and even amongst the Hajutes in 
 the neighbourhood of Algiers, preaching everywhere the holy war, 
 and reviving the slackened fanaticism. But General Bugeaud 
 and his lieutenants soon surpassed the Arabs in that kind of pre- 
 datory warfare, by which the Emir had until now succeeded. 
 General Lamorici^re was left with a sufiicient force in Mascara in 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL BUGEAUD. 365 
 
 the autumn of 1841, and made from that place a series of razzias 
 all over the country. The detachments carried portable mills in 
 their train; the soldiers had learned to find out the places where 
 the tribes had hidden their wheat in subterraneous holes (silos); * 
 they ground their flour in their camps, and lived upon the cattle they 
 carried away from the Arabs. Never embarrassed for want of 
 provisions, they could undertake long scouring expeditions for 
 chastising the tribes, and making it dangerous to remain attached 
 to the fortunes of Abd-el-Kader. Changarnier, Bedeau, Cavaignac, 
 St. Arnaud, and most of the superior officers, whose names have 
 figured among the influential men of France since J848, won 
 here their fame in a war which accustomed them to look only to 
 the ultimate result, irrespective of the means by which it was 
 gained. The African campaign of 1841 and 1842 was not a 
 modern war of disciplined armies, who, whilst fighting one another, 
 spare the agricultural and industrial population, and all those who 
 are incapable of carrying arms. It was a war in the old sense of 
 the word — a war of destruction, not recognising any individual 
 property to be spared; every Arab and every Kabyle was a 
 belligerent; his cattle and his crops, his house and tent, his wife 
 and child, fell under the cruel law of war. It is true that no 
 other system of hostilities could have succeeded in Algeria; but 
 surely it did not elevate the standard of morality, either with the 
 French soldiers or with the officers. The predatory razzias 
 against Abd-el-Kader roused that ferociousness in the French 
 army which was displayed In June 1848 against the insurgents 
 of Paris, and in December 1851 against peaceable citizens. A 
 detailed account of all those destructive expeditions In 1842 is 
 saddening and monotonous, without any general Interest, except 
 for French. The result was the submission of most of the tribes. 
 The Arabs and Kabyles were obliged to furnish to the victors 
 
 * The Arab way of keeping wheat in conical, under-ground holes, is com- 
 mon likewise to the Sicilians and Hungarians in Europe, and to the Armenians 
 and Kurds in Asia. Demosthenes mentions the corn-pits {aipol) of the Thra- 
 
366 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL BUGEAUD. 
 
 auxiliaries, who were, at the same time, to be hostages for the 
 faithfulness of the tribes. 
 
 Driven to despair, Abd-el-Kader became cruel, contrary to his 
 former habits. He had surprised several chiefs of such Arab 
 tribes as had deserted his cause, when unable to resist the French. 
 He had four of them decapitated, one was blinded, and a few 
 mutilated. The Emir's only strength lay now in the Kabyles of 
 the mountains, and it seems that in order to maintain his prestige 
 amongst them, he had to become as cruel as they were themselves. 
 He now inspired terror, and succeeded once more in rousing a few 
 Arab, and many Kabyle tribes, in the east as well as in the west. 
 General Bugeaud saw that the only way of obtaining at last the 
 pacification of the province was an incessant war, not allowing 
 any rest to the harassed tribes, until they themselves should expel 
 the Emir as the cause of their misfortunes. Therefore, not even 
 the severity of the winter interrupted the military expeditions; 
 the razzias followed one another in the Kabyle mountains as 
 well as in the Arab plains, until at last the Duke d'Auraale suc- 
 ceeded in surprising and capturing the Zmelah of Abd-el-Kader 
 on the 16th of May. Three thousand six hundred prisoners, 
 amongst whom were three hundred of the kin of the Emir and of his 
 lieutenants, his treasure, his tents, and his correspondence, four 
 standards, and a cannon, were the trophies of that day. General 
 Lamoriciere, on the 19th, completed the victory by capturing two 
 thousand five hundred prisoners more, the horses, the cattle, and 
 the baggage of the Zmelah. 
 
 Old Mustapha-ben-Ismael, once the superior, then the rival of 
 Abd-el-Kader, whom he never called otherwise than " that son 
 of Mahy-Eddin, who felt honoured when he ate with my servants," 
 had taken an active part in all the engagements of the last years. 
 He had been appointed French General, Commander of the 
 Legion d'Honneur, and was happy to see his rival humiliated; but 
 on his return from the capture of the rest of the Zmelah, he was 
 waylaid by some Arabs, and shot in ambush. His followers fled 
 panic-stricken, and the Arabs carried the head of the old man away, 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL BUGEAUD. 367 
 
 presenting it to Abd-el-Kader. The Emir had it salted, and sent 
 round from tribe to tribe as a sign of triumph, in order to coun- 
 teract the depressing influence of the tidings of defeat. It was 
 too late. In the Regency of Algiers there remained no hope 
 more for the Emir; a few tribes only followed hira and his for- 
 tunes. Defeated once more, in October 1842, at Uad-Mala, he 
 fled with his followers from the territory of their fathers to Morocco, 
 in the hope that perhaps the population or the Emperor might be 
 induced to make a stand against the encroaching Frencli. 
 
 In the third year of an incessant war, Bugeaud had completely 
 succeeded in defeating every resistance to France. The tribes 
 flocked to the French generals to declare their submission and to 
 pay their tribute, and it seemed that the Regency was pacified. 
 In order to extend the influence of France even over the tribes of 
 the Belad-el-Jerid, three expeditions were now undertaken to 
 the south ; the first, under the command of the Duke d'Aumale, 
 was to proceed to Biscara, on the southern border of the province 
 of Constantine; the second had to go into the central Belad-el- 
 Jerid, under General Marey, to subdue the independent tribe of 
 the Oulid Nail ; the third proceeded from Oran against the An^ad, 
 whilst the Governor-General, -lately elevated to the rank of 
 Marshal, was to chastise the Flissas and Amrauahs south of 
 Bujia, who made incursions into the territory of the tribes allied 
 to France, since the Kabyles were incited to do so by Ben- Salem, 
 the vicegerent of Abd-el-Kader. All those expeditions were 
 crowned with the most complete success. The march of the three 
 first columns was a triumphant progress, the Sheikhs received them 
 with acclamations and presents, Biscara opened its doors without 
 resistance, and the power of France seemed as firmly established 
 as that of the Deys had formerly been. The Marshal succeeded 
 even in scouring the country of the Kabyles, and easily occupied 
 the city of Dellys, on Cape Matifu, the Ruscurium of the Romans. 
 Bugeaud, who had always styled himself the farmer's friend, and 
 had taken considerable interest in the cattle- shows and agricul- 
 tural .dinners in France, now thought that the time of colonization 
 
368 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL BUGEAUD. 
 
 had at last arrived; the end of the year 1843 was employed in 
 schemes for the extension of agriculture in the conquered country. 
 But one difficulty had yet to he overcome. The Sultan of 
 Morocco, the most important monarch of Africa, had not yet felt 
 the power of France, and Abd-el-Kader had found a shelter in 
 the empire of the west (El Gharb, the Arabic name of Morocco). 
 
 The Emperor, Muley Abd-er-Rahman, a cunning and avaricious 
 man, was in a difficult position. Ever since 1830, it was the 
 principal point of his policy not to embroil himself in difficulties 
 with France : his aim was peace, though not at any price. Still 
 a Mussulman prince is as much influenced in his policy by the 
 prejudices of his people, and their sympathies or antipathies, as 
 any constitutional sovereign of Europe. The Arab, as well as 
 the Kabyle population of Morocco, felt a natural interest in the 
 fortunes of Abd-el-Kader; and their fanaticism was roused by the 
 victorious progress of the French, and by the reverses of that 
 champion of the faith, the Emir, whom Muley Abd-er-Rahman had 
 often secretly furnished with arms, of course at a high price. 
 Surrounded by the threefold halo of the saint, the hero, and the 
 martyr, Abd-el-Kader had at last, in 1842, been driven into 
 Morocco, a homeless exile ; and it was difficult for the Emperor 
 to restrain the excited enthusiasm of the frontier tribes, who, 
 though nominally under the sovereignty of Muley Abd-er- 
 Eahman, and paying to him a tribute, were in fact nearly inde- 
 pendent. A new incident led to more serious complications. 
 
 A Jew, of the name of Victor Darmon, consular agent of Spain 
 and Sardinia, in Mazagan, a town on the Morocco coast, had 
 killed a Moor in an affray. He was sentenced to death, and 
 executed by the local authorities, after he had again killed one of 
 his guards in an attempt to escape. The consuls of Spain and 
 Sardinia, residing inTangiers, made serious remonstrances against 
 this violation of international right, as the case had not been 
 communicated to them before execution ; and the French consul 
 backed those protests. The Sultan of Morocco gave an unsatis- 
 factory answer, and Spain began to threaten the empire with 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL BUGEAUD. 369 
 
 hostilities, unless full satisfaction were given. The minds of the 
 Moroquins became excited, and Abd-el-Kader seized this oppor- 
 tunity of involving the Emperor in a war. 
 
 Muley Abd-er- Rahman could not resist the popular impulse, 
 lest Abd-el-Kader, at the head of the war-party, should dethrone 
 him. He therefore gave orders to as>semble the troops and the 
 contingents of the tribes, in the hope of remaining master of the 
 movement. The Amazighs and Shillukhs came down from their 
 mountains into the cities, where, according to their custom, they 
 discharged their muskets, and wasted much gunpowder. The 
 European merchants, and the French consuls in Tangiers and 
 Mogador, immediately pretended to have been threatened and 
 insulted. As the French had encamped close to the frontier of 
 Morocco, on the banks of the Maluia, the Emperor had likewise 
 a camp assembled on the other bank of the river. So close to 
 one another, hostilities became inevitable. On the 30th of May 
 1844, some Arabs discharged their muskets on the French sen- 
 tries ; the shots were returned ; a fight ensued ; the irregular 
 Arabs and Kabyles in the Moroquin army attacked the French, 
 and were repulsed with loss. The Moroquin chiefs were much 
 grieved at this untoward event, and sent the army back to some 
 distance from the frontier to the town of Ushda ; and Ei-Ghenavi, 
 the Kaid of Ushda, repeatedly visited Marshal Bugeaud and 
 General Bedeau, in order to explain to them the difficulty of his 
 position, and declare his desire to maintain peace. But Abd-el- 
 Kader again succeeded in inducing the contingents of the tribes 
 to renew the attack, much to the satisfaction of the French. 
 Marshal Bugeaud now crossed the frontier, defeated the assail- 
 ants, and took possession of the city of Ushda. New complaints 
 were immediately made ; the French claimed from the Emperor 
 that the Moroquin army on the frontier should be disbanded ; 
 that the Kaids and Sheikhs, who had headed the attack on the 
 French, should be punished ; and that Abd-el-Kader should be 
 expelled from Morocco. Muley Abd-er-Rahman, on the other 
 hand, excused the Kaids, on the plea that the boundary was con- 
 
370 THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL BUGEAUD. 
 
 tested, and had been violated first by the French ; and he at the 
 same time accused the Marshal of having knowingly entered the 
 empire, and taken possession of Ushda, which was certainly a 
 much more flagrant violation of the territory than the first attack 
 on the French made by undisciplined Arab horsemen. He there- 
 fore consented to punish the Kaids, on the condition that Marshal 
 Bugeaud should be recalled by the king ; as both parties, according 
 to the Moroquins, were in fault, and both had to give complete 
 satisfaction. The French felt themselves insulted by such a 
 demand : the consul at Tangiers sent an ultimatum to the Em- 
 peror ; and when, instead of an answer from him, only a concilia- 
 tory letter of the Pasha of Larash arrived on the day fixed for 
 the expiration of the ultimatum, assuring him that a satisfactory 
 answer of the Emperor was on the way, the French fleet, under 
 Prince Joinville, on the 6th of August, bombarded the port of 
 Tangiers (the Tingis of the Romans), and again, on the 15th, the 
 city of Mogador, which was partially destroyed, and, after a 
 desperate struggle, captured by the French. The Moroquins did 
 not know that they were involved in war with France, but most 
 gallantly, though unsuccessfully, defended themselves to the 
 utmost against an attack which should be branded as piratical, 
 though we have seen Napoleon T. attacking in the same way 
 Malta and Egypt, England bombarding Copenhagen, and the 
 combined fleets of England, France, and Russia, destroying the 
 Turkish fleet at Navarino in time of peace. Another case of 
 the same kind happened again at Rangoon, which w^as like- 
 wise bombarded whilst the negotiations were going on. The 
 recent occupation of the Danubian Principalities is only an imita- 
 tion of those French and English precedents. But the outrage 
 at Tangiers was so much the more unprovoked as the submis- 
 sion of the Sultan to tlie demands of France had been really 
 signed on the 2d of August, and was only accidentally delayed 
 on the way to Tangiers. But the French pursued a similar 
 course likewise on the Algerine frontier. Abd-er-Rahman, in 
 order to preserve peace, had the Kaid of Ushda deposed and 
 
THE ADMINISTKATION OF GENERAL BUGEAUD. 37 I. 
 
 imprisoned ; nevertheless Bugeaud again crossed the frontier, in 
 order, as he said, to accelerate the conclusion of the negotiations. 
 Of course such a violation of the territory could not be endured 
 by Muley Abd-er- Rahman : he again demanded the removal of 
 Marshal Bugeaud, and the retreat of the French army to some 
 distance from the frontier ; whilst, at the same time, he reinforced 
 his troops, and sent his son to command them. The army num- 
 bered already forty thousand men; and the fanaticism of the 
 Mussulmans was raised to such a degree, that in their camp they 
 spoke of marching to Tlemsan, to Oran, and even to Algiers, as 
 soon as war should be declared. Bugeaud' s position began to 
 grow critical, since he had only thirteen thousand men under his 
 command. He therefore thought he might succeed better by sur- 
 prise, and took to the offensive, whilst unscrupulously dispensing 
 with any declaration of war. The Moroquin troops knew that 
 the negotiations were on the eve of being concluded, and did not 
 suspect any attack, when, suddenly on the night of the 14th of 
 May, they received the tidings that the French army was ap- 
 proaching. They had scarcely time to arm themselves before the 
 French had crossed the river of Isly, and were attacking the camp 
 of the Moroquins. The Mussulmans, thus surprised, made three 
 attempts to rally and to crush the French by their superior num- 
 bers ; but their efforts were vain — they fled in the greatest dis- 
 order. Their camp fell into the hands of the French ; and the 
 tent and umbrella of the son of the Emperor — from times of old 
 the sign of imperial power in the East — were sent to Paris as 
 trophies of French gallantry. Marshal Bugeaud was elevated to 
 the rank of " Duke of Isly," and Generals Cavaignac, Bedeau, 
 and Pellissier, got additional fame in France. But this was the 
 whole result of the battle ; for it was fought after the treaty of 
 peace between France and Morocco had already been signed. It 
 did not alter the conditions of the treaty, — not even the expulsion 
 of Abd-el-Kader was insisted upon by France, since the Emperor 
 had declared that he was bound by his religion not to refuse 
 protection to those who are unfortunate, and claim it in the 
 
372 
 
 name of God. But the pride of Morocco was humbled by the 
 defeat ; though the glory only, not the honour, of France was 
 increased. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE CATASTROPHE OF ABD-EL-KADER, AND OF HIS CONQUERORS. 
 
 The French were firmly persuaded that the battle of Isly had 
 ended the war in Africa, since Abd-el-Kader was removed by the 
 Emperor of Morocco to the interior, and the Moroquins had not 
 the intention of wiping off their defeat by an aggression. Bugeaud, 
 therefore, full of schemes for colonization and protection of agricul- 
 ture, departed for Paris in order to get authority to execute them. 
 He did not yet sufficiently know the toughness and perseverance 
 of Mussulmans. Scarcely had Abd-el-Kader vanished from the 
 scene, than an unknown young man suddenly appeared among the 
 Kabyles, Mohammed-Ben- Abd- Allah, with the surname of Bu- 
 Maza (the father of the goat). Strange prophecies had preceded 
 his appearance, and the young Kabyle assumed the character of 
 the liberator, who was promised by pious Marabuts as often as 
 the Mussulmans felt oppressed by the Christians. He was to be 
 the man to found a new empire, and to drive the foreign con- 
 querors into the sea. In the Kabyle country on the Shelif, he 
 went from tribe to tribe; his eloquence excited the people, and 
 Arabs and Kabyles spoke of the miracles he had |)erforraed 
 wherever he was seen. The insurrection was kindled again, but 
 without any apparent plan. Adventurers arose, on some twenty 
 points, to lead the tribes against the French, and all of then\ 
 assumed the name and surname of their model, Mohamraed-Ben- 
 Abd- Allah, the Bu-Maza. When Abd-el-Kader heard the battle- 
 cry of the holy war raised again, he escaped from Morocco, and 
 appeared once more in Algeria, to take advantage of events. 
 He despised Bu-Maza, who, in his eyes, was but an adventurer ; 
 
AND OF HIS CONQUERORS. 373 
 
 the Emir, in turn, was hated by the young Kabyle, who would 
 not work for the aggrandizement of a used-up chief. Still the 
 force of events linked their interests together ; the cunning Arab 
 Emir and the adventurous Kabyle concerted their measures. The 
 isolated movements were combined ; and on the 25th of Septem- 
 ber 1845, a sudden outbreak took place all over the province of 
 Oran. Some French detachments were surprised and cut to 
 pieces, and the country was once more in a blaze. Bu-Maza 
 and the Kabyles, flushed by their success, really believed in the 
 expulsion of the French ; but it soon became evident that Abd- 
 el-Kader had different views : he pushed straight towards Mas- 
 cara, and carried away the great tribe of the Beni-Ammer, and 
 a portion of the Hashems, who had been alvvays attached to 
 his person. They suddenly left their territory, and driving be- 
 fore them all the tribes with whom they fell in, they carried a 
 considerable population away to Morocco, to support there the 
 plans and the influence of Abd-el-Kader. But the Emir could 
 not leave the field without aiming a great blow at the " Rum- 
 mis." Resolved to carry terror into the very heart of the 
 French possessions, he hastened with incredible rapidity to the 
 east of Algiers, towards the capital, accompanied by the most 
 fanatical warriors of the tribes whom he met on this flying expe- 
 dition, and pouncing upon those tribes which Vv^ere known as 
 faithful to the French. Marshal Bugeaud suddenl}^ returned from 
 France on the news of such disasters, ready to meet the tmir once 
 more; but the Arab had already sustained a discomfiture from 
 General Gentil, which had arrested his eccentric movement. His 
 retreat towards the Desert was intercepted ; he had to turn back 
 the same way he had come, pursued by the enemy, and soon 
 abandoned by his followers, whom he had gathered on his march 
 onward. It was only the fleetness of his horse which saved him 
 from being captured, and he arrived in Morocco, followed only by 
 fourteen horsemen. The French now made regular war upon 
 Bu-Maza, who had soon to surrender, and was carried to France, 
 where he was held for some time in honourable confinement, then 
 
374 THE CATASTROPHE OF ABD-EL-KADER, 
 
 brought to Paris, and there lionized, until the savage Kabyle 
 became as tame and as civil as any Parisian dandy; whilst Abd- 
 el-Kader had achieved his aim, and had once more become for- 
 midable, though not now to the French, but to the Emperor of 
 Morocco. However, he had to abide his time for furthering his 
 ambitious plans. 
 
 Algeria was once more pacified in summer 1846. The Arab 
 tribes had all either submitted to the authority of the French, or 
 had followed the Emir to Morocco ; but the Kabyles remained in 
 their savage independence, though without being as aggressive 
 as before. Their sullen fanaticism continued to be dangerous; 
 an expedition was, therefore, sent into their mountain-fastnesses 
 in the vicinity of Bujia. Their resistance was feeble; three 
 engagements sufficed to convince them that the time had arrived 
 for acknowledging the sovereignty of the foreigner. On the 25th 
 of May 1846, all the Kaids and Sheikhs came down from the 
 Jurjura to the French camp, which was pitched at the foot of the 
 Atlas, close to Bujia, to receive their investiture, and to declare 
 their allegiance to France. After seventeen years of incessant 
 war, the French had at last conquered all the country nearly as 
 far as either the Romans or the Turks had extended their sway in 
 the interior. But Marshal Bugeaud, Duke of Isly, did not reap 
 the fruits of his toils : his mission in Algeria was completed ; and, 
 contrary to his wishes, he was recalled by Louis -Philippe. 
 
 The Duke of Isly had proved in Africa an energetic and success- 
 ful general : though a pedantic disciplinarian, yet not devoid of 
 organizing genius ; an unscrupulous statesman, who did not care 
 for the means by which he enforced his aims ; he loved money and 
 influence ; he had a narrow mind, and great perseverance. But 
 his zeal for the colony of Algiers was not feigned ; he had had 
 the welfare of the Regency really at heart. He was succeeded 
 in the governorship of Algeria by the Duke d'Aumale. This 
 appointment showed clearly that the province was looked upon as 
 entirely secure, since, according to modern policy, it is not in 
 time of danger that such a post is confided to a royal prince, 
 
AND OF HIS CONQUERORS. 875 
 
 though it was known that General Lamorlclere, the personal ftieud 
 of the Prince, was, of course, to have a considerable influence in 
 the administration. 
 
 Abd-el-Kader in the meantime pursued his ambitious schemes 
 in Morocco. Sweeping over the province of Oran, he had carried 
 away his favourite tribes, the Beni-Ammer and the Hashem. 
 " The Beni-Ammer," he used to say, " are my cloak — the 
 Hashem are my shirt." They had greatly auftcred in the last 
 years ; their crops had been burnt and trampled down by French 
 columns; their cattle carried away; the best of their braves 
 slain. Formerly the most important of th^ tribes on the plain of 
 Mascara {Ma asker, means in Arabic, the mother of the braves), 
 they had been reduced to poverty. The Emir transplanted them 
 to Morocco, where the sympathy of the people made good their 
 losses, whilst they increased the influence of Abd-el-Kader. He 
 was no longer the poor exile, living upon the charity of Muley 
 Abd-er-Rahman : he had become once more a chief of several 
 Arab tribes; and his immediate followers, that is to say, his 
 regulars, gave him a power not to be despised. His renown, as be- 
 ing the great champion of the faith, and the enemy of the Rummis, 
 made his camp soon the centre of all the Moroquin fanatics and 
 enthusiasts, who could not bear the idea that their Emperor should 
 remain at peace with those infidels who had taken possession of a 
 Mussulman country, and had taxed the believers. The influence 
 of the Emir increased daily in the yearts 1846 and 1847; and 
 Muley Abd-er-Eahman, fond of peace, money, and commercial 
 speculations, looked with suspicion on the movements of his guest. 
 He did not wish to become involved in a second war with the 
 French, whom he knew to be equally formidable by their valour 
 and by their cunning, and he could not doubt that Abd-el-Kader 
 was brewing some mischief — either a new inroad into Algeria, or 
 a revolution in Morocco. The Emperor had therefore his own 
 army assembled, and watched the movements of the Emir. In 
 December 1847, Abd-el-Kader sent his vicegerent, Buhamedi, to 
 Abd-er-Rahman, with proposals of an arrangement by which he 
 
376 THE CATASTROPHE OF ABD-EL-KADER, 
 
 inight be appointed vicegerent of the Emperor. It was now 
 scarcely possible to avoid a collision, for the demand could not be 
 granted without causing a war with France, nor refused without 
 a civil commotion. Abd-el-Kader knew it, and in expectation of 
 an unfavourable answer, he marched his assembled forces towards 
 the frontiers of Algeria. General Lamoriciere, informed of this 
 movement, led a corps of observation likewise to the Maluia, in 
 order to watch the development of events. On the 9th of Decem- 
 ber, the Emir received a letter from Abd-er-Rahman by the 
 imperial runners, informing him that, as long as he remained 
 hovering on the frontier, and maintaining an army of his own, 
 no arrangement could be made ; but if he consented to come to Fez, 
 the Emperor would treat him as his guest ; the regulars would 
 be incorporated into the Moroquin army, and all his followers, 
 the refugees and the tribes of Algeria, would receive a territory 
 sufficient for their wants. In case, however, the Emir should not 
 accept these proposals, the way to the Desert was open to him, 
 and the Emperor's troops would not hinder his departure for the 
 Sahara. Abd-el-Kader dismissed the runners without any answer, 
 and assembled all his troops and all his followers around his per- 
 son ; he put, plainly and without palliation, the case before them, 
 and informed them that he was resolved once more to try his 
 fortune, and to attack the troops of the Emperor. If victorious, 
 he was sure to become the vicegerent of Muley Abd-er-Rahman, 
 and to wield all the power of Morocco; if defeated, his camp 
 would probably be plundered, but the retreat to the Desert through 
 the French territory might not be impossible, where they could 
 find an asylum. His followers received the statement Avith en- 
 thusiasm. 
 
 With one thousand two hundred cavalry and a thousand infan- 
 try, he pounced now upon the Moroquins, and surprised them on 
 the night of the 12th December. By driving four horses tarred, 
 and carrying ignited combustibles on their backs, into the hostile 
 camp, he succeeded in creating a panic. The Arab auxiliaries of 
 the Emperor fled in confusion, but the regulars soon formed them- 
 
AND OF HIS CONQUERORS. 377 
 
 selves in squares, and the impetuous charge of Abd-el-Kader 
 broke down before the bayonets of the masses. He had to retire 
 without victory; but the Moroquin troops now rapidly surrounded 
 him, so as to cut him off from the Desert, pressing him towards 
 the mouth of the Maluia, between the sea and the banks of the 
 river. His career was drawing to a close. Well aware that it 
 was nearly impossible to escape death or imprisonment, he cared 
 first for those of his faithful followers who were helpless ; he sent 
 the females, the children, and the old men of his retinue, and all 
 valuables, over the river, to seek an asylum with the French. 
 The Moroquin Kabyles, seeing this move, by which their booty 
 was to escape them, threw themselves furiously on the small army 
 of the Emir; but his horsemen and regulars on foot heroically did 
 their duty : half of them were slain on the spot whilst unflinch- 
 ingly resisting the murderous attacks, until at sunset all the 
 retinue had crossed the river, and was safe on the French terri- 
 tory. At night, Abd-el-Kader gathered the few remains of his 
 army, and fled to the Beni-Snassen, a Moroquin tribe, which had 
 been always attached to his cause. He had the hope of succeeding 
 in reaching the Desert, but the Moroquins and the French array 
 barred his way. His horsemen met with the Spahis of Lamori- 
 ciere, and the Emir perceived that the disarming of his retinue 
 had not diverted the attention of the French general from his 
 person. Placed in a position similar to that in which the 
 Emperor Napoleon found himself in 1815, when the allies had 
 entered Paris, whilst English cruisers were watching the coast, 
 the Emir took the same resolution as the Emperor. Per- 
 haps he had heard Napoleon's story from some renegade, and 
 was aware how the English were devoted to eternal hatred 
 by the French for having treated the submitting enemy as a 
 rebel, and not as a prisoner of war. He was sure that the 
 French could not follow the example of the English government 
 in the time of Lord Castlereagh. Unable to escape, he sent his 
 submission to General Lamorici^re, delivering himself up to the 
 generosity of the French, under the condition that he should be 
 
378 THE CATASTROPHE OP ABD-EL-KADER, 
 
 sent in a French vessel either to Alexandria or to St. Jean d'Acre, 
 that he might pass the rest of his life in prayers at the tomb of 
 the Prophet. Laraoriciere thought he did not overstep his powers 
 in granting him the request ; and on the 24th of December, the 
 Emir was led by the General to the Governor- General, the Duke 
 of Aumale, who had just arrived at Djemma Gazauat. Abd-el- 
 Kader, as a sign of his submission, gave up his horse to the Prince, 
 who forthwith ratified the pledge of General Lamoriciere, in the 
 firm hope that the government of the King would sanction it. 
 But Monsieur Guizot and his colleagues did not sanction the 
 double promise of the General and of the Governor- General : 
 they out-Castlereaghed Lord Castlereagh, for no solemn pledge 
 was given to the Emperor Napoleon before his submission; on 
 the contrary, he was openly told that he could not surrender but 
 at discretion. Chivalry and generosity seemed to have died out 
 in France. Abd-el-Kader was sent to Amboise, and kept in 
 honourable confinement, together with his family and followers. 
 
 The revolution soon avenged the wrongs of the Emir on King 
 Louis Philippe, on the Duke of Aumale, and on Monsieur Guizot. 
 But republican France was not more generous than royal France 
 had been. Lamartine, who had a speech of sympathy for all the 
 oppressed, had no memory for the promise given to the Emir; 
 he did not think it advisable, after so manj'- noble words, to 
 do a faithful act. But the man of pompous speeches likewise 
 vanished from the scene on which he had displayed such splen- 
 did tragic talents : the man of action — an African general, the 
 celebrated Cavaignac — succeeded him in the Government of 
 France. But the stern republican interested himself more for the 
 restoration of papal despotism in republican Rome, than for re- 
 deeming the pledge of his brother-in-arms, the General Lamori- 
 ciere, though it had been ratified in his own presence by the 
 Duke of Aumale, Governor-General of Algeria. Abd-el-Kader 
 remained prisoner at Amboise. However, the schemes for the 
 restoration of the Pope did not save Cavaignac; the General 
 was soon discarded by the people, and Louis Bonaparte was 
 
AND OF HIS CONQUERORS. 379 
 
 elected President of the French Republic a few weeks before the 
 anniversary of the submission of Abd-el-Kader. The Prince- 
 President had himself been a prisoner : he had energetically de- 
 nounced " the perfidy of England, and the shame of St. Helena."* 
 When, therefore, he appointed Lamoriciere his minister at St. 
 Petersburg, everybody expected the release of the Emir. But 
 Lamoriciere and Louis Bonaparte seemed to have forgotten that 
 the honour of France was not yet redeemed. An English peer 
 now took up the case of poor Abd-el-Kader, and reminded the 
 President that it might be judicious to seem generous by being 
 just ; and, by a strange coincidence, this peer was the brother of 
 Lord Castlereagh — of the man who had sent the uncle of the 
 President to St. Helena, to be watched there, just as the Emir 
 was now watched at Amboise ; Louis Bonaparte did not remind 
 the British peer of the past, and delayed the release of the Arab 
 chief. However, he redeemed the pledge of General Lamoriciere, 
 soon after having banished him, and set Abd-el-Kader free. 
 The Emir was treated in Paris with kindness and respect, and 
 was sent, at last, to Broussa, in Asia-Minor, where, amidst the 
 tombs of the early sultans, he lives now on a French pension. 
 
 With the surrender of Abd-el-Kader, a complete change took 
 place in Algeria. No serious revolt disturbed the country any 
 more, and all the French generals of African celebrity, with the 
 exception of Pellissier, left the scene of their victories. Lamori- 
 ciere, Cavaignac, Changarnier, Bedeau, Duvivier, Negrier, Char- 
 ras, St. Arnaud, Canrobert, Baraguay d'Hilliers, and manj^ 
 others of less note, were, in consequence of the revolution, called 
 to France, whither they imported their African policy and ex- 
 perience. Bugeaud died soon after the overthrow of his master, 
 but not before placing his sword at the command of the Republic. 
 After the unexpected fall of Louis Philippe and his dynasty, the 
 
 * I am well aware that those views, which nearly every Frenchman holds, 
 are scarcely understood, and always indignantly rejected by the English, who 
 maintain that after Napoleon had broken the treaty of Fontainbleau by his return 
 from Elba, and surrendered at discretion by coming on board the Bellerophon, 
 he must either be shot or watched, as he could not be trusted any longer. 
 
380 THE CATASTROPHE OF ABD-EL-KADER, 
 
 Government of France fell into the hands of Lamartine, a senti- 
 mental poet, on the eve of bankruptcy ; of Ledni Rollin, a shrewd 
 lawyer, equalling his poetical colleague both in eloquence and in 
 want of statesmanship ; and of Louis Blanc, an analytical, revolu- 
 tionary genius, without any power of reconstruction, who, besides, 
 had always lived secluded with his theories, and was untried in 
 practical life. A few second-rate men, politicians and red-tapists, 
 completed the Government. It was a sad spectacle. France has 
 so utterly lost every tradition of self-government, that governed 
 it must be from the centre, anyhow. And governed it was accord- 
 ingly, not by energetic reforms and great administrative measures, 
 but by great speeches and petty intrigues. The lower classes of 
 the people felt that a revolution was something more than a 
 change of name, and that the mere substitution of the word Republic 
 for the word Monarchy would not do. The eloquence of Lamar- 
 tine amused them greatly; the awkward conspiracies against 
 foreign countries fostered by Caussidiere and Sobrier, the lieuten- 
 ants of Ledru Rollin, did not interest them ; but they listened to 
 the words of Louis Blanc, who promised better days and greater 
 comforts than heretofore. The poet and the lawyer, being old 
 politicians, combined first to displace the apostle of the organiza- 
 tion of labour from his seat in the council of Government, and 
 succeeded in sending him into the professor's chair in the Luxem- 
 bourg. Then, in order to counteract the theories of Louis Blanc, 
 and to show the absurdity of any endeavour for the amelioration 
 of the condition of the working classes, they established the 
 Ateliers Nationaux against the will and advice of the prophet 
 of the Luxembourg. But Lamartine intrigued likewise against 
 Ledru, who delighted in mob-rule without being able to direct it. 
 The sentimental poet, backed by the frightened monied classes, 
 soon out-generalled the cunning lawyer, who had fallen into the 
 greatest disrepute, not for his real shallowness and want of ad- 
 ministrative talent, but for alleged peculations and reckless ex- 
 penditure of public money, of which he was not guilty at all. 
 Calumny against those who are in power, is always believed in 
 
AND OF HIS CONQUERORS. 381 
 
 a democratic country. A financial crisis disturbed all the social 
 relations ; the monied classes were anti-republican and cow- 
 ardly ; the working classes turbulent and unruly. Such was the 
 society of France when the African generals arrived one by 
 one. How they must have despised that weak and blundering 
 Government which spent its power in paltry intrigues, unable 
 either to inspire confidence and courage in the plutocracy, or 
 energy and self-reliance in the working classes — unable either to 
 handle the iron rod of centralization, or to establish provincial 
 and municipal self-government — unable either to compress the 
 movement in France, or to give a vent to its energies by a 
 campaign in aid of the struggling nations of Europe ! But those 
 African generals had no lever by which they could have moved 
 the country ; the Provisional Government had prudently sent the 
 army away from Paris. The first among them who distinguished 
 himself in France, was Changamier. "When, on the 15th of May, 
 a procession of above a hundred thousand working men was 
 paraded through the streets of Paris, and invaded first the National 
 Assembly, and then pressed to the Hotel de Ville, the seat of the 
 Government, and Lamartine despaired of being able to disband the 
 mob by a speech, since his voice could not, of course, reach such a 
 crowd, — Changarnler, impatient of the proceedings, had the drum 
 beaten and the National Guard called out. The middle classes 
 assembled, and saw at once, to their own astonishment, that they 
 likewise were a power, and an armed and disciplined one: the 
 African General had taught them self-consciousness, and mob- 
 rule was henceforth impossible. But the middle classes were 
 not satisfied with the first success : the working classes were to 
 be subdued and crushed. The Assembly, therefore, decreed, with- 
 out previous notice, the immediate dissolution of the Ateliers 
 NationauXj which had cost many millions without any return, 
 and where the labourers and mechanics were kept in idleness, but, 
 strange to say, organised in a military way; no provision was 
 made, even for the first moments, in favour of the inmates of the 
 Ateliers, by the dissolution of which nearly one hundred thousand 
 
382 THE CATASTROPHE OF ABD-EL-KADER, ETC. 
 
 able-bodied paupers were suddenly tbrown on the streets, in June 
 1848. Organized as they were, without resources, deprived of 
 that protection by which a blundering Government had under- 
 mined their self-reliance, they tore up the pavement and made 
 war. An energetic attack would have probably immediately 
 subdued those deluded insurgents ; but it is one of the rules of 
 African policy to let the enemy grow strong, that it may be 
 worth while to defeat him ; and accordingly the insurrection was 
 allowed to gain power on the first day, before General Cavaignac 
 began his razzia in the streets of Paris. The Generals Duvivier 
 and Negrier, who had escaped the bullets of the Arabs of the 
 Desert, and of the Kabyles of the mountains, fell in that street- 
 fight by which Cavaignac became the ruler of France. But if 
 it is possible, in a centralised country, to get the empire in such a 
 way, it is impossible thus to get the confidence of the people. 
 Louis Bonaparte was, in December, elected President. 
 
 The new President, who never had held a higher military rank 
 than that of a captain in the Swiss Militia, soon out-generalled the 
 Africans. He made some of them his ministers, in order to dis- 
 credit them; some others he attached to his person, whilst the 
 most renowned formed an opposition against him. When the 
 proper time had come, he ordered, in December 1851, a success- 
 ful Arab razzia through the streets, after having entrapped the 
 haughty plutocratic Changarnier, the stern republican Cavaignac, 
 the amiable legitimist Bedeau, the brilliant Orleanist Lamoriciere, 
 and the energetic and devoted Charras: he banished them all 
 from the country. African policy was now sufficiently acclimated 
 in France : the country had no longer any need of African 
 generals. 
 
RECAPITULATION. 383 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 The destiny of a country and the character of its inhabitants is 
 nearly always prefigured in its geographical features. Wherever 
 we see large lakes and navigable rivers, and a coast deeply 
 indented by sea, affording access into the interior, or extensive 
 connected plains, which offer easy means of communication ; there 
 we commonly find a focus of commerce, industry, and that civi- 
 lization which arises from the frequent intercourse with foreigners. 
 Nearly always it is a country of rapid changes in the manner of 
 thinking, a country of progress and activity. But where the 
 coast offers but few harbours for shipping — where no navigable 
 rivers lead into the interior — where mountains of difficult access 
 bar the communication between the plains, — there we find agri- 
 cultural and cattle-raising nomade populations, secluded from the 
 world, adhering to their old traditions, and shunning contact with 
 foreigners. And if such a country is, besides, situated under a 
 southern climate, where the first necessities of life are few, and 
 nature yields them with full hands, without hard labour to a sober 
 population, that population remains long in a primitive state ; and 
 that evolution of the spirit of man which we are used to call 
 civilization, cannot easily be introduced among them. They have 
 no wish for our progress, and even when they are brought into 
 contact with a highly civilized nation, they spurn its luxuries, and 
 think themselves happier in their patriarchal life, without the 
 wants and without the feverish excitement of the more progressive 
 races. 
 
 Algeria, from her geographical configuration, can never become 
 a great commercial country: still she maybe once more, as in 
 times of old, the granary of Europe ; she may even vie with the 
 Southern States of the North-American Union in producing 
 tobacco and cotton. But the difficulties which the French have 
 
384 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 to overcome until they amve at such a result, are innumerable, 
 from the nature of the country, the manners and customs of the 
 natives, and from the peculiarities of the French race, which has 
 to colonize the fine country. 
 
 Geographically, the Regency of Algeria is divided into three 
 unequal portions, entirely different from one another: the narrow 
 sea-coast, the broad Atlas, and the southern slope of the mountain- 
 plateau, designated promiscuously by the name of the Koblah 
 (the south), the Belad-el-Jerid (land of dates), and (improperly) 
 the Sahara. The coast runs in a long south-easterly line from 
 Cape Hone to Cape Tabarca : it is little broken by indentations 
 of the sea, and affords but few harbours to commerce. On the 
 whole, it contains many narrow valleys of the most fertile 
 character, divided by hilly plateaus, and expanding near Oran, 
 Algiers, and Bona, into extensive plains. Those valleys and 
 plains are the most valuable portion of the Regency, being by sea 
 connected with the adjacent countries. They are, besides, suffi- 
 ciently provided with small rivers, such as may be eaisily available 
 for irrigation, and are protected by the plateau of the Atlas from 
 the hot and dry winds of the Desert, which are cooled by passing 
 over snow-capped mountains. Oranges, pomegranates, grapes, 
 olives, and mulberries, grow here in abundance; and the experi- 
 ments with the sugar-cane, with cotton, tobacco, and cochineal, 
 have sufficiently established the fact, that as regards soil and 
 climate, the coast of Algeria could supply Europe with all the 
 staple articles imported now from the Southern States of the 
 North American Union, as soon as the resources of that colony 
 were sufficiently developed by a denser European population. 
 Till then, the large plains invite the capitalists to extensive 
 grazing and wool-growing enterprises. The greatest drawbacks 
 of that paradisial portion of the country are the swamps in its 
 northern part, and the miasmas, which threaten the health of the 
 colonists; but the French army has executed great works of 
 drainage in the most recent years; many of the marshes, men- 
 tioned by Dr. Wagner, have been drained into the natural course 
 
RECAPITULATION. B85 
 
 of the rivers, and have disappeared altogether. The coast of 
 Algeria is now, on the whole, more healthy than the coast of 
 Italy, to which it is likewise superior in fertility. 
 
 The Atlas is in Algeria not so much a mountain-range as a 
 wide compact plateau, running parallel with the coast, occupying 
 about three-fourths of the Regency, rising often into high peaks, 
 especially near the coast; being intersected by a few large valleys 
 at different levels, and cut through by some very narrow ravines, 
 such as the Americans call " cannons," and the Turks and Arabs 
 " iron gates." This plateau has a rapid descent towards the 
 plains and valleys of the sea-coast, whilst it slopes more gently 
 down towards the Desei-t. Nearly all the Atlas is suited for 
 cultivation; forests crown its head; its valleys once provided 
 imperial Rome with wheat, and offer the greatest advantages for 
 cattle-breeding. Abundant iron, valuable lead and copper ores, 
 large deposits of rock-salt, and beautiful marble and alabaster, are 
 known to exist here, and though only scantily worked by the 
 natives, who possess no capital whatever, they have always been 
 found remunerative. 
 
 The steppes on the southern slope of the Atlas are arid and 
 barren, being studded with date-palms only along the few rivers. 
 They, however, contain pasture-grounds which remain green even 
 in summer. The Belad-el- Jerid, or Kobla, is altogether a transi- 
 tion to the great sand-desert of the Sahara, which, on its northern 
 boundaries towards Algeria, is broken by a few oases, namely, 
 Tuggurt, Wurgelah, Gherdaia, Ain-Maadi, and El-Aghuat. All 
 this^country is little fit for agriculture; its population, therefore 
 — nomade in the Kobla, industrial and commercial in the 
 oases — is altogether dependent on the Tell, that is to say, on the 
 agricultural district, which comprises both the sea-coast and the 
 Atlas. The southern tribes must resort from tlm6 to time to 
 the northern markets for corn; they therefore are used to say, 
 "The Tell is our mother: whoever may be her lord, he is our 
 father." 
 
 According to this natural configuration of the country, which 
 
 2 B 
 
386 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 has no navigable rivers — since the mountains, running in a 
 parallel range to the coast, send their waters only from short dis- 
 tances to the sea — the principal cities of Algeria are situated on the 
 sea-coast, which offers uninterrupted communication with all the 
 world; namely, Arzew, Mostagenem, Tenez, Shershel, Algiers, 
 Dellys, Bujia, Jijeli, Collo, Philippeville, Bona, and La Calle. 
 A second series of cities, nearly parallel to the first, has been built 
 in the centre of the plateau; namely, Tlemsan, Mascara, Miliana, 
 Medeah, Orleansville, El-Arush, Ghelma, Selif, Aumale, Con- 
 stantine, and Lambessa. They are important in a military point 
 of view, as they command all the mountain and the southern 
 steppes, which are dependent on those markets, and contain only 
 a few insignificant cities, such as Saida, Sebdu, Batna, Boghar, 
 Teniat-el-Ha^t, and Biscara. 
 
 The native inhabitants of this country are — in the plains, 
 Arabs ; in the mountains, Kabyles ; in the cities. Moors. The 
 Arabs of Algeria are in language, character, and habits, like 
 the Bedouins of Mesopotamia. The Moors are in all these 
 respects like the Arab-talking Mussulmans of the Syrian towns 
 and neighbouring villages. Accordingly, the Moors are peaceable 
 towns-people and agriculturists ; the Arabs nomadic, pastoral, 
 and making war on horseback. The Kabyles are to the Arabs 
 what the Kurds of the Mesopotamian mountains are to the 
 races of the plains, more ferocious and bloody, differing in lan- 
 guage and origin, fairer in complexion and hair, living in huts, 
 tilling the soil, and having little cavalry. The Kabyles, as 
 well as the Arabs, live in tribes : the feeling of nationality has 
 'scarcely become known to them : they cling to their tribe and 
 its territory more than to their country. The only tie which con- 
 nects Moors, Arabs, and Kabyles, is the religion common to 
 them all, — Islam ; which, together with the climate, makes them 
 sober in eating and drinking, and teaches them to despise the 
 luxuries of the world, and to strive for the blessings of Paradise. 
 
 iSuch are the natural conditions of the people and the country 
 which in 1830 were invaded and occupied by the French army 
 
RECAPITULATION. 387 
 
 at the bidding of a king who did not care for colonization, but 
 wished to give a different direction to the spirit of his incon- 
 sistent people, in order to hide his encroachments on civil liberty 
 at home by the glory of foreign conquest. It was a flagrant 
 violation of the law of nations. For, whatever may have been 
 the conduct of the Dey towards the consul of France, the Turkish 
 Sultan, as sovereign of the country, offered full reparation to the 
 French, and sent, in November 1829, his plenipotentiary, Haji 
 Khalil Effendi, and again in May 1830, Tahir Pasha, to Algiers, 
 in order to arrange the difficulties peacefully. But the French 
 government gave no answer to the communications of Khalil, and 
 refused to admit Tahir. Besides, Charles X. had previously assured 
 the English government that France had no intention of any 
 territorial aggrandizement, and yet the occupation took place, and 
 Louis Philippe kept the country. 
 
 The ruling power of Algeria was at that time a foreign militia ; 
 in fact, Turkish janissaries, recruiting their numbers in the prin- 
 cipal cities of Turkey, and forming here in Barbary a kind of 
 military republic among themselves, with an elective chief. Ac- 
 cording to the Mohammedan principles of administration, they 
 allowed to the inhabitants full liberty of local self-government : 
 they did not interfere in the affairs of the Arab and Kabyle tribes 
 beyond the exaction of a moderate tribute, and the repression of 
 outrages against the ruling power, or against other tribes. In 
 such cases, they held the whole tribe responsible for every indi- 
 vidual belonging to it, according to the primitive principle of the 
 '' frank pledge." In order to facilitate such an exercise of their 
 supremacy, they had garrisoned the principal cities, in which 
 they invariably built or occupied a citadel, called either Kasbah 
 or Meshuar. Another means of power was their auxiliaries in 
 the Arab tribes ; in fact, young men inscribed on the rolls of the 
 Turkish militia, and receiving regular pay as often as they were 
 summoned to give assistance to the janissaries. This institution, 
 called Makhsen, resembled in some respect the Landwehr of 
 Prussia. The " laissez /aire " principle was carried to the broadest 
 
388 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 extent ; for internal improvements, drainage, irrigation, or roads, 
 nothing was done by the Government. But the tribes were con- 
 tented with that rule which maintained peace, repressed shocking 
 outrages, and did not interfere with the daily life of the natives. 
 The towns-people were less happy. Industrial enterprise was 
 fettered, since the Deys and Beys clung to the system of mono- 
 polies and of privileged corporations, which enrich but a few 
 lucky speculators. Those monopolists became in their turn a 
 mark to the hatred of the less fortunate citizens, and to the cupi- 
 dity of the chief; and therefore, whenever the State was in finan- 
 cial embarrassments, the rich were imprisoned or killed, and had 
 to disgorge their gains into the treasury of the Dey, or of the 
 subordinate Beys, without exciting sympathy in the crowd. 
 The rule of the janissaries, though stupid in details, was, on the 
 whole, not unpopular with the natives. The French did not 
 know that ; and in the belief that the Turks were equally hated, 
 as oppressors, by the Moorish and Jewish towns-people, the nomade 
 Arabs, and agricultural Kabyles, felt greatly surprised when, after 
 the downfall of the Dey, they were not hailed as liberators by 
 the population of Algeria, and met, on the contrary, with fanatical 
 resistance. Without being able to enforce their own rule — de- 
 void of organizing genius, and detesting local self-government — 
 the conquerors, by banishing the Turks, only removed the police 
 of the country : they let loose all the passions of enmity between 
 the tribes, and disorganized the Regency, which fell into a state 
 of anarchy and civil war. Religion alone could stop the carnage ; 
 and a cunning and gallant young Arab chief, belonging to a 
 family of saints, the celebrated Abd-el-Kader, made use of the 
 religious feeling of the Kabyles and Bedouins to raise an Arab 
 empire in the west. The short-sightedness and corruption of the 
 French generals did not fail to afford him that moral assistance 
 by which he soon overcame all opposition from the secular chiefs 
 of his race. 
 
 "rtie French, in truth, did not know what to do with their 
 conquest. When Louis Philippe and the reign of the monied 
 
RECAPITULATION. 389 
 
 classes had succeeded to Charles X., they had neither the moral 
 courage to give up a territory which was got by a violation of 
 right and of solemn pledges, and which daily required greater 
 sacrifices; nor had they the energy to complete and so organize the 
 conquest. Algiers was regarded as a place for drilling the army, 
 for maintaining its prowess, and for punishing the republican 
 battalions by sending them against the enemy. The government 
 of Algeria served again for getting rid of the military chiefs who 
 might have become obnoxious to France. Indeed, the system 
 by which Louis Philippe expected to be able to found a lasting 
 power was : to put off the more eminent men in authority, whilst 
 crippling their resources, by coquetting with their opponents ; and 
 in this way, emasculating the Government and the opposition, to 
 prevent the formation of great national parties, such as are based 
 on principles, and fostering, at the same time, the selfishness and 
 the pocket-interests of the people. In the first ten years of his 
 reign, the citizen-king changed his ministers continually in 
 France, and his commanders-in-chief and governors-general in 
 Algeria. The Regency was, from 1830 to 1840, administered by 
 eight different governors. Marshal Bourmont not included : none 
 of them, therefore, had time to become thoroughly acquainted 
 with his task, and perfect his system of administration. It was 
 only in the last eight years of the king that he clung pertinaci- 
 ously in France to Guizot, and in Algeria to Bugeaud, — one a 
 philosophical courtier, the other a rough soldier ; both cunning, 
 energetic centralizers, affecting Roman virtue and incorrupti- 
 bility; thinking themselves better and wiser than the rest of 
 their countrymen, and therefore feeling the deepest contempt for 
 public opinion ; talking constitutionalism, whilst leaning towards 
 despotism ; haters of any form of local self-government. They 
 were men after the heart of Louis Philippe. Of course the 
 ephemeral empire of Abd-el-Kader was soon broken up by Bu- 
 geaud, who was constantly supplied with an army of 100,000 
 French soldiers ; and the genius of the young Arab had to submit 
 to the disciplined forces and the never-failing resources of France. 
 
390 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 His able and successful resistance during the first period of the 
 French dominion in Algeria, the righteousness of his cause, 
 and the romance of his captivity, have surrounded his name with 
 a halo of poetry. Abd-el-Kader is really a great man : he fought 
 for the independence of his country; he displayed remarkable 
 talent for diplomacy; he overreached all the French generals in 
 his negotiations; he did not lack the organizing genius, so rare 
 in our century ; his family life was pure, and his character not 
 stained by avarice. Though less cruel than his Arabs and 
 Kabyles, and far more magnanimous than all those chiefs and 
 princes who have based their power on religious fanaticism, he is 
 still not free from blame. The murder of Bethuna, the inoffensive 
 Kabyle chief of Arzew, throws a shadow on the character of the 
 Emir ; his boundless ambition led him to the unprovoked attack 
 on the state of Ain-Maadi, where he spent his energies and re- 
 sources for no practical purpose ; and again it was bis ambition 
 which made him forget the gratitude due to the Emperor of 
 Morocco: this put him in antagonism with his protector, and 
 caused his final overthrow and captivity. He is now the pensioner 
 of France, and the French have scarcely any serious resistance 
 now to anticipate in Algeria. They have occupied all the prin- 
 cipal towns of the Regency, and their sway is acknowledged 
 by all the Arab tribes. The Kabyles south of Bujia and on the 
 Tafna may still from time to time annoy the lords of the country, 
 and try to throw off the foreign yoke which but slightly oppresses 
 them ; but their resistance will always be easily crushed, and they 
 cannot hope to escape the grasp of France. The war has entirely 
 come to an end with the defeat of Abd-el-Kader, and even the 
 hopes of any later successful insurrection have been extinguished 
 by his surrender, since no other chief can start with the enormous 
 prestige of the Emir, and even, if partially successful, would soon 
 be put down by the jealousy of the other chiefs. The Regency 
 has been definitively conquered and pacified since 1848. From 
 that time, it has had no other enemie,;? than the Oases-States. 
 
RECAPITULATION. 391 
 
 Ain-Maadi, El-Aghuat, and Gherdala, have been already sub- 
 jected : Tuggurt and Wurgelah have alone i?emained independent. 
 The French nation has spent, in twenty-three years, between 
 seventy and eighty millions sterling on the conquest and coloniza- 
 tion of Algeria; and this expenditure is one of the main sources 
 of the financial embarrassments of the country, being the principal 
 cause of the continuous deficits in the budget, since the Regency 
 absorbed one hundred million francs a- year ever since 1840, prin- 
 cipally for maintaining an army of 100,000 men in the field. 
 What has been achieved by such an outlay ? and is there any pro- 
 bability of a return for such sacrifices ? These are the questions 
 which every economist puts to the historian. Statistical figures 
 answer sufficiently. There are, according to the census of 1852, 
 124,400 European colonists in Algeria; 69,980 of them being 
 Frenchmen, the remainder Spaniards (35,130), Italians, Maltese, 
 Germans, Irish, and Poles. Of the European population, 80,142 
 live in towns, and only 44,258 in the country, of which about 
 32,000 are agriculturists. Ireland, with its six millions of 
 wretched inhabitants, sends, in one year, more emigrants to 
 America, than France, with its thirty-six millions, has sent in a 
 score of years across the Mediterranean. Algeria has not re- 
 lieved the mother country of her pauper population, and the 
 emigration has not promoted, in any way, the wtII -being of the 
 working classes, either in France, by draining off their surplus, 
 and causing a rise of the wages ; or in the colony, by establishing 
 there a numerous, happy, agricultural people. According to the 
 above cited figures, one-third only of the European population of 
 Algeria live in the country, two-thirds are publicans, hotel and 
 coffee-house keepers, traders, and servants in the towns, living 
 principally upon the immense government expenditure ; so that 
 nearly one half of them might be justly called camp-followers, 
 since, as soon as the African army, which even now amounts to 
 65,000 men, is reduced to a more reasonable figure — as soon as 
 the army-officers, whose pay goes into the pockets of the French 
 
392 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 town population, leave Africa, all those jobbers and shopkeepers 
 and publicans will retire with them to France. And even the 
 32,000 so-called agriculturists do not belong to that sturdy race 
 which forms new prosperous states in the wilderness of the far 
 west in North America; one-third of them are gardeners, who 
 have planted themselves in the immediate neighbourhood of 
 those towns where there is a permanent French garrison, in order 
 to provide them with vegetables and fruits, and thus depend en- 
 tirely on the army. 
 
 But it would be unjust to pass a severe judgment on the 
 French nation as unfit for colonization, on account of the want of 
 success of their African plantation in the first tw^enty years. The 
 Government has done much, one may say, more than that of any 
 other country, for the future welfare of the colony. A net of 
 high-roads has been constructed all over the Regency, in order to 
 connect the different towns and camps of Algeria; and though it 
 was originally from a strategical point of view that it was con- 
 structed, still its benefit extends to all classes of inhabitants, and 
 even the natives have learned already the importance of cheap 
 communication. It is an every-day's occurrence to see wild 
 Hajutes and ragged Kabyles in the stage-coaches which run in 
 every direction from Algiers over the Metija, and across the 
 Atlas. Great works of drainage and of irrigation have been com- 
 menced, and are carried on with vigour in the plains around 
 Algiers, Bona, Constantine, Mascara, and Oran; and Bugeaud 
 has, by his schemes of irrigation in the plain of the Sig, raised for 
 himself a more lasting monument than by the treaty of the 
 Tafna and the battle of Isly. On the whole, the French have to 
 contend in Algiers with more serious difficulties than either the 
 Americans in the west, or the English in Australia and New 
 Zealand. The natives of Algeria are more numerous than the 
 aborigines of any district of equal extent in America or Australia; 
 besides, they are more civilized. They do not belong to a decay- 
 ing race, which wastes away by the very contact with the intruding 
 superior race and its vices. They are partly shepherds, partly agri- 
 
RECAPITULATION. 393 
 
 culturists ; not hunter-tribes, such as must follow the buffalo into the 
 wilderness, as soon as the noise and bustle of colonization drives 
 the game from their territory. The Arabs and Kabyles have 
 long ago taken possession of the country, and every tribe has its 
 well-defined territory. With their numbers and their energies, it 
 would be too dangerous for the French to enforce the bold and 
 barbarous principle, that all the former titles have become void 
 and merged into the right of conquest, and that the land has 
 become vested in the government of the conquering nation. The 
 natives of Algeria being sober, some paltry presents and a great 
 deal of intoxicating spirits cannot induce them to sell their heir- 
 dom and the resting-places of their fathers. The Kabyles of the 
 mountains have tilled nearly all that portion of the Atlas which 
 can be tilled with profit; and if the plains look deserted and 
 uncultivated, we should not forget that, to live by cattle-grazing, 
 requires more room than to produce food by agriculture. It is 
 true that bye and bye the Bedouins might be induced, by the 
 prospect of greater income, to till the ground, to live in fixed 
 settlements, and to sell the territory then sensibly superfluous ; 
 but a population which has but few wants, is little inclined to the 
 more toilsome life of the agriculturist and of the mechanic, and 
 to exchange its unbounded freedoni for some ignoble comforts. 
 Until now, therefore, only the neighbourhood of the cities has 
 been open for colonization, since only the Moors easily parted 
 with their land, principally in the first epoch of the French domi- 
 nion, when, acted upon by religious fanaticism, they emigrated 
 into the interior, without caring for their property. No doubt, 
 the public domain of the Deys and Beys, which has been re- 
 asserted by the French, contains many estates, but they are 
 surrounded by the territories of the tribes. Though large in 
 extent, they do not lie in contiguity, and are, therefore, always 
 exposed to the inroads and robberies of Bedouins and Kabyles. 
 They do not allure colonists, for European settlers do not like such 
 neighbours. Large areas have been acquired by drainage ; swamps 
 have been filled up; and waste land, which, from the luxuriance 
 
394 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 of the dwarf-palm, is unfit for pasture grounds, may be occupied 
 by industrious settlers : but, on the whole, the land is not in a 
 condition which might induce wealthy colonists to settle thereon. 
 
 The national character of France is likewise very different from 
 that of England or America. The French, like all the Celtic races, 
 cling more to their native soil than the Anglo-Briton ; and there 
 are no greater political rights held out in Algeria for the agricul- 
 tural paupers, which might allure them to cross the sea. On 
 the contrary, Algeria is dependent on the ministry at war : it is 
 always in an exceptional position; the sword rules as yet in 
 Africa, and the rights of the civilians are not sufficiently guaran- 
 teed against the arbitrary sway of the military officers. 
 
 The domain of the French government contains now 390,600 
 hectares of land, of which 160,000 are in the province of Con- 
 stantino, principally around Bona; 183,000 in the provinces of 
 Oran and Algiers, the old domain of the Deys; to which were 
 added above 100,000 hectares, which formerly belonged to the 
 tribe of the Beni-Ammer, in the province of Oran, having been 
 confiscated when this tribe followed Abd-el-Kader to Morocco. 
 
 From 1830 to 1847, about 48,000 hectares of the domain were 
 either sold or granted away to colonists. The Republic again 
 Issued different grants to the extent of 22,000 hectares, whilst 
 250,000 hectares have been purchased by European speculators 
 from the natives. But of this great expanse bought from the 
 natives, scarcely more than 20,000 hectares are really under cul- 
 ture. The domain not yet granted away is likewise uncultivated, 
 except to a small extent in the immediate neighbourhood of the 
 camps, where the soldiers work the fields and mow the meadows. 
 Only a small portion of the domain-fields in the province of 
 Constantine is leased out to natives. The land, therefore, 
 available for purposes of colonization, amounts to about 640,000 
 hectares, but scarcely 50,000 hectares are really cultivated, the 
 meadows included, which do not require any other culture than 
 mowing, or an)'- other care than that of keeping the cattle out 
 of them. 
 
RECAPITULATION. 395 
 
 Now, In order to shdw tlie proportion of these figures to the 
 whole extent of Algeria, we must remember that, according to the 
 statistical accounts of 1846, the extent of the Tell — that Is to say, 
 of the coast and of the Atlas, the arid steppes of the Belad-el- 
 Jerid, and the oases of the Sahara not included — was estimated 
 at 15,400,000 French hectares, which were classified in the fol- 
 lowing way : — % 
 
 Arable land actually tilled by natives and Europeans, 
 
 Meadows which can be mowed, 
 
 Pasture grounds, . . . . 
 
 Forests available for timber, 
 Forests injured by fire and thickets. 
 Extent covered by shrubs and dwarf-palms, 
 Land overflooded in winter and spring, but affording good pasi 
 in summer, ..... 
 
 Swamps, ...... 
 
 Barren rocks, sand, lakes, and rivers. 
 
 770,000 
 770,000 
 
 4,38.9,000 
 115,500 
 169,400 
 
 3,696,000 
 
 231,000 
 
 23,000 
 
 5,236,000 
 
 15,400,000 
 
 On the whole, therefore, the results of the colonization are not 
 very splendid as regards agriculture. Not one- tenth of the ground 
 available for culture has as yet been taken up, though France has 
 spent millions upon millions to advance the welfare of the colony. 
 Indeed, thirty- four places have been fortified, barracks have been 
 constructed for 70,000 soldiers and for 20,000 horses, and hospi- 
 tals for 12,000 invalids, to the extent of £2,500,000. We have 
 already mentioned the net of high-roads, and the works of drainage 
 and irrigation ; many old Roman aqueducts have been repaired, 
 new ones built. Immense works undertaken for the extension and 
 safety of the ports of Algiers and Bona, churches, mosques, foun- 
 tains, hospitals, orphan-houses, schools, bridges, light-houses, and 
 wharfs raised, and villages constructed. The sums spent in this 
 way amounted, according to the French Blue-books, to above 
 £4,600,000. Above £7,000,000 sterling, have therefore been 
 expended with lavish hands for works of public utility in Algeria 
 in the course of twenty years. The sacrifices of France were 
 great, but the present generation will scarcely get a fair return 
 
396 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 for them, as, according to the budget of 1849, the income of 
 Algeria was the following, in round numbers: — 
 
 1. Direct taxes, 
 
 2. Stamp-duty, and income from the domain, 
 
 3. Forests, salt, and import-duty, 
 
 4. Post-office, 
 
 5. Tribute of the Arabs, 
 
 6. From different sources, 
 
 7. Local municipal taxes, 
 
 £16,400 
 
 138,000 
 
 134,000 
 
 33,000 
 
 82,000 
 
 34,000 
 
 200,000 
 
 
 £637,400 
 
 Whilst the expenditure was the following 
 
 :— 
 
 Army, ...... 
 
 £2,160,000 
 
 Military constructions, . . . . 
 
 180,000 
 
 Administration, . . . . . 
 
 980,000 
 
 Public worship and education, 
 
 22,000 
 
 The judiciary, . . . . . 
 
 25,000 
 
 Post-office, custom-houses, &c. 
 
 41,000 
 
 Plantation of new agricultural settlements. 
 
 400,000 
 
 Local and municipal expenditure. 
 
 200,000 
 
 Total, 
 
 £4,008,000 
 
 The deficit, therefore, amounted to 
 
 £3,370,600 
 
 We see, then, that Algeria has surely no right to complain of the 
 stinginess of the mother country; yet in spite of the immense ex- 
 penditure for securing the welfare of the colony, the colonists did 
 not, as was expected, appear in crowds in the beautiful country, 
 which is only at two days' distance from France. The Government 
 has made easy grants of large extent to capitalists, under the con- 
 dition of settling a certain number of families on the estates, and of 
 building houses for them, and providing them with the means of 
 living on their first arrival. In vain has the administration sent 
 over the paupers of France, built villages, bought all the necessary 
 agricultural tools and cattle, and even cleared the ground for them 
 by soldiers; in vain have the veterans got land- warrants for their 
 military services; in vain have religious and socialist communities 
 been planted in theMetija and on the Sig, and political offenders sent 
 
RECAPITULATION. 397 
 
 over to Lambessa on the Aur^s. Hundreds of millions of francs 
 have been spent, and yet the result, as regards the increase of 
 population, is smaller than in any of the new States of America, 
 or in any of the agricultural colonies of England. The reason is 
 palpable, though the French do not seem to understand it: the 
 French Government meddles too much in the affairs of the colo- 
 nists, even more than the English Colonial Office, and does not 
 allow the action of local self-government ; the colonists, therefore, 
 rely entirely on the Government, and do not exert their own 
 energies. It is over-nursing which chokes the African plantation. 
 As to the natives, they have been greatly benefited by the 
 French conquest. Before 1830, the price of a bull in Algiers 
 was about sixteen shillings, a sheep was sold at two shillings, a 
 hundred of eggs or a hundred of oranges cost sixpence, and a 
 quarter of wheat could be had at twenty-six shillings. To-day 
 the prices are about the same as those of Europe : the income of 
 the tribes has therefore been considerably increased. Many 
 Kabyles, Biskaris, and Mozabites, have been attracted by the 
 high wages into the cities, and the Arabs throng to the fairs with 
 their agricultural products. They begin to become acquainted, 
 little by little, with the comforts of European life, and they pos- 
 sess the means of buying them. They have not yet given up the 
 habit of hoarding; but as soon as they shall become aware of the 
 security which they enjoy under French supremacy, they will 
 spend the treasures which they formerly hid. They have already 
 become the wealthiest Mussulman population in the world : more- 
 over, the wealth has been diffused among them generally ; it is 
 not only the chiefs, but all the members of the tribes who grow 
 rich. It is impossible that such a change should not engender 
 great results in their social condition; so much the more, as in all 
 the cities Arab schools have been established by the French 
 Government for the natives, and two Mussulman colleges have 
 been endowed in Algiers and Constantino. Since the French 
 have no proselytizing tendencies, the children of the Jews and 
 Moors, and even of many Arab Marabuts, attend those schools 
 
398 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 assiduously. Even the female schools found Mussulman pupils, 
 as soon as the parents became convinced that the children were 
 not Christianized, and that no interference was attempted with 
 their religious convictions. 
 
 As to the way in which the natives are governed, the inhabit- 
 ants of the towns — that is to say, Moors, Jews, and the temporary 
 population of Kabyles and Biskaris — are, of course, under the 
 French centralizing administration, which is still more stringent 
 in Algeria than in France, but less arbitrary than was occasionally 
 that of the Janissaries. The Kabyles, on the other hand, are as 
 free as they ever have been : they owe only nominal allegiance to 
 France; their phiefs, elected by the tribes, appear once a-year 
 before the French commanders, who do not fail to give them the 
 investiture, being unable to control them efficiently. Many of 
 the mountain tribes bear even that token of subjection indig- 
 nantly; nearly all the disturbances since the downfal of Abd-el- 
 Kader occurred in " Great Kabylia" — that is to say, the moun- 
 tain-range around Bujia and Jijelli, or farther east on the plateau 
 called by the French " Little Kabylia." But the severe chas- 
 tisement which never failed to follow any outrage or defiance of 
 French authority, has broken the spirit of resistance, even in the 
 fastnesses of the Jurjura, French columns having, in 1851 and 
 1852, scoured nearly all the mountains which were deemed inac- 
 cessible up to that period. The Arab tribes of the Belad-el- Jerid 
 are likewise but nominally subjects of France; but even the oases 
 of Ain-Maadi and of El- Aghuat have acknowledged French sove- 
 reignty ; only the Beni-Mozab and the inhabitants of Tuggurt 
 and Wurgelah remained independent. But the Mozabites court 
 already the friendship of France, well aware that their remoteness 
 from the coast could scarcely protect them any longer from being 
 annexed to the Regency, in case of hostilities. The Sherif of 
 Wurgelah alone remains an enemy to France, and often harasses 
 the tribes which have made their submission to the " Rummis." 
 
 The administration of the Arabs in the Tell is now a compro- 
 mise between the old traditional self-government of the tribes and 
 
RECAPITULATION. 399 
 
 French centralization. M. Cocliut, a distinguished French econo- 
 mist, describes it in the following way : — 
 
 " France governs the Algerine tribes by about one hundred 
 native agents, who receive regular pay from the Government. 
 Seven of them bear the title of Khalifas, sixty-one are Aghas, 
 twenty Kaids. Those officials are a sort of commissioners, trans- 
 mitting to the tribes and executing the orders of the French 
 authorities ; they are the natural chiefs of that Mussulman militia 
 which is bound to take up arms within the territory of their tribes 
 in case of emergency. They assess and collect the taxes ; they 
 enforce the fines ; they inquire into crimes, and punish them ; 
 they are the guides of the French troops. Their principal means 
 of action lies in the superintendence of the fairs, since in those 
 countries the fairs are political assemblies, which bring together 
 the nomade population. It is only at the fairs that the Kaids 
 and Aghas can enforce the payment of the tribute when it is not 
 voluntarily given, since the necessity of exchanging the products 
 of industry for corn, forces even the Kabyles and Saharians to 
 appear in the markets. 
 
 "The Khalifas, Aghas, and Kaids, are appointed by the 
 Governor- General, on the presentation of the commanders of the 
 provinces, who have previously to inquire into the merits of the 
 individuals to be presented, of the native and French agents of 
 the different localities. The local Sheikhs and Kadis of the tribes 
 appear every year at the seat of the Provisional Government, and 
 receive their investiture. By this means the French are able to 
 control the loyalty of the tribes. In the time of the Deys, the 
 Sheikhs had to give presents to the Beys for their investitures ; 
 the French, on the contrary, give a regular pay to those chiefs, 
 since they are regarded as imperial officials. 
 
 " The French agents enforce their authority by the auxiliaries 
 and the militia. The auxiliaries, who are called Makhsen, are 
 tribes in the pay of France, obliged to take the field at the first 
 summons. They get £7, 8s. a-year per head, and £10 for every 
 killed horse; in case of a regular campaign, they are entitled to 
 
400 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 an extra pay. There are three such auxiliary tribes in the 
 province of Algiers, and three in the province of Oran ; in Con- 
 stantine, the raost peaceful of the provinces, the French have no 
 need of auxiliaries. The native militia, or constabulary, are 
 either Khialas (horsemen) or Askers (footmen) : they live upon 
 their fields or among the tribes, and must give assistance to the 
 French agent. The horsemen among them get tenpence a-day, 
 the constables on foot, fivepence. Their number amounts over all 
 the Regency to one thousand eight hundred men. 
 
 " At the head of the administration of the natives are the 
 Bureaux Arabes, thirty-four in number. They are presided over 
 by officers of all grades, from the colonel to the lieutenant, accord- 
 ing to the importance of the locality. Those officials are required 
 to be thorough business men, conversant with the Arabic, endowed 
 both with resolution and with good- will towards the natives. They 
 have to be arbitrators, but such as shall give weight to their 
 award by the sword. Their powers are entirely discretionary, and 
 are subject to no other control than the superintendence of the 
 higher commanders. They have to inquire into the necessities of 
 the natives, to make known their complaints, to superintend the 
 assessment and collection of the tribute, and to decide all the matters 
 of the tribes which are brought before them ; they control the native 
 Sheikhs; they prepare the means of conveyance for European 
 troops ; and, principally, they give any information required to 
 the central administration. From fortnight to fortnight they 
 have to report about everything occurring with the tribes, which 
 might be interesting and valuable to know. Therefore every Kaid 
 is obliged to keep a record of all the news in circulation among 
 his tribe, according to certain queries which he has to put to the 
 Sheikhs under his control. The French officer inspects those 
 records, and prepares the report for the Bureau. Each tribe 
 has here its separate book, showing the principal leading facts 
 concerning the tribe — its population, the extent of its territory ; 
 its wealth in cattle, horses, and corn ; its state of feeling to- 
 wards France and the neighbouring tribes. Those books give the 
 
RECAPITULATION. 401 
 
 statistical information which becomes the basis for fixing the 
 tribute. 
 
 " It was not originally contemplated that the Bureaux Arabes 
 should be courts of justice; however, many cases are brought 
 before them, and the officers act as arbitrators, from whose award 
 there is no appeal." 
 
 As the Bureaux Arabes afford the French officers an oppor- 
 tunity for distinguishing themselves, but do not offer such pecu- 
 niary advantages as might induce them to cling for ever to their 
 post, the service has been until now always prompt, zealous, and 
 effective, sometimes perhaps violent, but on the whole just ; and 
 we know that primitive populations do not resent occasional arbi- 
 trary measures, if, on the whole, the administration of justice is 
 prompt, and not corrupt. The Arabs of Algeria, therefore, place 
 confidence in the Bureaux Arabes; they call the presiding officers 
 " sons of power," and feel no distrust of them. 
 
 On the whole, therefore, we may justly state that a great improve- 
 ment in the lot of the Algerine Arabs has been the result of their 
 conquest by France ; and if European colonization has not as yet 
 succeeded in proportion to the enormous sacrifice of the mother 
 country, the increased wealth and civilization of the natives might, 
 at a not very distant period, make Algeria a valuable acquisition 
 to France, and rouse a spirit in the Mussulman population which 
 should tend to a higher development and revival of energies among 
 the millions belonging to that creed. 
 
 Such are the results of the rule of France in Algeria. In 
 a moral point of view, the French have some right to be satis- 
 fied with them, principally, when contrasting what they have done 
 in twenty-three years with England's century in India. There, 
 too, the country was chiefly under Mussulman rule when the 
 Christians came in ; there, too, the new lords w^ere pushed by the 
 force of events to new conquests, until all the native princes were 
 deprived of their countries, or at least of their full sovereignty ; 
 there, too, the wars between the tribes and principalities have 
 
 ceased ever since the extinction of national independence: the 
 2 c 
 
402 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 conquerors secured peace to the conquered population. But here 
 the comparison stops. Military men have governed Algeria, 
 little caring for the financial sacrifices of the mother country, but 
 deeply interested in the welfare of the new dominion, and there- 
 fore often lavish in the expenditure for public purposes. India is 
 governed by civilians, yet military men are always powerful 
 enough to entangle the Government in wars, which lead to fresh 
 acquisitions ; but when the generals take any steps towards the 
 improvement of the acquired territories, they all invariably fail to 
 overcome the mercantile spirit of the real sovereigns of the country, 
 and the short-sighted routine of the administration, which does not 
 care for the future. In fact, the Indian Government is an admi- 
 nistration by civilians, but of such as are appointed by a company 
 of merchants, which has no other interest in the country than that 
 of a regular moderate income from the capital invested in the East 
 India stocks. They do not like to expend large sums for works of 
 public utility of which the return is not immediate. In order to 
 avoid a temporary outlay, they allow the embankments of the 
 rivers, the canals, and the tanks to decay, and the old palaces, 
 mosques, and temples to go to ruin. Few roads are built ; the 
 education of the natives is little cared for ; no field is opened to 
 the ambition of the old aristocracy of India ; and the cumbersome 
 forms of English law, not congenial to the Hindoo and Mussulman 
 mind, unsettle the moral views of right and wrong with the people. 
 Comparing the late Sir Charles Napier with Marshal Bugeaud, 
 the Englishman towers far above the Frenchman ; still the un- 
 scrupulous Frenchman did more for Algeria, because he wielded 
 a discretionary power, than the able and straightforward English- 
 man could do for India. What might men like Sir Charles 
 Napier achieve in the Indian empire, were their energies not 
 fettered by the short-sighted routine of the administration, by the 
 mercantile spirit of Leadenhall Street, and the narrow views of 
 the Board of Control ! 
 
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