diff options
| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-01-27 13:00:12 -0800 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-01-27 13:00:12 -0800 |
| commit | 76f633f957a2005f39660b457ff3a2bbfef3d4bd (patch) | |
| tree | 3e545a0756d06684f78fd8206ba65c6f3cdda281 | |
| parent | 64a063b946a4391315d44281df29b6bd4e9dc965 (diff) | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 4 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-0.txt | 6033 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-0.zip | bin | 142709 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h.zip | bin | 6466476 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/60514-h.htm | 9363 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 195141 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/flower.png | bin | 878 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_017f.jpg | bin | 94734 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_024f.jpg | bin | 1788542 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_035f.jpg | bin | 98178 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_036f.jpg | bin | 93753 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_048f.jpg | bin | 99139 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_054f.jpg | bin | 94893 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_068f.jpg | bin | 96237 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_090f.jpg | bin | 100091 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_104f.jpg | bin | 99015 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_108f.jpg | bin | 92150 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_112f.jpg | bin | 94768 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_118f.jpg | bin | 96583 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_138f.jpg | bin | 95329 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_141f.jpg | bin | 96365 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_153f.jpg | bin | 94173 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_164f.jpg | bin | 99649 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_169f.jpg | bin | 98439 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_172f.jpg | bin | 92716 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_181f.jpg | bin | 92239 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_191f.jpg | bin | 99181 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_201f.jpg | bin | 93809 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_215f.jpg | bin | 90542 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_217f.jpg | bin | 97506 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_222f.jpg | bin | 93222 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_228f.jpg | bin | 87726 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_232f.jpg | bin | 92552 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_234f.jpg | bin | 91101 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_238f.jpg | bin | 95872 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_245f.jpg | bin | 89404 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_255f.jpg | bin | 97691 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_271f.jpg | bin | 89742 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_frontis.jpg | bin | 99736 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_map.jpg | bin | 88052 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/60514-h/images/i_map_large.jpg | bin | 1302908 -> 0 bytes |
43 files changed, 17 insertions, 15396 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2c89cff --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #60514 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60514) diff --git a/old/60514-0.txt b/old/60514-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 0a2e3de..0000000 --- a/old/60514-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6033 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of About Algeria, by Charles Thomas-Stanford - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: About Algeria - Algiers, Tlemçen, Constantine, Biskra, Timgad - -Author: Charles Thomas-Stanford - -Release Date: October 17, 2019 [EBook #60514] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABOUT ALGERIA *** - - - - -Produced by KD Weeks, MFR, Mary Glenn Krause and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s Note: - -This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects. -Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_. - -Footnotes have been moved to follow the paragraphs in which they are -referenced. - -The full-page illustrations are indicated here by their captions, which -have been repositioned to fall on the nearest paragraph break. - -Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please -see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding -the handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - _ABOUT ALGERIA_ - _ALGIERS—TLEMÇEN—CONSTANTINE—BISKRA—TIMGAD_ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - THE SAME AUTHOR - - LEAVES FROM A - MADEIRA GARDEN - - CROWN 8vo, 5_s._ NET - -[Illustration: ALGIERS: DOORWAY IN THE RUE KLEBER] - - _ABOUT ALGERIA_ - -_ALGIERS *flower* TLEMÇEN *flower* CONSTANTINE *flower* BISKRA *flower* -TIMGAD *flower* *flower* *flower* *flower* BY CHARLES THOMAS-STANFORD -F.S.A. *flower* WITH A MAP AND THIRTY-TWO ILLUSTRATIONS FROM DRAWINGS BY -F. DORRIEN THOROTON AND FROM PHOTOGRAPHS_ *flower* *flower* *flower* -*flower* *flower* - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - _LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD_ - _NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY. MCMXII_ - - - - - WM. BRENDON AND SON, LTD., PRINTERS, PLYMOUTH - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - PREFACE - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -The following pages are a record of impressions received from a visit -Algeria in the early months of 1911. In a former volume I dared to -ridicule the pretensions of those who, on the strength of a short stay -in a foreign country to enlighten the public. My chickens have come home -to roost. - -If I must seek an excuse for hasty conclusions I may find it in the -motor-car. It has revolutionized the relations of time and space, and -abolished the barren interludes of travel. It has increased fourfold the -traveller’s opportunities of observation. Algeria, a land of great -distances and admirable roads, is especially suited to its use. And it -is a country brimful of interest, historical and actual. The scholar may -dig in the debris of the Roman and Byzantine dominions; the connoisseur -revel in the relics of Moorish art; the politician contemplate the -colonization of a conquered territory in the face of a subject -population alien in race and religion; the ordinary traveller will be -content to sip a little at each source. So have I sipped in these pages. -Much that I have written will be trite to those who know the country. -But perhaps I shall induce others to go and see for themselves. And on -their gratitude I rely with confidence. - -The reproduction here of some of Mr. Thoroton’s admirable drawings of -Arab doorways may serve to lead the attention of travellers—and perhaps -of the authorities—to these interesting features of the old town of -Algiers. The destroyer is busy, but here, as elsewhere, his ruinous -energy makes what he has spared more precious. There are signs that his -days are numbered, of the rise of a more enlightened public opinion -concerning the preservation of features of antiquarian value or natural -beauty. The excellent work of the _Service des monuments historiques_ is -bearing good fruit. At Timgad it has given a Roman City to the modern -world; at Tlemçen it is safeguarding the treasures of Arab decorative -art; the less important antiquities of Algiers and Constantine, and of a -hundred less considerable places, should be its future care. - -It is too much to expect that a trading and agricultural community -should wax enthusiastic over such matters for their own sake. The point -we have to emphasise is that there is money in them; that they have a -very distinct and rising commercial value, easily destroyed, and, once -lost, irrecoverable. - -The guide-books to Algeria, in the English language at all events, are, -in view of modern conditions of travel, hopelessly out of date. The -motorist will, of course, provide himself with Messrs. Michelins’ -admirable road-book. There he is furnished with precise and condensed -information as to distances, surfaces, and hotels. The traveller who -desires to look beyond these primary facts will find in M. Maurice -Wahl’s “L’Algerie” (Cinquième Edition, Paris, 1908), a compendium of -information—concise, logical, and complete, after the French manner; and -he will regret that its usefulness is much diminished, in accordance -with an unfortunate French fashion, by the absence of an index. - - C. T. S. - -BRIGHTON, _July, 1911_. - - - _CONTENTS_ - - I—ARABY’S DAUGHTER - - PAGE - - Europe and the Mediterranean—Algiers—The clash of 17 - civilizations—Things ancient and modern—The strangers’ - quarter—Arabs, Berbers, Moors, Jews, and others—A tale of - a telegram - - II—THE CORSAIR CITY - - The old town—The Arab ménage—The Penon—Barbarossa—French 48 - achievements and shortcomings—The Arab house—Christian - slavery—Lord Exmouth - - III—NEW ROADS AND OLD CITIES - - Rome’s successors—The Road and its influence—Algerian 77 - highways—The motor-car and modern travel—An aqueduct— - Cherchel—Cleopatra’s daughter—Tipasa—The French as - Colonists—Viticulture - - IV—A GARDEN AND SOME BUILDINGS - - Jardin d’Essai—A lost opportunity—Some suggestions—The 104 - villas of Mustapha—A model museum—Arab art—Its origins—Its - limitations—Its significance - - V—SWORD AND PLOUGH - - Great events and trivial causes—The Dey’s fan—France roused— 122 - England as dog-in-the-manger—The French expedition and - conquest—Clauzel—Abd-el-Kader—Bugeaud - - VI—TLEMÇEN THE HOLY - - Western Algeria—Sidi Bel Abbès—The Foreign Legion—A city of 148 - learning—Its inhabitants—The Mosque of Aboul Hassan— - Mansoura—Its story—Sidi Bou Medine—Oran—Spanish immigrants - - VII—THE CITY OF PRECIPICES - - Road and rail to the eastward—Constantine—Its remarkable 178 - site—Its chequered history—French Conquest—Roman remains— - Fronto—The Mairie—The road northward—The Aurès - - VIII—THE ALLURING OASIS - - El-Kantara—The Gateway of the Desert—Biskra—Its attractions— 201 - The dancing-girls—"Hichenstown"—A garden and a vision— - Railway extension—Conquering Mohammedans—Sidi Okba—The - Arab’s point of view - - IX—THE SAHARA - - The desert in imagination and reality—Underground water— 228 - Artesian wells—Mozabites—Touaregs—The camel—Recent - developments—Railway projects—The Army of Africa - - X—TIMGAD - - The Roman frontier—Lambessa—The Empire ruined by bad 242 - finance—African Emperors—The plan of Timgad—Buildings, - inscriptions, and mosaics—Prosperity of Roman Africa—Local - patriotism—The Roman tradition - - XI—A PUBLIC LIBRARY - - A romantic find—A municipal library of the third century—A 266 - Roman Carnegie—Christian Africa—The Donatists—Genseric the - Vandal—Justinian—Timgad and Pompeii - - XII—THE ROAD THROUGH KHABYLIA - - Sétif—The Chabet pass—A fishless river—A lovely coast— 285 - Bougie—Khabylia—Greek types—Fort National - - INDEX 305 - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - _ILLUSTRATIONS_ - - Algiers: Doorway in the Rue Kleber _Frontispiece_ - - TO FACE PAGE - - " Carved Stone Doorway in the Native Quarter 17 - - " Doorway in the Rue de la Kasbah 24 - - " Moorish Doorway, Rue Porte Neave 35 - - " Marble Doorway, Rue Bruce 36 - - " Doorway, Rue Medea 48 - - " Doorway in the Rue Ben-Ali 54 - - " Entrance-door of the Mosque, Rue de la Marine 68 - - Cherchel: the Aqueduct 90 - - Algiers: Garden of the Hotel St. George 104 - - " Fountain in the Kasbeh 108 - - " Dragon Tree in the Garden of the Hotel 112 - Continental - - " Fountain, Rue de l’Intendance 118 - - Evening Prayer 138 - - Caravan of a Caid 141 - - Tlemçen: the Minaret of Agadir 153 - - The Walls of Mansoura 164 - - The Tower of Mansoura 169 - - Sidi Bou Medine: the Bronze Doors 172 - - Constantine 181 - - Zouaves 191 - - El Kantara 201 - - Old Biskra 215 - - Biskra: Statue of Cardinal Lavigerie 217 - - Sidi Okba: a Street 222 - - The Outskirts of the Sahara 228 - - An Artesian Well 232 - - A Native Well 234 - - A Caravan 238 - - A Street at Timgad 245 - - Timgad: Arch of Trajan 255 - - " The Public Library 271 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - _ABOUT ALGERIA_ - - _ALGIERS—TLEMÇEN—CONSTANTINE—BISKRA—TIMGAD_ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -[Illustration: ALGIERS: CARVED STONE DOORWAY IN THE NATIVE QUARTER] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - _ABOUT ALGERIA_ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - _I—ARABY’S DAUGHTER_ - -Europe and the Mediterranean—Algiers—The clash of civilizations—Things - ancient and modern—The strangers’ quarter—Arabs, Berbers, Moors, - Jews, and others—A tale of a telegram. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - “E’en now the devastation is begun - And half the business of destruction done.” - GOLDSMITH. - - -Some of the ashes of the Roman Empire have been recovered. The -Mediterranean is once more a European lake. The Turk indeed still holds -its eastern shores; the amazing Sultanate of Morocco yet persists in the -west; strong, after the manner of Barbary for centuries, in the -jealousies of Europe. Yet the Turk, while maintaining his assertion of -the Unity of the Godhead, which divides him from Christendom, is, -nevertheless, in other ways almost to be accounted a member of the -European family; and even in the vigorous days of the Empire the wild -tribes of the Greater Atlas recked little of the might and majesty of -Rome. These are the limitations; our concern is with the achievement, -and especially with the fertile country, once Rome’s granary, now after -a thousand years of neglect and abasement restored to the orderly uses -of civilized man. We are to visit a land unsurpassed in the variety of -its historical vicissitudes, and strewn with the stones of many empires; -a land where to-day a European nation, cherishing, perhaps more than any -other, Roman traditions in its law and polity, controls by force of arms -and of character a vast and heterogeneous population, previously united -only in its submission to the brooding blight of Islam. - -“The grand object of travelling,” said Dr. Johnson, “is to see the -shores of the Mediterranean; on those shores were the four great empires -of the world; the Assyrian, the Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman. All -our religion, almost all our law, almost all our arts, almost all that -sets us above savages has come to us from the shores of the -Mediterranean.” The Doctor’s aspirations were doubtless confined to its -northern shore. If he had indiscreetly placed himself within the -jurisdiction of the Dey of Algiers or the Bey of Tunis he might have -found his value appraised on a basis different from that which prevailed -at The Club, and in default of ransom have been set to uncongenial -tasks. We are more fortunate in our generation. - -To men trained in the traditional scholarship of English schools and -universities certain places of the earth are holy places. The Acropolis -of Athens, the heights and harbour of Syracuse, the Roman forum; perhaps -in a scarcely less degree, Constantinople seen from the Bosphorus;—these -stir to life sentiments born of youthful struggles and enthusiasms, but -buried beneath a load of years crowded with other interests. Such -sentiments may even prevail over those which attach to more recent -history and national predilections. The approach by sea from the -Atlantic to the Straits of Gibraltar is an experience to move the most -indifferent; to an Englishman a very moving experience. He has passed -Cape St. Vincent, with its undying fame, and the Rock is ahead, with its -triumphant symbolism of his country’s world-power. Across the straits -lies the rocky coast between Tangiers and Ceuta, a rampart of that vast -continent, the last home of mystery, which has played so great a part in -the lives of the present generation of Englishmen. And the Rock itself, -detached, impregnable, is rich in English memories from Blake to our own -day. - -Yet to him who has preserved some shreds of his classical learning, the -passage from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean has a still deeper -significance. It marks the separation of the old and the new worlds. At -the Pillars of Hercules the old world ended; they guarded the threshold -of the unknown. On the inland sea within were cradled the civilizations -on which our own is mainly based—Hebrew, Hellenic, Roman. Perhaps we may -wonder at their limitations, especially at the comparative inefficiency -of Rome in maritime affairs. If Rome with her vast resources had owned a -spark of the naval enterprise of ancient Phœnicia or modern Britain; -if she had spent on the sea a tithe of the energy she exercised on land— -exhibited nowhere more completely than in that Northern Africa to which -we are bound—the history of the world might, indeed, have taken a -different course. But it was reserved for the great awakening of the -fifteenth century to probe the secrets of the mysterious Atlantic, and -to throw open vast fields for conquest and colonization to the European -races. And when through the gathering darkness we look back to the twin -peaks, we recall the legend of the two dragons guarding the entrance to -the Garden of the Hesperides, and wonder if it was invented by ancient -mariners to cover their lack of enterprise. - -Many Mediterranean cities present a fair prospect to him who comes by -sea, especially in the pearly radiance of the Mediterranean dawn. -Algiers surpasses all. The steepness of the hill-side which it fills and -its own white brilliancy give to it a special distinction. Many writers, -following a leader as sheep that have gone astray, have compared it to -the tiers of seats rising one above another in a Greek theatre—a -fanciful and baseless comparison. There is no such ordered arrangement. -The straight lines of modern houses enclose a central mass of strange -irregularity, so confused that from a distance it has the semblance of a -heap of ruins. This is the remnant of the Arab city, a swarming ant-heap -of native life, filled with strange and savage memories of the -astonishing pirates who were through centuries, and even until living -memory, the scourge of Christendom. The sea front has entirely lost its -ancient aspect; its long line of symmetrical houses, with its Boulevard -de la République, and its Boulevard Carnot, recalls Palermo or Messina. -And stretching south and east along the hills which encircle the bay the -city’s suburbs seem to have no end; white houses gleam amid dark foliage -and splendid villas crown the heights. - -The first view of the streets is something of a shock and a -disappointment. We have heard of the ancient Arab city, we have seen -photographs of narrow lanes with quaint Moorish houses almost meeting -over the wayfarer’s head; and yet we find ourselves driving at a hand -gallop through wide, modern streets, with their normal garniture of -tramways and motor-cars. An occasional snow-white mosque, a public -building or two of Arabesque style, suggest the Orient; in other -respects the streets are those of a very prosperous and busy modern -French town. It is easy to see that Algiers enjoys a municipality -anxious to be in the forefront of civic progress; that M. le Maire is -determined that his city shall not be ashamed to look Marseilles and -Nice in the face; and that as the native and the stranger wander -incuriously through the streets, earnest committees—sanitary committees, -waterworks committees, lighting committees, tramway committees, -committees for the regulation of everything that can be regulated—are -seated in upper chambers eagerly concerting measures for their welfare. -And it may even be that civilization is sufficiently advanced for a -Ratepayers’ Association to be keeping a bilious eye on the proceedings -of its chosen representatives, and endeavouring to solve the eternal -problem—_Quis custodiet custodes?_ - -It will be recalled that the immortal Tartarin suffered a similar -disenchantment. He had figured to himself an Oriental town of fairy -mythology, holding a middle place between Constantinople and Zanzibar— -"_il tombait en plein Tarascon_." But that soaring and romantic spirit -refused to be bound in the chains of the commonplace, and, following -humbly in his wake, let us strive to see an Arab beauty beneath the veil -of our neighbour in the tram-car, and to hear in the rumble of a distant -train at night the roar of ravening lions. - -[Illustration: ALGIERS: DOORWAY IN THE RUE DE LA KASBAH] - -The hasty and inconsiderate modernization of an ancient and historic -town such as Algiers suggests serious considerations. The process of -destroying what is noteworthy for age or beauty in the name of -improvement would seem to be generally accepted as one of the conditions -of progress. Cities and towns, it is not unnaturally held, are not -museums or curiosity shops; men are massed in them to gain their -livelihood, or to pursue their pleasures. The antiquaries, those who -admire and study the works of the past, because they are the works of -the past; the nature-lovers, who “cultivate the beautiful without -extravagance”; these are an insignificant section drawn for the most -part from that hard-working class which is known to politicians as the -idle rich. Their protests are of no great avail. Governments, if -well-meaning, are lukewarm; local authorities, eager to be in the -municipal movement, are commonly apathetic as regards the claims of mere -ancientry or natural comeliness. Of what the modern Italians are doing -to desecrate Rome and despoil Florence it is difficult to speak with -patience. And it is the work of their own fathers that they are pulling -down or vulgarizing. The conditions here are quite different, and the -reforming zeal of the French so far less flagrant. They have replaced by -their own civilization what they regard as the barbarism of a conquered -race; they wanted the city of that race to live in, and they found it in -every way repugnant to their tastes and unsuited to their needs. The -soldiers began the work of destruction; soldiers destroy ruthlessly in -the day of battle; but the persistent waste of the horde that follows -after—the engineers, the architects, the speculative builders, the -railway constructors, and the great industrial companies—is infinitely -more damaging in the long run. - -And what are we that we should cast a stone at the French? How much have -we spared of old London and its suburbs? How much of the urban beauty -and rural charm of England did our rude forefathers of the nineteenth -century wantonly and light-heartedly destroy? When have railway projects -or proposed public works been stayed on æsthetic grounds? Do the station -and bridge at Charing Cross lend dignity to our great river? And, to -look further afield, to what fate have we, masters of the Nile, -condemned Philae? - -In this changeful North Africa succeeding conquerors have imposed their -civilizations and their works upon those of the conquered in a manner -which has scarcely any parallel in Europe. Carthage destroyed, Rome came -in her might and built a hundred cities, conducted water, brought huge -areas into cultivation, and made roads after her manner; and in due time -overthrew her own ancient altars in zeal for a new faith. In the age of -her decrepitude Byzantium strove to maintain the Pax Romana, to curb the -Vandal usurpation and the Arian schism, and to keep the aspirations of -the indigenous population within bounds. All went down in a day before a -troop of Arabians who rode as conquerors from Egypt to the Atlantic. -Islam followed in their wake. The civilization derived from Europe -disappeared; the watercourses were broken, the desert resumed its sway, -and the stones of Roman temples and basilicas went to build the mosques -and villas of the visitors. For twelve centuries the creed of Mahomet -held dominion; Europe was busy with its own affairs, and endured the -insolent depredations and exactions of the Deys with scarcely a serious -attempt to suppress them. But at length the cup was full. An English -fleet struck the first blow; a few years later France took the -subjugation of Algeria seriously in hand; and to-day European -civilization is once more paramount in the ancient provinces of Rome. - -There are hotels in the town, frequented, perhaps, more by commercial -than by leisurely travellers, and the visitor will probably prefer to -lodge himself at Mustapha Supérieur. Here, if he chooses a house in a -good situation, and obtains a room with a southern aspect, he may feast -his eyes untiringly on a scene of great beauty. At his feet lies the bay -where Charles V landed his ill-fated expedition—a shallow bay in which -often the waves breaking afar out roll to the land in foam. Towering -above the lesser hills which front its opposite shore are the snow-clad -mountains of the Djurjura range, guarding the highlands of Khabylia, and -glistening as if with crystals in the strong southern light. All around, -on the well-wooded heights, are countless villas, of high and low -degree, almost all of dazzling white, the whiter for the sombre foliage -of cypress and stone pine and olive in which they are set. Perhaps no -city of the earth possesses a lovelier suburb. The Englishman will find -himself quite at home. The villas and the hotels are to a great extent -occupied by his compatriots; and the institutions of his country are -fitly represented by an Anglican church and a nine-hole golf-course. If -he should be led to climb through an aromatic wood of eucalyptus to the -home of “le golf,” and be able to remove for a moment his eye from the -ball, he may enjoy a most glorious prospect. The snowy Djurjura of the -south-east finds a rival in the Lesser Atlas to the south-west, and -between the two lies a billowy champaign of cultivated and wooded hill -and plain. If his preconceived notions of Algeria, like the great -Tartarin’s, are dominated by the Sahara, if of Africa he knows only the -river banks of Egypt and the rolling veldt of the South, he will perhaps -recognize once more that Africa is ever the continent of surprise. - -To return to the town. If at first sight the aspect of the French quays, -and the modern streets, shops, and boulevards, destroys pre-existing -illusions, ample amends are made by the colour and variety of the crowds -which frequent them, a very _colluvies gentium_. Jews, Turks, infidels, -and heretics jostle the faithful on equal terms; men and women sprung -from very diverse stocks in Africa, Asia, and Europe, impartially and to -all appearance fraternally throng the pavements and the public -conveyances. The eye is dazzled by the combination of European fashions -and smart French uniforms, with the outlandish aspect of Zouaves and -Spahis, the white-robed dignity of the stately Arab and the rich colours -of the impassive Turk. It is only after a time that one is able to -separate them into classes, and to perceive that the native inhabitants -fall naturally into further subdivisions. - -The greater part of the inhabitants of Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco, -known collectively to Arabs as the Maghrab, and to our forefathers as -Barbary,—an island girt by sea and desert,—still represents those -original peoples who preceded the Phœnicians and the Romans. They -have endured and survived many conquests, for the most part -accommodating themselves to the conquerors’ institutions and religions. -The Arabs called them Berbers,—the origin of the name is doubtful. Being -to-day Arab in all but descent,—and very mixed in that,—they are -described in common parlance as Arabs. - -In A.D. 647, when the Sultan Othmar decided to attempt the conquest of -North Africa, it was still under the rule of the weak Byzantine -Emperors, Gregorius being its governor. Othmar collected 20,000 of the -élite of the Arab forces, and added to them a similar number of -Egyptians. This small army performed a brilliant feat of arms. Advancing -against Gregorius, who was stationed at Sbeitla (in Tunisia), the Arab -leader, Abdulla Ibn Säad, offered the Christian leader terms: that he -should embrace Islam and render tribute to the Sultan. These being -declined, a fierce battle raged for several days. Gregorius was in -command of 120,000 men, but they were probably no match for the -disciplined Arabs. It is said that his daughter, a maid of incomparable -beauty, fought at her father’s side, and promised her hand and a fortune -to whoever should kill Abdulla. This seems to have been a somewhat -ill-advised proposal, for Abdulla, hearing of it, offered the same -reward to the slayer of Gregorius. After several days of desperate -fighting the Christian host was utterly defeated. Gregorius fell in the -final onslaught, and his daughter was bestowed on Ibn Ez-Zobeir, who had -slain him. - -So ended the first Arab attack on Northern Africa. It had momentous -consequences. Not only did it bind to Islam for twelve hundred years the -provinces which for centuries before had been Christian and an appanage -of Europe, but it paved the way for the Arab invasion of Spain. - -Abdulla’s raid was shortly followed by other military expeditions. -Eighteen years later Sidi Okba, having established a permanent -government, pursued his course through what is now Morocco to the -Atlantic Ocean. In order to complete the downfall of Christianity, a -special tax was imposed on Christians, a leaf out of the book of -Constantine the Great, who, in order to ensure its spread through the -Roman world, had ingeniously enacted that no pagan master should own a -Christian slave. The tax had the effect desired, and the whole -population embraced the faith and rule of Islam. - -Four hundred years later a great Arab immigration took place. The -brigand tribes of Hillal and Soleim being driven from Arabia into Egypt, -speedily found their way thence into Northern Africa, which they overran -like a flight of locusts. From these nomad hordes are descended in the -main the Arabs of to-day. - -If the true Arabs only represent a fraction of the total Mohammedan -population, variously estimated at a third and a sixth, they have -imposed on the remainder their language, their religion, their -institutions, and their customs, with the result that in a sense all are -Arabs, though not of race. The pure-bred Arab is of an aristocratic -type—tall, thin, muscular, and of dignified carriage. His narrow and -retreating forehead indicates no great brain power; this feature is -sometimes so marked as to give an aspect of semi-idiocy. - -A rigorous childhood ensures the survival of the fittest; the Arab -children are left to themselves, naked in heat and cold, in sun and rain -and frost, and only the hardiest reach manhood. The result is seen in -the finely tempered physique of the race, in the Arab’s extraordinary -powers of endurance, and in his disregard of hardship and suffering. -Whole tribes are infected with what are called the diseases of -civilization; typhus and smallpox sometimes blaze like a flame among -them; the Arab scorns precaution or cure, and lives or dies with -indifference. - -As becomes his aristocratic traditions, he prefers war to peace, and -plunder to work. His nomad life, which accords with these tastes, is -probably an accident forced upon him by the climatic conditions of the -country. His wealth depends on his flocks and herds, his very existence -is tied to the necessity of finding pasture for them. New ground has -ever to be sought, different altitudes being visited according to the -season and the period of rainfall. For a people of filthy habits a nomad -life has many advantages; the constant change of camping-ground -counteracts in some degree the want of sanitary conditions. - -[Illustration: ALGIERS: MOORISH DOORWAY, RUE PORTE NEUVE] - -According to European ideas the Arab is a barbarian, _sans foi ni loi_. -With some limitations, as in his hospitality, although he will not -scruple to rob his guest next day, he has no sense of honour, and aims -not at telling the truth, but at telling a lie adroitly. His women are -mere beasts of burden, absolutely at the mercy of their lord. A whole -world of progress lies between the Frenchman who works his fingers to -the bone to give his daughter a dower, and the Arab who sells his to the -highest bidder. And in love as in life the Arab is often a nomad, as the -desert towns bear witness. But as he stalks haughtily through the -streets of Algiers, he is an attractive and interesting figure. And who -may measure his disgust at the triumph of the infidel? - -It is impossible to contemplate this strange being, moving among a -medley of races, without wondering what the future has in store. Will -the Arab live apart, as the Jew has often lived apart, or can he be -brought to assimilate the ideas and methods of his conquerors? At -present he seems dazed; his civilization founded on war has failed him -in war. It is useless to think of France converting him to Christianity; -you cannot convert a man to a faith you have abandoned yourself. And his -religion, absolute and absorbing—not of his life a thing apart, but his -whole existence—seems to oppose an impassable barrier to European -influences. You cannot reason with a man under a spell. Yet it is -impossible to suppose that the present situation can continue -indefinitely, and this is fully recognized by the French themselves. The -only solution so far attempted is in some kind of education for Arab -children. Our problem in India and Egypt is a less urgent one; we have -not colonized either country as the French have colonized Algeria. - -The _sang pur_ of the original inhabitants, called Berbers by the Arabs, -is most fully represented by the Khabyles, who inhabit the mountainous -tracts of the littoral, both east and west of Algiers. They were -Christian under the later Roman rule, but adopted the religion of Islam -after the Arab invasions. Otherwise they have little in common with the -later comers; physically they are more nearly allied to the races of -Southern Europe. Living in their mountain fastnesses they have retained -their own customs and institutions, some of which are said to show a -trace of Roman influence. Their women are not veiled, and occupy a much -more independent position than is usual in Mohammedan countries. Their -men, to be seen in the streets of Algiers, may frequently be -distinguished from the Arabs by their fair complexions, blue eyes and -reddish hair. They have no inclination to a nomad life, and are -naturally industrious, freely offering their labour to the French -colonists. They would seem to present a more likely field for the spread -of social progress according to European ideas than does the lazy -indifference of the Arab; but in their case, too, religion is a bar. - -[Illustration: ALGIERS: MARBLE DOORWAY, RUE BRUCE] - -The Mohammedan townsfolk, chiefly engaged in commercial pursuits, are -called Moors, a name which has no connection with Morocco. Chiefly Arab -or Berber in ultimate descent, there is among them much admixture of -Turkish and European blood. Their somewhat effeminate appearance -exhibits the influence of generations of town life. They affect brightly -coloured clothing, embroidered waistcoats and voluminous trousers -fastened at the ankle. They deal largely in embroidery, perfumes, and -fancy articles, and may commonly be seen lolling in their little shops -in attitudes of exaggerated indolence and unconcern. The Moorish women, -like those of the Arabs, are veiled; a white linen handkerchief is tied -closely across the nose, leaving the eyes visible, and perhaps somewhat -heightening their effect. A white shawl, called a _haik_, is thrown over -the head and extends to the knees or lower; the legs are encased in very -voluminous trousers tied at the ankles, and setting in a way which gives -them the appearance of being stuffed full. Altogether a very ungainly -costume. But even so they are less wanting in dignity than the -middle-class European women decked in a travesty of a mode which is -itself absurd. The veiling of all Mohammedan women for the last twelve -hundred years is due to the jealousy of the prophet of his young and -beautiful wife Ayesha. - -Since the decree of 1870, which constituted them French citizens, the -Jews have gradually ceased to wear a distinctive dress, and have become, -as far as outward semblance goes, merged in the European population; but -their physiognomy bewrayeth them. It is, however, as far at least as the -men are concerned, of a less marked type than that of the German and -Russian Jews, with whom we are more familiar; and, possibly from some -admixture of Arab and Spanish blood, has an air suggestive of better -breeding. The Jews have existed in Algeria from early times; according -to tradition since the fall of Jerusalem. It is certain that the first -Arab invaders found many Jewish colonies which had made numerous -proselytes among the indigenous population. But the modern Algerian Jews -are probably derived in the main from the Jews who were expelled from -Italy in 1342, and from the emigrants from Spain in the fourteenth and -fifteenth centuries. These Spanish Jews, better instructed and more -cultivated than their African brethren, have exercised a dominating -influence, exhibited to-day in their names, their customs and their -language. The Jew of the South is scarcely to be distinguished from the -nomads among whom he lives. - -The Jew will go to any country, and live under any government; and he -can make a living anywhere, except, it is said, in Aberdeen. He has been -trained for countless generations to endure the restraint of princes and -the buffets of outrageous fortune; but probably at no time and in no -place has he had to put up with such treatment as was commonly meted out -to him by the Deys of Algiers. Habitually subject to every kind of -indignity, he was liable on the smallest provocation to be put to -torture and to death. If he raised a hand to the striker the hand was -lopped off. “But,” said one of them to an English traveller, “look what -a lot of money we make.” - -Profits may no longer be what they were, but the ancient race has ceased -to quail before the oppressor. It is indeed not slow to exhibit the -contempt which it was long forced to conceal. A little Jew entered a -railway carriage in which every seat was taken but one, and over that -sprawled a big Arab, who showed no intention of making room. The Jew -pushed him aside with scant ceremony, whereupon the Arab turned and -said, “Est-ce que vous desirez me manger?” “Vous manger? Moi?” replied -the other; “je suis juif.” The refined insult of this reference to -Jewish rules of diet was doubtless lost on the barbarian, but it is a -happy illustration of the passing of the old order. - -In Algeria the Jews number about 70,000, or in the proportion of one to -six of the European population. Since their admission to French -citizenship they appear to have performed the civil and military duties -attaching to it in the most exemplary manner. This has not prevented the -rise of a very strong anti-Semitic feeling among the European -immigrants. It is based partly on the objection to the Jews which is -felt in other countries, on the fact that they toil not, neither do they -spin, but that by commercial arts they grow rich where others fail, and -are able to make more money in five days than “Christians” can in six. -This is appreciated, it may be, with especial force in a new colony, to -which adventurous spirits resort in hope of fortune, only to find that -every avenue is already closed to all but Jewish enterprise. Partly this -animosity is due to local causes, to the solidarity with which they have -used their electoral privileges, with a view, it is said, to support -their own interests, rather than for public objects. It will be recalled -that in 1898, at the instigation of the notorious Max Régis, a mob -composed of the turbulent elements always present in Mediterranean towns -attacked and pillaged the shops and warehouses of Jewish traders in -Algiers. This tribulation, however serious in itself, must have seemed -comparatively slight to a race which remembered the rule of the Deys. -And the crisis past things have settled down again. An agitation for the -abrogation of the rights of citizenship granted in 1870 still exists, -but it is unable to produce serious grounds in support of such an -extreme step. To an observer it would appear that the commercial and -financial enterprise of the Jews must be of immense advantage. Algiers -itself is booming. Mr. Lloyd George’s mouth would water at the rise in -the value of suburban land from a few pence per metre ten years ago to -more than as many francs to-day; and building is progressing in all -directions. The command of capital which the Jews with their -international connections possess is almost certainly an important -factor in this prosperity. And the decline of credit in England, the -fear of spoliation by predatory politicians, from which its capitalist -classes, rightly or not, are suffering, may be having unsuspected -results in assisting the development of other countries. - -Another race of traders will attract the attention of the observant -stranger. Of heavy build, flat-faced, broad-nosed, and thick-lipped, the -Mozabites have nothing in common with the physical qualities of the -Arab. They represent a section of the original Berber inhabitants; -although, it may be from the different conditions under which they have -lived for many centuries, their appearance bears no great resemblance to -that of their Khabyle connections. They inhabit a far country, the -district of El-Mzab, in the most arid part of the Sahara. By persevering -toil they have turned this inhospitable region into a garden; have dug -wells and created a complicated system of irrigation. They are no less -active as traders than as agriculturists. They have established markets -in their own oasis, and frequent others throughout the Sahara. A -considerable portion of the tribe has long lived in Algiers, being -encouraged by the Deys. They have almost a monopoly of certain of the -more humble trades; they are especially butchers and greengrocers. - -The Biskris, a very low-class Berber tribe from the neighbourhood of -Biskra, are the water-carriers and scavengers of the city. They form -picturesque groups around the fountains in the Arab quarter. Their dark -complexions suggest a considerable admixture of negro blood. The true -negroes are also numerous, and with their alert and smiling faces offer -an agreeable contrast to the sombre impassiveness of the Arab. As -elsewhere, they do much of the hard work of the country, as masons and -workers on the roads and railways. Negresses are employed as servants, -and especially as masseuses in the Moorish baths. - -Such, mingled with Frenchmen, Italians, Spaniards, Maltese, and a -sprinkling of almost every European race, are the numerous types of -diverse humanity which the streets of Algiers everywhere present. In so -rich a scene the artist will find fruitful sources of inspiration, both -of form and colour; the ethnologist will have scope for studying the -features and carriage of different races, and for tracing the effects of -their not infrequent intermixture; to the politician it will all give -furiously to think. During the last century or two a large portion of -the Mohammedan world has fallen under Western dominion. France, like -England, has acted on the Roman principle, _parcere subjectis et -debellare superbos_, but neither has succeeded in infusing the conquered -races with the ambition of citizenship, as Rome did. Their attitude at -best seems to be one of sullen acquiescence in the inevitable, at worst -that of a hunted beast who waits his opportunity to spring. And the most -incurious tourist will not escape a certain wonder at the strange and -varied inhabitants of a city so near his home that he may read his -Monday’s “Times” on Wednesday afternoon. - -To outward appearance Algiers is a busy French town. But when we come to -probe below the surface we find that the Golden East, with its leisurely -and slipshod methods, holds us in fee. The mere sending of a common -telegram is no light matter. I desired to telegraph five words to an -inhabitant of the city of Funchal in the island of Madeira. I took the -despatch to a branch office at Mustapha, officered by female clerks. It -caused some commotion. The young women laid their heads together, pored -over several tattered volumes, and finally informed me, with a certain -touch of commiseration, that the charge was four francs and fifteen -centimes a word. Now as the charge from London is one shilling a word, -this was obviously too much. What visions of Madagascar or Macao they -had conjured up I know not; they are, I believe, both islands, both, -like Macedon, Monmouth and Madeira, have M’s in them, and both are -distant enough to justify some such charge. I tried to point out that -Madeira does not ride in such remote seas, but to no purpose; and -wearily I betook myself to the chief post office. This is a magnificent -building in the finest style of neo-Arab art, glorious within and -without. It is agreeable to find that the French authorities are now -erecting great buildings in the local style, instead of reproducing the -monotonous ugliness of the Third Empire. If only the Boulevard facing -the harbour could be so transformed, the view of the port would indeed -be worth looking at. In this resplendent Temple of Mercury one youthful -clerk is considered sufficient to receive the telegrams of Algiers. He -took my paper, counted the words backwards and forwards, and said -airily, “Un franc.” I inquired whether he meant for each word, or for -the whole. He replied for the whole. Now he was evidently erring on the -side of moderation, as his sisters had erred on the side of excess. I -protested that I would not pay so little. Books were consulted, higher -officials interviewed, many shoulders shrugged and many palms spread, -but to no purpose. Meantime in a somewhat impatient _queue_ the -telegraphic business of Algiers stood waiting. At length I was invited -to state what I would like to pay, and I suggested a suitable amount. It -was then discovered that as the charge for Teneriffe, which is also -situate in the Atlantic Ocean, is one franc twenty centimes (or -thereabouts) a word, this figure might not be unsuitable for Madeira; on -that basis the account was adjusted, and Algiers restored, after a -considerable interval, to telegraphic communication with the outer -world. - -Although the words colonization and colonists are on everybody’s lips, -Algeria is not in fact a colony. It is attached to the Ministère de -l’Intérieur, and is therefore technically a part of France. It is -divided into three departments, each of which sends to Paris two -deputies and one senator. The suffrage is “universal,” but confined to -citizens of French origin or naturalized. The Mohammedan natives are -subjects, not citizens. A colonial air is given by the existence of a -Governor-General, appointed by the President on the advice of the -Ministre de l’Intérieur. The organization of local government is similar -to that of France. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - _II—THE CORSAIR CITY_ - -The old town—The Arab _ménage_—The Penon—Barbarossa—French achievements - and shortcomings—The Arab house—Christian slavery—Lord Exmouth. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - “That execrable sum of all villanies.”—WESLEY. - - -A perambulation of the town of Algiers removes much of the impression of -its over-modernization which is received on landing. The boulevards -facing the sea and the streets immediately behind them are all new, but -where the hill begins to rise steeply the traveller will pass at a step -from the French city to the old Arab town. A greater contrast could not -be imagined. The French love broad streets, lofty houses, big windows, -open spaces, and above all straight lines. The Arab town is a labyrinth -of narrow lanes, twisting and curling according to no sort of plan, in -fact to all appearance so inextricably confused and so full of blind -alleys that one might suppose no living man capable of mastering their -meanderings. But a stranger need be under no apprehension of being lost. -He has only to keep ascending to reach the Kasbeh, the old Turkish fort -at the top of the town, or descending, a course which sooner or later -will bring him back to civilization. The lanes are very narrow, in many -cases only just wide enough to permit a horseman to pass a -foot-passenger; and as a rule the first floors of the houses, supported -on diagonal cedar poles, in themselves an interesting and picturesque -feature, extend over the footways, and almost meet. In many cases the -road is completely vaulted. Beyond the general suggestion of ancientry -there is really little in this old town to engage the attention of the -stranger; a few charming marble doorways of conventional Arab design; an -occasional glimpse of a colonnaded court-yard within; that is all. -Writers on Algiers have strained their vocabularies in frenzied efforts -to make something of this curious maze of dwellings; to produce any -effect they have generally had to fall back on their imagination of what -is happening behind those locked portals and those heavily barred -windows; of that life of the Orient of which we know and comprehend -nothing. Perhaps there is nothing very extraordinary to be known. The -sombre, tyrannical master and husband, the infantile and enslaved wife,— -that is our general impression of the Oriental _ménage_. Yet even Arab -wives are not dumb animals, and all men that are born of women are born -to be henpecked. Perhaps even here _les paroles de l’oreiller_ have -their force, and it may be that the stately lord sometimes meets his -match. - - “From a vixen wife protect us well; - Save us, O God! from the pains of hell,” - -says The Gulistān. The conventional sternness of the husband’s control -suggests a sense of his own weakness. It certainly confesses a curious -diffidence as to his own charms, perhaps with reason, for, says an Arab -proverb, “Quand la femme a vu l’hôte, elle ne veut plus de son mari.” So -even if the Western idea of Mohammedan domestic tyranny is correct (I am -far from believing that it is), we may at least console ourselves with -the hope that the wife sometimes has as much of her own way as is good -for her. - -[Illustration: ALGIERS: DOORWAY, RUE MEDEA] - -And it would seem that women everywhere must still have chains to hug. -If in Western countries the husband is no longer lord, and the priest no -more director, the tyranny of the dressmaker is cheerfully, nay, -eagerly, accepted. In one decade a tight cape prevents the lifting of -the arms, in the next a skimpy skirt hobbles the legs; a mere man may -venture to see in these disagreeable manifestations a surviving badge of -ingrained servitude. - -The lanes of this old town, with its squalid exteriors and possibly rich -interiors, are not very clean, and to the Western eye, if not nose, they -suggest insanitary conditions. But it is never safe to judge from -appearances, and it may be that your brand-new _hôtel de luxe_ is richer -in lethal germs than this ramshackle city. I am not armed with any -statistics bearing on the point. At any rate, these devious -thoroughfares appear to be admirably policed, and in spite of their -cut-throat appearance it is said that they are safe for passage by day -or by night. - -If the aspiring word-painter has failed to convey any due impression of -this curious labyrinth, the artist has seldom been more successful. -Perhaps it passes the endurance of flesh and blood to sit and paint, -where there is too little room to sit, exposed to the torments of an -Arab crowd. Even the humble photographer must own defeat. The narrowness -of the lanes, the height of the houses and the unwelcome attentions of -the passers-by try his skill beyond endurance. The casual wayfarer, -content with his own impressions, has the best of it. - -It appears that in Turkish times the streets of the city had no -distinctive names. It may be that everyone knew where everyone else -lived. The Arab, at any rate, had no address. Presumably he had no -extensive correspondence. And perhaps he seldom received callers. There -were certainly no public vehicles, indeed no vehicles at all. It was -all, and is, a strange tangle; an incongruous medley of great houses and -squalid shops, of “the grey homes of the people and the palaces of the -mighty,” as Mr. Lloyd George said at Mile End. With laudable intentions -the French set to work to unravel it—to give at least to every street a -name, for to the European mind a street without a name is inconceivable; -although we frequently see in new-fledged localities names bestowed on -streets which are as yet in embryo. The official who was entrusted with -the job deserves immortality in the pillory. A more hopelessly -inappropriate collection of titles it would be difficult to conceive. -Such aberration almost touches genius. Rue du 4 Septembre, Rue -d’Amfreville, Rue du Galmier, Rue Annibal,—such are the gems which greet -our astonished eyes. And, above all, Rue Sidney Smith! What is the witty -parson—or is it the admiral?—doing in this galley? If only he had lived -to know it. But so for all time, or until the next conqueror arrives, -will it be. - -The amateur will look in vain in Algiers for fine examples of Arab art, -such as he may study at Cairo, at Granada, or at Tlemçen, in the -province of Oran. The ravages of war, the stress of successive -bombardments, amply account for this. The old minarets are gone; such -work of the best period as may have existed has long disappeared; what -the French have spared is chiefly of the Turkish domination. - -But, in truth, during the great days of Mohammedan art Algiers was not -of much importance. Its site had been previously occupied by the Roman -Icosium, a town of little place in history, but the seat of one of the -numerous North African bishoprics of the fifth century. The Arab town -was founded in the tenth century, at which time numerous monuments of -the Roman period are said to have been still standing. About the year -1500, when the Moors were expelled from Spain, many settled here, and -adopted the profession of pirates. It is at this time that the -importance of Algiers in the history of Europe commences. - -[Illustration: ALGIERS: DOORWAY IN THE RUE BEN-ALI] - -The Penon, the islet which, being connected with the shore by a mole, -forms the present inner harbour of Algiers, the old harbour of the -corsair fleet, is intimately connected with this period. Some good Arab -work is to be seen, notably a magnificent doorway in the Bureau de la -Marine, carved in white marble, or ornamented with inscriptions and with -tigers,—an infringement of the Moorish law which perhaps indicates its -Persian origin.[1] A small and very charming Arab house with good -carving and many tiles is used as the residence of the Admiral. As I -gazed deferentially at the exterior an obliging sailor invited me to -enter. “This,” he said, “is the _grand salon_ of the Admiral; and this,” -laying his hand on the handle of a door, “the Admiral’s _bureau_.” I -recalled the Oxford undergraduate who showed “his people” over his -college: “That,” he said, “is the Master’s Lodge, and that,” hurling a -stone at a window, “is the Master.” Perhaps my face showed some -apprehension of the possible apparition of a fierce French admiral with -bristling moustache hastening to repel the foreign invader, for my -conductor reassured me. “M. l’Amiral est absent,” he said. From a -pleasant flagged terrace, with a summer-house at the further end, the -Admiral may look down on the inner harbour, packed now with the French -torpedo-boats which have replaced the lateen-rigged vessels of its -former owners. - -Footnote 1: - - See Chapter IV. - -The island and its mole have a strange history,—not the least -astonishing episode in the annals of this astonishing city. The -depredations of the Moorish pirates soon became extremely harassing to -Spain; not only did they seriously interfere with Spanish commerce, but -they made frequent raids on the Spanish coast, pillaging towns and -carrying away their inhabitants to slavery. The evil became so pressing -that at length a determined effort was made to put a stop to it. In 1509 -a Spanish expedition, under Cardinal Ximenes, captured Oran and Bougie, -and as a check to the pirates of Algiers occupied the island facing the -town. Here they built a fort, which still exists in part, and forms the -base of the lighthouse. This expedition, for which the Cardinal supplied -the funds, was known as the “Crusade of Ximenes de Cisteros,” and was -regarded as a holy war, bestowing certain indulgences on those who took -part in it. - -For nearly twenty years the Spaniards held the island, commanding the -roadstead and controlling the maritime proceedings of the Algerines. -These found the position so irksome that their Emir, to his own undoing, -called in the services of the celebrated pirate, Baba Aroudj, known to -Christendom as Barbarossa, - - “A corsair’s name, linked with a thousand crimes.” - -The romantic story of this king of robbers supplies a curious picture of -the times. At the beginning of the sixteenth century Lesbos, in -Mytilene, was the head-quarters of Turkish piracy in the Eastern -Mediterranean. A simple potter, or fisherman, as some say, of the island -had four sons, of whom two, Baba Aroudj and Kheir-ed-Din, rose to fame. -Aroudj was in particular of a soaring spirit. Marking the avenues to -fortune which the staple industry of the island presented, he became -“apprenticed to a pirate.” An early disaster seemed like to blast his -promising career; he was captured by a vessel of the Knights of Rhodes -and condemned to the galleys. But such checks are to the really great -only stepping-stones to higher things. Having, as was inevitable, -effected his escape, he betook himself to Tunis, determined in the freer -air of a new country to wipe out the memory of his early failure, and to -find a fresh theatre for his energies. His professional knowledge stood -him in good stead. He proposed to the Sultan of Tunis that they should -enter into a partnership, in accordance with which he should conduct the -active part of the business, and the Sultan receive half the profits, in -consideration of his countenance and support. The Sultan, with that -discernment that has so often characterized sovereigns, saw that he had -to deal with a man of mark, and jumped at the proposal. A pirate station -on the most approved lines was established at Djerba, where Aroudj was -shortly joined by his brother, Kheir-ed-Din. The enterprise met with -more than the success it deserved. Besides the ordinary dividends of the -business, the brothers were able to make many very handsome presents to -their partner and patron. On one occasion, it is recorded, they offered -to him fifty Spanish youths holding in leash hounds and hawks of the -rarest breeds, and four young ladies of noble birth, attired in splendid -garments and mounted on magnificent horses. Mulai Mohammed, the Sultan, -however keen a hand in purely business matters, was not the man to turn -a deaf ear to the appeal of a brother in distress. The plight of his -fellow-monarch, the Emir of Algiers, moved him deeply. With a quite -distinguished disinterestedness he proposed to his associates that they -should abandon for a time the ordinary course of their duties and -proceed to Algiers to turn the obnoxious Spaniards out of their eyrie on -the island. Baba Aroudj arrived at Algiers with 5000 men, and was hailed -as a deliverer. But the instincts of his trade were too strong for him. -Instead of attacking the Spaniards on the Penon, he put the Emir to -death, proclaimed himself King, and gave the town to pillage. Master of -Algiers, with his vessels dominant at sea, he set himself to win an -empire. He occupied Medea and Tlemçen, and menaced the Spanish position -at Oran. This was too much, and Charles V sent thither a powerful force -to check him. He retired on Tlemçen, and fell in an obscure fight at -Oudjda, on the frontier of Morocco, a town of some significance in -recent history, and now in the occupation of the French. - - “He left a name at which the world grew pale, - To point a moral and adorn a tale.” - -His brother, Kheir-ed-Din, assumed the reins of power at Algiers. -Lacking the vaulting ambition of the terrible Barbarossa, he seems to -have possessed a sounder business head. His first care was to assure his -position; and with this object he offered his African dominions to Selim -I, Sultan of Turkey. The Turk accepted the offer, and named Kheir-ed-Din -his “Captain-pasha.” So arose the Turkish domination of Algeria, which -lasted for three centuries, and inflicted on Europe unnumbered woes. If -Europe had only known it, now was the time to cut off the serpent’s -head; but Europe, as usual, was busy with its own quarrels. Charles V -did indeed conduct an expedition in person in 1535, but it was -half-hearted and proved abortive. No native prince arose to repel the -Turkish pretensions, which were consolidated by the capture of Tunis and -the occupation of Kairouan, the holy city. - -Kheir-ed-Din next turned his attention to the Spanish garrison on the -Penon. Having procured heavy guns, he bombarded the position for fifteen -days with an incessant fire. The garrison of 150 men made a heroic -resistance, but when all save twenty-five were killed, the island was -captured and the survivors put to death. - -The brave commander, Martin Vargas, was offered the alternative of -embracing Mohammedanism and a Mohammedan wife or execution. He chose the -latter, and was beaten to death with sticks, his body was dragged -through the streets, cut into pieces, and thrown into the sea. So did -the corsair treat a gallant foe. - -It was then that Kheir-ed-Din conceived the project of uniting the -island and the city, with the double object of preventing any repetition -of the Spanish occupation and of providing a harbour for his fleet. -Thirty thousand Christian slaves supplied him with labour, and materials -lay near to hand. The ruins of the old Roman city of Rusgania strewed -the shore at Cape Matifou; and countless blocks of Roman hewn stone and -marble lie buried beneath the floor of the mole. The work, a very big -work for the period, was finished in three years, and henceforth for -nearly three centuries the corsair fleets lay within, safe from the -storms of the Mediterranean and the attacks of their enemies. -Kheir-ed-Din’s son mounted batteries on the Penon, and built the -lighthouse tower in 1544. It is of octagonal shape, nearly 120 feet -high, and visible for a distance of fifteen miles. A band of gleaming -tiles below the summit happily relieves the monotony of its elevation. - -The present great harbour, covering 222 acres, was commenced by the -French in 1836. It was formed by continuing the line of Kheir-ed-Din’s -mole to the south-east, and building another of irregular form from a -point to the south of the city. In these works blocks of concrete were -used for the first time in such operations,—an experiment which has had -important results. In the making of this great harbour, as in so many -other constructive matters, the French have risen to the level of their -opportunities. Their genius in such large matters is unquestioned; and -if anyone doubts their pre-eminence in minor arts, let him compare their -coinage and their postage stamps with those of any other nation. - -The French have done many great things; one thing they have omitted,—to -provide an adequate service of passenger steamers between France and -North Africa. They have generally fallen behind in the race of maritime -improvement in recent years; but the insufficiency of this particular -service may be due to the fact that trade between Marseilles and Algeria -is held to be French coasting trade, and therefore reserved to vessels -sailing under the French flag. The stimulus of foreign competition is -absent. But nothing can prevent the indirect competition of the superior -steamers of the North German Lloyd to Genoa, which are securing much of -the tourist traffic. This company is gradually establishing a network of -steamer lines in the Mediterranean. And a service of fast steamers -covering the voyage between Barcelona and Algiers in twelve hours is now -mooted. This may prove a further nail in the coffin of the Marseilles -route. But the French have it in their hands to retain the trade by -running adequate steamers properly equipped. - -In spite of the heavy hand of the destroyer a few fine houses of the -Turkish domination survive, and some are put to public uses and are -accessible to the stranger. They exhibit a usual characteristic of the -Eastern house; they are insignificant, sometimes even squalid without, -but like the princess they are all glorious within. Christendom builds -its houses for the public eye. This is not entirely altruistic; not -wholly due to a desire to please the neighbours; a man’s credit and -importance (even, it is said, the amount of his doctor’s bill) bear some -relation in the opinion of his world to the outward appearance of the -house in which he lives. And in the northern view, at any rate, a man’s -house is a consideration prior to his equipage, his retinue, and his -personal adornment. And some value attaches to what is called “a good -address.” Wherefore our note-paper headings often contain a _suggestio -falsi_; and Glenalmond Villa or The Elms strive to conceal the banality -of a mere terrace. - -All this is unmeaning to the Mussulman. He fulfils Bacon’s dictum that -“houses are built to live in, not to look upon, wherefore let use be -preferred before uniformity.” A bare wall with narrow and barred windows -facing a mean alley;—such is his house’s exterior. It seems rather to -desire to escape than to court observation. It has more the air of a -fortress than of a dwelling. The doorways are an exception to the -prevailing plainness. They exhibit a great variety of detail, but mainly -follow a Roman or Byzantine scheme, of a round arch supported on -columns, the whole copiously decorated. The doors themselves are -generally of simple woodwork, often heavily studded with iron, and -sometimes retaining their fine old handles and knockers. To the wanderer -in the Arab town they offer a never-failing source of interest and -study. The elaboration of the doorway when all else that is external is -plain would seem to be thoroughly congruous with Oriental taste and -tradition. The door of the house and the gate of the city stand for much -in private and public life, for the line that divides the intimate and -the stranger, the friend and the foe. Our fathers had some sense of the -dignity of the door, a sense which in our careless acceptance of -decadent conventions we have almost lost. We may strive to recover it in -contemplating these Arab portals. The charming drawings of Mr. Thoroton, -here reproduced, accurately represent their general scheme and the -variety of their ornament. A common decorative feature appears to be -based on the artichoke; the precision of its symmetry doubtless appeals -strongly to Mohammedan prejudices. - -When you have passed the portal the very contrast of the squalor without -heightens the effect of the splendour and refinement within. The usual -type of house is one which the Arabs owe to the Romans, or both to an -earlier source. The doorway opens on to a long vestibule, with a row of -marble seats on either side, divided at regular intervals by columns, -often twisted and generally suggesting the Ionic order. From this you -pass into the main dwelling, a square marble court open, or partially -open, to the sky, round which are grouped the chief rooms. Marble -columns support the gallery of the first floor, the walls are a blaze of -tiles, a fine dark balustrade of open woodwork surrounds the gallery; -and in the centre of the court-yard perhaps the pleasant plash of a -fountain emphasises the pervading peace. It is all very splendid, and -yet most dignified. Such a beautiful house is used as the Bibliothèque -Municipale, a library with 35,000 volumes, many Arabian and Persian -MSS., and an up-to-date card catalogue. Another is the residence of the -Archbishop. This is said to be a fragment of the ancient palace of the -Deys. It is a pleasant touch of humour which lodges the Archbishop in -the last remnant of the harem. To these may be added the Governor’s -Winter Palace, with a modern front and rich interior decorations; and a -few other houses occupied by officials, and not open to inspection -without an introduction. - -A mere civilian must bow before the requirements of the military -authorities, but he may be permitted to regret that they should have -seen fit to turn the Kasbeh, the ancient fortress of the Deys, into a -barrack. As may naturally be expected, the decorations and many of the -original features have disappeared; marble columns have been replaced by -wooden posts, tiles have been picked off,—and the Dey’s pavilion has -been repainted! Worse than all, a public road has been driven right -through the centre of the old compact mass of buildings surrounded by -their embattled wall. The visitor will turn away with disgust from this -reckless spoliation, which will some day no doubt be bitterly regretted. - -Of the mosques of Algiers, that of Sidi Abd er Rahman, adjoining the -tomb of the saint, is the most picturesque. The great mosque of Djama el -Kebir has a very handsome exterior, notably a magnificent colonnade -fronting the Rue de la Marine. The entrance is pleasing, but the -interior rather bare. The mosque in the Place du Gouvernement, known as -the New Mosque, was built in 1660 to the designs of a Christian slave, -and is in the form of a Greek cross. The Catholic Cathedral was formerly -a mosque, and is now an eclectic monstrosity. - -[Illustration: ALGIERS: ENTRANCE-DOOR OF THE MOSQUE, RUE DE LA MARINE] - -The interest which Algiers has for the traveller is closely bound up -with the hideous story of the Christian captives. Our literature, -especially of the seventeenth century, is full of allusion to their -miserable condition. Their numbers were prodigious. In 1646 it was -reckoned that there were not less than 20,000 such slaves. During our -Civil War the Channel was full of Algerine pirates, and their operations -extended to the North Sea. The Long Parliament passed an Act “whereby -they did manifest unto the world their resolution of undertaking that -Christian work of the Redemption of the Captives from the cruel thraldom -that they lay under,” and established a tax on merchants’ goods, called -“Algier duty,” to provide funds for the purpose. Many distinguished men -were at one time or another slaves in Barbary. Cervantes was in -captivity for five years, and has related some of his miseries in the -story of “The Captive” in “Don Quixote.” He who went to sea in those -days had to face the chance of “being taken by the insolent foe and sold -to slavery.” It will be recalled that before he set forth on his -immortal voyage Robinson Crusoe was captured by a Sallee-rover, and -worked as a slave. Samuel Pepys records (February 8th, 1660-1) a -conversation on the subject: “At noon to the Exchange to meet Mr. Warren -the timber merchant, but could not meet with him. Here I met with many -sea commanders, and among others Captain Cuttle, and Curtis and Mootham, -and I went to the Fleece Tavern to drink; and there we spent till four -o’clock, telling stories of Algiers, and the manner of the life of -slaves there. And truly Captain Mootham and Mr. Dawes (who have been -both slaves there) did make me fully acquainted with their condition -there: as, how they eat nothing but bread and water. At their redemption -they pay so much for the water they drink at the public fountaynes, -during their being slaves. How they are beat upon the soles of their -feet and bellies at the liberty of their padron. How they are all, at -night, called into their master’s Bagnard [prison]; and there they lie. -How the poorest men do use their slaves best. How some rogues do live -well, if they do invent to bring their masters in so much a week by -their industry or theft.” Other accounts give far more harrowing details -of the sufferings of the slaves and of the tortures they endured. - -When a prize was brought in, the crew and the passengers were forced by -torture, generally the bastinado, to declare their quality and -condition. The Dey selected one in eight for himself, generally -preferring skilled workmen. The remainder were sold by auction for the -benefit of the owners and crews of the pirate vessels. The European -Powers maintained consuls at Algiers, and through them, and other -agencies, those of the captives whose friends could find the ransom -demanded, were, after much delay, redeemed. - -That such an iniquity was more or less tolerated for centuries is one of -the curiosities of history. It can only be explained by the fact that -European nations found it a convenient scourge for their enemies. France -and England especially were continually intriguing to make infamous -treaties with the Dey to the benefit of each against the other. All -nations, including the United States of America, after they obtained -their independence in 1783, paid tribute to the Dey in one form or -another to secure the exemption of their vessels from capture; but the -Algerines never respected any treaty when they could violate it with -advantage or probable impunity. - -The close of the Napoleonic wars gave England not only undisputed -command of the sea, but leisure to deal with the open sore of Algerian -piracy. She was not slow to use it. At the beginning of 1816 Lord -Exmouth was ordered to visit the Barbary States and obtain the release -of such slaves as were British subjects—chiefly Ionians—or subjects of -Great Britain’s allies. At Algiers the Dey readily released the Ionians, -and also the Neapolitans and Sardinians, on payment of a ransom. Lord -Exmouth proceeded to Tunis and Tripoli, and concluded treaties with the -Beys, who agreed to abolish the institution of Christian slavery -altogether. He then returned to Algiers and endeavoured to get the Dey -to make a similar treaty. The Dey declined to accede, but finally -consented to treat at London and Constantinople. Lord Exmouth took a -high hand; he told the Dey that he evidently had little idea of the -power of a British man-of-war, and that he would engage, if hostilities -became necessary, to blow the place to pieces with five line-of-battle -ships. Shortly after he had sailed for England matters were brought to a -climax by an attack by Turks and Arabs on a large number of -coral-fishermen, sailing under French and English colours, who had -landed at Bona on Ascension Day. About two hundred were massacred in a -church and hundreds more wounded. The British consul was killed, the -houses of Christians pillaged, and the British flag trampled under foot. -The British Government considered that the cup was now full, and that -strong measures must be taken against these barbarians. On Lord -Exmouth’s arrival a fresh fleet was fitted out. He was offered any force -he required, but he determined to rely on the five battleships he had -mentioned to the Dey. To these were added five frigates and some smaller -vessels. At Gibraltar he found a Dutch squadron of five frigates and a -corvette under Admiral van Capellan, who asked and obtained leave to -co-operate. - -After some vexatious delays Exmouth arrived off Algiers on August 26th, -1816. His despatch, dated August 28th, is very interesting reading. He -had previously sent on the _Prometheus_, to endeavour to bring away the -British consul, Captain Dashwood. A landing party brought off his wife -and daughter, disguised in midshipmen’s uniforms. The surgeon was -following with the consul’s infant child concealed in a basket. As he -was entering a boat the child, unfortunately, cried, with the result -that the surgeon, three midshipmen, and others, in all eighteen persons, -were seized and confined as slaves in the usual dungeons. “The child was -sent off next morning by the Dey, and as a solitary instance of his -humanity it ought to be recorded by me,” says his lordship. Captain -Dashwood was closely confined in irons. - -The _Prometheus_ brought word that energetic measures of defence had -been taken; that additional works had been thrown up, and a large army -assembled. The whole Algerine fleet was collected within the mole. On -the morning of the 27th the fleet was lying in sight of the city -becalmed, and Exmouth sent ashore a flag of truce with the demands he -was instructed to make. Receiving no answer, and the day breeze -landwards having sprung up, he moved his fleet in towards the mole, the -_Queen Charlotte_, the flagship, leading. The shore batteries opened the -engagement with a tremendous fire, whereupon the leading ship commenced -action. Before nightfall the enemy’s fleet was completely destroyed, his -batteries abandoned, and half the town in ruins. At midnight the ships -and parts of the town were still burning. Thus did Lord Exmouth -demonstrate to the Dey the power of five English ships of the line. The -battle was of quite an unprecedented nature; it was a new departure to -bring a fleet up close under the guns of formidable batteries. The fleet -had poured 50,000 shot, weighing over 500 tons of iron, into the town, -and used 118 tons of powder. A little touch illustrates the close -quarters of the combatants. A vast crowd of Arabs was collected on the -shore, and before he opened fire Lord Exmouth called out and waved to -them to depart. The warning had no effect, and thousands were killed. - -The English losses were considerable, 123 men killed and 690 wounded. -The Dutch had 13 killed and 52 wounded. Lord Exmouth himself was struck -three times, but escaped unhurt. It was pointed out at the time that, in -proportion to the number of men in the English ships engaged, the -casualties were far higher than in any of Nelson’s victories. - -The Dey must have passed an uncomfortable night, and morning found him -in a very humble mood. He agreed to all the English demands; these were, -the abolition of Christian slavery for ever, and an undertaking to treat -prisoners of war according to the usage of civilized nations; the -immediate delivery of all slaves; the repayment of the ransom of the -Neapolitan and Sardinian captives; an apology and reparation to the -English consul. Having accepted these comprehensive and ignominious -terms, not as regards the apology to the consul with a very good grace, -the Dey consoled himself by beheading his prime minister. - -It has been given to another nation to break down for good and all the -Turkish tyranny, and to restore these fair lands to Europe and -civilization, but we may congratulate ourselves that the gallantry of -our own navy dealt the first serious blow, and exposed the hollowness of -the game of bluff which the corsairs of Algiers had played against -Christendom for centuries. Yet nothing can quench our wonder that the -hand was held up so long, even into the lifetime of men still living and -vigorous. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - _III—NEW ROADS AND OLD CITIES_ - -Rome’s successors—The Road and its influence—Algerian highways—The - motor-car and modern travel—An aqueduct—Cherchel—Cleopatra’s - daughter—Tipasa—The French as Colonists—Viticulture. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - “Among the ruins of old Rome, the grandeur of the - Commonwealth shews itself chiefly in temples, highways, - aqueducts, walls and bridges.”—ADDISON. - - -From many points of view the modern French may be regarded as -representing most fully among the peoples of Europe the Romans of the -Empire. The sturdy physique and unrivalled endurance, the unsurpassed -gallantry and devotion to duty of their soldiers, recall the qualities -of the legions. Their absorbing pride in and love for their native land -is an echo of the tremendous sentiment of Roman citizenship. The logical -coherence of their legal system is frankly based on the jurisprudence of -Rome. Their faculty, for producing the most perfect work in the more -refined forms of engineering and the manufacture of delicate tools and -machines is a natural development of Roman thoroughness in constructive -matters. And like the Romans they are the slaves of convention. -Everything Roman was according to a settled plan. The empire was a vast -aggregation of cities which aspired to be little Romes. From the borders -of Scotland to the fringe of the Sahara, from Portugal to Asia Minor, -cities were raised more or less, as circumstances permitted, fulfilling -the conventional design; conventional not only in town-planning, and in -the scheme of public buildings, but in the architecture of private -houses and the most minute details of decoration. We grow weary in the -museums of to-day of the repetition of the same motives in sculpture, in -mosaic and in bronze-work. The only variety is in the quality of the -execution. So, too, must a French town, a French house, a Frenchman’s -manners and a Frenchwoman’s clothes be in accordance with a sealed -pattern deposited in the temple of the great goddess Comme-il-faut. The -French are the most law-abiding of nations, but their laws are _les -convenances_. The occasional licence exhibited in their art and -literature and morals is but the effort of a few eccentric individuals, -not always of unmixed French breeding, to break through the trammels in -which the mass of the race is bound. - -In this country the French have set themselves from the first to carry -on the Roman tradition in the making of roads. In a land which for -twelve centuries has known little but destruction and decay they have -built, as the Romans built before them, solid, uncompromising, -inevitable highways, roads on which armies may march secure of ambush, -and almost regardless of the hostility of natural forces;—roads which -create not only peace, but prosperity in their course. The road is one -of the most effective as it is one of the most permanent works of man. -In England quite a large proportion of our main roads still follows the -lines laid down by the Romans. We are ourselves rather road-menders than -road-makers. Our genius finds its work in other directions. We have been -in South Africa far longer than the French in North Africa, and what -have we to show there at all comparable with the Algerian roads? - -In one of the most notable books of our generation, Mr. Hilaire Belloc -has set before us the uses, the influence, the interest, and the -fascination of the road. In the course of an exploration of one of those -ancient highways which we English have permitted to fall into decay and -in part to disappear, he has taken occasion to impress on us the part -which the road has played in the spread of civilizing influences. -Algeria—roadless and anarchical for centuries, orderly and webbed with -roads to-day—may add point to his argument. “More than rivers and more -than mountain chains, roads have moulded the political groupings of men. -The Alps with a mule-track across them are less of a barrier than -fifteen miles of forest or rough land separating one from that track. -Religions, which are the principal formers of mankind, have followed the -roads only, leaping from city to city and leaving the ‘Pagani,’ in the -villages off the road, to a later influence. Consider the series, -Jerusalem, Antioch, Ephesus, Athens and the Appian Way; Rome, all the -tradition of the Ligurian Coast, Marseilles and Lyons. I have read in -some man’s book that the last link of that chain was the river Rhone; -but this man can never have tried to pull a boat upon the Rhone -upstream. It was the Road that laid the train. The Mass reached Lyons -before, perhaps, the last disciple of the apostles was dead; in the -Forez, just above, four hundred years later, there were most probably -offerings at night to the pagan gods of those sombre and neglected -hills. And with religions all that is built on them: letters, customs, -community of language and idea, have followed the Road, because -humanity, which is the matter of religion, must also follow the road it -has made. Architecture follows it, commerce of course, all information; -it is even so with the poor thin philosophies, each in its little day -drifts, for choice, down a road.”[2] - -Footnote 2: - - “The Old Road,” 1904, p. 5. - -The making of the Algerian highways has been no light matter. They have -frequently demanded much engineering skill. Their repair is a difficult -and expensive business, the heavy winter rains and the fierce summer sun -have a rapidly disintegrating effect on the friable materials available. -Algeria is not only an exceedingly mountainous country, but its physical -conditions are very peculiar, and, except by those who have explored -them, not as a rule very fully understood. The common idea of a fertile -belt, more or less hilly and of varying width, between the sea on the -north and the Sahara on the south, is imperfect and incorrect. As a very -rough generalization, subject to innumerable variations of mountain and -valley and plain, Algeria may be said to consist of two parallel ranges -of mountains running north-east and south-west. The northern range -slopes very gradually to the sea, often in a series of plains, providing -with its copious rainfall that fertile tract known as the Tell, once the -granary of Rome, and now again developing a great export trade. The Tell -itself contains numerous ranges of lesser hills, called Sahels. The -southern range faces the desert, in the east, in the great rocky mass of -the Aures, with steep cliffs; in the west less abruptly. Between the two -ranges is contained a lofty plateau, of convex form, in the main barren -and sandy, but covered here and there with scrub. In many of its -features it imitates the true desert. It has its shallow depressions -filled with brackish water; and its inhabitants dwell in rare oases -where fresh water occurs. The mountains attain no great elevation, their -summits seldom exceeding 6000 feet. This is a pity. A lofty range -treasuring copious stores of eternal snow would perhaps have made of the -high plateau a veritable garden; and its influence would have been felt -far southwards into the Sahara. The direction of the mountain lines -causes the Tell, the land of tilth and colonization, to be wide at the -western end of the Colony, in the province of Oran, and narrow at the -eastern end, in the province of Constantine. - -Where the desert breaks in waves of shifting sand against the southern -range, where the streams run southwards and lose themselves,—there and -not on the seaboard of France and Spain would seem to lie the destined -boundaries of Europe; this the proper limit of European enterprises. The -sea is to-day less than ever a barrier, _dissociabilis_; it is rather a -link. The Mediterranean may lash itself in rage, but its rage is -impotent to check the progress of the great steamers. The southern -frontier of the Roman Empire is once more the southern frontier of -Europe. The burning sands of the great Sahara are the true divide. Yet -French enterprise is loth to admit this. The indomitable spirit of -adventure, of adventure however profitless,—the spirit which led their -Crusaders to the Holy Land, the army of Napoleon to Moscow, and Marchand -on his interminable desert march to anticipate Kitchener at Fashoda,— -this spirit is still at work. Further into the Sahara the outposts are -continually being pushed; a railway is projected to Timbuctoo, now a -journey of three months for caravans; and the connection of the French -Colonies in North and West Africa has long been mooted. We may admire -this spirit and its manifestation, but in all deference may ask, Is it -business? - -At the time of the French invasion, eighty years ago, there was not a -single road in the interior of Algeria. The Roman roads had disappeared. -The Arab paths only permitted the passage of horsemen, and wheeled -vehicles were unknown. In the Tell transport was by mules, in the south -by caravans. The army no sooner landed than it began to lay out roads, -and for some time afterwards their construction was in the hands of the -military engineers. They are now in the care of a special department. -The system which has been evolved consists of a great artery running -east and west from the frontier of Tunis to the frontier of Morocco, -united by branch roads to the chief ports on the coast, and sending -forth great feelers southward to the Sahara. These are the great -national trunk roads constructed and maintained by the state for -strategic purposes, and they have a total length of about 2500 miles. -Besides these, the state has assisted in the making of a great number of -roads partly strategic, but for the most part designed to open up new -regions to colonization. These, with the ordinary country roads, make up -a total of nearly 10,000 miles. - -It would almost seem that in the design of the great highways running -east and west, and north to sea, and south to the desert, the French had -some prescience of the invention of the motor-car. The roads are, in -fact, most admirably adapted to its use, often from their open character -and long straight stretches (a part, no doubt, of their military -intention), at almost any possible speed. And their surface is commonly -excellent. Remote places formerly only to be reached by painful journeys -in jolting diligences are now within easy reach. And although the -automobile is still the luxury of the few, it may not be long before -popular “omnibus” vehicles will extend its advantages to the many. The -railway train is becoming the inferior beast of burden,—crawling wearily -along at its African pace of fifteen or twenty miles an hour; while the -sprightly motor-car flies past, perhaps at a speed of fifty. It is true -that Article 14 of the _Règlements_ for Algeria provides that “en aucun -cas, la vitesse n’excédera celle de 30 kilomètres à l’heure en rase -campagne et celle de 20 kilomètres à l’heure dans les agglomérations,” -but there seems to be no disposition to enforce this; and there are no -police traps, and no A.A. scouts. The really important provision is, “le -conducteur de l’automobile devra rester constamment maître de sa -vitesse.” - -We may take it therefore that travel in Algeria is entering on a new -phase; that this most beautiful and interesting country has at a blow -become accessible to the traveller who has neither time nor inclination -for primitive methods of journeying; and that in the matter of country -hotels French enterprise will surely rise—it is already rising—to the -new opportunities. There are motorists and motorists; to one class the -car itself is all-important, the country traversed a minor matter, the -surface of the road on which “she” is to display her powers being the -first consideration. Such enthusiasts will bring their own cars, and -will perhaps not regret doing so. But there are also persons of -grovelling mind, who cannot rise to any enthusiasm over carburetters and -petrol consumption, who, in fact, regard the motor-car as merely a very -agreeable means to a very desirable end. Such lowly souls will perhaps -be satisfied with hiring a car in Algiers. They will find no difficulty -in selecting an adequate vehicle at a reasonable rate; no Black Care -will sit behind them,—if a breakdown occurs they have only to study the -scenery until it is repaired; and they will have the advantage of a -chauffeur who knows the country, and will not forget the rule of the -road at a critical moment. He may have other qualities;—ours was a -sportsman, and would produce a gun and shoot thrushes for our dinner -while we photographed Roman temples. Our murmured pity at their death -missed its mark; he regarded them simply as very good—to eat. And so -they are. - -Before he sets forth on more ambitious journeys, the master, temporary -or permanent, of a motor-car may make several interesting expeditions in -the neighbourhood of Algiers. The guide-book will suggest his objective, -the excellent maps of the “Voies de Communication” will point out the -way. If his tastes run in the direction of visiting historic sites, he -may spend a very interesting day in motoring to Cherchel, the ancient -Julia Cæsarea, situate on the coast about seventy miles west of Algiers. -He has a choice of routes; he may proceed inland to Blidah, and thence -to Marengo, and so to Cherchel, and return by the coast road, or vice -versa. We chose a middle course. We followed the Blidah road as far as -Boufarik and then turned westwards by country roads to Marengo. With -occasional interludes of roughness, especially where the marshy nature -of the country renders their maintenance difficult, these roads are very -good. They traverse a well-cultivated district of the great plain -between the coast-hills and the Lesser Atlas, of which the snowy summits -are brilliant in the morning sun. On a hill to our right we catch a -glimpse of the curious Tombeau de la Chrétienne, so called;—in all -probability the mausoleum of Juba II and Selene his wife, the founders -of Cæsarea. It is placed on the summit of a hill 756 feet above the sea, -and is a circular building of about 130 feet in height. Like most Roman -buildings it has been used as a quarry by subsequent peoples; perhaps -the solitary capital of a column which I noticed on a farm gateway came -from this source. - -[Illustration: CHERCHEL: THE AQUEDUCT] - -Between Boufarik and Marengo the country is fairly well cultivated; -substantial farmhouses, surmounted by groves of eucalyptus trees, stand -amid great fields of vine and corn. It is difficult to realize that, in -spite of its long history, this is essentially a new country, far newer -than the Colonies of South Africa, newer than a good deal of Australia. -At Marengo we join the main road from Blidah to Cherchel and descend -rapidly by the side of the newly-constructed railway. From a -contemplation of the enterprise of modern France, we are taken back at a -bound to the works of ancient Rome by the appearance on a hill to the -left of a portion of the aqueduct of Cæsarea. At this point it spans a -lateral valley in a triple series of arches, rendered perhaps more -impressive by a breakage in the middle. Leaving the car we scramble up -by the side of a stream and reach the great watercourse itself. Passing -beneath its arches we ascend the valley a little, and turn to look down -on its immense proportions. Amid the rough mountain scrub we have passed -from all evidence of modern cultivation, and are alone with this mighty -fragment of the past. It is difficult to find a reason for the feeling, -but few of Rome’s monuments impart a fuller sense of her magnificence -than the aqueducts which survive at so many different points of her -Empire. They are a symbol perhaps of her relentless power over nature -and man, of her determination to have what she wanted at all cost. -Sometimes, as in the Campagna, it is the long lines of interminable -arches which impress us; here it is rather their soaring height. Many -modern peoples would have carried the open watercourse by a circuitous -cutting on the hill-side round the head of the little valley; such a -proceeding was alien to the directness of Rome. - - “See distant mountains leave their valleys dry, - And o’er the proud arcade their tribute pour, - To lave imperial Rome.” - -The city to whose fountains and baths the aqueduct brought copious -streams of fresh water from the hills has disappeared. A squalid little -port fills some of its site, and entombs its marbles, but the aqueduct, -situate too far from the habitations of subsequent man to serve his -purpose as a quarry, and too threatening with its mass to encourage any -hasty attempt at demolition, has survived. - -A mile or two lower down are a few arches of a branch of the same -aqueduct; perhaps more picturesque in their greater ruin, but less -impressive in their situation and height. All around as we enter -Cherchel are evidences of its ancient glory. The fashioning of the -ground, the great squared stones which are built into the walls, the -marble columns lying about in the town square, and the huge masses of -shapeless brickwork on the shore prepare us for the collection of -statues and other objects gathered together in a well-arranged museum. - -The city of Cæsarea, renowned for its magnificence in the splendid Roman -world of the first century, rose under the hand of a woman, as Carthage -under Dido’s. To the loves of Antony and Cleopatra was born the Princess -Selene. In her veins flowed the blood of the Ptolemies,—perhaps of the -Pharaohs,—and of the paramount family of Rome. Truly, to adapt the -language of the turf, was she bred for building. Possibly with the idea -of providing for this inconvenient young lady at a safe distance from -Rome, Augustus mated her to Juba, a descendant of that Masinissa, King -of Numidia, who had been the staunch ally of the Romans in their long -struggle with Hannibal. Juba, educated at Rome, had developed literary -tastes. He is lauded by Pliny for his erudition, and we learn from -Plutarch that he merited a place among “Royal and Noble Authors.” Save -perhaps for the dark blood of his ancestry, he was a fitting match for -Cleopatra’s daughter, especially as he was restored to the Numidian -throne of his family, with all the power of Rome behind him. Retiring to -the ancient Phœnician town of Iol, the Royal pair set to work to -raise a noble city, which perhaps with a punning reference to its former -name they called Julia Cæsarea; and to gather around them a circle -representing the best culture of the time. Marble colonnades and -porticoes, baths and theatres and temples sprang into being on the fair -curve of the bay beneath the wooded hills. Great libraries enshrined the -literary labours of the monarch and the learning of the age. The -scholars of Greece found a comfortable and inspiring home at the court -of the pedantic king, and the existence of a hundred thousand citizens -attested the material wealth of the new city. Juba and Selene lived here -in peace to old age. The king died in A.D. 19, and was succeeded by his -son Ptolemy, who inherited none of his father’s good qualities. A -debauched tyrant, he plunged his kingdom into anarchy and was summoned -to Rome. He was received with every mark of honour, but was put to death -by Caligula, because, as it was said, the splendour of his attire unduly -excited the attention of the populace. - -Ptolemy’s sister Drusilla was the wife of that Felix, Governor of Judæa, -before whom Paul reasoned of righteousness, temperance and judgment to -come, so that Felix trembled, and answered, “Go thy way for this time; -when I have a convenient season I will call for thee.” Drusilla is -described in the Acts of the Apostles as a Jewess, which she was not, by -birth at any rate. - -It is sad to learn that as late as 1840 much of the Roman city was still -to be seen. The theatre, now marked by a mere depression in the ground, -was almost perfect. Here we have a genuine grievance against the French -conquest; but 1840 was in the dark ages. So Cæsarea has passed; the -Vandals, the Arabs, the earthquakes, and the French have all done their -worst: and between them they have made an end of it. Perhaps even a -systematic excavation would not yield us much of value. The statues to -be seen in the museum are for the most part copies of statues already -found at Rome, and suggest that there was little originality in the -artists employed by Juba and Selene. But nothing can impair the beauty -of the site, and not even the presence of a banal Franco-Arab town can -forbid us to dream of a white marble city beneath a deep blue sty and -facing a purple sea. - -So we turn homewards. For a while we follow the Marengo road by which we -came; pass the great aqueduct again; but shortly turn to the left to -reach Tipasa and the seaside road to Algiers. As we approach the coast -traces of the Roman past are everywhere;—on every mound great shaped -stones, “the splendid wrecks of former pride,” lie in confusion, and -here and there a portico suggests the existence of a suburban villa, - - “While oft some temple’s mouldering tops between - With memorable grandeur mark the scene.” - -When we reach Tipasa itself the great stones lie in heaps, in most -admired disorder. The ruins in their extent seem to indicate the -existence of a greater town than the historians admit Tipasa to have -been. It is said to have been founded by Claudius as a colony of -veterans, and to have contained 20,000 inhabitants. It is rich in -memories of the great Arian controversy which played so important a part -in the history of North Africa after the triumph of Christianity. In -A.D. 484 the Vandal king, Huneric, imposed an Arian bishop on the -Catholic inhabitants. A great part fled to Spain; those who remained and -refused to accept the heresy had their right arms lopped off and their -tongues cut out. It would seem that different branches of Christendom -have often been inclined to treat their erring brethren with more -severity than they meted out to the unregenerate heathen. Perhaps the -heathen has ever been a more likely convert. - -The situation of Tipasa belies the opinion that the ancients had no eye -for natural scenery. It stood on a fair promontory sheltering from the -east a little cove which is protected from the west by the great -mountain mass of Djebel-Chénoua, which lies between Tipasa and Cherchel. -The country around is singularly picturesque, and the _tout ensemble_ -very beautiful, even for this beautiful coast. - -Thence we start for a run of fifty or sixty miles by the seaside road to -Algiers, a road which has been splendidly engineered, and is kept for -the most part in a condition beyond praise. In front of us stretches the -coast-line past the Bay of Algiers to Cap Matifou; on our right are the -wooded hills of the Sahel. Here and there the land between the road and -the sea is laid out in gardens formed in small rectangular plots divided -by hedges of a tall reed to break the force of the wind. Even so the -Dutch nurserymen erect screens to protect their tulips on the wind-swept -lowlands of Holland. In these enclosures we particularly note frequent -plantations of the tall “silver” banana. And so in due time we reach -Algiers, conscious of a well-spent day. - -Travel gives the death-blow to many illusions. If there is one tenet to -which British self-complacency has clung with more desperate energy than -another, it is that our people are the only successful colonists. We are -ready to admit that the German has hardly had a fair chance. He is -relegated for the present to desert tropical lands which failed in the -past to tempt even Portugal. That France owns colonies of a different -class we have been dimly aware, but the oracles of the club and of the -Press have consistently pictured to us the French colonist as a -miserable being who passes his time sipping absinthe in a café, and -longing for his return to _la belle France_. Possibly in the purlieus of -Algiers such a being might be discovered; at any rate, he is certainly -not more in evidence than the “remittance men” and bar-loafers are in -our own colonies. And a motor drive for twenty or thirty miles through -the rich plain which encircles Algiers will send our long-cherished -belief a-packing to the limbo of dead British prejudices. We have -recently discovered that the home-staying French, at any rate, know -something about practical gardening, and the raising of vegetable crops -for market; that their scientific methods and untiring energy combine to -get more out of the ground than we do; and we have even been led to -pocket our pride and to import certain practical French gardeners, at a -fancy wage, to show us how the thing is done. In this we are only -following the example of our ancestors, who acquired most of their arts -and crafts from French and Flemish refugees. Yet it was quite a shock -when one of these new-comers, looking round him at the fair fields of -the home farm on a great estate in a southern county, ingenuously -remarked, “But why is not this country cultivated?” - -Of this great plain between the sea and the mountains no such question -could be asked. Some corn is raised, and some vegetables, such as -artichokes, but most of it is devoted to the culture of the vine. It is -all in the highest state of cultivation, and not an inch is wasted. The -vines are planted in open fields, with the precision of the hops of -Kent. Now is the time of pruning, and they are all being cut back to -within a foot or so of the ground. To an eye accustomed to the hill-side -and rocky vineyards of the Rhine, of Italy, or of Madeira, to the vines -which in Southern Europe throw themselves in reckless abandon over -trellises and wayside trees, these flat fields, which suggest turnips or -beet, have a very unromantic appearance. But it is easy to see that the -cultivation is conducted on the most scientific and business-like lines. - -It was our privilege to be invited to visit a French gentleman and his -family at their residence about twenty miles from Algiers. Our host has -purchased a large tract of land, the whole of which he has turned into a -great vineyard. He has built a pleasant country house, and filled it -with treasures of Arab art, and the trophies of travel in other lands. -He has planted a garden of palms and sub-tropical shrubs—a garden not -kept up to the standard of English trimness, but rich in shade, and -pleasantly suggestive of a jungle. Not only are his vines planted and -pruned with mathematical precision, but all his machinery for the -extraction and treatment of the grape juice is of the latest and most -practical character. A long building lined with huge vats gives an idea -of the greatness of his undertaking, and is designed to enable him to -hold the produce of two vintages in the event of a bad market:—a very -important advantage to a producer. There is nothing of the model, or -pleasure, farm about the place; it is all intensely practical. “It is an -industry,” said our host; and indeed it is; a fine example of industrial -intelligence applied to agriculture. The presence on the farm of two -motor-cars and an aeroplane is evidence that he is otherwise abreast of -the movement. - -It may be that our host is exceptionally gifted, both in enterprise and -resources, but at any rate his example must be of great value. And the -vistas all around of similar properties with pleasant houses bowered in -trees and gardens suggest that it is followed. It is agreeable to learn -that this industry meets its due reward. In 1910 it has been -exceptionally profitable. The chief buyers of Algerian wines are the -wine-shippers of Bordeaux and Macon, from whose cellars they emerge as -claret and Burgundy. The complete failure of the vintage in Europe has -caused a rise of fully fifty per cent in the price of the produce of -Algeria. In this happy climate, sure of its winter rain and its summer -sun, a failure of the vintage is unknown and almost inconceivable. -Viticulture has become the most important of the industries in which -Europeans in Algeria are engaged, and its prosperity is of great -importance to the Colony. Before the French conquest, the use of wine -being forbidden by the Koran, the vine was only grown to a small extent -for its fruit; the _raisin sucré_ of Khabylia was especially esteemed as -a sweetmeat for dessert. The first colonists made experiments in the -production of wine, but with insufficient knowledge and inadequate -equipment. Wine-makers are an aristocracy among agriculturists; a high -intelligence and inherited traditions count for much. The ravages of the -phylloxera in France created the opportunity of Algeria. The -wine-growers of the South thrown out of work were ready to emigrate, and -the deficit in the mother country’s production offered a great market -for the Colony. Since that time the industry has made steady -progression. In 1850 2000 acres were under cultivation as vineyards; in -1905 about 450,000 acres. The production of wine, which amounted to -370,000 gallons in 1878, is now over 150,000,000 gallons. The price -obtained for wine exported is subject to very wide fluctuations. In 1903 -the 100,000,000 gallons exported realized £4,000,000. In 1906 -110,000,000 gallons realized only £1,600,000. - -Algeria has managed to keep comparatively free from the phylloxera; the -provinces of Oran and Constantine, west and east, have suffered -somewhat, but the central province, Algiers, has so far escaped. -Energetic measures are taken to guard against the extension of the -plague, and owners of vines which it is found necessary to destroy are -compensated by the State. The policy of the Government is now not to -encourage the extension of the vineyards, but to improve the quality of -their produce. An effort should be made to find other outlets than the -French market, and thus counteract the wide fluctuations in value which -arise from its varying demands. Some attempt has already been made to -produce rich dessert wines similar to those of Portugal and Madeira, of -which there is a considerable consumption in France, and it would appear -that there is no obstacle to its success. A delicious Muscat is already -made, which might conceivably obtain a great vogue. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - _IV—A GARDEN AND SOME BUILDINGS_ - -Jardin d’Essai—A lost opportunity—Some suggestions—The villas of - Mustapha—A model museum—Arab art—Its origins—Its limitations—Its - significance. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - “There is an art to which I hold no key, - A tangled maze of curve and line I see; - Do you, my brother, keener-eyed, discern - A silent symbol of infinity?” - - -The amateur gardener, especially if he has any knowledge of tropical or -sub-tropical horticulture, will probably not be long in Algiers without -visiting the Jardin d’Essai. This modest title is given to an extremely -successful attempt at acclimatization, chiefly of tropical trees, on a -large scale. It was established by the Government eighty years ago, and -is now the property of the Compagnie Générale Algérienne, which grows -vast quantities of young palms and other trees for export to Paris and -London. - -[Illustration: ALGIERS: GARDEN OF THE HOTEL ST. GEORGE] - -The garden in itself will be a disappointment to the garden-lover. It is -a rectangular piece of ground, intersected by straight alleys, and with -the exception of a pool of water at the southern corner, containing a -small island, there is little attempt at what is called landscape -gardening. And the possibilities of a water-garden are neglected. One -wonders what an Algerian Wisley would be like. The whole aspect of the -place suggests a not very well kept nursery garden, which in effect it -is. But the wealth of its contents completely atones for its poverty in -design. - -Perhaps the most striking feature is an avenue of india-rubber trees, -which have attained a gigantic size,—a height in some cases of sixty -feet and a girth of twenty feet. It is a wonder that this garden was not -“floated” on the London market during the recent “boom.” At any rate, it -does contain rubber trees, which it is understood some of the areas -offered to the public did not. Another species of _ficus_ covers a large -space of ground, throwing down fresh roots from its lateral branches, -and apparently prepared to travel in this way in every direction. It is -unfortunate that the trees and shrubs are very insufficiently labelled; -occasional fragments of labels more or less indecipherable, and in some -cases, I think, incorrect, may be discovered; but there is no systematic -attempt to afford information. This ought not to be so in a garden for -which the State is partially responsible. - -The palms are very fine, and of many different species, including some -great rarities which I am unable to name. All the commoner bamboos are -in profusion, but being for the most part planted as hedges rather than -as clumps they lose their natural effect. Various Yuccas vie with the -india-rubber trees in their splendid growth. At the southern end of the -garden, where the formality of the avenues gives place to a little -wilderness, are some magnificent clumps of _Strelitzia augusta_,—finer -in size and growth than I have seen elsewhere,—and towering above them -are some lofty specimens of _Chorisia speciosa_ from Brazil. In the -drier spots are various species of aloe; and in the wetter papyrus -flourishes exceedingly. The fantastic _Monstrera deliciosa_ is quite at -home, and imbeds its constricting coils in the palm-trunks, in a way -which must be very painful to them. - -Not much colour is to be expected in the early months of the year, but -two or three Bougainvilleas make a moderate show, and both _Bignonia -venusta_ and _B. Smithii_ are in flower. The exquisite _Plumbago -Capensis_ is coming into bloom; also the single red _Hibiscus_ and its -less attractive double variety. A little trouble spent on this garden -would soon make it one of the finest in the world, without in any way -impairing its commercial uses. The material is there, and a little skill -in rearrangement of walks and in grouping of specimens is all that is -wanted. - -Perhaps a friendly critic may venture to be also an adviser. It is to be -presumed that Algiers welcomes the advent of strangers. And I find that -the local press records with satisfaction that hotels are full, and also -that great steamers with hundreds of tourists constantly arrive. These -strangers do good to trade, and it may therefore be worth while to pay a -little attention to their tastes, and to increase rather than diminish -the attractions which draw them hither. Even if the inhabitants of -Algiers care little about the beauty of the surroundings of their city, -they are part of its essential charm, and should be preserved from the -destruction which is everywhere threatening them. The ruthless felling -of ancient trees, the obstruction of points of view, the vulgarization -of pleasant places,—these may seem little things individually, but in -the mass they tell. There are, I believe, full powers to deal with such -matters, and the Minister of the Interior has recently addressed to the -_préfets_ of France a circular calling attention to the necessity of -safeguarding sites of artistic and natural beauty. Let Algiers lead the -way, and she will not repent it. But she may some day bitterly repent -inaction now. - -[Illustration: ALGIERS: FOUNTAIN IN THE KASBEH] - -Another suggestion. It would not be a great matter for the town to -purchase a block of buildings in the old streets below the Kasbeh, to -clean them out and to preserve them without undue restoration. Strangers -wish to see what the old town was like, and are not all able to battle -with the squalor and turmoil of the old streets as they are. Such a -little natural museum would more than pay for its cost. And—this is a -smaller matter still—it would be for the convenience of foreigners if -notices were affixed to public buildings, stating at what times they are -opened to inspection. It is annoying, for instance, to arrive at the -Bibliothèque in the morning and to find it closed, with nothing to -indicate when it will be open. - -I could extend these suggestions. But perhaps it would be too much to -expect in a town largely peopled by Mohammedans that strangers visiting -the mosques, or even passing in their neighbourhood, should be relieved -from the importunities of irresponsible and worrying touts. The town is -generally so well policed; the importunity of beggars is so trifling -with what one suffers in Egypt, for example; that, like Oliver Twist, -one asks for more. - -The suburb of Mustapha takes its name from the last Dey but three who -erected the palace now used as the official summer residence of the -Governor. The vast sums he expended on it excited the anger of the -janissaries, and led to his disgrace and death. There are many other -Arab villas now modernized; they are well described by the artist -Fromentin, a painter in words as on canvas: “To-day without exception -they belong to Europeans. So the deep mystery which veiled them has -vanished, and much of their charm has disappeared. The architecture of -these houses has no great meaning when applied to European uses. We must -therefore accept them for the pleasure of their exterior aspect, and -study them as the graceful monuments of an exiled civilization. -Inhabited by the people who built—I might say, dreamed—them, these -dwellings were a creation both of poetry and genius. This people knew -how to make prisons which were places of delight, and to cloister its -women in convents where they were unseen yet seeing. For the day, a -multitude of little apertures through stretching gardens of jasmine and -vines; for the night, the terraces;—what more malicious, and at the same -time more full of care for the distraction of the prisoners? The gardens -resemble those playthings which are designed for the amusement of the -Arab woman, that singular being whose life, long or short, is never -anything but childhood. You see there only little gravelled walks, -little rivulets in marble channels, where the water meanders in moving -arabesque designs. The baths, too, suggest the invention of a husband at -once a poet and a jealous lover. Imagine vast cisterns where the water -is not more than three feet in depth, flagged with the finest white -marble, and open through vaulted arches to a wide horizon. Not a tree -reaches this height; when you are seated in these aerial bathing-places -you see only sky and sea, and are seen only by the passing birds. We -have no understanding of the mysteries of such an existence. We walk -through the country to enjoy it; when we return it is to be indoors. -This secluded life near to an open window, this motionless existence -before so vast a space, this household luxury, this enervating climate -and radiant country, the infinite perspective of the sea—all this must -give birth to strange dreams, must throw the vital forces into disorder, -and mingle a sentiment beyond the power of words to describe with the -sorrows of captivity. But,” concludes our author, “ne me trompe-je pas -en prêtant des sensations très littéraires à des êtres qui assurément ne -les ont jamais eues?” - -Those who are fortunate enough to have access to some of these villas -will find their original features of house and garden carefully -preserved; the gardens improved and extended in accordance with more -intelligent views of horticulture. Others may see in the spacious and -well-ordered gardens of the Hôtel St. George, the largest of the hotels -frequented by English visitors, what in the way of vernal loveliness the -soil and climate of Algiers are capable of producing. In the grounds of -the Hôtel Continental, another large house with a sunny situation and a -magnificent view, are some curious and interesting trees, a dragon tree -which is considered to be six hundred years old. - -[Illustration: DRAGON TREE IN THE GARDEN OF THE HOTEL CONTINENTAL] - -There is an excellent Algerian museum at Mustapha Supérieur in a -pleasant garden, close to the Governor’s Summer Palace, built with a -court-yard, in the Moorish manner, an admirable form for a museum. It is -laudably confined to Algerian antiquities and Arab art; there are no -irrelevant South Sea Island curios; it has not been used as a receptacle -for the rubbish of the local collector, a dumping-ground of the -perplexed widow and the embarrassed executor. Algerian history is -thoroughly represented; there are the flint implements of primitive man, -a collection of Punic pottery from Gouraya, Roman antiquities of every -kind, and numerous examples of Arab and Berber handicrafts. These -treasures are exhibited with the taste which distinguishes the French in -such matters, as is evidenced in their dressing of shop-windows. Of the -Roman antiquities perhaps the gem is a bronze figure of a boy with an -eagle, two feet high, and of fine style. It was found at Lambessa. From -Lambessa come numerous other exhibits, including some gold coins of the -period of Septimius Severus, an emperor of African origin, of Julia his -wife (with filigree mounting), and Caracalla and his son, of Macrinus -and Severus Alexander. These are in mint condition. And there is a very -fine gold medallion of Postumus. There are numerous mosaics,—in Roman -Africa mosaic pavements were very popular and well executed,—marbles of -all kinds from Cherchel, and a very interesting stone tablet recording -the rules for the distribution of water from an aqueduct to Roman -colonists. The Arab portion includes arms, jewellery, the elaborately -embroidered saddlery of Arab cavaliers, pottery, carpets, woven stuffs,— -a fine assortment of Arab and Berber handiwork. Altogether a most -creditable museum,—a very model of what a local museum should be. In a -neighbouring building is a “Forestry” collection;—stuffed examples of -Algerian wild animals, and fine specimens of Algerian woods, and so on. -Some magnificent examples of slabs of the native _Thuja_ are worth -notice. - -As with other public buildings in Algeria, the usefulness of this museum -is somewhat curtailed by the short time it is open,—only in the -afternoon and not every day,—and, what is worse, by the absence of any -notice of the hours during which it may be visited. In my ignorance I -tried to enter on two or three occasions. Goaded to desperation one -morning I rang the bell, and found the amiable custodian at leisure to -admit me, but only by favour. Such a collection is worthy of a -notice-board in French, Arabic, English, German, Spanish, and Italian, -setting forth the hours it is open, and to a foreigner (I make the -suggestion with diffidence) it appears that the morning hours should not -be forgotten. This is too good a museum to be circumscribed by such -antiquated and provincial arrangements as prevail at present. The object -of a museum should be to get people to come in, not to keep them out. I -was informed that it was closed on Monday afternoon because there were -too many people about! The British workman’s Monday is evidently not the -insular institution I had supposed. But a museum is not a fortress. - -We are wont to speak of “Arab Art,” but the term, if consecrated by -usage, is incorrect and misleading. There is, in fact, no such thing. -The Arab has never been an artist. The nomad had of necessity no -architecture, and architecture is the mother of the arts. Artistic -incapacity and an effort to break away from anthropomorphism in religion -went hand in hand among the Semitic races;—“Thou shalt not make to -thyself any graven image, nor likeness of any thing that is in heaven -above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth.” And -when Solomon builded his temple he turned for assistance to the King of -Tyre; and one Hiram, a brassworker of Tyre, “wrought all his work.” To -this day the Jews, who have excelled in finance and statecraft, in -literature and in music, have made little mark in art. - -The rise of Islam is an extraordinary phenomenon. In one generation the -Arab is a wanderer, half patriarch, half brigand, pasturing his flocks -on the verge of the cultivated lands of more civilized peoples, and -snatching such prey as hazard brought within his grasp; in the next he -is a conqueror ruling from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic, and -threatening to extinguish Christendom. On the vanquished he imposed his -religion and his social code; he had no art to impose. Having become by -force of conquest and the exigencies of government a dweller in cities, -he showed his incapacity to understand the work of his predecessors in -such eccentricities as re-erecting their fallen buildings with the -columns inverted, using the capital as base, and the base in the -capital’s place. As architects he employed the natives of the countries -he had overrun, in Egypt Copts and Greeks, who reproduced Byzantine -forms and fixed the typical lines on which the development of “Arab art” -was to take place. In this deference to local tendencies is to be found -the origin of the wide divergencies of art in the Mohammedan world,—of -Persian art in the east, and Moorish art in the west. The conquered and -converted peoples continued to build, as far as the main plan was -concerned, in the same way as they had built before their conversion, -adapting their previous methods to present needs, and to the -requirements of their conquerors. - -In Barbary the development of art followed closely that of Spain. The -Moorish art of Spain was chiefly Roman or Byzantine in origin; the first -mosque built, that of Cordoba, is said to have been designed by -architects from Byzantium. Columns used in its construction were brought -from the ruins of Merida and other Roman towns, and even from distant -parts of the Mediterranean. From this commencement sprang the later -glories of Moorish art, exhibited in their most splendid developments at -Granada in Spain, and Tlemçen in Algeria. - -If in the scheme of its buildings Moorish architecture followed earlier -examples, the Byzantine basilica and the Roman house, in its decorative -features it was more distinctively Mohammedan. Yet if the Semite -nourished his traditional aversion from the graven image, if the Prophet -forbade idolatry and his disciples extended the prohibition to the -portrayal of the human body, and enjoined that only trees, flowers and -inanimate objects should be depicted; it is nevertheless necessary to -seek some deeper cause for the objection of the western Mohammedans to -any artistic representation of animal forms. This objection was by no -means universal in the Mohammedan world. The Persian rejoiced in his -pictures and statues. The explanation may be found perhaps in the zeal -of the iconoclasts which had rent North Africa before the Arab invasion. -Fathers of the Church had thundered against images; humbler Christians, -such as the Copts in Egypt, had striven to dissociate their art from -materialistic suggestions, and to find in geometric designs some -expression of their aspirations for the infinite. But Hellenism, with -its delight in nature, and especially the human form, was still dominant -in Christian art. It disappeared before the onslaught from Arabia. The -Coptic builder saw his opportunity. His abstract ideas fitted exactly -with those of his new master. In his rhythmical representations of -foliage, his polygonal figures and intersecting angles, may perhaps be -found the germ of the characteristic motives of Mohammedan decoration. - -[Illustration: ALGIERS: FOUNTAIN, RUE DE L’INTENDANCE] - -Its elements may be divided into three groups;—inscriptions in writing, -and interlacements, rectilinear and curvilinear. It will be found that -almost all Moorish decoration falls under one of these three heads. The -inscriptions as a rule are not historic, but ornamental, verses of the -Koran, pious sentences and so forth. The style is at first sober and -monumental, more stately than the cursive hand in ordinary use. As we -should expect, it became in time more elaborate and fantastic, -harmonizing well with the decorative interlacements which commonly -surround the lettering. The inscriptions themselves are often in -geometrical form, so as to give at first sight the impression of a -pattern; for instance, a sentence may be repeated four times around a -central letter. - -To the variety of geometrical and curvilinear interlacements there is -obviously no limit. Angles, straight lines and curves are frequently -combined in the style we denominate arabesque, a style which has -prevailed far beyond the limits of Arab conquest, and is particularly a -feature of Venetian art. Late examples show great development, -especially on floral lines. Leaves of particular trees, notably the -palm, are represented. But a mathematical suggestion does not cease to -prevail. The passion for interlacement and for excessive decoration of -surface gives rise to curious vagaries,—such are the intricate -intersection of arches, the breaking up of the arch itself into -subsidiary arches, and the “stalactites” which commonly adorn the roof -of the _mihrab_, the Holy of Holies. It is not without interest when -visiting a mosque to note these developments and to strive to trace them -to their original elements. - -Our insight into the Arab mind is so limited, we have ourselves so -slight an inclination to the symbolic and the mystic, so strong a -preference for directness in art and speech, for “straight-flung words -and few,” that we may well hesitate to dogmatize in such a matter as -Moorish decoration. In the light of our own tame submission to a -superabundance of ecclesiastical and domestic ornament which is without -significance we should regard it as merely a habit of clothing blank -spaces with conventional markings. Yet it may be that the spiritual -dreamer, ever intent on the conception of an abstract deity, rejecting -with scorn the idea of a God made flesh and dwelling among men, finds in -the geometrical expressions of unending line and angle, in the -interminable intricacies of the interlacing curve, some harmony with his -own longings, and some suggestion of the Infinite. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - _V—SWORD AND PLOUGH_ - -Great events and trivial causes—The Dey’s fan—France roused—England as - dog-in-the-manger—The French expedition and conquest—Clauzel— - Abd-el-Kader—Bugeaud. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - “They shall beat their swords into ploughshares.” - ISAIAH. - - -It is naturally impossible for a traveller to traverse Algeria without -being constantly conscious of the effects of the French conquest. His -own presence there otherwise than as a Christian slave is one of them, -and not the least important one for him. But in the course of his -journeyings he will be so frequently informed of important incidents in -the series of campaigns, of the connection of localities he is visiting -with some phase of victory or defeat, that a short résumé of the lengthy -transactions may not be out of place. With many side-issues the story -resolves itself in the end, as such war-histories often do, into a -struggle for the mastery between two great men. The Frenchman won the -rubber. - -Stern as was the lesson which Lord Exmouth inflicted, it was soon -forgotten, and the ingrained habit of centuries reasserted itself. A -subsequent Dey set himself to re-create a fleet, and in 1820 he had -forty-four vessels with 1560 sailors. Fresh trouble arose with the -British consul, and the weakness of the admiral who was sent to support -him only made matters worse. The Dey refused to see Mr. McDonell, who -had been forced to leave, and treated Mr. St. John, who replaced him, -with ignominy. “All the disgraceful ceremonies in the intercourse -between the representative of Great Britain and the Turkish authorities -were continued. The consul was obliged, the moment he came in sight of -the Dey’s palace, to walk bareheaded in the hottest sun; in waiting for -an audience he had to sit on a stone bench in the public passage; he -could not wear a sword in the Dey’s presence, nor ride to the palace, -though his own servants, if Mohammedans, might do so.” And the corsair -fleet began once more to harry the coasts of France and Spain. - -In the early days of the Turkish domination the corsairs had been -influenced by political preferences. They had especially waged war -against the Spaniards, who had expelled the Moors, and whose sovereign, -Charles V, was the enemy of the Sultan. They respected the vessels of -Francis I, the Sultan’s ally. So may even pirates follow the dictates of -conscience. But as time went on the high character of the Algerian -corsairs suffered some abasement through association with the renegades -of Christendom, and French and Spanish vessels met a like fate,—all was -fish that came to their net. The French, who had formerly felt that the -Spaniards were getting no more than their deserts, and had even afforded -Kheir-ed-Din a temporary refuge in the port of Marseilles during a -storm, were naturally hurt at the ingratitude of these proceedings. They -went so far, in the reign of the Grand Monarque, as to bombard Algiers -on two occasions,—with the customary result. Their fleets sailed away; -Algiers rebuilt itself, and proceeded upon its piratical way. No one has -ever rivalled the Deys in the art of taking a beating, and coming up -again with a smile,—unless it be their ultimate conquerors. - -Great changes in the history of the world have often been, or have -seemed to be, the result of accident. Wars have been waged, conquests -effected, empires created, not of settled intention and design, but as -the outcome of the personal quarrels, and the personal ambitions of -individuals, less, in modern times at any rate, of sovereigns than of -subjects. The British Empire has been created rather in spite of than by -the aid of the governing powers of Great Britain. Cecil Rhodes is but -the latest of the long line of Englishmen who imposed imperial -responsibilities on a half-hearted England. Governments seldom dream -imperial dreams; they are more concerned to keep their seats. Sovereigns -like George III may lose an empire. Mere accidental citizens, as Clive -or Rhodes, may create one. - -So this fertile North Africa, through history the shuttle-cock of Asia -and Europe, with an illimitable hinterland of “rather light soil,” to -quote the words of a statesman who had little sympathy with African -conquest, became French because an Algerian Dey struck a consul with his -fan. This incident arose—as modern international incidents frequently -arise—out of a financial dispute. Certain Jews of Algiers had a claim -against France for corn supplied during the Napoleonic wars. The Dey -pressed this claim as his own; and being dissatisfied with the delay in -settlement he made a violent scene with the consul, “et s’oublia jusqu’à -le toucher de son chasse-mouches.” Apologies were demanded and refused, -and for three years, from 1827 to 1830, France endeavoured to blockade -the port of Algiers. The Dey Hussein continued obdurate. So little -repentant was he that when the _Provence_ entered the port in 1829, -having on board a French admiral, charged to make a last effort at -negotiation (for the blockade was costing seven millions of francs a -year and effecting nothing), all the batteries opened fire on her. Even -now the French ministry was reluctant to make war, and proposed to the -Sultan of Turkey that Mehemet Ali, Pasha of Egypt, should bring the -Barbary states under his rule. The Sultan refused his authorization, and -an expedition was decided on. France was destined to become an African -power, “un peu malgré elle.” - -The naval authorities were strongly opposed to a military expedition; it -would, they declared, be absolutely impracticable to land an army with -its indispensable materiel; and former experience, especially the -failure of Charles V, appeared to support their view. But the French -Cabinet decided to make the attempt. With the exception of England, the -European powers were complaisant. England demanded explanations as to -the object of the preparations. M. de Polignac in a circular note -explained that his master desired only to suppress piracy, slavery and -the tribute paid by Christian nations to the Dey. England was not -satisfied and asked for a formal renunciation of a policy of annexation. -The President of the Council replied to the British ambassador that the -King was not led by any sentiment of ambition, that he was not aware -that he had need to ask the permission of anyone to avenge an insult to -his flag; that he had already made known his intentions, and that his -word ought to be sufficient guarantee. England returned to the charge. -M. de Polignac then produced a second circular note in which he declared -that “if Algiers fell into the power of the French army the King would -examine in conjunction with his allies what new order of things it would -be fitting to establish for the benefit of Christianity.” England -complained that this note contained no formal engagement not to keep -Algiers; the French minister put an end to the discussion by declaring -that the King’s communications required no further development. - -It is interesting to recall these diplomatic amenities; _mutatis -mutandis_ they bear strong resemblance to certain international passages -at the time of the English occupation of Egypt. But France does not seem -to have given any undertaking that her operations should be only -temporary. - -If his memoirs are to be trusted, Admiral d’Haussez, the French Minister -of Marine, lacked the diplomatic suavity of his colleague. Even a -sailor’s bluffness hardly covers the tone of a declaration he made to -the British ambassador. “The King wishes the expedition to be made, and -it will be made. France laughs at England. She will do in this instance -what she likes, and will put up with neither control nor opposition. We -are no longer in the days when you dictated laws to Europe. Your -influence rested on your wealth, your ships and your habit of -domination. All that is past. I suppose you are not willing to -compromise what remains of your influence by going beyond threats. But -if you wish to do so, I will give you the means. Our fleet is already -assembled at Toulon, and will be ready to sail in the last days of May. -It will call at the Balearic Isles, and it will land the troops to the -west of Algiers. If the fancy takes you, you may meet it.” - -France had her way without interference; the admiral’s prophecy -(recorded after the event) was fulfilled to the letter. An army of -35,000 men under General Bourmont was transported in 300 vessels, and -disembarked with no great difficulty at Sidi Ferruch, about fifteen -miles to the west of Algiers, on June 14th, 1830. The landing was -unopposed, Hussein having expected it to take place to the east of the -town and collected his army there. A few days later the Dey’s son-in-law -and general, Ibrahim, came into conflict with the French troops and was -defeated. A second attack had the same result. The French army marched -on Algiers, laid siege to Fort l’Empereur, so called because it stood on -the heights above the town where Charles V had pitched his tent. The -French soldiers knew only one Emperor, and promptly called it Fort -Napoleon. The Turkish garrison blew up the fort and fled, and Algiers -lay at the mercy of the invaders. - -It appears that Hussein was ready to resist to the death, and sooner -than submit to blow up the city. But disaffection appeared among his -troops, who sent an emissary to Bourmont, offering the Dey’s head as a -token of conciliation. The Dey then decided to treat; he was willing to -make every reparation for the insult offered to the consul, to abandon -his pecuniary claims and to pay the cost of the war. But Bourmont would -have nothing but the surrender of the city and its forts. The Dey was to -be at liberty to retire to some place to be fixed on, with his family -and his riches. As regards the inhabitants,—“l’exercice de la religion -mussulmane restera libre. La liberté des habitants de toutes les -classes, leur religion, leurs propriétés, leur commerce, leur industrie -ne recevront aucune atteinte, leurs femmes seront respectées: le général -en chef en prend l’engagement sur l’honneur.” These terms were accepted; -the French army entered Algiers on July 5th; and it appears that the -conditions were fairly well observed. - -An eye-witness has described the attitude of the population. “Algiers,” -he says, “on the entry of the French, did not present the sad and -desolate aspect of a conquered town. The shops were closed, but the -traders, seated quietly before their doors, seemed to await the moment -for opening them. You met here and there groups of Turks and Moors who -appeared more indifferent than alarmed. A few veiled Mohammedan women -could be seen peering through the narrow windows of their dwellings; -Jewish women with greater boldness filled the terraces of their houses -without exhibiting any surprise at the novel spectacle. Our soldiers -threw everywhere eager and curious glances, and all they saw filled them -with astonishment at a city where no one seemed astonished at their -presence. The resignation to the will of God which is so profoundly -graven on the spirit of the Mussulman, the sentiment of France’s power, -and her well-known generosity, all made for confidence; and it was soon -established.”[3] With such ease and light-heartedness did France enter, -on her career of African conquest. Her troubles were to come. - -Footnote 3: - - Pelissier de Reynaud, “Annales Algériennes.” - -The policy to be pursued was the first of them. The expedition had -achieved its punitive object, Algeria appeared to be poor and sterile, -and there was much to be said for abandoning it altogether. At the other -extreme was the proposal to attempt a complete and definite conquest. A -middle course was adopted,—to occupy only certain important points on -the coast and in the interior. It is easy to be wise after the event; -our own colonial experience is full of evidence of the futility of -half-measures; and we need not claim much perspicacity for observing -that France missed the golden opportunity for occupying the country when -the central Government, such as it was, had been destroyed. But, for all -the brave words of the truculent admiral, she doubtless felt some -diffidence in view of her declaration to Europe, and the continued -hostility of Great Britain was not without its effect. France’s own -political position, too, was in a very disordered condition. On the 18th -of August a revolution took place, Louis Philippe was proclaimed King -and Bourmont was recalled. - -For the next ten years, from 1830 to 1840, what was known as the policy -of Restricted Occupation was pursued. Certain ports on the coast were -occupied—Oran, Bougie, Bône, etc.—and attempts were made to bring the -plain of the Metidja under French control by placing garrisons in such -towns as Medea and Blidah. The army of occupation was much reduced, and -Clauzel, the general in command, endeavoured to raise native auxiliary -troops, with small success. He was, at any rate, a master of bombast. -Having occupied Blidah and ascended one of the passes of the Atlas, he -addressed his troops: “Soldats! les feux de nos bivouacs qui, des cimes -de l’Atlas, semblent dans ce moment se confondre avec la lumière des -étoiles, annoncent à l’Afrique la victoire que vous venez de remporter,” -etc. This pronouncement was followed by the withdrawal of the garrison -and a hasty retreat to Algiers. Early in 1831 Clauzel was recalled. His -successors, Berthezène, the duc de Rovigo and Voirol, essaying a great -undertaking with inadequate means, had no better fortune. - -Under Voirol General Desmichels was sent to Oran with the object of -establishing order in the west. The tribes were in arms, and at their -head-quarters at Mascara had chosen as their general a celebrated -marabout, or holy man, named Mahi-ed-Dine, who, having attacked Oran -several times without success, resigned the command to his son, -Abd-el-Kader, then only twenty-four years of age, but destined to become -one of the greatest leaders of modern times. He was, says Camille -Rousset, “of middle height, but well made, vigorous and untiring. He was -the best among the best horsemen in the world. Physical qualities are -highly valued by the Arabs; Abd-el-Kader had more—the qualities which -make men conquerors: intelligence, sagacity, strength of will, genius to -command. In eloquence he was the equal of the greatest orators, and -could bend crowds to his will. He spoke in serious and measured tones, -and was sparing of gesture, but his pale face was full of animation, and -under their long dark lashes his blue eyes darted fire.” It may be -remarked that the blue eyes point to a Berber, rather than an Arab -origin. Such was the man who for years to come was to bid defiance to -the French. - -Their first dealings with him were unfortunate. Desmichels arrived at -Oran in the spring of 1833. Finding that he could make no headway -against Abd-el-Kader, who from his capital of Mascara was preaching a -holy war for the extermination of the infidels, he concluded with him a -treaty which enormously increased the Arab’s authority. Abd-el-Kader was -described in it as Emir; all practical power was placed in his hands; -and he was permitted to purchase arms and ammunition in French towns. No -mention was made of French sovereignty. The treaty, though contrary to -the instructions of the French Government, was accepted by it in the -belief that it assured peace. Difficulties soon arose. Desmichels was -recalled; his successor, Trezel, at the head of a column of 1700 men, -was attacked by Abd-el-Kader in the marshes of La Macta, and defeated -with the loss of a third of his force. - -The prestige of this victory brought many waverers to the Arab leader’s -flag. But France’s disaster brought home to her the seriousness of the -position, and in the end the defeat did more towards the ultimate -conquest than a victory would have done. - -Clauzel, who had left Africa almost in disgrace in 1831, was sent back -in full command in 1835. He alone of the French generals had exhibited -any military qualities. His grandiose projects have been justified by -events. His main plan consisted in occupying Mascara and Tlemçen in the -west, Medea and Miliana in the centre, and Constantine in the east. Of -Tlemçen and Constantine he said, “Si vous n’occupez pas ces deux -Gibraltar de la Régence d’Alger, vous n’en serez jamais les maîtres.” -His failure was due to his attempt to effect these objects with the -inadequate means with which he was supplied. He commenced by advancing -against Abd-el-Kader, who retired before him. Having occupied Mascara -and Tlemçen, he returned to Algiers, whereupon Tlemçen was promptly -besieged by the Arabs. At this point the great Frenchman, destined to -overthrow the Arab power and to conquer Algeria, appeared on the scene. -General Bugeaud was sent to command in the west. He was personally -opposed to conquest, and regarded French intervention in Algeria not -only as having been badly conducted, but as initially a mistake. These -views did not prevent him from putting his hand to the plough. He began -by revolutionizing the methods of warfare; in spite of the opposition of -his officers, he dispensed with heavy trains of baggage and artillery, -lightened the loads of the soldiers, and carried their provisions on -mules. Attacking Abd-el-Kader at La Sikkah he inflicted on him a signal -defeat, his native auxiliaries pursuing the flying enemy with fury and -slaughtering them in great numbers. Bugeaud then returned to France. - -Meantime Clauzel, having had some success in the neighbourhood of -Algiers, attacked Constantine, but was ignominiously repulsed, and was -recalled. The city fell the following year to General Valée. In 1837 -Bugeaud was sent back to Oran, with instructions to make terms with -Abd-el-Kader on the basis of surrendering to him the province of Oran in -consideration of his recognizing the sovereignty of France and paying -tribute. The two leaders met and negotiated the treaty of the Tafna. It -was all in the Arab’s favour; the tribute fixed was nominal, the -sovereignty question ignored. In native eyes Abd-el-Kader became a -veritable monarch, his territory was assured to him and he had leisure -to gather his forces for a further struggle. We must suppose either that -Bugeaud’s private preferences carried him away, or that the situation in -the west was too desperate to warrant his insisting on better terms. For -two years peace reigned, but in 1839 Abd-el-Kader proclaimed a holy war. -Arabs and Khabyles invaded the Metidja and burnt the farms of the French -colonists. Hostilities lasted for two years with no decisive result. In -October, 1840, the Governor-General, Valée, was recalled, and Bugeaud -was sent out in supreme command to inaugurate a new policy. - -[Illustration: EVENING PRAYER] - -The half-hearted efforts of ten years were at an end, _l’occupation -restreinte_ was to give way to _l’occupation totale_. France set herself -at all cost to occupy effectively the whole territory of Algeria up to -the desert. She had missed her chance at first. “Occasion,” says Bacon, -“(as it is in the common verse), turneth a bald Noddle, after she hath -presented her locks in Front and no hold taken.” The unwise temporizing -with Abd-el-Kader had enormously increased the difficulties of the -position. But there was to be no more dalliance. - -Bugeaud was one of those born leaders to whom the exigencies of the -occasion are more important than military tradition. To seek the enemy’s -force and to destroy it was for him a leading principle, as it has been -for our great naval commanders. He abolished the garrisons of his -predecessors, and substituted for them mobile columns. He believed, and -proved, that the manœuvres of such columns were far more effective, -even for the protection of colonized districts, than the occupation of -definite points. In the main he relied on infantry, supported by a light -and very mobile artillery. The _a priori_ view that cavalry is necessary -to meet a mounted enemy found in his operations no support, however -useful it may be for surprises and pursuit. Can it be that the famous -telegram to our Colonies at the beginning of the last South African -War,—“infantry preferred,”—was due to a statesman’s study of the memoirs -and correspondence of Marshal Bugeaud? - -He even conceived the idea of mounted infantry, mounting his men on -mules or camels as occasion served. He prohibited the use of waggons for -baggage and provisions, and dared, in spite of the indignant protests of -his cavalry officers, to use the troop horses to carry rice and corn. -Sprung himself from the ranks,—he had fought as a corporal of the guard -at Austerlitz,—he understood the soldier’s needs, powers and -limitations; and was in turn trusted and beloved,—_le père Bugeaud_ he -was affectionately called. Such was the man who was to win for France -her African empire. - -[Illustration: CARAVAN OF A CAÏD] - -It is unnecessary to recount the details of the long duel between -Bugeaud and Abd-el-Kader. Step by step the Arab leader was driven from -the fertile regions to the high plateaux, and with every reverse his -authority over the tribesmen waned, even if his own resource and -resolution never failed. A severe blow was dealt in the spring of 1843. -Abd-el-Kader had established a vast caravan, known as the _smalah_, -comprising the families of his forces, their flocks and herds, and a -crowd of non-combatants who abandoned their homes and followed his -fortunes rather than submit to the foreigner. It was, as Bugeaud said, -“la capitale ambulante de l’empire arabe.” It was reputed to contain -40,000 persons, defended by 5000 combatants. The young Duc d’Aumale, son -of Louis Philippe, was charged with its capture. Having located its -position at Taguine, he attacked it with a force of 600 horse, without -waiting for his infantry, consisting of 1300 men. The suddenness of his -onslaught broke down all resistance; the defenders fled, leaving much -booty and many thousand prisoners in the hands of the French. For some -months more Abd-el-Kader continued to make a futile resistance, but -finally fled to Morocco. In July Bugeaud received the fitting -acknowledgment of his success, and was named Marshal of France. - -France now came into conflict with the Empire of Morocco,—the -commencement of a page of history still unfinished. The Sultan, perhaps -against his own inclinations, was compelled by the sympathies of his -people to espouse the cause of the Arab leader. His son led an army of -40,000 men to the frontier. Bugeaud, with a force of 8000, met him on -the banks of the Isly. The night before the battle Bugeaud addressed his -officers, who were assembled at “un punch” to welcome some comrades -arrived from France: “With our little army of 6500 bayonets and 1500 -horses I am going to attack the army of the Prince of Morocco, which -amounts, according to my information, to 60,000 horsemen. I would the -number were double, or thrice as great, for the greater would be its -disorder and disaster. I have an army; he has only a mob. And I will -explain to you my order of attack. I give my little force the form of a -wild boar’s head. The right tusk is Lamoricière; the left tusk, Bedeau; -the snout is Pelissier; and I am between the ears. Who can stop our -penetrating power? Ah! my friends, we will cut our way into the Moorish -army as a knife cuts butter.” - -This new eve of Austerlitz was followed on the morrow by an overwhelming -victory. By midday the Moors were in flight and their camp of a thousand -tents, with all their artillery, was captured. The bombardment of -Tangier and Mogador by the Prince de Joinville assisted to bring the -Sultan to his senses, and peace was concluded by the Treaty of Tangier. - -But the troubles of the French were not over. In 1845 the indomitable -Abd-el-Kader, having recruited 2000 men in the Sahara, appeared in the -west and raised the whole province of Oran; farms were burnt, crops -destroyed and bridges thrown down. Bugeaud, recalled from France, set -himself to make an end. He collected a force of 100,000 men, divided -into eighteen columns. A mighty hunt began. Abd-el-Kader was everywhere -in turn. As ubiquitous as De Wet, he was now in the Tell, now in the -high plateaux, now endeavouring to raise the mountaineers of Khabylia. -But the end was inevitable. The tribesmen whom, having raised, he left -to their chastisement, grew weary of the process. “You are like the -gad-fly,” they said to him, “which arouses the bull. When you have done -your work of irritation you disappear, and it is we who bear the brunt -of the blows.” After a fruitless effort to obtain fresh aid from -Morocco, he was captured on the frontier by Lamoricière and sent to -France. He was subsequently allowed to retire to Syria, where he lived -on a pension paid by the French Government till his death in 1883. He -left a name venerated by his countrymen and respected by his conquerors. -The French have had to face serious insurrections since, but no native -leader has arisen to repeat the exploits or rival the fame of -Abd-el-Kader. - -Bugeaud was more than a great soldier; he was a statesman and a -colonizer. He chose as his motto, “Ense et aratro.” He held that, except -as a forerunner to the plough, it was useless to draw the sword. The -military and civil control of a subject population, such as the English -rule in India, and in recent days the _pax Gallica_ of the Sahara, may -be an excellent undertaking for a people of super-abundant energies; for -Bugeaud the conquest of Algeria was only a necessary preliminary to its -organization as a French colony. “La conquête,” he said in his first -proclamation, “serait stérile sans la colonisation. Je serai donc -colonisateur ardent, car j’attache moins de gloire à vaincre dans les -combats qu’à fonder quelque chose d’utile et de durable.” - -The French invasion brought in its train a number of civilians. They -were perhaps rather adventurers than of the stuff from which successful -colonists are made. And the task before them was a stern one. The -breaking of the soil was the first difficulty. It was covered with -brushwood and dwarf palms, and its clearance involved much painful toil. -There were no roads; even in the Metidja, close to Algiers, no means of -communication but the mule paths; and no bridges. It is said that the -journey to Blidah, which you may now cover in an hour or two, took four -days. The country was most insecure; troops of bandits continually -descended on the cultivated plains and robbed and murdered the -colonists. Perhaps the greatest trouble of all was the prevalence of -fever, especially in the Metidja. “The cemeteries,” said a general, “are -populated faster than the villages.” Later the spread of cultivation -diminished its virulence, and the use of quinine provided a remedy. It -is said that absinthe was used by French soldiers as a febrifuge,[4] and -that they took back to their homes a habit which has become so -widespread. A treatise might be written on the influence of war on -fashions in drink. The introduction of champagne into England is said to -be due to the English officers who had discovered its virtues in Paris -at the time of Bonaparte’s downfall. - -Footnote 4: - - See “Notes and Queries,” February 25th and March 4th, 1911. - -The Holy War of 1839 had extinguished the feeble flicker of French -colonization. The colonists were removed to Algiers for safety; and the -Arabs pillaged and burnt their farms. The land reverted to barbarism. -Bugeaud set himself to repair this damage, and to place colonization on -a firmer basis. His idea was that the state should prepare the way by -granting land under certain conditions of military service, that it -should make careful selection among applicants for grants, and should -provide funds for preliminary works,—roads, wells and farm-buildings. -This system was partially carried out, and has been justified by -success. In spite of many troubles and setbacks, a constantly increasing -area has been brought under cultivation. In 1854 the cultivation of -cereals occupied about two million acres; in 1861 it had risen to five -millions; in 1885 to seven millions. Since that date the total has not -sensibly increased, but methods have improved and the yield is greater. -It is said that on the whole agriculture in Algeria is more progressive -than in France. And as he traverses Algeria’s interminable cornfields, -the traveller may be disposed to render homage to the great soldier who, -personally averse from conquest, drew the sword to establish peace, and -strove to bring plenty in her train. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - _VI—TLEMÇEN THE HOLY_ - -Western Algeria—Sidi Bel Abbès—The Foreign Legion—A city of learning—Its - inhabitants—The Mosque of Aboul Hassan—Mansoura—Its story—Sidi Bou - Medine—Oran—Spanish immigrants. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - “A city dreaming of her ancient pride - Amid the orchards on her mountain-side; - Do you sleep sound, O saint that shares her fame, - While stranger horsemen through her portals ride?” - - -Far to the west, beyond Oran, and close to the frontiers of Morocco, -lies a hill city, once the seat of empire and of learning, but now sunk -to the condition of a provincial town. Yet Tlemçen has occupied so high -a position in the Mohammedan world, and the reputation of its existing -monuments is so widespread, that the enterprising traveller will desire -to visit it. The distance from Algiers is great, some 800 miles there -and back, and as there is little of interest on the road, a journey by -motor-car is not inviting. It is perhaps better to make use of the -excellent train service between Algiers and Oran. If you leave Algiers -at nine p.m., you may change about six a.m. at a junction a little short -of Oran and reach Tlemçen about eleven. Or you may go on to Oran and -hire a motor-car for the remaining 110 miles, which it will cover faster -than the train does. In any case it is a tiresome journey. The road and -the rail alike rise through a series of great plains divided by rocky -steps, and chiefly devoted to corn-growing. The country is very bare and -very uninteresting. There are few trees. It is said to have been once -well wooded, but, although the Arab will take care of a tree near his -house or his mosque, he has no regard for trees in general. So countless -generations of browsing goats have made an end of the woods. One cannot -but think that more attention to re-afforesting would meet with its -reward. - -Here, as elsewhere in Algeria, both in the plain and on the mountain -side, the traveller will notice a number of square whitewashed -buildings, surmounted by a cupola. They are known by the name of -_koubba_, and are generally the tomb of a marabout or saint, and serve -as objects of pilgrimage and much local veneration. - -At Sidi Bel Abbès, a town of 25,000 inhabitants, about half of whom are -Spaniards, are the head-quarters of the famous Foreign Legion. The very -name of this corps stirs memories of forlorn hopes and dare-devil -enterprises. The inimitable Ouida, whose disregard of the grammatical -niceties of her own and other tongues was a generation ago the delight -of undergraduates; who could say of her high-born hero that he ignored -the proud motto of his haughty race, _Pro patria et rege_, and acted on -the principle, _Pro ego_; Ouida has pictured for us after her own -fashion, in “Under Two Flags,” the life of a foreign adventurer in the -French service during the earlier days of the occupation. The picture, -if imaginative in details, is full of life, and it is no doubt true that -many broken men of gentle birth and upbringing found in the campaigns on -the verge of the Sahara an outlet for energies for which civilization -had no use. To-day the Legion is composed largely of Alsatians, Germans -and Poles, and is celebrated for its band. But it is still to the fore -when stern work is on foot. The situation of Sidi Bel Abbès renders it -very convenient in the event of trouble with Morocco, which is -constantly recurring. The town and its environs are an agreeable -exception to the surrounding country in being pleasantly wooded. The -olive trees are most carefully pruned, all the centre branches being cut -out, and the outer ones trained to form a cup. This system admits light -and air to the fruit, and facilitates the gathering of the crop. - -Within a few miles of Tlemçen the scenery becomes more bold. The train -climbs on to and encircles a rugged mountain range, traverses a great -ravine, down which roars a graceful cascade, and emerges from a short -tunnel into the noise and hubbub of Tlemçen station. The high road takes -another course. It skirts the base of the rocky hills, and boldly -ascends direct to the town, offering pleasant views of its walls and -minarets. This is the habit of roads and railroads in many lands; the -road approaches boldly to a frontal attack; the railroad creeps in -stealthily or remains diffidently outside. So does the traveller by rail -too often miss the beauty of the incoming. - -The Arab horsemen who in the seventh century of our era rode through -North Africa and carried the crescent into Europe were the élite of the -race. Not only did they and their sons and those to whom they taught -their faith and language and made like unto themselves conquer kingdoms -and found great cities, promote commerce and achieve enormous material -prosperity, but under their rule were produced works of art worthy to be -ranked with the best. It is perhaps lucky that progress in these -respects was accompanied, as it is generally accompanied, by a decline -in martial prowess, or Western Europe might to-day be tied fast in the -chains of Koran, and the women of London and Paris be veiled as was -Mahomet’s wife. Among the greatest of Mohammedan cities from the -eleventh century to the fifteenth Tlemçen stood high. It was peopled -rather by Berbers than by Arabs of pure blood; but, at any rate, they -spoke the Arab tongue, held the Arab faith and represented Arab culture -at its highest excellence. In spite of the continual stress of war, it -was enriched with noble buildings; it became a kind of university of -Arab learning for North Africa; and it acquired the reputation and -sanctity of a holy city from the selection of a neighbouring village as -his last resting-place by a great Mohammedan saint. - -[Illustration: TLEMÇEN: THE MINARET OF AGADIR] - -At the period of its greatness Tlemçen was a large and populous city, -containing 100,000 to 150,000 inhabitants. The enceinte constructed by -the French encloses a much smaller area than the old walls, of which at -least two series can be traced. The present town has about 30,000 -inhabitants, for the most part Arab or Jew. It does a considerable -trade, especially in olive oil; but it has lost its position as the -terminus of the caravan routes from the south, since the construction of -the Saharan railways; it is cheaper to unload the caravans at the -southern stations, and forward the goods to Oran by rail. Apart from the -mosques the streets present little of interest. It is said that the -French found the town almost in ruins; to-day it is a shabby fifth-rate -French town. The inevitable boulevard has been constructed, and even -where the old houses remain they are hidden behind a hideous modern -front. The old palace of the bey has unhappily been turned into a -barrack. The commercial value of antiquities as an attraction to -tourists was not realized in time; it is hardly understood now. Tlemçen -occupies an important strategic position, close to the Moroccan -frontier, and is garrisoned by French troops. At the Hôtel de France, a -somewhat ramshackle but not uncomfortable hostelry, with very obliging -hosts, breakfast many officers of the garrison. The variety of uniform -is great; not less great the variety of human types:—from the fair, and -apparently frail, young exquisite, whose physique suggests rather the -counting-house than the Sahara, to the grizzled veteran of many -campaigns. - -Yet the native inhabitants lend colour and interest to the mean streets. -The Arabs of the better class wear a dark blue overcoat and hood, which -shows off their proportions to great advantage. The women are very -closely veiled, only exhibiting one eye. The children, especially the -little girls not yet come to the age of veiling, are cheerful and -pretty, their rosy cheeks bearing witness to the cold and bracing -qualities of winter at this elevation. The Jewesses affect bright -colours; and red is the colour of their mourning. An occasional stranger -of fierce aspect and unusual dress attracts your attention, and your -guide murmurs “Marocain.” - -Some handicrafts survive in Tlemçen. The rubbishy trinkets dear to the -Arab woman and the Christian tourist are laboriously turned out by Jews -in the street of the goldsmiths. It is something to know that they are -not made in Austria. Here and there you will catch a glimpse of an old -Moor bending over a carpet loom. A good deal of leatherwork is done, and -there is a brisk business in harness and saddlery. Tlemçen is no longer -the terminus of the railway which runs to the frontier, but many -frontiersmen come here to trade. - -It is in vain to look in Tlemçen, as in other towns of Algeria, for the -pure-bred Arab. Those who pass by the name are the result of a continual -mixture with the indigenous races; they are Berberized Arabs or Arabized -Berbers. But in many ways they compare favourably with their compatriots -elsewhere. Tlemçen has preserved some of its traditions as a city of -learning. Even to-day it contains a large number of educated Mussulmans -and a few savants. You may see here, as often you may see in Cairo and -the cities of the East, a tradesman seated in his little shop poring -over an Arab text. In Algeria generally the standard of education among -the natives is very low; only a small fraction of one per cent can read -and write. The religion of the Tlemçen Arabs is naturally of a somewhat -higher type than that of those who, knowing nothing of the law and the -prophets, are content with the observance of fast days and a cult of -saints mixed with all sorts of survivals of fetishism. The Arabs of -Tlemçen are said to eschew fanaticism, as becomes men of learning, to -regard those who are not of their faith less with hate than with pity, -as having missed the true way of salvation; an attitude not uncommon in -other lands. But their religion is incrusted with intense superstition. -They live in constant terror of the influence of evil spirits, the -Djinns, to which are attributed almost all human ills. A madman -especially is said to be possessed of evil spirits, and he cannot be -cured till they are cast out of him. This fear of evil spirits -influences every action of their daily lives; it is the chief stimulus -to devotion, for the Djinns are kept not away save by prayer and -fasting. - -To-day the French are masters, but the Arab in his centuries of -decadence has grown used to masters. They come, and pass, and he -remains. It is the will of God. The French are lenient and just masters; -they provide many material advantages,—security of property, means of -communication, avenues of trade. God is good. But the Arab is always -waiting for something to turn up; he will be sustained in almost -fruitless labour on his barren plot in the hope of finding a treasure; -he will waste his scant earnings in buying favourable horoscopes from -his sorcerer; and if no treasure is unearthed, and no fortune arrives, -he will put it all down to some flaw in the incantations. If all fails -he has at any rate said his prayers five times a day and is sure of -Paradise. - -Yet in his heart he is ever looking for the advent of a Messiah, of a -_deus ex machinâ_ who shall overthrow the infidel, and restore the Arab -to his own again. Let France be involved in difficulties elsewhere and -the events of 1870 may repeat themselves. The preaching of a holy war, -the announcement that God’s good time has come—such are the conditions -to raise a wave of religious fanaticism strong enough to sweep away all -considerations of prudence and self-interest. As long as his religion -remains a compelling force, this is his danger and Europe’s. In its -present state Arab civilization, greatly fallen from its high condition -of culture and learning in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, may be -compared with that of Europe in the centuries following the destruction -of the Roman Empire. The Arab is now in the Dark Ages. The forms of his -faith remain all-powerful, but the spirit is dead. A thousand years -separate him from the Europe of to-day. Perhaps the best hope lies for -him in a revival of his religion on the spiritual side; from which may -spring in turn a germ of those ideals of citizenship, toleration and -benevolence which are the basis of our civilization; ideals flowing from -the teachings of Christianity, but not confined in their influence to -the orthodox of any section of Christendom. - -A very cursory view of Tlemçen suggests that those enthusiastic writers -who have described it as the equal, or almost the equal, of Granada are -somewhat extravagant in their praise. It occupies indeed a fine -situation, and it looks down from its height of 2500 feet over a rolling -country of hill and vale to the sea thirty miles away. But it has none -of Granada’s grandeur and it lacks the noble background of the Sierra -Nevada. It has no great building like the Alhambra, although its mosques -contain magnificent work, which is unsurpassed and perhaps unequalled -elsewhere. Excessive praise which raises expectations destined to be -disappointed is to be deplored. Tlemçen has enough of beauty and -interest to stand on its own merits. In one respect it has an advantage -over the Moorish cities of Spain. It is indeed held by an alien race, -but its mosques are still for the most part put to the purpose for which -they were built, and the worshippers are the present representatives of -those who built them. - -The Great Mosque, the most notable building within the walls, was not -built all at one time, but grew, like a Gothic cathedral, under the -hands of different monarchs and dynasties. These dynasties of Tlemçen -were continually changing; their outlandish names cumber the -guide-books, but they have less interest for us than the vicissitudes of -the Guelphs and Ghibellines. The first stone of the mosque was laid in -the year 530 (you must add 605 to bring it to the Christian era), as a -contemporary inscription obligingly records. The minaret was built by -Yar’morasen, the great Berber monarch who raised Tlemçen to its pitch of -power in the thirteenth century; and in the fourteenth various auxiliary -buildings, including a hospital for the aged and incurable, were added. -The interior of the mosque is impressive, with its forest of pillars— -there are seventy-two in all—and its dim religious light. The mihrab, -the holy of holies, the shrine which looks towards Mecca, is finely -decorated with leaves of acanthus and Arabic inscriptions. The large -court is charming; it is surrounded by arcades, and two basins of -running water provide for the ablutions of the faithful. The material of -the whole was originally onyx, and much remains. It is truly a noble -building, and it has escaped any serious restoration. - -Unhappily the same cannot be said of the neighbouring mosque, known as -the Mosque of Aboul Hassan, an eminent lawyer and saint; a combination -which seems unusual. On this delightful little building the hand of the -restorer has lain heavy. He has seen fit to plaster it with modern -tiles, suggestive of the bath-room; and in order to throw more light -into the building, which is now used as a museum, has made several -openings in the walls. It is poor comfort to find in a distant land that -we English have no monopoly of ecclesiastical vulgarity; even our church -restorers could hardly have done worse than this. It is not easy to -formulate the ethics of restoration; the right course can only result -from intelligent and instructed effort,—but this may be said of almost -everything. The ignorance and indiscretion of those who add poor modern -ornament to a grand old building passes understanding. It happens that -this little mosque, charming otherwise within and without, enshrines a -masterpiece, its mihrab. The mosque was erected in A.D. 1298, according -to an inscription on one of its arches, and presumably the interior -decoration is of the same date. The dates of the world’s few -masterpieces are important. The decoration of the mihrab is executed in -plaster. I am not competent to describe its details; they follow the -conventional scheme of leaves and scrolls, but with quite unusual -refinement. This mihrab has been highly praised; but no praise can be -too high for it. It has been described as the finest example of -Mohammedan art in existence; it is very likely that it is. An eye that -has enjoyed any training will see at a glance that it is on a par with -the greatest decorative works of man; it exhibits all the -characteristics of the finest periods, especially the combination of -exuberant fancy with dominating restraint. Its exquisite delicacy and -its small size give emphasis to its unique distinction. I cannot refrain -from quoting a French writer who fitly appreciates its qualities: “Cette -décoration est le comble de la richesse et du goût ornamental. Elle -réunit en effet les qualités les plus diverses; homogénéité de -l’ensemble, variété infinie du détail, netteté et fantaisie, largeur et -minutie dans l’exécution. Elle est empreinte d’une sorte d’_atticisme_ -oriental, d’une beauté atteinte sans efforts et naturellement. Capter la -lumière sans grands reliefs, l’emprisonner dans les réticules d’une -ténuité extrême, la forcer de se jouer dans ses méandres idéalement -fins, donner à des murailles toutes unies un vêtement de dentelles; un -encadrement de rubans historiés qui les aggrandit et les rend pour ainsi -dire immatérielles; entraîner le regard et l’éblouir par la -complication, le rassurer par l’ordre et la paix, voilà le problème que -d’obscurs ouvriers out résolu à la fin du treizième siècle de notre -ère.”[5] - -Footnote 5: - - Ary Renan, “Paysages historiques.” - -Another pleasant little mosque, that of Sidi-el-Haloui, lies outside the -walls in a squalid native suburb, which is nevertheless a better frame -for it than the banal French houses of the town itself. It has a very -fine portal and a pleasant court. It commemorates a very extraordinary -character, who from being Cadi of Seville became in disguise a -confectioner at Tlemçen. He was put to death apparently for spreading -seditious doctrines, but his ghost having given some trouble he was -canonized. - -It is said that Tlemçen was built on the site of a Roman camp called -Pomaria. The name happily expresses the abundance of orchards by which -it is surrounded. In February only a few almond trees are in blossom, -but the ground is beginning to put forth its wild flowers. A diminutive -iris is everywhere, and gives a blue tinge to the wayside, as the -bluebells to an English copse. In April, when the trees are bursting -into leaf and the whole country-side is full of flowers, Tlemçen must be -set in a very bower of delight. And it is in the environs that the most -interesting, picturesque and romantic of its antiquities are to be -found. - -[Illustration: THE WALLS OF MANSOURA] - -Just outside the Fez gate of the city lies a great artificial basin or -reservoir, now dry, which is said to have been constructed by a king of -the fourteenth century to give his wife the pleasure of witnessing -miniature sea-fights. It is related that Barbarossa drowned in it the -descendants of the ancient kings whom he found at Tlemçen, and watched -their struggles with glee. A short distance further on is an arch, -ruthlessly restored, which was part of the wall of circumvallation built -around Tlemçen by Abou Yakoub, Sultan of Fez, who besieged it from 1299 -to 1307 A.D. A little further on are the extremely picturesque walls of -Mansoura, the city which during the siege he built for himself. The -story of this siege and of the building of Mansoura is very curious. It -is told at length by the Arab chroniclers. Perhaps the following -abbreviation of their account will suffice. - -And it came to pass in the reign of Othman, King of Tlemçen, that Abou -Yakoub, King of Fez, gathered all his host together and went up and -besieged Tlemçen seven years. And he built towers against it round -about, and a wall so strong that the people said one to another that not -even a spirit might pass through from within to without the city. And -forasmuch as the city was not yielded unto him, but held out against him -for seven years, did Yakoub the King of Fez set up for himself in the -camping-place of his host a great palace wherein to dwell; and all about -the camp he built a great wall with towers so that he made of it a -fenced city, and within he built palaces for his wise men and his mighty -men of war, and great houses, and fair gardens wherein were streams of -water running continually. And he caused to be set apart also a -dwelling-place wherein might be tended they that were sick, for that he -was moved to compassion of their sickness; and to the strangers he gave -inns to lodge therein. Moreover he built a mighty temple with a tower of -exceeding height so that it might be seen in all the land; and he bowed -himself therein before his God upon the seventh day. And many merchants -of that country did gather themselves together in the town which Yakoub -the King had builded, and the kings of far countries sent unto him -ambassadors with gifts. And Yakoub called the town which he had builded -Mansoura, which being interpreted signifieth “The Victorious.” - -And in the fifth year of the siege Othman, King of Tlemçen, was gathered -to his fathers, and his son Abou-Zeiyan reigned in his stead. And the -people of Tlemçen were in sore distress for that no food could be -brought into the city by reason of the wall which Yakoub the King had -builded round about it. So when the siege had continued for the space of -three years more, the King Abou-Zeiyan and Abou-Hammon, the King’s -brother, called unto them the captain to whom was given charge over the -stores of food in the city and said unto him, “How long may we feed the -people with the food which is left?” And he answered, “For the space of -three days.” And there came in unto the King Dâd, the servant of the -Queen-Mother. And Dâd said unto the King, “Let not, I pray you, the -princesses and the women of your house fall into the hands of our -enemies, but rather let them be put to death.” And Abou-Hammon, the -King’s brother, answered, “What Dâd hath spoken is good counsel.” But -the King said, “Nay, we have yet three days, perchance God will come to -our aid. And if it be so that we must deliver up the city, then we will -cause the Jews and the Christians to kill the princesses and the women -of our house, and we ourselves will sally forth and fall upon the host -of our enemies.” And the King wept. But lo, while they yet spake, a man -of the host of Yakoub the King lifted his hand against him and smote him -so that he died. And Yakoub the King’s brethren and his sons, and his -son’s sons strove among themselves who should be king in his stead. And -the son of one of his sons, who was called Abou-Thabet, obtained the -mastery over them. And Abou-Thabet made peace with Abou-Zeiyan, King of -Tlemçen, and led back his host to the country of Fez, whence it came. -And Tlemçen had peace thirty-three years. - -So runs the tale of the Arab chroniclers, and the walls and towers of -Mansoura stand to-day in witness that they lied not. Their entrancing -story is full of the elements of Oriental romance:—the fairy city -springing into being almost in a night; the fearful proposal of the aged -servant that the women should be killed; the long years of the siege -reaching their tremendous climax in the assassination of the aggressor -at the very moment when the besieged were preparing to sell their lives -dearly; the struggle of the dead Sultan’s brothers and sons and -grandsons for the succession. Such a struggle is a commonplace of -Mohammedan politics; we have seen it in our own day in Afghanistan and -Morocco; we may see it in Turkey to-morrow. It may plunge the country -where it occurs in civil war, but in a South American republic even a -change of party groupings will do that. As a system it can claim some -merit in that it tends to place on the throne the strongest or the most -astute member of the royal house. - -[Illustration: THE TOWER OF MANSOURA] - -Of the dream city of Mansoura nothing remains but the square of the -ramparts enclosing a space of 250 acres, and the great minaret of the -mosque. The city itself was destroyed by the Tlemçenites after the -departure of the Moroccan army. The walls are about 40 feet high, and -the towers 120 feet apart. They are all built of concrete, and though -broken in places, are marvellously preserved. Weathered to a delightful -tint of rich brown, they contrast admirably with the sombre monotony of -the olive trees; and they lend to the pleasant mountain landscape a -unique spice of romance. - -The minaret, of which the inner portion has fallen while the outer -remains standing, is a very noble tower, and the finest architectural -work of Moorish times in Algeria; it would be difficult to match it -anywhere. It stands about 130 feet high, and is built of hewn stone. Its -front was decorated with coloured tiles, of which many are left. Legends -have gathered round it. It is said that in his haste Abou Yakoub -employed not only Mohammedan but Jewish and Christian masons, and that -it is the work of the infidels which has fallen, while that of the -faithful survives. It seems to have been also a starting-place for an -early experiment in flying. A certain Jew imprisoned therein made -himself wings, and setting forth on the occasion of a great service, -fell lamentably at a spot called to this day “Le Col du Juif.” Such is -the fate of pioneers. - -The status of Tlemçen as a holy city, which draws to itself pilgrims not -only from the countries of North Africa, but from the very confines of -the world of Islam, rests on its connection with the saint Sidi Bou -Medine. It has long ceased to be the capital of an African empire; it is -no more a university of Mohammedan learning; its very name is almost -unknown to the present generation of European men; but in the eyes of -the faithful it is ever honoured. It is a little difficult for an -unbeliever to comprehend what constitutes peculiar eminence in a -Mohammedan saint, and there is nothing in the recorded life of Bou -Medine to throw light on the question. It is related that he was born at -Seville in A.D. 1126, that he was an ascetic and a mystic, that he -travelled through various Mediterranean countries performing miracles, -preaching the vanity of earthly things, and emphasizing the beneficence -of God and the authority of his prophet. Accused of heresy by the -doctors of Tlemçen, he was summoned thither by the reigning monarch from -Bougie, then within the boundaries of the Tlemçenian Empire. His failing -strength sustained him almost to the city’s gates, when, looking up at -the little village of El-Eubbad, with its hanging woods beneath the -rugged cliff, and owning at last the charm of the world he had so -fiercely disdained, he breathed a wish to be buried in that lovely spot, -and expired. And there for seven centuries he has lain, and you may -stand beside his tomb, which is decked in the tinsel pomp of Mohammedan -finery and surrounded by the offerings of the faithful. It is approached -from a little court-yard, in which is an ancient alabaster well-head -curiously worn by the chain which draws the bucket. - -The mosque which adjoins the tomb was raised shortly after the saint’s -death. It is of no great size, but both structurally and decoratively it -possesses a charm which is unique. The high portal is a blaze of tiles -in the finest style; tiles said to be partly of Moroccan, partly of -Spanish, origin; and the doors of cedar wood, covered with bronze, -ornamented with a design of arabesque interlacement, are incomparably -beautiful. It has been said that they are to Moorish art what the doors -of Ghiberti are to Italian; but in their decorative flatness—a quality -which becomes doors—they have a distinction which is their own. In the -whole realm of Moorish decoration I have seen nothing more charming. The -mosque itself does not belie the promise of its entrance. It follows the -usual plan, but on a very high level. Its plaster decorations, if -somewhat less fine than those of the mihrab of Bel Hassan, are in the -best style. The whole building is instinct with the charm of -unassailable fitness, and fills the mind with an ineffaceable impress of -beauty. - -[Illustration: SIDI BOU MEDINE: THE BRONZE DOORS] - -From these heights—mountainous and æsthetic—it will probably be the lot -of the traveller to descend by easy stages to the town of Oran, which, -as a commercial port, is the rival of Algiers. Unless he desires to do -deal in olive oil or esparto grass, or intends to become a shipper of -fine clarets and burgundies, it will not detain him long. Yet it is -pleasant for an hour or two to sit before one of its brilliant cafés and -survey the palpitating life of the streets. Oran is more than half -Spanish; it is historically almost wholly Spanish. To-day, if you -inquire of a stranger your way in French he will very likely reply by -asking if you have the Spanish, and if you have it not you must try -again. But the Spaniards, great builders in Europe and beyond the seas, -built little but fortifications on the African shore. Oran is frankly -modern and European in aspect; the most Oriental-looking building is the -railway-station. The French have built fortifications too; a picturesque -fort crowns a hill to the west, a thousand feet above the town; and -there is much show of strength below. And there is an important -garrison. Brilliant groups of officers frequent a café at the corner of -the Place d’Armes, and get through a most unconscionable amount of -hand-shaking. I notice that one of them, apparently a Siamese, who yet -sips his _sirop_ as to the manner born, is the object of much attention. -With the mass of the café’s frequenters the soldiers appear to have no -acquaintance. These men of business are Frenchmen in manner and speech, -but there is a prevalence of that Levantine air which pervades the -Mediterranean ports;—not quite Greek, not quite Jew, and yet not wholly -European. - -If there is one institution more characteristically French than another, -it is the Café. And, further, it is an institution which no other -people, unless it speaks French, as do the Belgians, can reproduce. -France has set the mode to Europe for centuries, but it has reserved the -café. The other Latin nations are content with bastard imitations; the -northern peoples frankly own their failure. Who can conceive a café in -Hull or Aberdeen? Not more incongruous was the attempted battle of -flowers in a Lancashire town,—the mayor had visited Monte Carlo,—which -ended in the choockin’ o’ loomps o’ coal and the military being called -out. It is not a matter of climate; Brighton and Worthing have climatic -advantages over Boulogne and Dieppe. It is rather a matter of character. -The café depends for its existence on French moderation and French -civility, in the widest sense. The German in his beer-garden piles empty -glass on empty glass; the Englishman lolls at his reeking bar; only the -Frenchman can be trusted to sit at his will at his little marble table, -and contemplate his little drinks, and play his little games. He does -not exceed, he does not quarrel; if he did either, the café were -impossible. So is he a free man, while we for our sins must submit to -stringent regulations of police. - -Oran’s fine old Spanish fort and the ancient walls still speak of the -Spanish dominion. It was a penal station to which convicts were sent, -and the governors were in the habit of putting their labour to some -useful purpose. An inscription records that the citadel was built at no -cost to his Catholic Majesty but for the timber and scaffolding. After -repeated struggles the town was surrendered to the Turks in 1791, a very -convenient arrangement, as things turned out, for the French, who -occupied it forty years later. And they have made it what it is. Yet -among the lower orders the Spanish element is perhaps still -preponderant. To paraphrase the words of a French writer[6]—"the -peasants of Valencia and Murcia have only a few hours of sea to cross, -and a bad season at home brings them in hundreds. If they find no work -in and around Oran as gardeners they betake themselves to the country, -and become field-labourers, or harvesters of esparto grass. Sober and -industrious, they are especially fitted to the conditions of cultivation -in Algeria, which without irrigation is unproductive. They have in their -veins the blood of those Moors who taught Spain to husband her waters. -Oran is for them almost their own country, the two sides of the -Mediterranean have identical characteristics; and in the smallest -villages of the province they find themselves at home among their own -people." - -Footnote 6: - - P. Bourde. - -It is interesting to recall in this connection that the increase of -emigration from Spain generally is becoming a very serious matter. It -reaches the annual average of 200,000 persons, or considerably more than -one per cent of the total population. The late Government in 1907 dealt -with the matter, and appointed a Conseil Supérieur de l’Emigration, -which took the exceedingly futile course of endeavouring to check it by -police interference with persons arriving at a port to emigrate, the -arrest of emigration agents, and complicated regulations affecting -steamship companies, which it has been found impossible to carry out. -The chief effect has been to conceal a certain amount of emigration, -which doubtless exceeds the official figures. The present radical -Government, pledged to reform in every department of the national life, -is attempting to check unemployment and emigration by a scheme of -extensive public works. Meantime under French institutions, Spaniards -are living contentedly and prosperously in a country marked out by -nature for their occupation, which they were never able to secure for -themselves. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - _VII—THE CITY OF PRECIPICES_ - -Road and rail to the eastward—Constantine—Its remarkable site—Its - chequered history—French Conquest—Roman remains—Fronto—The Mairie— - The road northward—The Aurès. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - “A towered citadel a pendant rock.” - _Antony and Cleopatra._ - - -If the traveller intends to journey from Algeria into Tunisia, he will -do well to visit Khabylia before he starts further east; if not he may -proceed first to Constantine, and motor through the mountain districts -from Sétif on his return. For the greater part of the way the great -trunk road and the railway from Algiers to Constantine take a similar -course; but towards the end they diverge, Constantine being situate -north of the main line from Algiers to Tunis, at a distance of twenty -miles from the junction of El-Guerrah, while the road passes through the -city. Hence it comes that the distance by road is 434 kilometres, by -rail 464. There are not many convenient stopping-places, perhaps Sétif -is the best. - -By train you may make the journey either by night or by day; the latter -is preferable, as much of the scenery is beautiful and interesting. -Leaving Algiers the line crosses the Metidja, the great plain which -encircles the _Sahel_, the rocky promontory on which Algiers stands, -stretching on either side of it from sea to sea. At Ménerville it begins -to ascend, and shortly enters the Gorge of the Isser. The country here -is very picturesque; the river roars through a narrow cleft in the -rocks, Khabyle villages are perched on isolated points, and ruddy -mountains stand bare against the deep blue sky. Palestro, a little -further on, was the scene of a terrible and treacherous massacre in the -Khabyle insurrection of 1871. The European residents, numbering over a -hundred, were attacked in their residences. After a desperate resistance -about half surrendered on terms, but were immediately killed. The -remainder held out longer but about forty survivors, including -thirty-two women and children, were ultimately captured and kept -prisoners till the revolt was crushed. - -Further on the line runs under the southern slope of the snowy Djurjura -range, which is such a prominent object from Algiers. The view of the -mountains is very fine. All the time the line is ascending, as it -continues to do as far as Sétif, 200 miles from Algiers, and 3573 feet -above the sea. Here we are in the centre of a vast corn-growing -district, once the granary of Rome. The country-side is full of Roman -remains, of towns and country-houses and farms. At this altitude the -climate, if hotter in summer, resembles that of Central France. The -landscape is very bare,—a vast sea of corn, without a tree to break its -monotony. To the east of Sétif the plain begins to slope downwards; the -railway diverges to the south, but the road enters the valley of the -Roumel, the river which forms the moat of the rock-girt city of -Constantine. - -[Illustration: CONSTANTINE] - -Constantine occupies one of those positions of natural strength which -from the earliest times man has seized upon as a habitation secure from -the attack of his fellow-man. It is too much to suppose that its beauty -had any force in such a selection. Yet it combines picturesqueness and -grandeur with strength to a remarkable degree. A circular chasm or -ravine, nearly 1000 feet deep, and sometimes not more than 200 feet -wide, creates a plateau which is in fact a peninsula of rock, only -united to the mainland by an isthmus on the west side. Through the abyss -roars the river Roumel. The plateau is not circular, but in the form of -an irregular square, with sharp angles,—a formation which greatly -increases the majesty of its effect. The length of the sides averages -about 1000 yards. In this confined space are crowded together the -habitations of men,—the European quarter, the Arab quarter, and the -Jewish quarter,—the public buildings incident to an important town, and -considerable barracks and fortifications. - -“Le fantastique Roumel, fleuve d’une poème qu’on croirait rêvé par -Dante, fleuve d’enfer coulant au fond d’un abîme rouge comme si les -flammes éternelles l’avaient brûlé. Il fait un île de sa ville, ce -fleuve jaloux et surprenant; il l’entoure d’un gouffre terrible et -tortueux, aux rocs éclatants et bizarres, aux murailles droites et -dentelées.”[7] - -Footnote 7: - - Guy de Maupassant, “Au Soleil,” 1904. - -A great part of the attraction of a city occupying such a site lies in -its suggestion of romance. It calls up visions of furious siege and -desperate defence, of attempts to scale impossible cliffs, of -hand-to-hand encounter at the only gate. And the actual records of -Constantine almost surpass the possibilities of romantic imagination. It -can lay no claim to that happiness which comes from having no history. -Alike from its commanding situation and the richness of its surrounding -lands it has been marked out by nature to be an incentive to ambition. -It has known many masters. It is said to have stood eighty sieges. Its -apparent impregnability has but invited attack. It has been a necessary -mainstay to the support of every power which has aspired to the lordship -of Barbary. It has seldom been a fitting residence for those who desired -a quiet life. - -Under its early name of Cirta it was the capital of that dynasty of -Numidian kings who fought first for Rome against Carthage, and then for -themselves against Rome. It became in due course a Roman colony. In the -fourth century it was ruined in the wars which rent the empire, and -re-arose as Constantine. Re-naming, with a spice of subservience, was a -passion of the time; even so to-day do the Piazza Umberto and Boulevard -Carnot obliterate ancient landmarks. The frenzied quarrels of Christians -and Christian heretics, which tore Africa to shreds, raged within its -walls, but spared its buildings. Genseric the Vandal, and the Byzantine -Belisarius were its lords in turn. Then came the Arab. Darkness broods -over its history for centuries, broken only by lightning flashes of -capture and recapture. The Barbarossa brothers recognized the truth that -he who would rule in Algeria must hold Constantine. They and their -successors conquered it, and lost it, and conquered it again. Its Beys -were nominally subservient to the Deys of Algiers, but Constantine -breeds insurrection, and maintained its traditions during the Turkish -domination. Even at the beginning of the nineteenth century, during a -period of thirty years, twenty Beys succumbed to poison, the bow-string, -or the sword. - - “Here Sultan after Sultan with his Pomp - Abode his Hour or two and went his way.” - -At the time of the French invasion its Bey, Hadj-Ahmed, was in -insurrection against the Dey, but made common cause against the -unbeliever. After the capitulation of Algiers he retired to Constantine -and declared himself independent, and took the title of Pasha, with the -countenance of the Porte. His minister, Ben-Aissa, a humble Khabyle in -origin, and a blacksmith by trade, was a man of marked ability. The two -created an army of Khabyles, and breathed defiance to the French. In -1836 Marshal Clauzel advanced against Constantine with 8000 men. Among -them was a young captain of the staff, afterwards Marshal Macmahon. -Clauzel attempted an assault by the bridge of El Kantara, but was -repulsed with great loss, and hardly retreated with his broken army to -Bône. France could not brook such a defeat. Another army of 10,000 men -was despatched under General Damrémont and arrived before the city on -October 6th, 1837. To his summons to surrender came the response, “He -who will be master of Constantine must cut the throat of the last of its -defenders.” A few days later the General in command and General -Perrégaux were killed side by side in the course of siege operations, -and General Valée assumed the leadership. On the 13th he took the city -by assault. Numbers of the besieged endeavoured to escape by ropes into -the ravine, but the ropes breaking they perished. Hadj-Ahmed evaded -capture, and for eleven years maintained himself in the Aurès mountains. -In 1848 he surrendered, and died two years later. For seventy years an -unwonted peace has brooded over the heights of Constantine; but who -shall say that the end is yet? - -As usual, the French have destroyed most of the remains of the Roman -city; the exigencies of space are here a better excuse than exists -elsewhere. But the antiquary may still ferret out endless evidences of -the ancient town. The ordinary traveller may amuse himself by strolling -through the Arab quarter; he may perambulate the gorge by the _Chemin -des Touristes_; he may cross the bridge and ascend the opposing height -to view in its majesty this unique city of precipices. With a map and -moderate intelligence he will need no guide; but he will be pestered by -the attentions of guides, responsible and irresponsible. They throng the -door of his hotel, they mark his goings-out and his comings-in, and -unless he succumbs to paying blackmail to one of the fraternity, they -will strive to make his life a burden to him. Yet is there a certain -fierce pleasure in denying them. The guide who haunts the hotel door is -generally one of the least estimable of men, especially in Oriental -countries. If you are weak, he will prey on your weakness; if you are -vicious, he will reap his reward in ministering to your vices. He does -not shrink from suggestion, and he seems to know no shame. He sometimes, -when not guiding, fills a menial office in the hotel; one can hardly -suppress a smile at the idea of the epicurean having his pleasures -chosen for him by the Boots. To the credit of Algiers it may be said -that one is there little troubled by these vermin; but Constantine has -something to learn. - -The Roman city of Cirta must have presented a marvellously beautiful -spectacle. Classical architecture perhaps looks its noblest in buildings -which crown a height. The temples of Cirta were of course not -individually comparable with those which adorned the Acropolis of -Athens, or the line of cliffs at Girgenti; but from a general scenic -point of view the effect would be similar and on a greater scale. If the -present city, which (like the belfry of Christchurch) has no -architectural merits, looks so impressive at a little distance, the -ancient city with its marble columns and triumphal arches must have been -grand beyond our powers of realization. We know from the ruins at Timgad -what a Roman city in Africa was like, and Thamagudi was a provincial -town of no great mark, while Cirta was the capital. Its remains are to -be seen everywhere, especially by the iron bridge of El Kantara, which -replaces the ancient Roman bridge, a very remarkable structure which -stood until 1857, when two of its arches fell. It was designed to carry -an aqueduct, and a roadway, which was supported on a double series of -arches, stood 400 feet above the level of the river. It excited the -wonder and admiration of all travellers. Shaw saw it in 1740. He says it -was “ indeed a masterpiece of its kind, the gallery and the columns of -the arches being adorned with cornices and festoons, ox-heads and -garlands. The keystones also of the arches are charged with Caducei and -other figures.” - -The gorge contains many other Roman remains. Numerous inscriptions, -statues and ornaments have been removed, and are collected in a garden -near the Place de la Brèche. In this neighbourhood was found a -delightful epitaph of one Praecilius, a silversmith, written in very -inaccurate and unclassical Latin, which may be thus translated:— - -“Here I, silent myself, in verse describe my life. I have filled an -honourable career in prosperous times; Praecilius my name, a householder -of Cirta and a silversmith by trade; a man of acknowledged probity and -unvarying truthfulness. I have been friendly to all men, and whom has my -charity failed? Laughter and good cheer I ever enjoyed with my chosen -friends. Life was not the same to me after the death of my virtuous wife -Valeria; I found my happiness in holy wedlock. I have celebrated in -honourable fashion a hundred happy birthdays. But there has come at last -the day when I must shuffle off this mortal coil. The inscription you -read while yet living I have prepared against my death. Let it be as -Fortune wills; never has she deserted me. Follow my example. Here I -await you. Come!” - -To one illustrious citizen Cirta gave birth, Fronto the orator, friend -of the Emperor Antoninus Pius, and tutor of his heir, Marcus Aurelius. -Some of the correspondence of the master and his pupil has been -preserved. It abounds in intimate and homely touches. The prince went -out hunting one morning, and on his return wrote: “I betook myself to my -books. I took off my boots and my clothes, and went to bed for two -hours. I read two orations of Cato. I think I have caught cold, perhaps -because I walked in sandals this morning. So I will pour oil on my head -and go to sleep. Farewell, my dearest and sweetest master, whom I love -better than Rome itself.” When Marcus Aurelius succeeded to his imperial -throne he offered his old tutor the proconsulship of Asia, one of the -greatest positions in the Empire, but Fronto, who perhaps preferred to -remain in his native Africa, refused the office on the ground of -ill-health. Nothing has been discovered at Cirta bearing on Fronto’s -connection with the city, but an inscription built into a house at -Guelma, the ancient Kalama, records his official appointment as patron -of that town. - -The Arab quarter, which is gradually being squeezed out of existence, is -quite different in character from that of Algiers. Its lanes are equally -tortuous and narrow, and even more dirty, but it is more full of life -and more actual. In Algiers most of the native shops are in modern, -Frenchified streets; here they line the ancient alleys. Merchants sit in -the serene Eastern fashion beside their stores of merchandise; artisans -ply their little trades in a very confined space. More than half the -population appears to be occupied in making shoes. The general confusion -is increased by the constant passage of animals, horses, mules, donkeys -and camels. It is a little bit of an old world, and being in close -contact, yet hopelessly out of touch, with the dominant world of the -day, its hours are numbered. The march of improvement, especially when -cribbed and confined as by the cliffs of Constantine, brooks no denial. -And if we are compelled to hold our noses, we may nevertheless be -disposed to shed a tear. - -[Illustration: ZOUAVES] - -As becomes a city set on a hill, Constantine is more retentive of its -ancient customs than a port like Algiers, which is subject to the -levelling influences of the sea and its traffic. Here, for example, the -Jewesses retain their distinctive dress. They delight in bright colours, -and in heavy barbaric jewellery, such as broad bracelets and large -circular earrings. They wear a peculiar head-dress, a sort of lace veil -with gold or gilt ornaments, surmounted by a pointed cap. The girls -affect a very diminutive form of this cap, generally of brilliant red or -blue, stuck jauntily on one side of the head. They are very lovely, -these Jewish girls, the finest type of their race, with noble features -and clear olive complexions. In point of refinement and the carriage -which marks good breeding perhaps no race touches such wide extremes as -the Jewish; for some reason or other the Constantine Jews are at the top -of the tree. - -You may sit in a café of the Place de la Brèche and watch the endless -pageant of commingled East and West. The military note is predominant; -Zouaves and Spahis are everywhere. Behind a series of transport waggons -of the Chasseurs d’Afrique a motor-car hoots impatiently. Next a group -of little donkeys bearing loads, heads low, and ears wearily flopping. -Then carts heavily laden with stone, drawn by five horses,—sometimes a -grey team, sometimes a brown,—harnessed in single file, the driver -walking by the penultimate horse; a group of neat French children on -their way to school; an Arab lady of high degree veiled in the daintiest -grey chiffon, riding on a caparisoned mule and holding a lovely child -before her; an old Arab seated on a mass of saddle-bags which almost -hide his donkey, waggling his feet up and down after the Arab manner, -even as civilized man works a salmon-rod; and as you turn to go there -comes a troop of men chanting a dull Gregorian measure, and bearing -something on a stretcher covered with a green and gold flowered cloth;— -an Arab on his way to his last resting-place. - -Such is a fraction of the cosmopolitan and parti-coloured crowd. And as -you watch you will reflect how much it owes to the fact that the -natives, high and low,—you do not see much of the former,—wear a -distinctive dress. The Arab’s robe is often shabby and often unclean; -but it avoids the meanness and vulgarity of European clothes. The -working classes of Northern Europe have discarded their suitable dress -of the past;—even the lingering smock-frock, most appropriate and -dignified of coverings, has gone,—they habit themselves in the cast-off -clothings of the well-to-do, or in badly-made imitations of them. The -women suffer in appearance more than the men, but both combine in their -personal aspect to contribute to the grim squalor and hideousness of our -meaner streets. - -It is said that the plateau on which Constantine stands is honeycombed -with caves and subterranean passages, and that formerly it was possible -to walk round the city underground. Probably these caves were excavated -by the river before it had carved out its present bed at a lower level. -These great natural storehouses were used in troublous times for the -keeping of provisions and munitions of war; and during the French attack -of 1837 many of the inhabitants took refuge in them. They are now for -the most part bricked up, but a very remarkable grotto lies beneath the -Hôtel de Paris, and may be visited from the hotel. - -There is a museum at the Mairie. It is, as Mr. Lucas found the Soane -Museum in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, very difficult to get into; and it is -still more difficult to get out of, especially if you are a sympathetic -listener. The good lady whose place is in the porter’s lodge, and who -has the key, will, when at leisure, conduct you to a long room -containing the usual assortment of battered coins and broken pottery, -and one gem, a bronze statuette of Victory, found beneath the Kasbeh. -When you are sufficiently depressed by the antiquities, your guide has -something in store for you. She will show you—you only, you are given to -understand; it is an exception;—the marble staircase and the saloon in -which the Mayor receives. And very fine the marble columns and marble -panels are, and you will notice how here a butterfly with long tails is -faithfully depicted in their rich grain, and there the head of an old -Arab to the very life. And if you will have the goodness to look out of -window, you will see a house on the hill opposite, and just beyond it on -the other side is the quarry from which all these marbles come. And in -all Algeria there is no such a Mairie as this. And you may be led to -discuss systems of local government, and to mention that you yourself, -who speak, take some small share in such matters, if only as a member of -an Education Committee, or a County Council, or what-not. And you will -perhaps be pained to discover that the very name of your important -county town is unknown to your entertainer; a pain to be mitigated later -by the reflection that the caretaker of its Town Hall is perhaps not -fully informed as to Constantine. And the _pièce de résistance_ comes -last. You shall see the _salon_ in which the Mayor conducts the -marriages. And very suitable and dignified it is. Has your Mayor so fine -a marrying-place? You are constrained to confess that as far as you are -aware your Mayor has nothing to do with any marriages but his own. A -quick look as at an impostor detected, a shrug of the shoulders, and a -sigh for the barbarous condition of foreign countries, and it is over. - -Constantine is a busy place. It is naturally a great corn-market. It has -long been celebrated for its leather goods. In their manufacture a large -number of tanners, saddlers and shoemakers are employed. Here are -produced all the elaborate articles of harness affected by Arab -cavaliers, often curiously wrought and of high price. And there is a -considerable woollen industry. Here are woven the _haïks_ and _burnous_ -which form part of Arab dress; and certain finer articles, called -_gandouras_, made partly of wool and partly of silk. And the development -of the minerals of the province, especially zinc, iron-ore and -phosphates, is bringing activity and prosperity to Constantine. - -The last conquerors have indeed set their seal upon the ancient city. -They have wrought more damage to its beauty in less than a century than -the Arabs in a thousand years. They have done their utmost to reduce it -to the level of a common French provincial town, and they may boast such -partial success as its conditions permitted. We are inured to regarding -such proceedings as inevitable. We have let our own towns grow as the -speculative builder willed; we have spared nothing except by accident; -we should have dealt with Constantine very much as the French have, -perhaps more outrageously. The folly and iniquity of it all is dawning -on us too late, we are beginning to see that the nineteenth century -betrayed its trust; it destroyed wantonly in time of peace what even the -stress and exigencies of centuries of war had spared. - -The cliffs of Constantine’s great gorge still hold aloft its plateau; if -they enclose a city unworthy of their protection, such a condition is -perhaps, relatively to their own permanence, merely transitory. They -will doubtless see the passing of all that our banal age has set up; it -is fortunately not built for lasting. And a more enlightened race of men -may yet arise to crown with the towers of a noble city the finest site -in the world. - -From Constantine the traveller will doubtless turn his face southwards. -He will have in front of him the ruins of Roman cities on the northern -slope of the Aurès mountains, for which Batna, 122 kilometres from -Constantine by road, is a convenient head-quarters; and further on, -after passing through a gorge which severs the range, he will enter the -true Sahara and, at 116 kilometres from Batna, reach the oasis of -Biskra, the much honoured and much sung. The railway takes during part -of the journey a somewhat different course from the road, but the -distance is about the same, the journey occupying seven or eight hours. - -There is nothing very remarkable about the first part of the route. The -country is bare and somewhat marshy. Half way to Batna both rail and -road pass close to two salt lakes, which are the haunt in winter of -flamingoes and wild duck. A little further on a glimpse is caught of the -Medrassen, a remarkable monument recalling the “Tombeau de la -Chrétienne,” near Algiers. It is interesting to the archæologist, but -perhaps hardly repays an ordinary traveller for the trouble of visiting -it. Different opinions are held as to its purpose; it was probably the -burial-place of the Numidian kings, perhaps of Massinissa, in which case -its date would be about 150 B.C. - -At Batna the road to Timgad and other ancient cities of the Roman -frontier diverges to the eastward. Proceeding northwards we continue to -ascend for a few miles, until the watershed is reached, where we enter -the valley of the Oued Fedhala, the river which runs southward to Biskra -and the desert. East of the road lies the great mass of the Aurès -mountains. On their northern side they slope gradually, forming, in the -manner of Algerian mountains, great plains, which again, after the lapse -of many centuries, have been brought into cultivation. Their southern -face rises more or less precipitously from the Sahara, and defines, as -has been suggested, the limits of European colonization. - -The mountain fastnesses of the Aurès, seldom penetrated by the stranger, -are the home of a race, the Chawia, which possesses remarkable -characteristics. In the main a branch of the aboriginal Berbers, they -have been preserved by the seclusion of their mountains, like their -cousins the Khabyles, from any Arab admixture. But there is little doubt -that they represent also the débris of the Roman, Vandal, and Byzantine -colonies driven to the hills by the Arab invasion. Even so were the last -remnants of Romano-British civilization driven to the highlands of Wales -and Cumberland before the Anglo-Saxon hosts. In their features, their -speech and their customs, the Chawia betray their classic origin. Many -travellers have dilated on the beauty of their women:—"their -well-featured countenances, fair-curling locks, and wholesome ruddy -looks." Their language is full of Latin words. “They observe the 25th of -December as a feast, under the name of Moolid (the birth), and keep -three days’ festival both at springtime and harvest. They use the solar -instead of the Mohammedan lunar month, and the names of the months are -the same as our own.” In the peculiarities of this isolated people, for -which I cannot personally vouch, we seem to see the germ of some of Mr. -Rider Haggard’s romances. - -[Illustration: EL KANTARA] - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - _VIII—THE ALLURING OASIS_ - -El-Kantara—The Gateway of the Desert—Biskra—Its attractions—The - dancing-girls-"Hichenstown"—A garden and a vision—Railway extension— - Conquering Mohammedans—Sidi Okba—The Arab’s point of view. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - “Ship me somewheres east of Suez, where the best is like the worst, - Where there aren’t no Ten Commandments, an’ a man can raise a thirst.” - _Barrack-room Ballads._ - - -From the watershed to the north of Batna the descent by road or rail is -rapid to El-Kantara, where the mountain chain is riven by a deep and -narrow gorge. It is called by the Arabs _Foum-es-Sahara_, the Mouth of -the Sahara. The scenery is very striking; Nature is here in a theatrical -mood; the mountains are bare and rugged and of a rich yellow hue, and as -one emerges from the gorge the _coup d’œil_ is magnificent. -Immediately in front is a lovely oasis, rich in palms and fruit trees, -offering a delicious contrast of greenery to the rough weather-scarred -rocks above. Around and below, to the southward, are the rugged -foot-hills of the Aurès, and beyond all the great illimitable sea of -sand. This is one of those rare places of the earth where nature seems -to set herself of deliberate intention to produce an effect. And nothing -is wanting to its success; nothing is superfluous. No one could have -planned a more fitting, a more impressive, a more romantic, gateway to -the desert. - -We continue to descend by the river, which is soon to meet its doom in -the sand, through a strange country which suggests in its apparent -absence of design the effect of some vast catastrophe,—"the quarries of -an enormous desolation." From the seamed and wrinkled and time-worn -cliffs, with their endless repetition of narrow buttresses, stand out -weird pinnacles as might the ruins of a fantastic castle, or the fangs -of some huge primeval monster, “the dead bones of the eldest born of -time”; while the floor of the valley is covered with curiously regular -pyramidal heaps, which bear the semblance of man’s fashioning. Such a -landscape might serve for a poet’s or painter’s Inferno; such may be the -scenery of the moon. Little by little we leave this nightmare of the -foot-hills and emerge into the plain. We pass several little oases, and -traverse sandy areas with scanty scrub. The river, or its bed, is ever -with us, with here and there an oleander growing on its banks. Where -water can be led away from it, a little ground is irrigated, and corn is -sown. But ever we are tending to the open desert. And at last, when we -have passed completely from all contact with the hills, and know that we -have attained the great Sahara, at last we come to Biskra. - -It is a little difficult to analyse the charm of Biskra. The charm is -great and the attraction strong. They do not lie altogether in the -brilliance of its sunshine, in the shade of its palms, in the richness -of its colouring, in the exuberance of its life. These things we may -meet elsewhere. Biskra has other qualities; it is barbaric, African to -the core, tropical in its intensity. - -Biskra is barbaric. To one entering by rail or road its trim streets and -squares, and housing himself in a hostelry which might be anywhere -within the bounds of the civilized world, this is a hard saying. Yet he -may soon perceive that its veneer is very thin and understand that it is -very transitory. A hot wind from the desert in April, and it is gone, -and the real Biskra will reassert itself. But even during the months of -the incursion of the _hiverneurs_, the barbaric note is never absent; to -the ear that listens it is predominant; it rings more shrill by force of -contrast. The troops of snarling camels, with their loads from the Great -Beyond, the clash of African musicless music, the thronging crowds of -jostling races in its markets, the hooded figures crouched motionless -round its cafés, the bedizened native harlotry which stalks unashamed,— -nay, proudly as mistress of the town,—in its streets; all are there to -mark its essential savagery. A few hours ago in the upper lands behind -the desert gateway we breathed the chill atmosphere of Europe; at Biskra -we have passed the bounds; sun and sky and earth and man and outrageous -woman combine to tell us that at last we have entered Africa. - -It may be that therein lies Biskra’s attraction to the jaded European. -It is all a little unnatural from the European point of view. There is a -sense of walking on the slopes of a volcano, or of playing with fire; -and if we may believe our novelists, European nature under its influence -tends to eccentric and eruptive manifestations. Yet its frequenters -exhibit little outward sign of disturbance. German tourists, arrayed -indeed as if about to combat a Touareg onslaught, yet read novels -peacefully in the pleasant seclusion of the hotel garden; the Kodak -fiend stalks his prey; the traffic in post cards goes merrily along; but -we cannot escape an uneasy feeling that this nonchalance is a cloak. -Perhaps the novelists have got on our nerves. - -Biskra consists of a modern French town and garrison, and several more -or less distinct native villages grouped together on a large oasis, a -strip of cultivated ground between three or four miles in length, with -an average width of half a mile. It contains an immense number of palm -trees, the chief source of wealth in the great Sahara. There is abundant -water from springs, and during winter from the river, which conveys the -snows of Aurès to the desert, and is finally lost some miles further to -the south. It has a swarming native population, of every North African -race, and every hue. There is obviously a very great infusion of negro -blood; no doubt because Biskra is situate on a highway of the nations, -at a point where the caravan routes from the extreme south reach the -mountain lands of Barbary. These natives of various races are collected -in great numbers in the morning market, and throng the neighbouring -cafés throughout the day, where squatting figures play interminable -games of dominoes and backgammon. Conspicuous in the crowd are the -dancing girls of the Ouled Naïl tribe dressed in tawdry finery, hung -with barbaric jewellery and masses of gold and silver coins, their hair -mixed with wool and plastered with grease, their faces tattooed and -darkened with _khol_ and _henna_. These women delight their patrons with -their _danses à ventre_ in the Cafés Maures at night, and later sit— -waiting and watching—on little balconies in the street which is assigned -to them. Many attempts have been made by French and English writers to -shed a halo of romance over these unfortunate beings. The whitewashing -of the harlot is a common literary pose. The story that they come to the -desert towns to earn their dower and subsequently return to their own -tribe and marry may have some foundation; such a procedure is not -unknown in other parts of the world; but to judge from the appearance of -some of them they are a long time thinking about settling down. - -It may, at any rate, be said of these girls that they are not a mere -“exploitation of local colour,” got up for the benefit of the tourist. -They are a genuine native product, flourishing no less in the oases of -the Sahara seldom visited by Europeans than under the shadow of the -hotels of Biskra. Their _danses_ excite their native admirers to great -enthusiasm, they often provoke furious jealousies, and are sometimes the -object of extraordinary prodigality. Some of them appear to affect an -air _très grande dame_. “Celles des Ouled-Naïl qui sont de grande tente -apportent dans leurs relations avec leurs visiteurs toute la générosité -et la délicatesse que comporte leur origine. Il suffit d’admirer une -seconde l’épais tapis qui sert de lit pour que le serviteur de la noble -prostituée apporte à son amant d’une minute, dès qu’il a regagné sa -demeure, l’objet qui l’avait frappé.”[8] - -Footnote 8: - - Guy de Maupassant, “Au Soleil.” - -Biskra may be compared with a Nile town such as Luxor, if one can -imagine Luxor without the river, without the temples, and, it must be -added, without the flies. But it is a desert town, the town of an oasis, -born of springs of water rising in a dry place, and it revels in the -desert sun and sky. It is most pleasant when the sky is cloudless and -the air still. But its beauty is greater when a moderate wind is blowing -and light clouds are passing. Then are glorious deep blue shadows thrown -on scarred cliffs of the tawny Aurès range. The tower of the Royal Hotel -is a vantage point from which to view Biskra and its landscape. Thence -you may note the extent of the oasis, the belts of palm trees in the -distance which mark the existence of other oases, and miles to the south -the dunes of shifting sand which to the imagination of most of us -represent the real Sahara. Especially beautiful is the scene at sunset. -The changing lights on the mountains, the ruddy glow all around, the -peculiar quality of transparency in the sky when the sun has set, and -perhaps Venus appears and hangs like a lamp between earth and heaven,— -only in the desert may we behold these last glories of departing day. -The shady, bird-haunted garden of this hotel is a very haven of shelter -when the desert wind blows strong and raises the light dust of Biskra in -the street without. It is surrounded on all sides by the hotel buildings -built in the spacious Oriental manner with corridors opening to the -garden and pleasant balconies above. - -Biskra of the tourists, _urbs circumcurrentium_, is in a fair way to -rechristen itself Hichenstown. The novelist and his not very edifying -story pervade the place; they are thrust at you everywhere with damnable -iteration. And the worst of it is that however mawkish the book it has -undeniable power, and if you are unfortunate enough to have read it you -will be unable to avoid recognizing at every turn the scenes in which -the much-longing-to-be-loved heroine and her uncouth lover played their -parts. You will probably not have been in the town many hours, perhaps -not many minutes, before a guide will accost you and produce with much -dignity a visiting-card of Mr. Hichens, on which something is written. -If you express neither interest nor emotion he will regard you with a -mixture of incredulity and pity. What are you here for but to worship at -the shrine of the marabout Hichens? Hichens has made—or marred—Biskra, -and Biskra is not unmindful. There is little or nothing to guide you to -in Biskra, wherefore is it full of guides. They are an ever-present -nuisance. The easier course is to engage one, he will at least keep off -the others; if you have more grit you may set out to prove yourself -unguidable; every guide’s hand will be against you at first, but you -will reap your reward. You will have no difficulty in hiring a guide -when you really want one, and he will respect you the more. The Arab is -no mean judge in such matters. The authorities have endeavoured to -mitigate the nuisance by licensing certain men to act as guides; but -they have not altogether suppressed the unauthorized, and the licensed -merely give themselves additional airs. Silly sentimental visitors have -aggravated matters, and have, moreover, turned many of the boys and -girls into impudent beggars. Books have actually been written embodying -the views on life and religion of these petted striplings; their -remarkable inaccuracies in serious matters suggest that the youth of -Biskra is not averse from “pulling the legs” of its amiable patrons. It -is all rather sad. But the debasing effect of the inconsiderate tourist -is not peculiar to Biskra. - -The garden of Count Landon is botanically interesting, and a delightful -refuge from glare and dust and importunity. It is not in the ordinary -sense a garden; it is rather a great plantation or shrubbery divided by -winding paths. The excessive neatness of these paths, built of hard mud -and carefully sanded, rather spoils the effect of the wilderness to an -English eye. There is abundance of running water, and the palm, which -likes to have “its toes in the water and its head in the sun,” -flourishes exceedingly. With it are many bamboos, peppers, oranges, and -various species of _ficus_,—the usual subtropical assemblage. I observe -no tree-ferns; yet the conditions appear very suitable. It is one -continuous jumble; there is no attempt at grouping, which would perhaps -have produced a more noble and more natural effect. But as you come -suddenly here or there to the verge of this thicket, you are startled -and delighted by the contrast of mellow shade within, and the shimmering -glare without;—a contrast quite after the manner of Biskra, which revels -in the juxtaposition of the incongruous. Those who come to the desert in -search of peace and quiet may find themselves in the plight of the -guests of a Swiss innkeeper who advertised: “My hotel is recommended to -those in search of solitude; thousands come here in search of solitude -every summer.” But in the garden of M. Landon you may be at rest, and -dream dreams and see visions, as I did. I had been reading certain -modern French writers who are concerned to prove that the inhabitants of -this country, the _indigènes_, are not Arab at all. They don’t deny the -Arab conquest, but hold that the claim to have “come in with Okba” is as -empty a boast as among us is the assertion, “We came over with the -Conqueror.” They are arguing to a case. If the native is not of Semitic -origin there is hope for him. He has been more or less Christian before, -so he may be Christianized again, or anti-clerical radical socialized, -or whatever is necessary to make him an up-to-date Frenchman. But with -all their theorizing nothing is effected. The Arab,—or Berber,—goes on -in his Arabian,—or Berberic,—way, unmoved by any attraction of French -politics and irreligion. How is he to be broken in? A chance remark of -an American fellow-traveller opened to me the great discovery. History -supplies other instances of idle words changing its course. There is -to-day a great civilizing influence at work on cosmopolitan lines such -as the world has never seen before. It has already profoundly affected -some of the greatest of human interests,—religion, commerce, and -clothes. It will ultimately bring about the abolition of war, because no -one will have time to fight. It is permeating the most unlikely -quarters; if I mistake not my German neighbours this evening at dinner -were continually alluding to it; and what Germany thinks to-day, Europe -will think to-morrow. The Arab, or Berber, must be brought into the -movement. He must play golf. My American friend informed me that golf -has changed the habits of the American business man. It appears that -since Columbus arrived this individual has never taken any exercise; he -has sat in his office glued to his desk from dewy morn till long after -sunset. All that is over, and in a moment. At 3 p.m. he now furtively -affixes to his office door a notice, “Back in ten minutes,” and is off -to the American Sandwich. Saturday is a whole, not a half, holiday; and -Sunday has become a day of especial unrest. If in the twinkling of an -eye such a slave of ingrained habits may find salvation, need we despair -of the poor Arab, or worry ourselves about his pedigree? To all -appearance he is usually short of a job; his posture of seemingly -permanent repose is explained to me as one of waiting till his dates are -ripe. Golf will alter his whole attitude of mind as of body. Local -conditions are most favourable. The Sahara contains the finest -sand-bunkers in the world. The creation of greens is merely a matter of -sinking Artesian wells, a laudable process on which the French -Government is already embarked, but with no full appreciation of its -real significance. Temporary club-houses of galvanized iron would meet -all requirements for the present. At once the Arab’s (I must continue to -call him the Arab, in spite of my French authors) distinctive dress -would go. No one who has not put it on can realize in what a cuirass, in -what folds, he is involved. As he is he could never hope to drive a -decent ball. Array him in a Norfolk jacket and knickerbockers and -putties (I observe that his French conquerors are greatly affecting -putties) and his aloofness disappears. At a stroke he enters the -world-movement; Colonel Bogey will oust the Lord Okba; and when Hadji -ben Mohammed ben Yakoub comes over to represent the Biskra and North -Sahara Golf Club at St. Andrews may I be there to see him win. - -[Illustration: OLD BISKRA] - -A little way further south than the garden of Count Landon, on the -Touggourt road lie the scattered native hamlets known to the French as -_La Vieille Biskra_, the crumbling houses of a ragged population. Here -is the very _ne plus ultra_ of Arab untidiness. But the play of sunbeams -through the palm trees’ grateful shade turns squalor into beauty. Arab -villages are often half in ruins. Their irregular construction of blocks -of dried mud gives them the aspect of the homes of animals rather than -of men,—the creation perhaps of some gigantic ant. When it rains they -not infrequently fall down. And the labour of rebuilding is not lightly -undertaken. - -Biskra is soon to lose its present distinction as the end of the railway -line. The rails are being rapidly laid towards Touggourt, 212 kilometres -to the south, a desert town where splendid gardens flourish beneath the -shade of 200,000 palm trees. The irrepressible motor-car has already -stirred its dust. The prudent Michelin guide describes the road thither -as _piste carrossable mais imprudente à suivre par mauvais temps_. You -are advised to take mats to lay down in the softer places for the car to -run over. But what happens in the event of a serious breakdown is not -explained. When the rail is finished the enterprising tourist may pass -by Biskra as a mere wayside station and continue to the end. But he may -be only going farther to fare worse. It does not appear that the distant -towns of the Sahara present any special points of interest beyond their -existence. Yet perhaps there are some to whom the desert calls as to -others the veldt. But they will stick to their camels and their mules, -and merely use the railway extension as a jumping-board for further -explorations. - -[Illustration: BISKRA: STATUE OF CARDINAL LAVIGERIE] - -To him who strives to peer beneath the obvious surface nothing in Biskra -is more significant than the statue of Cardinal Lavigerie. It stands in -the main street close to the luxurious Royal Hotel, hard by the quarter -of the Arab cafés and the street of the Ouled-Naïl dancing-girls, a -symbol of the eternal amidst the evanescent, a protest for God against -the Devil and the world. And it looks south. Thousands of miles away, -across the vast expanse of the continent, another statue looks north. -Rhodes and Lavigerie, two types of our civilization, further apart in -intention and in ideals of human conduct than are their statues, look -forth over Africa from their separate standpoints, the Africa for which -each spent his strength. Both worked to bring to the Dark Continent the -accumulated wealth of light to which Europe is heir; they drew perhaps -on different departments in the great storehouse; they directed the -illumination to different points; but to evolve order from chaos, to -substitute freedom for tyranny, to impose peace even, if need were, by -the sword,—these were the objects which both pursued. - -The neighbourhood of Biskra is rich in memories of Sidi Okba, the barber -of the Prophet, and the first of the Arab conquerors. It was he who -pushed westward from Kairouan through Barbary to the Atlantic, having -defeated the Berbers under Koceïla and other chieftains. Arrived at the -shore of the ocean he raised the standard of the Prophet crowned with -the crescent, and indicating with it the course of the sun from its -rising to its setting, dashed forward and breasted the waves with his -horse, crying, “God of Mahomet, were I not stopped by the waves of this -sea, I would go to the ends of the earth to carry the glory of thy name, -to fight for thy religion and to destroy those who will not believe on -thee!” On his return journey he was attacked by a force of Berbers under -Koceïla near Biskra and killed with three hundred of his followers. He -was buried in the oasis which bears his name, and his tomb is an object -of pilgrimage and veneration. - -But the Berbers, if they had killed one leader, did not succeed in -maintaining their independence. That they adopted the invaders’ religion -is not very surprising. Their previous religions seem to have sat -lightly on them: idolaters, pagans, converted in numbers to Judaism, -orthodox Christians, Donatists,—they had been all in turn. The dogmatic -simplicity of Islam is summed up in the words, “There is no God but God, -and Mohammed is the Prophet of God.” It only demands a belief in this -one God and the veneration of Mahomet, last of the prophets, invested by -God with the mission to bring back men to the religion of the ancient -patriarchs and to the acknowledgment of the Unity of the Godhead. It is -completed by belief in three revealed books, the Bible, the Gospel, and -the Koran. It denies the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus Christ, who -is regarded only as a prophet, but allowed to have possessed a special -nature. - -The simple formula of Mohammedanism was not very difficult for a man -with no prejudices to accept. It meant, of course, more than appeared -from its positive assertion; it was directed alike against the -Trinitarianism of the Christians and the idolatry or image-worship of -pre-Mohammedan Arabians. In its rejection of anthropomorphism it stands -on a high intellectual plane; and it is one of the marvels of history -that such an abstraction as the God of Mahomet should have been -sufficient to rouse the Prophet’s followers to their pitch of conquering -enthusiasm. Races beaten in battle no doubt easily accepted its primary -proposition. “People follow the religion of their kings,” says an Arab -proverb. But there was more behind. The Prophet attached to his -religious doctrine a very precise ethical code, a moral system admirable -on the whole in its exposition of the duties of man to man; yet in its -permission of polygamy regarding women as inferior to men. And on the -political side he united the functions of the priest, the judge and the -king. It follows that however enlightened the main basis of -Mohammedanism it is fundamentally opposed alike to Christianity and to -modern theories of democratic government and the equality of the sexes. -“Men are superior to women on account of the qualities with which God -has gifted the one above the other,” says the Koran. - -After the manner of organized religions all sorts of complicated -additions have been made to the originally simple rule of the Prophet, -which enjoined prayer, ablutions, fasting, abstinence from wine and the -flesh of the pig. These accretions are largely concerned with the -veneration of saints and the exorcising of spirits. Among the former not -the least is Sidi Okba, canonized rather, we may suppose, for his -prowess as a conqueror and his zeal as a propagandist than for any -peculiar sanctity of life. - -The oasis of Sidi Okba lies about twenty-one kilometres south-east of -Biskra. The road crosses a level plain, and is at present in a rather -rough condition, but is being re-metalled. The drive is a pleasant one, -with the long line of mountains on the left fading away into a blue -distance; on the right the desert with an occasional oasis marked by its -group of palms. As we approach Sidi Okba the dark belt visible from -Biskra takes shape. The little town lies in the midst of an immense -group of date-palms, of all sizes, some of great age; one has the honour -of being described as the oldest palm in Africa. Sidi Okba has not been -in any way Europeanized, it is still the unadulterated East; its houses -built of mud, of one story; its streets narrow, winding and very -unclean. It appears to be greatly over-populated, and the mass of its -inhabitants to be very poor. The streets are thronged with men, but -scarcely a woman is to be seen. The stranger, who will do well on this -occasion to bring a guide, will be quite unmolested, and to all -appearance totally disregarded. A main street full of little shops, -curious and interesting, leads to the market-place, which is the very -climax of Arab untidiness. Sidi Okba is not a place for the squeamish. - -The chief object of interest is the mosque, which is considered to be -the oldest Mohammedan building in Africa. It is a square building -surrounded by a portico, with a flat roof supported on twenty-six rudely -carved columns. The saint’s tomb is contained in a little chapel which -it is unlawful for the unbeliever to enter. The mosque and its porticoes -are greatly resorted to by students and pilgrims; it contains little -cells in which they are lodged, and endowments have been created by -pious benefactors for their support. There are many present to-day: here -a single student reading laboriously a passage of the Koran written on a -wooden slab; there a little group of doctors squatting in a circle -apparently discussing a knotty point, but in reality only capping each -other’s quotations from the sacred book. In an adjoining room is the -usual Arab school—a number of boys surrounding a seated master who is -armed with a long cane, and yelling their lesson (the Koran again) with -all their might. It is all very far apart from the workaday western -world. Yet even into this very shrine of esoteric Islam has the West -edged its way. On the walls of the mosque hang highly-coloured prints of -the holy cities of Arabia, Mecca and Medina. My guide pointed them out -to me as objects of interest. In the corner of the view of Medina I -noticed the words, “All rights reserved. The Cairo Punch.” - -[Illustration: SIDI OKBA: A STREET] - -On one of the pillars is engraved in early Cufic characters the grandly -simple inscription, “This is the tomb of Okba, son of Nafè. May God have -mercy on him.” The wooden door of the mosque is very finely carved in a -curious design. It is said to have been brought from Tobna, in the high -plateau of the Hodna, and to have been formerly covered with precious -metals and jewels, which were sold for the benefit of the mosque; but -this may be doubted. - -To obtain a view of the township and the oasis you may ascend the -minaret. Here your guide will not accompany you. Arabs object to any -prying eye surveying their roofs, which are the resort of their women. -They have perhaps grown accustomed to the irrepressible European, who -will always go to the highest point at all hazards; he is also beneath -their contempt, and in any case will depart and be no more seen. With -one of their own countrymen it is different; he may be the European’s -servant, but he is a fellow-religionist and not a mere animal like his -employer. So the European is tolerated with a shrug. For the office of -_muezzin_, the custodian of the mosque, whose business it is to ascend -the minaret and call the faithful to prayer, a blind man with a brazen -voice is in much request. If not actually, the _muezzin_ is -conventionally blind. So he will light a candle to guide you up the dark -staircase, and accompany you to the top. The town lies below you and all -around,—a curious collection of square mud boxes. On many of the roofs -are basket-work erections, which are explained to you as the framework -of tents, in which the inhabitants sleep during the great summer heats. -Over the heads of countless palm trees your eye ranges to the desert, -bounded on the north by the cliffs of Barbary, limitless to the south. -And southwards you will gaze till you grow weary of immensity. - -Perhaps nowhere more than at Sidi Okba, under the shadow of the great -conqueror’s tomb, may you feel the haughty disdain of the Arab. He -stalks past you apparently in utter unconsciousness of your presence. -You belong to a civilization which for the moment has conquered his in -war. Allah has willed it. But you represent with your anthropomorphic -religion, your abominable demeanour and social arrangements, especially -your own lack of dignity and the licence you allow to your women, all -that he holds most accursed. You attach undue importance to human life -in this world; and this leads you into a ridiculous state of worry about -trumpery matters of sanitation and so forth, which are quite beneath the -notice of a man concerned with the higher mysteries of the universe and -considerations of eternity. Your grovelling disregard of the really -great things gives you leisure to devote yourself to such trifles as -trade and transport, and so you grow rich, which is rather to your -discredit than the reverse. Wherefore the Arab expresses his contempt -for you by the supremest indifference, striving only to preserve the hem -of his robe from contact with the unclean. - -The ordinary traveller will perhaps leave Biskra with no great regret, -however much he may have found of interest in his visit. But to those -rare spirits among us who endeavour to repair the mischief caused by our -first parents, Biskra presents very special opportunities. There is very -little to see, and nothing whatever to do; it is a capital place for -sitting in the shade with a brilliant sky above. The Garden of Eden is -an Oriental ideal; these Arabs who exist in contemplation of their palm -trees are striving to live up to it. It is not at all an English ideal. -The primeval curse lies heavy on the Englishman; he has made the best of -it and has come to regard work as a virtue. Not only by the sweat of his -brow must he earn his living; by the sweat of his brow must he achieve -his pleasure. A paradise in which he could not knock a ball about or -kill the other animals were no paradise to him. Yet even among our -strenuous people there are emancipated individuals, to whose simple -needs a sunny climate and regular meals at a comfortable hotel suffice:— - - “Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough, - A flask of Wine, a Book of Verse,” - -such will find a congenial resting-place. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - _IX—THE SAHARA_ - - The desert in imagination and reality—Underground water—Artesian - wells—Mozabites—Touaregs—The camel—Recent developments—Railway - projects—The Army of Africa. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - “I’ve in the desert with these eyes beheld - The hurrying pilgrim to the slow-stepped yield; - The rapid courser in the rear remains, - While the slow camel still its step maintains.” - THE GULISTĀN. - - -Everyone, it has been said, has his own Sahara. For many of us perhaps -the geography lessons of childhood left an impression of an ocean of -shifting sand, sometimes separated from the sea by a narrow strip of -cultivated land, sometimes extending to the very shore, from which -majestic lions, appropriate lords of the inhospitable desert, gaze -pensively at the setting sun. If we had the misfortune to be born half a -century or more ago, the maps of Africa of the period, with their vast -interior emptiness, suggested to our youthful imagination that this -unpleasant region extended over the greater part of the continent, the -elephant taking the place of the lion in the more southern portions. - -[Illustration: THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE SAHARA] - - “So geographers, in Afric maps, - With savage pictures fill their gaps, - And o’er unhabitable downs - Place elephants for want of towns.” - -The last generation has seen these mediæval ideas considerably modified. -Travel and war have been the means of filling much of the blank space; -the arts of peace have followed in their wake; African railways would -occupy quite a respectable page in a world-wide Bradshaw; and the Stock -Exchange in a searching for economy of syllables has irreverently -shortened the poetical Tanganyika to the practical Tank. The great flat -plain is last to go;—the millions of acres of rather light soil which -the French have been so unaccountably anxious to daub with their colour -on the map. We have given up the lions; we know that such carnivorous -beasts can only live in a fairly fertile country which supplies -sufficient food to their prey. But we have clung to the plain and the -sand. Nevertheless it seems that they must go too. We read that you may -travel for days in the Sahara on rocky hills and not find enough sand to -dry your signature. So perish the beliefs of youth. - -Yet to any picture of Algeria the Sahara supplies a romantic background. -The sight of a caravan arriving from some distant oasis still has power -to stir the imagination. Even in face of our information as to the -Sahara’s only partial sterility, we cherish some shreds of wonder at the -men who can wring a livelihood and find the means of travel under such -inhospitable conditions. - -The Sahara has been defined as the region which receives only as an -exception any rainfall, whether of Mediterranean origin, or from the -tropical regions of West Africa. It is only relatively a desert in the -strict sense of the word; no part of it is absolutely without rain, and -even in the districts which are reputed the most dry the traveller may -meet with violent storms. The generally arid nature of the soil is due -to the fact that water circulates not on the surface, but underground. -Where it comes to light either by natural or artificial means, a focus -of intense cultivation, an oasis, is produced. - -The Algerian Sahara is only a portion of the great desert of Northern -Africa. Yet it is ten times the size of Algeria itself. It consists -roughly of two great depressions separated by an isthmus of calcareous -hills. Each of these basins contains a great expanse of dunes, and the -two chief groups of oases occur in their lower levels. A generation ago -it was commonly believed that the Sahara was the bed of a sea which had -disappeared at no very distant date; and projects were formed of -admitting the Mediterranean by means of a canal. But more precise -knowledge has shown that its sterility is due to other causes; that like -the rest of the continent it has its ancient conformation of mountain -and plain; that it has distinctive flora and fauna long established; and -that the portion which lies below the level of the Mediterranean is of -very small extent. - -Between eighty and ninety per cent of the surface is of rock, slightly -undulating and broken occasionally by perpendicular ravines and large -crevasses. Here, as a rule, no water can be found, and the only -vegetation is an occasional thorny shrub. With the regions of the sand -dunes it is different. Their sterility is by no means absolute. They -have a vigorous vegetation of their own, which will support camels, and -even sheep at a favourable season. They absorb eagerly the rainfall -which runs off the rocky plateaux, and acting as a sponge retain it for -a long period. Their comparative barrenness is due only to the dryness -of the climate; wherever they can be irrigated they become fertile. - -Of the underground rivers the best known is the Oued Rir, which is met -with about fifty miles to the south of Biskra, and extends as far as -Temacin, fourteen miles south-west of Touggourt. Its course is marked by -a number of oases, some of which have been created, and others much -improved by the Artesian wells of the French engineers. The first -experiment of this sort was tried as early as 1856 at the oasis of -Tamerna. After twenty-two days of work, in the presence of a crowd of -incredulous and scarcely friendly natives the bore produced a veritable -river of a thousand gallons a minute. - - “In the desert a fountain is springing.” - -At this welcome spectacle, the ingrained distrust of and smothered -hostility towards the stranger and his methods vanished; all gave way to -a transport of joy and enthusiasm. The work thus begun has been -continued with great success, chiefly by French companies; new wells -have been sunk and old wells repaired; and it is estimated that the -value of the oases of the Rir has increased fivefold, and their -population more than doubled. - -[Illustration: AN ARTESIAN WELL] - -Similar results have been attained elsewhere. But while they increase -the productiveness of the oases, and at the same time improve the routes -and the condition of the nomads, they do not warrant any hopes of -extensive cultivation in the Sahara. The conditions of life continue -difficult. The oases are very unhealthy; their sedentary inhabitants are -the prey of malignant fevers and chronic diseases. The summer climate is -appalling; a variation between freezing-point and 120° Fahrenheit in the -twenty-four hours is not unknown. Those of the inhabitants, Arabs or -Berbers, who have an admixture of the blood of the Soudanese negroes, -are best fitted to support such trying conditions. As a place of -residence for Europeans the Sahara cannot be recommended with any -confidence. - -Of the sedentary peoples of the Sahara the most interesting are the -Mozabites; of the nomads the Touaregs, who range over the vast region to -the extreme south. Both are considered to be of Berber origin. The -Mozabites have already been mentioned as traders in Algiers. Their -country, the Mzab, is situate in one of the most sterile parts of the -Sahara, on the rocky promontory which separates the eastern and western -depressions. It lies about 400 miles due south of Algiers. Here with -amazing toil they have created a fertile region. They have dug wells and -found water, and have built dams to intercept and retain the occasional -rainfall. The contrast of their fertile gardens with the bare and -fantastic rocks which surround them, a land of exaggerated sterility -where Nature herself seems dead, is described by travellers as very -striking. The industry and commercial aptitude of the Mozabites is very -remarkable. They excel as money-lenders and in small banking business. -It is said that among them a Jew must work with his hands. - -[Illustration: A NATIVE WELL] - -During the last few years, without attracting much attention from the -outer world, France has quietly conquered the Sahara, or at all events -brought its nomad tribes under effective control. The Touaregs, neither -very numerous nor very well armed, have succumbed to persistent pressure -and a few trifling defeats. Some are settling on the fringe of the -oases; others drifting into the service of the State. The systematic -brigands of centuries will pass, it has been said, in a few years from -the Stone Age to the age of aviation. They recognize, not without -humour, that their rôle of levying contributions has fallen into other -hands. A captain of spahis in garrison at Timbuctoo, was ordered to -pursue a caravan which had made off in the night without paying the -market dues. “We also,” said the Touaregs, “when we stop a caravan, do -so to collect _le droit de passage_.” - -The conquest of the desert, long delayed, has only been achieved by the -regular employment of the camel. For nearly a century, since Napoleon’s -expedition to Egypt, the French had made spasmodic efforts to utilize -this animal, but with little success. The camel corps were regarded with -ridicule and contempt, and the peculiarities of the beast were little -understood. A common belief in fabulous stories of its powers of speed -and endurance, its capacity for doing without food and water, occasioned -much suffering and immense loss. In fact it requires, year in year out, -as much sustenance as other herbivorous beasts of its bulk; where it -differs from others is in its power to support extreme irregularity in -its meals. This quality, and especially its ability to take in at one -drink enough water for several days, render it of unequalled value for -desert journeyings. The camel can work for six months in the year on the -meagre diet which the sparse vegetation of the Sahara affords; it is -necessary for his existence that he should spend the remaining six in -complete rest at pasture, where he feeds voraciously from morning to -night without losing a minute. “But it must not be believed,” says M. -Gautier, “that the camel on active service does not eat; he feeds when -he has the opportunity, and the opportunities must not be rare. For a -caravan of camels traversing the desert, the stomach of the beasts is -the sovereign lord of marches and halts, the director of the daily -programme; day and night, the fatigue and hunger and sleep of the men do -not enter into the account; everything is subordinated to the single -necessity of nourishment for the herd. Whenever a little edible -vegetation is met with, at whatever point of the itinerary, a halt is -made for several hours or several days; in the intervals, even as -happens sometimes, of two or three hundred kilometres or of five or six -days, progress, slow and regular, is made without truce, almost without -sleep, beneath sun and stars alike. One can only stop at a pasturage; a -voyage in the Sahara is a hunt for a blade of grass.” - -God, says the proverb, having made the desert, repaired the mischief by -creating the camel. Considered absolutely it is an inferior beast of -burden to the horse and mule, considered relatively to the conditions of -the Sahara it is invaluable. But it must be treated according to its -necessities. In the mines of Algeria, for props in the galleries, pine -is preferred to oak; oak breaks suddenly when the limit of its strength -is reached, pine on the contrary cracks and creaks,—it gives warning. -The camel is as the oak, he gives no warning. Exhausted, he stops -abruptly like a motor-car which has run short of petrol; he crouches and -dies, with plenty of dignity and with an air of thinking of something -else. So have ended countless camels in the service of France. But since -1902 camel corps have been raised on a scientific basis; the animal used -being almost invariably the _méhari_, a species of dromedary. A body of -natives of the tribe of the Chaamba has been organized, each of whom in -return for a definite sum of money supplies two or three camels, which -are his own property, to exchange, to sell, to traffic with as he -pleases. He is, in fact, a contractor. For a further sum he provides his -own food, clothing and equipment. This system seems to be a reversion to -an ancient custom, which the very word “soldier” recalls. - -The effect has been magical. Almost without a blow the Touareg has -recognized his master. The Chaamba patrol the desert and enforce French -conceptions of law and order. Communications have been opened in all -directions; the tremendous journey between Algeria and the West African -possessions of France is now frequently made without danger and without -exciting remark. The _méharistes_ have solved the problem so long -insoluble. - -[Illustration: A CARAVAN] - -But a greater project is agitating the minds of the forward Colonial -party, the linking of the French possessions by a Trans-Saharian -railway. The scheme is not a new one. It was much discussed thirty years -ago. The French Government appointed a scientific commission to study -the matter, and the French public, ever ready to support a vast -engineering scheme, was eager to subscribe the necessary capital. The -murder by Touaregs of the Flatters mission administered a cold douche, -and for the time being the subject dropped. It has been revived of late -by M. Leroy Beaulieu and other writers. Two lines are projected, one to -Lake Tchad, the other to Timbuctoo. The distance to be covered is -enormous, in each case about 2700 miles, of which 2000 is desert. The -engineering difficulties are not great, but the commercial prospects of -such a line seem very poor. A train or two a year would deal with all -the existing traffic, and there appears little scope for development. It -is suggested that the Upper Niger may become another Nile, but even then -its trade would seek an outlet rather to the Atlantic than to the -Mediterranean and across the Great Sahara. The post route to South -America might be shortened a little, but at what cost and inconvenience! -The best hope for the would-be railway builders lies in the discovery of -minerals. A mining industry would develop the Sahara as it has developed -the bare uplands of the Transvaal and the icy wastes of Klondyke. But of -this there is no present indication. - -Meantime, in the extreme west, on the borders of Morocco, the railway -has been extended as far as Colomb-Béchar, a distance of 728 kilometres -to the south-west of Oran. This is a strategic line. It is in the -direction of Morocco that the eyes of the army of Africa are now turned. -French writers are never tired of repeating that Barbary is one, and -should be undivided, that the masters of Tunis and Algeria must be lords -of Morocco too. The safety of Algeria itself is said to depend on the -French control of Morocco. Such is ever the language of him who would go -forward. We have said it ourselves often enough, and to fix the limits -of empire is sometimes more difficult than to advance them. - -It may be worth while to note what is the present military force of -France in North Africa. According to the project for the Budget of 1911, -the force in Algeria consists of 2134 officers and 52,927 men; in -Tunisia of 698 officers and 17,007 men. The cavalry numbers in all 440 -officers and 9074 men. The number of native troops is singularly small, -about 15,000 infantry and 1800 spahis. Judging by our experience in -India it would be possible to make a far larger use of native military -talent, to the great advantage of the population, and to the -consolidation of the French hold on the country. The native troops -employed in the late Morocco campaign, especially the Tunisians, bore -themselves with the greatest credit. - -In the Sahara special companies have been recently raised. They contain -a certain admixture of French troops:—24 officers and 123 men to 817 -men. It would seem a special field for the raising of a force of natural -cavalry and camel-men. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - _X—TIMGAD_ - -The Roman frontier—Lambessa—The Empire ruined by bad finance—African - Emperors—The plan of Timgad—Buildings, inscriptions, and mosaics— - Prosperity of Roman Africa—Local patriotism—The Roman tradition. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - “As in those realms where Cæsars once bore sway, - Defaced by time and tottering to decay, - There in the ruin heedless of the dead, - The shelter-seeking peasant builds his shed.” - GOLDSMITH. - - -East and west of Batna lay the Roman frontier line during the first two -centuries of the Empire. It was marked by a series of cities, partly -military, partly commercial; extensive ruins bespeak their ancient -importance. As elsewhere in Europe and North Africa the fall of the -Empire seldom meant the abandonment of the city sites; they continued to -be occupied by successive generations of men, even though, like Rome -herself, for a period they sank to insignificance. And their ruined -buildings, public and private, offered a convenient quarry to the -builders of subsequent ages. It results that we are scarcely able to -find an ancient city in which the original plan of house and street has -not been seriously interfered with. While, as in many English towns, the -main lines of the streets often follow the Roman thoroughfares, we have -seldom the opportunity of studying the scheme as a whole, although all -through Southern and Western Europe innumerable individual features -exist more or less well preserved. - -We owe the existence of Pompeii and Herculaneum to the accident of their -overwhelming by ashes and lava from Vesuvius. The former has been laid -bare; the excavation of the latter, a much more serious matter, awaits -the day when the disposers of wealth, public or private, shall see fit -to undertake a work, which promises the greatest results. It happens by -a piece of exceptional good fortune that here, on the southern edge of -Barbary, Pompeii has a serious rival. The Roman city of Thamagudi, now -called Timgad, has since its destruction at the time of the Arab -invasion of A.D. 692 never been the habitation of man. To this cause -alone may its present condition be attributed. It has passed twelve -centuries in a great silence. Its ruined temples and baths have been the -haunt of the panther and the jackal. No neighbouring town despoiled its -stones, or ground its marbles to make mortar. Its columns lay prone, its -temples and houses were for the most part levelled with the ground; yet -a massive arch or two told through the centuries to the watcher from -afar that here once stood a Roman city. - -[Illustration: A STREET AT TIMGAD] - -The night of centuries is past; the long silence is broken; the jackals -have fled to their mountains; and a Latin race is tenderly safeguarding -its heritage. Once again a road leads to the portals of the ancient -city, and with infinite skill and care the debris has been cleared away. -Columns have been re-erected, masonry replaced in its original position -and fragments of inscriptions pieced together; a very triumph of that -vast capacity for taking pains which is such an important element of -French genius. One charm of the place to the visitor is that it is not -exploited as a tourist resort. A little museum has been set up to hold -the treasures found among the ruins, a modest hotel has been built, and -the neighbouring Arabs have been encouraged to hold a weekly market -outside the walls; but there is no turnstile to be passed, you are not -delivered over to a guide, no tout is permitted to worry you, and you -are free to pass to and fro, to go in and out as you list as long as you -don’t steal or deface anything. So for a contemplative mind every -possible attraction is conserved. - -The Roman conquest and civilization—or rather assimilation—of North -Africa were slow, tentative and reluctant. Scipio Æmilianus burnt -Carthage in 146 B.C.; it was more than a hundred years later that Julius -Cæsar handed over Cirta to the soldiers of Sittius. Under Augustus a -camp was established at Theveste (Tebessa), and the Third Legion, -Augusta, was stationed there with the object of protecting the territory -of Cirta, and the proconsular province which is now Tunisia. Under the -shelter of this post, during the first century of our era, the great -corn lands enclosed by the Aurès mountains were gradually brought under -Roman control. The building of Thamagudi in the reign of Trajan, in the -year A.D. 100, is evidence of the importance to which this region had by -that time risen. This process continued during the next two centuries. -No doubt as the population of Italy declined, and her fertility -decreased, Rome came to rely more and more on the corn of Africa, and -more land was continually brought under cultivation. This is the -significance of such a city as Timgad, lying over 3000 feet above the -sea on a slope of the Aurès mountains. - -Our ideas of the Roman Empire are perhaps coloured by the title of -Gibbon’s great work. We are disposed to think that its decline began -with its establishment. Gibbon had always at the back of his mind the -belief that Christianity was the cause of its ultimate ruin, and that -the Empire began to totter on the day when the first Roman citizen was -baptised a Christian. But for two or three hundred years, though the -Empire was frequently torn by political dissensions, its material -prosperity was very great. We know now that it was ruined in the end by -its financial errors, its unwise and unjust system of land taxation, the -grasping greed of Treasury officials and the anxiety of upstart Emperors -to gratify their supporters in the army and the Roman mob at anybody’s -cost. - -It is a vice of civilizations to believe themselves invulnerable. As -late as the fifth century it was inconceivable to a Roman gentleman that -the mighty structure could be swept away; and it is perhaps true that -even then it might have been saved by a return to sounder systems of -finance. Even so to-day the European nations are arming to the teeth -against each other, instead of husbanding their resources and concerting -measures of defence against races more numerous and more prolific. The -uprising of the Asiatic peoples is a fact to which we cannot be other -than wilfully blind. A beginning of the trouble may be upon us at any -minute. - -Timgad was built by the soldiers of the Third Legion, then stationed at -Tebessa. Its head-quarters were shortly afterwards moved to Lambessa, -and during the second and third centuries the frontier outposts were -gradually pushed forward. They occupied a line on the south side of the -Aurès range, extending to the south and south-east of Biskra and then -branching north-west to Bou-Saida. At least in some districts a ditch -and rampart marked the limits of the Empire. - -Lambessa grew into a large city said to have contained 60,000 -inhabitants. Its considerable ruins, of which the most important are the -Prætorium and certain arches, are visible to-day. The importance of the -position is realized by the French, who have large barracks and a force -of 4000 men at Batna, only a few miles off. Striking evidence of the -success of Rome’s treatment of subject races is to be found in the fact -that with all the wealth of numerous great cities to protect, her -military force in North Africa consisted only of one legion of 5500 men -and auxiliary forces of infantry and cavalry, making a total of 15,000 -men. At first the legionaries were raised in Europe, chiefly in Gaul, -but in the second century they were recruited entirely among the -indigenous population. Retired soldiers were granted lands and -exemptions on the condition that their sons enlisted. In this way towns -like Lambessa, half military, half commercial, grew up. The actual -number of emigrants from Italy was small; with her declining population -she had no emigrants to send. - -There is, therefore, reason to believe that the inhabitants of such -cities as Timgad were not to any appreciable extent colonists from -Europe; they were rather Romanized Berbers. The names as they appear in -inscriptions corroborate this. They are not Latin, if Latin in form. -This point is of great importance in considering not only the nature of -the Roman rule in North Africa, but also the history and possibilities -of the Berber population. They were Romanized once, they are Arabized -to-day; what may they be to-morrow? - -As we stand in the Forum of Timgad to-day, we may reflect that this -noble city was built and inhabited by the ancestors of the gabbling -native crowd which is holding its market at the gate. Doubtless in their -simple minds these robed figures are wondering what in the world we come -for. They must be aware that it is not a religious exercise; we have our -holy places to which they observe that some of us betake ourselves on -Sunday mornings; no Christian marabout lies buried here, and we are -therefore not votaries making a pilgrimage. Yet is our conduct not mere -levity; we wander about with little books in our hands and are very -earnest and sometimes vociferous to our companions. Perhaps the most -enlightened native opinion inclines to the belief that we are working a -spell or enchantment, it may be for the benefit of our motor-cars, which -we bring with us to the gate. - -Rome, the great mother, welcomed all to her bosom, and it seems that all -were glad to come. Little by little the African townships became Latin -or Roman municipalities. Roman citizenship became the ambition and the -pride of their inhabitants. No higher honour could be inscribed on a -tombstone than _Civitatem Romanam consecutus_. And the Roman religion -helped the process of consolidation. Olympus was no close borough. There -was always room for another deity. We know, in fact, that the Romans -were ever ready to welcome a fresh cult. It was the political, not the -religious attitude of the Christians which brought them within the reach -of the law and under the displeasure of the Emperors. So the Berbers’ -gods were Romanized like themselves. Baal Ammon became Saturnus -Augustus. The open sanctuaries gave way to closed temples of classical -design. Human sacrifice was abandoned. And the Berbers learnt to raise -shrines to the Roman allegorical deities, Concord, Fortune, Peace, and -Victory; above all to worship the existing order in the divine person of -the Emperor. His personal character had nothing whatever to do with -this. The infamous Caracalla was the object of as much veneration as the -philosopher saint Marcus Aurelius. At the beginning of the third century -Africa gave many of its sons to the purple. Macrinus, who attained it by -the murder of Caracalla, was a native of the district of Cæsarea. His -successor, Elagabalus, of execrated memory, was the son of a former -commandant of the Third Legion. And the Gordians, representing as they -did the noblest blood in Rome, the blood of the Gracchi and of Trajan, -came to the throne from the proconsulate of Africa. Concerning the -younger Gordian Gibbon has left us a memorable sentence, which at once -exhibits the antithetical bias of his style, and a certain sly humour of -which he was master. “His manners were less pure, but his character was -equally amiable with that of his father. Twenty-two acknowledged -concubines, and a library of sixty-two thousand volumes attested the -variety of his inclinations; and from the productions which he left -behind him, it appears that the former as well as the latter were -intended for use rather than for ostentation.[9] The Roman people -acknowledged in the features of the younger Gordian the resemblance of -Scipio Africanus, recollected with pleasure that his mother was the -granddaughter of Antoninus Pius, and rested the public hope on those -latent virtues which had hitherto, as they fondly imagined, lain -concealed in the luxurious indolence of a private life.” - -Footnote 9: - - “By each of his concubines the younger Gordian left three or four - children. His literary productions, though less numerous, were by no - means contemptible.”—Note to Gibbon. - -Timgad is situate thirty-four miles to the east of Batna, on the fine -modern road which proceeds through the Aurès range to Khenchela and -Ain-Beida. You may cover the distance in a motor-car within the hour, -and you will pass on the way the ruins of Lambessa. These, however, are -scarcely worth the prolonged attention of anyone who is not an -archæologist, and such picturesque qualities as they may possess are -ruined by the proximity of a huge convict prison. The ordinary -sightseer, snatching a few hours between two trains, will hasten on to -Timgad. The drive itself is very interesting. The road is undulating and -at one point ascends to a considerable altitude, and in its way the -scenery is impressive. We traverse a great rolling plain which from end -to end is one vast cornfield. There is a bare range of hills to the -north, and to the south the Aurès mountains, guardians of the desert, -with the snow still, in March, lying among their topmost cedars. At the -highest point of the road we meet a driving storm of sleet. We are -inclined to resent the general treelessness of the landscape, but much -may be forgiven to a corn-growing country, and imagination revels in -what must be its glory when the crop is ripe for harvesting. But for its -fertility the general contour of the country has a very South African -appearance. The soil appears to be “rather light,” and, no doubt, -nothing but the copious rainfall which the Aurès mountains bring redeems -it from the miserable barrenness of the high plateaux to the south of -Algiers. - -At last you come to Timgad, and you see at a glance that you are face to -face with what the Americans call “a big proposition.” A whole hill-side -is covered with the dry bones of a town—a town of which the top seems to -have been sliced off, with here and there groups of columns or an arch -or two rising from the dismantled mass. - -It has been given to few great towns to spring into being at one leap. -The growth of towns is usually that of mundane things in general, a -gradual process liable to interference from many exterior influences. -But Timgad rose full armed from the fiat of the Emperor, as Athene from -the brain of Zeus. Trajan said, “Let there be a city,” and there was a -city. It was no mushroom growth to serve a temporary purpose. It lasted -more or less intact for six hundred years, and but for the hand of -destroying man it might have lasted six thousand. This is its dominating -note,—its huge, its almost unnecessary solidity. And from the -circumstances of its birth it presents a fine example of Roman -town-planning. British municipal corporations which are concerned in -putting into practice our newborn aspirations in such matters should not -omit to send a deputation to study Timgad on the spot. - -[Illustration: TIMGAD: ARCH OF TRAJAN] - -But perhaps even with the disquieting possibility of a foreign raid on -our shores, denied by our politicians with such emphasis that we are led -to believe in its existence, it is not necessary for us to base the plan -of our towns on the arrangements of a camp. Such was the underlying plan -of Timgad. It was divided, as was the conventional Roman camp, into four -parts by two main intersecting streets. That which led from east to west -was called _decumanus_, that which pointed north and south _cardo_. The -former was a portion of the main road from Lambessa to Tebessa, and was -doubtless the most used in the town. Its solid pavement shows the wear -of wheels, as do the streets of Pompeii. It was naturally at the -junction of these streets that the chief buildings were situate. Here is -the Forum, with the Theatre behind it and the Municipal Library in -front. Looking east from the Forum along the _decumanus_ we see the -magnificent Triumphal Arch, the most impressive monument in the town. It -is also the best preserved, and thanks to its existence the attention of -scholars was called to Timgad in the first instance. With the aid of the -excellent and well-illustrated handbook prepared by M. Albert Ballu, -Architecte en chef des Monuments historiques de l’Algerie, the visitor -will be able to identify and study the whole of the works excavated and -restored. Probably most visitors to Timgad will have previously seen -Pompeii, and will have some general acquaintance with the arrangements -of a Roman town and the nature of its public buildings. Timgad will -introduce them to some new features; of its Public Library and the -romance of its discovery I shall speak later; it has a remarkably -complete series of markets; and the public conveniences behind the Forum -will interest those who are concerned about sanitary matters. - -However satiated with the wonders of the town itself the visitor should -not omit to visit the Museum. Here amid the usual assemblage of mediocre -Roman antiquities he will find some mosaic pavements of the highest -excellence. - -Perhaps we are most of us disposed to be more interested in -comparatively trivial matters of decoration and so forth than in the -structure and disposal of important edifices. We are not all architects -and town-planners. And here we may take especial delight in a little -piece of evidence that even in this frontier city life was not all -strenuous. On a stone of the Forum are graven the following words:— - - VENARI LAVARI - LUDERE RIDERE - OCCEST VIVERE - -“Hunting, bathing, play and laughter,—such is life.” This symmetrical -arrangement of letters is divided by a device consisting of a vase of -flowers surmounted by a bird. It speaks to us across the ages a pleasant -message; in such happy human touches Timgad is less rich than Pompeii. -And perhaps neither town has anything so delightful as the mosaics found -in a bath and a stable at Oued Atmenia between Constantine and Sétif, on -the site of a considerable Roman country house. The mosaics in the baths -depict various incidents of rural life;—hunting scenes in which huntsmen -and hounds are named, a garden scene with a lady spinning under a palm -tree. One mosaic represents six favourite horses with inscriptions -recording their names and qualities;—with Pullentianus is stabled Altus, -“unus es ut mons exultas”—"you have no peer, you leap mountain-high"; -Delicatus, “the gentle one,” stands alone; Titas, “the giant,” shares a -manger with Polydoxus, “the glorious”; “vincas non vincas te amamus -Polydoxe,”—"win or lose we love you, Polydoxus." In a corner by himself -stands Scholasticus, “the Scholar.” In the scene representing a -stag-hunt, the master himself appears with his hounds, Fidelis and -Castus. Other mosaics represent the farm, the fish-ponds with aquatic -plants, the quarters of the huntsmen and the mansion-house itself. This -is a large building with several storeys and numerous windows, -surmounted by a balcony or awning. The buildings are roofed with square -red tiles, and chimneys appear below the ridge. “This remarkable series -of mosaics gives some insight into Roman life and customs in North -Africa at the close of the fourth century, and bears striking testimony -to the peaceful condition of the country in the declining years of the -Empire. Sixteen centuries have passed since Pompeianus presided over -this lordly retreat, as a patron of the turf and a lover of sport in all -its aspects. A few years after his decease the disturbing influence of -the invading Vandals must have rendered the maintenance of such an -establishment an absolute impossibility, and one can picture the life -work of this distinguished Roman neglected, abandoned, and finally -becoming a mere hunting-ground for Vandal or Byzantine, Arab or -Moor.”[10] - -Footnote 10: - - Graham, “Roman Africa,” 1902, p. 294. - -It has often been suggested that the great prosperity of this region -under the Empire was due to a climate superior to that of to-day; that -there was in fact a more abundant rainfall and a more equable -temperature. The Romans left us no weather statistics (an essentially -modern passion), and such evidence as we have appears to be against the -theory. The lakes in the province of Constantine were no greater than -they are to-day; Roman ruins on their banks attest this. Roman bridges -exist here and there throughout the country, and they were not designed -to span wider rivers or to resist heavier floods. But this does not -settle the matter. It is certain that there was far more timber; the -Arab has continually destroyed and he does not plant. The rainfall of -to-day is probably less continuous and more uncertain. Yet we cannot -believe that the climate is seriously changed. Sallust complains that in -Africa both sky and earth have too little water. But the Romans made the -best of what there was. The remains of their canals and cisterns are -everywhere. In the country to the south of Sétif they dug hundreds of -wells, many of which still exist. They barred the course of rivers and -created reservoirs. Their extensive works of irrigation are described by -Procopius, and appear to be exactly similar to those now in use. -Elaborate water-rights existed. A monument found at Lambasba sets forth -the number of olives and fruit trees which every farmer possessed and -the number of hours of running water to which he was entitled. This -system of reckoning a right to water-supply by hours is still in vogue -in the island of Madeira, and probably elsewhere. Every effort was made -to encourage planting. Exemptions from taxation for a certain number of -years were granted to cultivators who planted vines or olives, or -grafted the wild olive. Olive oil was exported to Rome in enormous -quantities; fragments of jars found in the Tiber bear the mark of -Tubusuctu, a town near Bougie. Such facts go to show that the great -prosperity of North Africa was rather due to intelligent use of its -resources than to any superiority of those resources. This prosperity -seems to have reached its culminating point under the dynasty of -Septimius Severus, himself a native of Africa. The fact that he died at -York illustrates the extent of his empire. He and his son Caracalla -showered favours on their compatriots, as numerous inscriptions attest. - -Arab writers of the seventh century bear ample testimony to the -fertility of the territory which had fallen so easily into their hands. -From Carthage to Tangier, a thousand miles east and west, the whole -country was clothed with olive woods, and it was said that you could -walk from village to village beneath a roof of foliage. Therein they -have written the condemnation of their successors. A pleasant story is -told that the Arab chief who defeated Gregorius expressed his amazement -at the richness of the land. “Whence comes this wealth?” he said. A -peasant picked up an olive and laid it before the conqueror, saying, -“From this.” And he added that the Byzantines who had no olives in their -country were Africa’s best customers. - -Timgad is interesting and impressive in itself; in general as a town -surviving through the ages almost untouched at least in its ground plan; -and in particular for its several very uncommon and very informing -details. But it is even more noteworthy in its suggestiveness. It -flashes to us across a yawning chasm a message from a distant past, a -message from a civilization not essentially different from our own; a -civilization based on ordered liberty and individual effort, on public -spirit and service, on private wealth amassed in agricultural and -commercial enterprise; anticipating in its municipal buildings and in -the dwellings of its citizens, rich and poor, with sufficient -resemblance the conditions of our own life, public and domestic; yet -reckoned in the lapse of centuries and the generations of men of an -almost incredible remoteness, a remoteness emphasized, as everything is -emphasized in this land of staring contrasts, by the hopeless barbarism -and neglect which have filled the intervening gulf. Yet there are -differences. The city stood on the very frontier of the Empire, but it -was not built as men build in such situations to-day. Its solidity and -magnificence suggest great local pride, the pride of wealthy citizens, -who preferred to adorn their own city to spending their money as -strangers in the “smart” world of Italy, who chose rather to rule in -Africa than to serve in Rome; and they are evidence of provincial -prosperity and contentment during that great second century which Gibbon -regarded as the happiest period mankind had known. And we cannot -suppress our surprise that the very existence of such a town is scarcely -known to us from historical sources. If it were not for its ruins very -few among scholars would have heard the mean of Thamagudi. In any -endeavour to picture to ourselves the Empire as a whole such a fact is -of great significance. And with such throbbing life at its extremities -it is difficult to regard the heart as unsound. - -The contemplation of such a town as Timgad helps us to realize the -compelling force of Rome’s unequalled genius. On this remote frontier of -her Empire we may trace to-day the same motives in building—all that -meets the eye—which were dominant in the mother city. “In every branch -of art, whether in sculpture, painting as displayed in the decorative -forms of mosaic, or in architectural design, the same monumental remains -await our coming; the basilica, the amphitheatre, the triumphal arch; -the aqueduct and the fountain; the bridge, the temple and the tomb. They -stand before us as examples of dignity of conception, unerringness of -line, justness of proportion, fitness of purpose and soundness of -construction.”[11] We see nothing but the remains of these buildings, -but we may assume from them that in more vital matters,—in law, in -public life, in the family and in individual habits the pattern set by -the capital was equally predominant. And we may further reflect that -Rome’s influence was not merely geographical in extent; it did not -perish with her fall. Modern civilization is essentially Roman. The -Roman’s “laws, his language, his literature, his festivals, even his -calendar, keep their ground.” The Roman tradition is ingrained in our -minds and conduct, and in small things as in great we unconsciously and -as a matter of course pursue the Roman model. And it may be that the -desperate struggle for the hegemony of Europe—and Africa—now proceeding -is heralding the evolution of another Empire on Roman lines. - -Footnote 11: - - Graham, “Roman Africa,” p. 304. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - _XI—A PUBLIC LIBRARY_ - -A romantic find—A municipal library of the third century—A Roman - Carnegie—Christian Africa—The Donatists—Genseric the Vandal— - Justinian—Timgad and Pompeii. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - “They say that scholars thronged the column’d court; - To drain reluctant learning’s cup they sought; - Lo! all to utter nothingness have passed, - Alike for book and scholar life is short.” - - -Among the buildings unearthed at Timgad there is one which, from its -nature and the fact that it is unique, or almost unique, is especially -interesting, and merits particular attention. The learned world has long -been aware that the Public Library, which is a comparatively recent -addition to most of our own towns, was a Roman institution. The -allusions of Latin authors tell us so much; there were twenty-eight -public libraries at Rome in the fourth century; and we gather from -inscriptions that there is nothing original about Mr. Carnegie, except -the extent of his munificence. The public libraries of provincial cities -were often due to the liberality of wealthy citizens, and once -established they were frequently enriched by the gifts and bequests of -others. By a succession of fortunate accidents, which happily illustrate -the romantic side of excavation, the Public Library of Timgad has been -found and identified beyond question. This fact in itself gives a very -special distinction to the ruins. - -In 1901, in clearing a block of buildings in the Cardo, not far from the -principal gate of the Forum, the nature of which was unknown, the -excavators found a broken portion of an inscription. It seemed to refer -to the dedication of the building as a public institution, but threw no -light on its nature. It was vaguely considered to be a school or _salle -de réunion_. The mutilated inscription was as follows:— - - VINTIANI FLAVI RO - MENTO SUO REIPUBLICAE - SIUM PATRIAE SUAE LE - EX IS CCCC MIL. NUM - CTUM EST - -This merely indicated that the building had been erected at a cost of -400,000 sesterces, or about £4000, as a result of a legacy of one Q. F. -Ro——. - -In 1904, in the course of some digging in a neighbouring house, a little -to the north, a second fragment of this inscription was found. It fitted -exactly to the left-hand side of the former fragment, and read as -follows:— - - TE M IVLI Q - AD TESTA - VGADEN - OTHECAE - A PERFE - -This was very tantalizing; it did not explain the exact object of the -building, but it proved that it could only be something of which the -Latin name ended in the letters OTHECA. Now in the Latin language there -are five such words;—_pinacotheca_, a picture gallery; _apotheca_, a -wine-shop; _oporotheca_, a store-room for fruit; _zotheca_, an apartment -with niches for statuary; _bibliotheca_, a library. Of these the only -words at all applicable were the two last. Between them the usual -controversy of _savants_ arose; much could be said, and was said, on -either side. From the first the advocates of the library seemed to have -the best of it. They based their arguments on the nature of the -building. It occupies with its dependencies a rectangular space -measuring 77 by 80 feet. Its principal front, facing east, is composed -of a portico in the form of a letter U sustained by twelve columns of -white calcareous stone, framing a court which opens on to the street. On -each side of the portico was an entrance to two partially open chambers, -bounded by two side streets leading to the Cardo. Behind these was a -great central hall with a room on either side of it, each having a niche -at the further end. The termination of the hall was of semicircular -form; on each side of it were six detached columns of white marble, -corresponding to the same number of pilasters in the wall, between each -side pair of which was a square recess. In the middle of the semicircle -was a larger and deeper recess, which doubtless contained a statue. The -advocates of the _zotheca_ theory urged that the main purpose of the -building was to be the shrine of an important statue, bequeathed by -Quintianus Flavus Ro—— to his mother city. The case for a library seemed -stronger and more attractive. It was suggested that the rectangular -recesses were receptacles for volumes or rolls of papyrus, and that -benches or steps which led up to them from the centre of the building -were intended to serve as seats for readers. The detached columns were -considered to have supported two upper galleries containing a second set -of bookcases, while the great niche at the end was an architectural -feature, doubtless containing a statue of Minerva. The head of such a -statue was found in the neighbourhood. The two side rooms were held to -be further store-rooms for books; one of them, having a door into the -street, perhaps reserved for the use of the librarian. There are -indications of recesses in their walls also. The great hall, it was -observed, was exceptionally well lighted by a skylight in the vaulted -roof of its semicircular portion, and therefore very suitable for -reading. - -[Illustration: TIMGAD: THE PUBLIC LIBRARY] - -The question was settled in 1906,—on the 17th of March, at five p.m.,—as -M. Ballu records with exulting precision. In making an experimental hole -beside the Cardo, a workman drove his pick against a fragment of -inscribed stone, which proved to be the missing piece containing the -first portion of the inscription. The supporters of the library theory -were right. The words on the stone were as follows:— - - EX LIBERALITA - GATIANI. C.M.V. QV - COLONIAE THAM - GAVIT OPUS BIBLI - CVRANTE REPVBLIC - -“There is no necessity,” says M. Ballu, “to tell with what joy we -received a telegram announcing this discovery. It was the consecration -of our suppositions, certitude succeeding to probabilities, which had -nevertheless not left much room for doubt. It was, above all, a -revelation of the arrangements of those ancient Roman libraries of which -so many Latin authors speak; but as to the construction of which we -possessed no evidence.” - -The full inscription is to the following effect:— - -“Out of the funds bequeathed by Marcus Julius Quintianus Flavus -Rogatianus, of senatorial memory, by his will to the colony of Thamagudi -his mother city, the erection of a library has been completed at a cost -of 400,000 sesterces, under the direction of the city authority.” - -The name of this benefactor is otherwise unknown. The building which -bears it was well built of fine materials, with marble columns, and -marble veneerings to the walls, of which copious fragments have been -found. Among these fragments are some of particularly fine coloured -marbles which perhaps adorned the niche in which stood the statue of the -presiding goddess. The pavement, which remains, is of a very finished -type. - -It is not possible to assign a precise date to the building, but it is -considered to be of the third century. It doubtless took the place of an -_insula_, or large private house isolated by four streets, of which -other examples line the Cardo. It occupies a rather larger space than -these houses; the semicircular portion of the hall extends into the back -street, and on the south side the normal width of the street is reduced -by it. - -A somewhat fanciful calculation has been made of the number of books -which the library might contain; and the figure of 6800 for the interior -hall, and 16,200 for the other chambers, has been arrived at. This seems -to be carrying reconstitution a little too far. - -There are some to whom Timgad is the most interesting place in Algeria; -to many antiquaries, and perhaps to many of that large class which is -concerned one way or another about all that appertains to books, this -Public Library, identified beyond all cavil by such happy fortune, will -be Timgad’s most interesting building. - -It may be noted that about the time of the discovery of this library, -the Austrian Archæological Institute, in the course of excavations on -the site of Ephesus, found a building in many respects similar to this -one. An inscription in Greek and Latin left no doubt that it was a -library. Its form is rectangular instead of semicircular, but it -possesses a niche at the end for the statue of Minerva, and the walls -contain similar recesses for the reception of books. It has a portico in -front, but lacks the side chambers which occur at Timgad. - -The interest of Timgad, and its part in illustrating history, are not -exhausted by a view of those buildings of the second and third centuries -which mark the period of its greatness. If in the troublous times which -followed it suffered, yet it played a part in African affairs until the -Arab conquest. To the understanding of its monuments some slight -acquaintance with events is necessary. - -During the latter part of the third century two processes were at work -in Africa, the formation of great estates out of the ruin of small -proprietors, and the spread of Christianity. The two were not -unconnected. The new religion attracted all who were dissatisfied with -the existing order. It ran like a flame through Barbary. It produced -three great men: Tertullian in the second century, Cyprian in the third, -and Augustine in the fourth. But the movement throughout was more -political and social than religious. It was based among the Berber -population rather on discontent than conviction. With the official -recognition of Christianity under Constantine its attraction as a symbol -of revolt disappeared. A substitute was found in schism. The curious -inter-workings of finance, politics and religion have never been more -fully illustrated. The misery of the cultivators under the wretched -financial system of Rome has not been accorded its due weight as a -factor in the most extraordinary event in history, the conversion of the -Empire to Christianity. - -Even under Constantine, the first Christian Emperor, the schism of the -Donatists, destined to ruin Roman Africa, grew to a head. It arose from -a personal dispute as to the position of a bishop named Donatus; if -there were any differences on points of doctrine they were -insignificant. But it plunged Africa into anarchy for centuries; it laid -open the way to the invasion o£ the Vandals, and was extinguished only -with Christianity itself. - -Timgad was the very focus of Donatist agitation. Its bishops took a -leading part; of one of them Augustine says that for ten years Africa -trembled beneath his yoke. To this century perhaps belong the ruins of -several Christian churches unearthed in the city. The schism was not -bounded by the arguments of doctors. It extended to the pillage of -estates and the sack of cities. The wild tribes of the Aurès and other -mountain districts which had never completely owned the sovereignty of -Rome made common cause with the schismatics. And Roman Africa was -ruined. Then came the Vandals. - -The historian Gibbon, who rises to his highest flights in the -consideration of Christianity and its heresies, has sketched the -Donatist pretensions in immortal words: “Excluded from the civil and -religious communion of mankind, they boldly excommunicated the rest of -mankind. They asserted with confidence, and almost with exultation, that -the apostolical succession was interrupted; that _all_ the bishops of -Europe and Asia were infected by the contagion of guilt and schism; and -that the prerogatives of the catholic church were confined to the chosen -portion of the African believers, who alone had preserved inviolate the -integrity of their faith and discipline. This rigid theory was supported -by the most uncharitable conduct. Whenever they acquired a proselyte, -even from the distant provinces of the East, they carefully repeated the -sacred rites of baptism and ordination; as they rejected the validity of -those which he had already received from the hands of heretics and -schismatics. Bishops, virgins, and even spotless infants, were subjected -to the disgrace of a public penance before they could be admitted to the -communion of the Donatists. If they obtained possession of a church -which had been used by their catholic adversaries, they purified the -unhallowed building with the same jealous care which a temple of idols -might have required. They washed the pavement, scraped the walls, burnt -the altar, which was commonly of wood, melted the consecrated plate, and -cast the holy eucharist to the dogs, with every circumstance of ignominy -which could provoke and perpetuate the animosity of religious factions.” -Such an account would almost describe proceedings of religious fanatics -at a date much nearer our own age. But the fervour to which the Donatist -schism gave birth produced under the African sun remarkable -developments. “The rage of the Donatists was inflamed by a frenzy of a -very extraordinary kind; and which, if it really prevailed amongst them -in so extravagant a degree, cannot surely be paralleled in any country -or in any age. Many of these fanatics were possessed with the horror of -life and the desire of martyrdom; and they deemed it of little moment by -what means, or by what hands they perished, if their conduct was -sanctified by the intention of devoting themselves to the glory of the -true faith, and the hope of eternal happiness.” They would disturb -worshippers, waylay travellers, or insult courts of justice, in the hope -of achieving martyrdom. Failing other resources, they would cast -themselves headlong from some lofty rock. “In the actions of these -desperate enthusiasts, who were admired by one party as the martyrs of -God, and abhorred by the other as the victims of Satan, an impartial -philosopher may discover the influence, and the last abuse, of that -inflexible spirit which was originally derived from the character and -principles of the Jewish nation.” - -Genseric, King of the Vandals, landed in Africa from Spain in A.D. 429. -Born a Catholic, he embraced the Arian heresy, and made common cause -with the African Donatists. He swept through Barbary, an easy conqueror. -His fleets ravaged the coasts of Italy and Sicily. In A.D. 455 he sacked -Rome. For a hundred years the rough Northmen held the fertile provinces. -They rased the fortifications, but did not overthrow the Roman cities; -they rather succumbed to their luxury. They did not destroy, but they -constructed nothing. They had no thought of substituting their own -institutions for those of the conquered races. They considered -themselves merely a garrison, for which the country must provide -subsistence. Their decadence commenced with the death of their leader. - -In the early part of the sixth century Byzantium set himself to take up -the mantle which Rome had let fall. The great Justinian determined to -make good his claim to all the former possessions of the Empire. The -Vandals were in no condition to offer a vigorous resistance. The native -population was everywhere in revolt. The tribes of the Aurès descended -from their mountains and sacked the fair cities which had been raised -under the protection of the Third Legion—Tebessa, Bagai, Lambessa, and -Timgad. Belisarius, the Byzantine general, landed in Tripoli in A.D. -533, and, marching rapidly westward, met with little resistance. In a -few years a great part of the corn-growing districts was brought under -effective control. All the ports were held by Byzantine garrisons. -Barbary was to experience an Indian summer. - -The first care of the Greeks was to build a series of fortresses to hold -in check the tribes of mountain and desert which for generations had -been acquiring greater boldness in war and pillage. Remains of such -forts are all over the country. There is one at Timgad, situate about -150 yards from the Southern Baths. It is a great quadrilateral flanked -with square towers, and covering more than 7000 square yards. It is -extraordinarily solid in construction, the walls being nine feet thick. -But it is at Tebessa that the most perfect example of Byzantine -fortification exists. The enceinte encloses the Arab town, and to put it -into a state of defence the French have only had to execute a few -repairs. For these hastily constructed fortresses any materials which -came to hand were used. Into the solid walls faced with square blocks -were thrown the debris of private houses, the friezes of temples, the -statues of the gods. What the Vandal had spared, the Berber and the -Byzantine between them made an end of. - -Under the shelter of these fortified places a neo-Roman civilization -budded again. The great proprietors and the wealthy financiers of the -later Empire had disappeared. Their place was taken by the Church. The -bishops occupied themselves with business of every description, -political, financial, administrative, and even military. Vast sums were -spent in the construction of great basilicas and monasteries, the ruins -of which may be seen at Timgad and Tebessa to-day. To this period -doubtless belongs the huge building, basilica and monastery, to the west -of Timgad. It covers a space of not less than 20,000 square yards. The -basilica is 200 feet long and 70 feet wide, and is preceded by a -court-yard of the same size as itself. It is built chiefly of stones -taken from the neighbouring pagan temples, which must have been already -in ruin at the time of its erection. If, as some suppose, these great -churches were built originally during the fourth and fifth centuries, -before the Vandal invasion, there can be little doubt that they were -rebuilt with modifications and enlargements during the Byzantine period. - -The domination of the Church did not make for the prosperity or security -of the people. The great dreams of Justinian were never realized; his -enterprise from the very beginning had in it the seeds of decay. The -rapacity of the ecclesiastics at least equalled that of the former -Treasury officials; the husbandmen were plunged in a condition of abject -poverty; the persecution of schismatics decimated the population. Native -insurrections, mutinies of troops, sullen detestation of the people -prepared the way for the easy fall of the Byzantine administration -before the invading Arabs of the next century. - -It is natural to compare Timgad with Pompeii, and the comparison has -often been made. But beyond the fact that both were towns of the Roman -Empire, and that the ruins of both have been preserved to an extent -unparalleled elsewhere, they have no great resemblance. It happened to -me, as probably it has happened to few, two or three weeks after leaving -Timgad, while the memory of it was fresh, to stand once again in the -Forum of Pompeii. I recalled their different conditions. They were not -contemporary; Pompeii was destroyed before Timgad was built; Pompeii, -rather Greek than Roman in origin, was a pleasure town of the first -century, which, after damage by an earthquake at the zenith of its -prosperity, was overwhelmed by ashes from Vesuvius; Timgad was a -military and commercial town of the second and third centuries, ruined -first by religious faction and financial breakdown, and finally -overthrown of set purpose by a horde of mountaineers. To compare them is -like comparing the Tunbridge Wells of the eighteenth century with the -Pretoria of the twentieth. The contrasts their ruins present are those -we should expect. Timgad is more solid and more serious; its public -buildings are finer; its main streets are more important; and there is -nothing at Pompeii to compare with the magnificent arch of Trajan. But -Pompeii is richer in minor matters, in all the illuminating incidents of -private life; its chief interest lies in its wonderful houses, and in -the almost miraculous preservation of much of their interior decoration. -And their situations accord with their peculiarities. Timgad lies on a -bare hill-side, far from the habitations of man; Pompeii hard by the -lovely bay of Sorrento, in one of the fairest landscapes of Italy. The -cities are not rivals; they supplement each other; and those of us to -whom a study of what was before is one of the chief interests of life -may be grateful that we have so much of both. - - _XII—THE ROAD THROUGH KHABYLIA_ - -Setif—The Chabet pass—A fishless river—A lovely coast—Bougie—Khabylia— - Greek types—Fort National. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - “A rough laborious people, there, - Not only give the dreadful Alps to smile, - And press their culture on retiring snows, - But, to firm order trained and patient war, - They likewise know, beyond the nerve remiss - Of mercenary force, how to defend - The tasteful little their hard toil has earned.” - THOMSON. - - -He who returns by motor-car from Biskra to Algiers may avoid the detour -via Constantine by taking the new direct road from Batna to Sétif, a -distance of 132 kilometres. It ascends to an altitude of over 5000 feet, -and in winter is sometimes blocked by snow. But this is not likely to be -a frequent trouble. Whichever way he comes, direct or roundabout, by -road or rail, the traveller must make Sétif his point. If he omits to -take the road from Sétif to Bougie, through the Chabet pass, a distance -of 113 kilometres, he will have no idea of what Algeria is capable of in -the way of mountain scenery. - -There is a distinct tendency among Englishmen to-day to revolt against -the domination of the guide-book. With our ancient constitution in the -melting-pot, and our most cherished national convictions openly -contested, it is hardly surprising that even the revered name of Murray -has failed to maintain its authority. There are abandoned men who openly -flout it, who want to see nothing of the things that ought to be seen, -to know none of the things that ought to be known. The reaction was -inevitable. Murray and Baedeker and the like set poor human weakness an -impossible ideal. They direct us as if we were an army of invasion; they -map out our operations day by day and hour by hour with a ruthless -precision. Has anyone ever carried through the programme of How to spend -ten days in Rome, and survived to boast of it? - -Wherefore in our iconoclastic age there are men to whom the guide-book’s -double star is but a danger signal. Let me implore them to waive their -prejudices as far at least as the Chabet pass is concerned. If much -be-praised it is still quite un-hackneyed; and it is magnificent. And -they may steal a march on the enemy. The guide-books, as far as Algeria -is concerned, have not discovered the motor-car. They direct you to hire -a carriage at Sétif, to sleep at a roadside inn, and to lumber into -Bougie at the close of the second day. We have changed all that. We take -a car at Sétif after _dejeuner_, and loitering by the way we yet reach -Bougie in time to stroll round the town before dinner. So we have a day -in hand. But let us haste to do it before a revised edition comes out. - -The plateau of which Sétif may be considered the centre lies at a high -altitude, and as the sea is no great distance off, we may perceive from -a glance at the map that there must be a more or less rapid landfall -towards it. Such conditions commonly produce a picturesque coast-line. -Here we have more than this. The plain is supported by a very abrupt -range of mountains rising to twice its height,—the peaks to 6000 and -7000 feet. Such a range must either be crossed by a high pass, or it may -be that we may find an outlet where a mountain stream, taking advantage -perhaps of a rift caused by a natural convulsion, has worn for itself a -passage. Such a passage is the gorge of Chabet-el-Akhira. - -From Sétif, most hideous of modern French towns, the road leads -northward for some distance through an uninteresting corn-growing -country. After a few miles the surface becomes more broken, Khabyle -villages begin to appear on neighbouring hill-tops, and Khabyle gardens -are rich in apricot blossom. We cross a chain of hills running east and -west, from the summit of which we obtain a splendid view of the mountain -range which we are about to penetrate. We descend rapidly to the stream -which is to be our companion, and at a distance of fifty-three -kilometres from Sétif reach Kherrata, at the mouth of the pass. Here is -the half-way house where the carriage-folk of former days were wont to -pass the night. It lies in a cool upland valley at the foot of bare -stony hills which might be in Wales or Cumberland. It is market-day in -the village, and the street is crowded with Khabyles,—as ragged and -dirty a crowd as you may see in county Galway. Their Arab dress looks -curiously incongruous with such very northern surroundings. - -Immediately beyond Kherrata the road enters the gorge with a dramatic -suddenness. It descends rapidly by the side of the stream which here -becomes a torrent. The valley contracts and soon grows so narrow that -the road has to be bored, as it were, through overhanging cliffs, or -borne on arches above the river. There are many kinds of gorges; the -least interesting perhaps are those which run directly between unbroken -cliffs. This is of the finest kind. Its turns are rapid. It has numerous -lateral valleys which break its almost perpendicular sides into seeming -pinnacles of rock. One looks almost directly upwards to peaks five and -six thousand feet high. Even where the road is carried several hundred -feet above the river you may toss a stone and strike the opposite cliff. -It is said that before the French road-makers came not even an Arab -could pass the gorge on foot. Great caves appear on the mountain sides, -the haunt of innumerable pigeons; monkeys are generally to be seen, but -on market-days the exceptional traffic scares them to seclusion. Here -and there waterfalls descend from the tributary gorges, and rapidly -swell the turbid stream. - -Even the all-pervading Roman seems to have found this gorge too much for -him. Yet it is not easy to discover an _endroit_ which has not echoed to -the tramp of the legions. Mr. Belloc[12] tells a delightful story of a -French general who, filled with pride at having conducted his troops -through an almost impossible defile, sent a party to inscribe a record -of the achievement on the face of a cliff. The men came back to say that -there appeared to be lettering on the cliff already. On examination this -proved to be “Legio III Augusta.” - -Footnote 12: - - “Esto Perpetus.” London, 1906. - -The actual gorge is about four miles long. The valley then gradually -widens, the hills become rather less abrupt, their sides are clothed -with ample vegetation, chiefly forests of cork and oak trees, and the -lateral valleys grow larger, in due proportion to the general scheme. We -pass from the thrilling sensations of the unique defile into a mountain -valley of great beauty, but less unusual in character. - -It happened that I offered a seat in my car to a gentleman whose party -were inconveniently crowded in their own. I began by doing the -unpardonable thing; deceived by certain guttural syllables, I said, “Are -you a German?” He replied: “No! thank God, I am Dutch.” And my heart was -glad within me, for the Dutchman is our brother, and our friend; perhaps -because we have fought him over and over again, and sometimes we have -beaten him, and sometimes he us. We have had, as far as I am aware, no -such pleasant relations with the German; perhaps if we had fought him -for a century or two we should appreciate his good qualities. In spite -of this inauspicious beginning, I soon found points in common with my -chance companion. We both knew many lands; especially we both knew the -same places and the same men in Norway. My Dutchman loved Norway as I -love it, and knew it better. Our points of view were different. His to -range far and wide, to sip as a bee winging from flower to flower the -varied beauties of fjord and fell, of fond and brae; mine to mark the -rise and fall of one much-studied river, chained as a galley-slave to my -angle. - -So we played the pretty and seductive game of resemblances. Here in this -fierce African landscape we contrived to see Bratlandsdal, here Sundal, -here the smoothened rock-faces of Naerodalsosen. Lower down where a vast -amphitheatre of hills guarded the meeting of two waters we saw the -Pyrenees. But the while I was hugging to myself a secret study of which -my comrade recked nothing. Even as a man may travel by train, and mark a -country, and consider within himself how he would ride over it to -hounds;—so was I noting the pools and streams of the river, muddy as a -glacier-fed river may be in a hot July, and judging where the fish would -be like to lie, and how I should put the fly to them. A very pretty -pastime, but clouded by the knowledge that no fish that is a fish, not -even a wee trout, may live in these waters. They contain calcareous -salts, or something unpleasant, which no fish of the royal race will -stand. There are hopes of acclimatizing tench; but who can wax warm at -the prospect? Yet was this to look upon a real river, the finest river -(with all respect to the Nile and the Zambesi; I speak as an angler) -that I have seen in Africa; a fair succession of pool and stream,—of -pools running swiftly beneath steep banks and shelving shores, of -streams just steep enough to make the pools holding. The pity of it! -From end to end Africa has an air of being unfinished and ill-designed; -there is always something wanting to its completeness; in some ways it -is too big, in others too small; it lacks water, or it has too much; and -things are seldom what they seem,—when you descry a distant lake it is -generally the mirage; wherefore a salmon river without salmon falls -quite within the natural order of African things. - -So on through the broadening valley, with glimpses of azure sea ahead, -and soaring mountains, clad with primeval forest, all around. The road, -well engineered,—that goes without saying,—is much cut up by the heavy -traffic to and from certain mining enterprises in the hills. One -iron-ore mine,—the property of an English company, I hear with national -pride,—on the opposite side of the valley has a little railway and a -little port of its own; and two vessels, hovering suspiciously in the -offing, are not corsairs, but intent on a lawful freight. But here, as -everywhere, the authorities are busy in making the road smooth for the -motor-car, and the repairers and a steam-roller are at work. The car is -not yet a familiar object to man and beast. A mule bearing a native -bolts at our approach, and unseats its rider. We call to the chauffeur -to stop. He replies, “Mais, ce n’est qu’un Khabyle”; in which I -recognize a common colonial note. We look round to see the mule caught -and the rider up again, and go on happily. - -The long descent comes to an end at length, and at a point about -twenty-three miles short of Bougie we reach the sea. The coast-lands -here consist of a series of semicircular plains, divided by great spurs -which run northward from the main range, and form capes. Across these -flat and highly cultivated plains our road lies where it may with -Algerian directness, but rises to dizzy heights by zigzags to surmount -the precipitous headlands which once or twice bar its progress. The -contour of this variable and rocky coast is eminently picturesque, the -views of sea and mountain of infinite variety. And afar the dazzling -whiteness of Bougie stretching upwards from its harbour among the olive -groves invites us. The level lands appear to be of great fertility; amid -great fields of corn and vine pleasant and prosperous-looking country -houses stand, girt about with fruit trees,—figs, apricots and peaches. -In some places the cultivation is carried almost to high-water mark, in -others a sward of fine turf seems to meet the sand. - -Bougie, rising on the steep hill-side behind its protecting cape, looks -almost southward, and its bay appears to it as a land-locked lake. On -the southern shore stand the majestic mountains through which we have -bored our way from Sétif, with plenty of snow on this, their northern -face, crowning their copious forests of cedar and pine. Few seaports -have such a romantic outlook. It cannot be doubted that this coast is -destined some day to be a second and grander Riviera, and if another -Lord Brougham sets to work to create another Cannes, it is perhaps in -the neighbourhood of Bougie that he will place it. Apart from its own -abounding attractions, it is surrounded east and south and west by -incomparable scenery. Its charms are already beginning to be known. It -is a meeting-place of excellent roads, and the motor-car has rendered it -easy of access. Its comfortable hotel is always full, and is making -haste to enlarge itself. Let Bougie start a casino and band, and it will -begin to have a season. And in my mind’s eye I can see golf-links along -the shore of the bay, _para thina thalasses_, where the sea-sand meets -the verdure. - -There is something theatrical about Bougie’s scenery. Stand on the shore -in front of the old Saracen gateway and look upwards at the background -of the town rising tier on tier, a town of brilliant white houses gay -with the dazzling purple of the _bougainvillea_, with the bastions of an -apparently cardboard fort to the right, and a suggestion of ruined -castles to the left, and you may fancy that you are in the stalls at the -Opera, and that a chorus of fisher-girls will shortly appear and point -to a pirate in the offing. - -Bougie, exporter of wax, is said to have given its name to the candle. -And it has other historical associations. Its story is not very -dissimilar from that of many ports on this coast. Phœnician traders, -Roman colonists, Vandal invaders, Byzantines, Berbers, Arabs, Spaniards -and Turks,—all have had their day, and many of them have left their -impress. Traces of the Roman wall exist; the Saracenic _enceinte_, -enclosing a space seven times the size of that which lies within the -present fortifications, is still marked by ruined towers which rise -picturesquely among the olive trees. In the matter of piracy Bougie -followed the example set by Algiers with great zeal and success. So -troublesome were its corsairs to Spain that in 1508 Ferdinand V was -goaded to action, and sent a fleet of fourteen ships under Don Pedro -Navarro to take possession of it; and the Spaniards held it for nearly -forty years. But the failure of the expedition of Charles V against -Algiers in 1545 put great courage into the Algerians. They attacked the -castle on the harbour and the citadel on the heights with an -overwhelming force. The governor, Don Alonzo de Peralta, seeing -resistance hopeless, and anxious to save the lives of his garrison and -its women and children, surrendered the town on condition that all the -Spaniards within the walls should be allowed to depart, and that ships -should be furnished to carry them to Spain. The Emperor, doubtless still -smarting under his defeat, did not take this fresh reverse in good part -and condemned the unfortunate governor to lose his head. Thenceforth -until the French invasion Bougie was held by a small Turkish garrison, -and the town, which is said to have contained in its palmy days a -population of 100,000, fell into decay. It is now once again on the -up-grade of prosperity. - -From Bougie it is possible to proceed to Algiers by steamer, or by -train, but the traveller who has reached it by motor-car from Sétif -should on no account miss the opportunity to drive through Khabylia, the -beautiful and interesting mountain district which lies between the snowy -Djurjura and the sea. The distance via Fort National to Tizi-Ouzou, on -the western side of the upland country, whence Algiers may be reached by -train in three hours, is about 150 miles. A magnificent new road breasts -the mountain wall which confines the valley above Bougie, and leads with -interminable curves and zigzags through forest and cultivated land, -through heath and downland turf, to a chilly height of nearly 5000 feet. - -The configuration of this country, the foot-hills of the Djurjura, is -peculiar. A series of slopes confines a wealth of valleys great and -small, into which project knife-edges, commonly crowned at their -termination with castle-like rocks. The Djurjura range protects these -valleys from the hot and drying winds of the desert, and its snows -supply copious torrents and a moist atmosphere. The country affords a -very striking contrast to the typical arid upland of Algeria. In such -conditions we naturally find a very luxuriant vegetation. Cedars, oaks, -olives, figs and vines flourish exceedingly, and beneath them the sward -suggests a more northern land. Africa maintains its character as the -continent of surprises. - -On every vantage-point which offers possibilities of defence, especially -on the narrow ridges near their final crests, stand Khabyle villages, -commanding both slopes. In such a situation there is seldom water to be -found; and it is the perpetual task of the women (who are unveiled) to -carry it to their homes from the cascades on the neighbouring hills. The -villages are composed of small stone houses densely crowded together, -roofed with tiles, the lines of the roofs being generally parallel, -which gives them a curiously symmetrical appearance. Their dirt and -squalor is indescribable. - -A strange people these Khabyles:—a white race, or at least not more -tanned than many dwellers on the northern shore of the Mediterranean, -and recalling in physique an Italian type; ardent cultivators and -determined fighters in defence; with a long-established and intelligent -system of local self-government, and elaborate institutions, public and -domestic; yet confessing the faith, and wearing the garb of the Arab, -with whom they have nothing else in common. Till the French came they -had never owned a master. Before 1871 they had maintained and been -permitted a modified independence; but to their own undoing they took a -leading part in the rising of that year, and committed many savage -murders and outrages on helpless French colonists. Their subjugation -followed as a matter of course; many of their lands were forfeited, and -they became the servants of the new lords. - -There is quite a large and serious literature dealing with the peculiar -habits and customs of the Khabyles after the thorough and logical, if -somewhat dull, manner of French writers. From an artistic point of view -an Englishman, Mr. Edgar Barclay, has made Khabylia his own. His -“Mountain Life in Algeria” (London, 1882) is a description of the -country as it appears to an artist and a scholar. The common eye is -filled with the non-essential details of personal uncleanliness and the -squalor of seldom-washed garments; the artist looks below these to the -inherent qualities of form. In the troops of girls filling their -pitchers at the waterfall or bearing them in line to their village, in -the wood-cutter and the shepherd, Mr. Barclay has seen again the types -of ancient Greece when the world was young. - -Fort National crowns a common ridge running east and west between the -two chief valleys of Khabylia. It looks southward to the great snowy -rampart of the Djurjura, here evident in all its glory. The road -westward follows the ridge to its extremity and then descends to the -vale in a series of abrupt and, to the motorist, rather alarming -zigzags. And so we come to Tizi-Ouzou and Algiers. - -The magic carpet of our day has borne us in a brief space through -landscapes of astonishing contrast; through territories which are a -storehouse of conflicting yet commingled human interests; across the -vast cornfields which suggest man’s taming of a newly discovered -continent, to the siege-scarred cliffs of Constantine, the awe-inspiring -immensity of the Sahara, the speaking ruins of the Roman marches, the -Alpine gorges and sylvan sweetness of the Mediterranean shore. Perhaps -nowhere within so small a compass is the history of twenty centuries -writ so large, nowhere the evidence of man’s struggles, and especially -of his failures, more plain for him who runs to read. - -[Illustration: - - ALGERIA AND TUNIS - Extracted from the Michelin Guide to the Sunny Countries 1912 -] - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - _INDEX_ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Ain-Beida, 252 - Algiers, 21 _seq._, 48 _seq._, 97, 103, 104 _seq._, 124 _seq._, 298, - 302 - Atlas, the Lesser, 28 - Aurès range, the, 185, 197, 202, 205, 208, 245, 252 - - Bagai, 279 - Batna, 197, 198, 201, 242, 248, 252, 285 - Biskra, 43, 197, 198, 203 _seq._, 247 - Blidah, 88, 133, 145 - Bône, 72, 184 - Boufarik, 89 - Bougie, 56, 171, 287, 294 _seq._ - Bou-Saida, 247 - - Chabet-el-Akhira, 286 _seq._ - Cherchel, 88, 92 _seq._, 113 - Colomb-Béchar, 240 - Constantine, 83, 103, 136, 178 _seq._, 245 - - Djebel-Chénoua, 97 - Djerba, 58 - Djurjura, the, 28, 180, 298, 301 - - El-Eubbad, 171 - El-Guerrah, 178 - El-Kantara, 201 - El-Mzab, 43, 234 - - Fort National, 298, 301 - Foum-ês-Sahara, 201 - - Gouraya, 113 - Guelma, 190 - - Isly, the, 142 - Isser, the, 179 - - Jardin d’Essai, 104 _seq._ - - Kairouan, 60 - Khabylia, 143, 178, 298 _seq._ - Khenchela, 252 - Kherrata, 288 - - La Macta, 135 - Lambessa, 113, 247, 252, 279 - La Sikkah, 137 - - Mansoura, 164 _seq._ - Marengo, 88, 90 - Mascara, 135, 136 - Matifou, Cap, 61, 97 - Medea, 59, 133 - Medrassen, the, 198 - Ménerville, 179 - Metidja, the, 145, 179 - Miliana, 136 - Mustapha Supérieur, 27, 109 _seq._ - - Oran, 56, 59, 83, 103, 134, 143, 149, 172 _seq._ - Oudjda, 59 - Oued Atmenia, 257 - Oued Fedhala, 198 - Oued Rir, 232 - - Palestro, 179 - - Roumel, the, 180 _seq._ - - Sahara, the, 43, 82 _seq._, 144, 201 _seq._, 228 _seq._ - Sahel, the, 82, 97, 179 - Sbeitla, 31 - Sétif, 178, 180, 285 _seq._ - Sidi Bel Abbès, 150 - Sidi Bou Medine, 170 _seq._ - Sidi Ferruch, 129 - Sidi Okba, 221 _seq._ - - Tafna, the, 138 - Taguine, 141 - Tchad, Lake, 239 - Tebessa, 245, 247, 279, 280 - Tell, the 82, 85, 143 - Temacin, 232 - Timbuctoo, 235, 239 - Timgad, 187, 243 _seq._ - Tipasa, 95 _seq._ - Tizi-Ouzou, 298, 302 - Tlemçen, 53, 59, 117, 136, 148 _seq._ - Tobna, 223 - Tombeau de la Chrétienne, 89, 198 - Touggourt, 216, 232 - Tubusuctu, 261 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s Note - -Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and -are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original. -The following issues should be noted, along with the resolutions. - - 14.13 Timgad: Arch [at/of] Trajan Replaced. - 143.8 and [raised] the whole province of Oran _sic_: razed - 221.14 As we approach Sidi O[bk/kb]a Transposed. - 279.3 They [rased] the fortifications _sic_: rased - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's About Algeria, by Charles Thomas-Stanford - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABOUT ALGERIA *** - -***** This file should be named 60514-0.txt or 60514-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/5/1/60514/ - -Produced by KD Weeks, MFR, Mary Glenn Krause and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - diff --git a/old/60514-0.zip b/old/60514-0.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 972781e..0000000 --- a/old/60514-0.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h.zip b/old/60514-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 9b078c1..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/60514-h.htm b/old/60514-h/60514-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index e1f569f..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/60514-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9363 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> - <title>About Algeria--Algiers, Tlemçen, Constantine, Biskra, Timgad, by Charles Thomas-Stanford</title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - body { margin-left: 8%; margin-right: 10%; } - h1 { text-align: center; font-weight: normal; font-size: 1.4em; } - h2 { text-align: center; font-weight: normal; font-size: 1.2em; } - .pageno { right: 1%; font-size: x-small; background-color: inherit; color: silver; - text-indent: 0em; text-align: right; position: absolute; - border: thin solid silver; padding: .1em .2em; font-style: normal; - font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; } - p { text-indent: 0; margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; text-align: justify; } - sup { vertical-align: top; font-size: 0.6em; } - .fss { font-size: 75%; } - .sc { font-variant: small-caps; } - .large { font-size: large; } - .xlarge { font-size: x-large; } - .xxlarge { font-size: xx-large; } - .small { font-size: small; } - .lg-container-b { text-align: center; } - @media handheld { .lg-container-b { clear: both; } } - .linegroup { display: inline-block; text-align: left; } - @media handheld { .linegroup { display: block; margin-left: 1.5em; } } - .linegroup .group { margin: 1em auto; } - .linegroup .line { text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em; } - div.linegroup > :first-child { margin-top: 0; } - .linegroup .in1 { padding-left: 3.5em; } - .linegroup .in17 { padding-left: 11.5em; } - .linegroup .in2 { padding-left: 4.0em; } - .linegroup .in31 { padding-left: 18.5em; } - .linegroup .in34 { padding-left: 20.0em; } - .linegroup .in35 { padding-left: 20.5em; } - .linegroup .in36 { padding-left: 21.0em; } - .linegroup .in41 { padding-left: 23.5em; } - .linegroup .in45 { padding-left: 25.5em; } - .linegroup .in6 { padding-left: 6.0em; } - .index li {text-indent: -1em; padding-left: 1em; } - .index ul {list-style-type: none; padding-left: 0; } - ul.index {list-style-type: none; padding-left: 0; } - div.footnote > :first-child { margin-top: 1em; } - div.footnote p { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: 0.0em; margin-bottom: 0.0em; } - div.pbb { page-break-before: always; } - hr.pb { border: none; border-bottom: thin solid; margin-bottom: 1em; } - @media handheld { hr.pb { display: none; } } - .chapter { clear: both; page-break-before: always; } - .figcenter { clear: both; max-width: 100%; margin: 2em auto; text-align: center; } - div.figcenter p { text-align: center; text-indent: 0; } - .figcenter img { max-width: 100%; height: auto; } - .id001 { width:60%; } - .id002 { width:342px; } - .id003 { width:308px; } - .id004 { width:332px; } - .id005 { width:300px; } - .id006 { width:319px; } - .id007 { width:305px; } - .id008 { width:292px; } - .id009 { width:318px; } - .id010 { width:364px; } - .id011 { width:500px; } - .id012 { width:328px; } - .id013 { width:500px; } - .id014 { width:333px; } - .id015 { width:326px; } - .id016 { width:342px; } - .id017 { width:329px; } - .id018 { width:330px; } - .id019 { width:341px; } - .id020 { width:600px; } - @media handheld { .id001 { margin-left:20%; width:60%; } } - @media handheld { .id002 { margin-left:29%; width:42%; } } - @media handheld { .id003 { margin-left:20%; width:60%; } } - @media handheld { .id004 { margin-left:29%; width:41%; } } - @media handheld { .id005 { margin-left:20%; width:60%; } } - @media handheld { .id006 { margin-left:20%; width:60%; } } - @media handheld { .id007 { margin-left:20%; width:60%; } } - @media handheld { .id008 { margin-left:20%; width:60%; } } - @media handheld { .id009 { margin-left:20%; width:60%; } } - @media handheld { .id010 { margin-left:15%; width:70%; } } - @media handheld { .id011 { margin-left:5%; width:90%; } } - @media handheld { .id012 { margin-left:20%; width:60%; } } - @media handheld { .id013 { margin-left:0%; width:100%; } } - @media handheld { .id014 { margin-left:17%; width:66%; } } - @media handheld { .id015 { margin-left:17%; width:65%; } } - @media handheld { .id016 { margin-left:15%; width:70%; } } - @media handheld { .id017 { margin-left:17%; width:65%; } } - @media handheld { .id018 { margin-left:17%; width:65%; } } - @media handheld { .id019 { margin-left:15%; width:70%; } } - @media handheld { .id020 { margin-left:0%; width:100%; } } - .ic002 { font-size: 90%; width:120%; margin-left:-10%; margin-right:-10%; } - .ic003 { font-size: 90%; width:100%; } - .ic004 { font-size: 90%; width:125%; margin-left:-13%; margin-right:-12%; } - .ig001 { width:100%; } - .table0 { margin: auto; margin-top: 2em; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 0%; - width: 100%; } - .table1 { margin: auto; width: 25%; } - .table2 { margin: auto; width: 90%; } - .nf-center { text-align: center; } - .nf-center-c0 { text-align: left; margin: 0.5em 0; } - p.drop-capa0_4_0_4 { text-indent: -0.4em; } - p.drop-capa1_0_0_8 { text-indent: -1.0em; } - p.drop-capa1_0_1_1 { text-indent: -1.0em; } - p.drop-capa0_4_0_4:first-letter { float: left; margin: 0.100em 0.100em 0em 0em; - font-size: 250%; line-height: 0.4em; text-indent: 0; } - p.drop-capa1_0_0_8:first-letter { float: left; margin: 0.100em 0.100em 0em 0em; - font-size: 250%; line-height: 0.8em; text-indent: 0; } - p.drop-capa1_0_1_1:first-letter { float: left; margin: 0.100em 0.100em 0em 0em; - font-size: 250%; line-height: 1.1em; text-indent: 0; } - @media handheld { - p.drop-capa0_4_0_4 { text-indent: 0; } - p.drop-capa1_0_0_8 { text-indent: 0; } - p.drop-capa1_0_1_1 { text-indent: 0; } - p.drop-capa0_4_0_4:first-letter { float: none; margin: 0; font-size: 100%; } - p.drop-capa1_0_0_8:first-letter { float: none; margin: 0; font-size: 100%; } - p.drop-capa1_0_1_1:first-letter { float: none; margin: 0; font-size: 100%; } - } - .c000 { margin-top: 1em; } - .c001 { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: 0.0em; margin-bottom: 0.0em; } - .c002 { page-break-before: always; margin-top: 1em; } - .c003 { text-indent: 0; margin-top: 0.0em; margin-bottom: 0.0em; } - .c004 { margin-top: 2em; } - .c005 { page-break-before:auto; margin-top: 2em; } - .c006 { border: none; border-bottom: thin solid; margin: 1em auto; margin-top: 2em; - } - .c007 { margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 0.0em; } - .c008 { margin-right: 5.56%; text-align: right; } - .c009 { text-align: center; } - .c010 { vertical-align: top; text-align: justify; text-indent: -1em; - padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em; } - .c011 { vertical-align: top; text-align: center; } - .c012 { vertical-align: top; text-align: right; } - .c013 { vertical-align: top; text-align: left; padding-right: 1em; } - .c014 { vertical-align: top; text-align: center; padding-right: 1em; } - .c015 { margin-left: 5.56%; text-indent: -5.56%; margin-top: 2em; font-size: 90%; - margin-bottom: 0.0em; } - .c016 { border: none; border-bottom: thin solid; margin: 1em auto; } - .c017 { margin-top: 1em; font-size: 95%; } - .c018 { page-break-before:auto; margin-top: 2em; } - .c019 { text-indent: 0; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 0.0em; } - .c020 { text-decoration: none; } - .c021 { margin-top: 1em; text-indent: 1em; margin-bottom: 0.0em; } - .c022 { margin-top: 2em; font-size: 95%; } - .c023 { border: none; border-bottom: thin solid; margin: 1em auto; margin-top: 1em; - } - .c024 { vertical-align: top; text-align: left; } - .c025 { margin-top: .5em; } - a:link { text-decoration: none; } - div.tnotes { padding-left:1em;padding-right:1em;background-color:#E3E4FA; - border:1px solid silver; margin:1em 5% 0 5%; text-align: justify; } - .blackletter { font-family: "Old English Text MT", Gothic, serif; } - .epubonly {visibility: hidden; display: none; } - @media handheld { .epubonly { visibility: visible; display: inline; } } - .htmlonly {visibility: visible; display: inline; } - @media handheld { .htmlonly { visibility: hidden; display: none; } } - .column-container { margin: auto; clear: both; } - ins.correction { text-decoration:none; border-bottom: thin dotted gray; } - .linegroup .group { margin: 0em auto; } - td.bb { border-bottom: 1px solid black; } - div.footnote p { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: 1.0em; margin-bottom: 1.0em; } - .doubletop { width: 100%; height:6px; border-bottom: solid black 1px; - border-top: solid black 3px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; - margin-top: 2.0em; } - .doublebot { width: 100%; height:6px; border-bottom: solid black 3px; - border-top: solid black 1px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; - margin-top: 2.0em; margin-bottom: 2.0em; } - .inline { display: inline-block; text-align: center; vertical-align: top; } - div.box { clear: both; margin: auto; width: 50%; padding: 1em; - border: black solid 1px; } - .lgright { text-align: right; } - @media handheld { .lgright { display: inline-block; text-align: right; - margin-bottom: 1.0em; margin-top: 1.0em;} } - </style> - </head> - <body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of About Algeria, by Charles Thomas-Stanford - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: About Algeria - Algiers, Tlemçen, Constantine, Biskra, Timgad - -Author: Charles Thomas-Stanford - -Release Date: October 17, 2019 [EBook #60514] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABOUT ALGERIA *** - - - - -Produced by KD Weeks, MFR, Mary Glenn Krause and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='tnotes'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>Transcriber’s Note:</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Footnotes have been collected at the end of each chapter, and are -linked for ease of reference.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The full-page illustrations have been repositioned to fall on the nearest -paragraph break.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please -see the transcriber’s <a href='#endnote'>note</a> at the end of this text -for details regarding the handling of any textual issues encountered -during its preparation.</p> - -<div class='htmlonly'> - -<p class='c001'>Any corrections are indicated using an <ins class='correction' title='original'>underline</ins> -highlight. Placing the cursor over the correction will produce the -original text in a small popup.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/cover.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -</div> -<div class='epubonly'> - -<p class='c001'>Any corrections are indicated as hyperlinks, which will navigate the -reader to the corresponding entry in the corrections table in the -note at the end of the text.</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='doubletop'> - -</div> - -<div> - <h1 class='c002'><span class='large'><i>ABOUT ALGERIA</i></span> <br /> <i>ALGIERS—TLEMÇEN—CONSTANTINE—BISKRA—TIMGAD</i></h1> -</div> - -<div class='doublebot'> - -</div> - -<div class='box'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div>THE SAME AUTHOR</div> - <div class='c000'>LEAVES FROM A</div> - <div>MADEIRA GARDEN</div> - <div class='c000'><span class='small'><span class='sc'>Crown</span> 8vo, 5<i>s.</i> <span class='fss'>NET</span></span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div id='frontis' class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_frontis.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p>ALGIERS: DOORWAY IN THE RUE KLEBER</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xxlarge'><i>ABOUT ALGERIA</i></span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c003'><span class='large'><i>ALGIERS <img class="inline" src="images/flower.png" height="20" alt="" /> TLEMÇEN <img class="inline" src="images/flower.png" height="20" alt="" /> -CONSTANTINE <img class="inline" src="images/flower.png" height="20" alt="" /> BISKRA <img class="inline" src="images/flower.png" height="20" alt="" /> -TIMGAD <img class="inline" src="images/flower.png" height="20" alt="" /> <img class="inline" src="images/flower.png" height="20" alt="" /> <img class="inline" src="images/flower.png" height="20" alt="" /> <img class="inline" src="images/flower.png" height="20" alt="" /> BY -CHARLES THOMAS-STANFORD -F.S.A. <img class="inline" src="images/flower.png" height="20" alt="" /> WITH A MAP AND -THIRTY-TWO ILLUSTRATIONS -FROM DRAWINGS BY F. DORRIEN -THOROTON AND FROM PHOTOGRAPHS</i></span> -<img class="inline" src="images/flower.png" height="20" alt="" /> <img class="inline" src="images/flower.png" height="20" alt="" /> <img class="inline" src="images/flower.png" height="20" alt="" /> <img class="inline" src="images/flower.png" height="20" alt="" /> <img class="inline" src="images/flower.png" height="20" alt="" /></p> - -<div class='doubletop'> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><i>LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD</i></div> - <div><i>NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY. MCMXII</i></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c004'> - <div><span class='small'>WM. BRENDON AND SON, LTD., PRINTERS, PLYMOUTH</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span></div> -<div class='doubletop'> - -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c005'>PREFACE</h2> -</div> -<hr class='c006' /> - -<p class='drop-capa1_0_1_1 c007'>The following pages are a record of -impressions received from a visit -Algeria in the early months of -1911. In a former volume I dared to -ridicule the pretensions of those who, on the -strength of a short stay in a foreign country -to enlighten the public. My chickens -have come home to roost.</p> - -<p class='c001'>If I must seek an excuse for hasty conclusions -I may find it in the motor-car. It -has revolutionized the relations of time and -space, and abolished the barren interludes -of travel. It has increased fourfold the -traveller’s opportunities of observation. -Algeria, a land of great distances and admirable -roads, is especially suited to its -use. And it is a country brimful of interest, -historical and actual. The scholar may dig -<span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>in the debris of the Roman and Byzantine -dominions; the connoisseur revel in the -relics of Moorish art; the politician contemplate -the colonization of a conquered -territory in the face of a subject population -alien in race and religion; the ordinary -traveller will be content to sip a little at each -source. So have I sipped in these pages. -Much that I have written will be trite to -those who know the country. But perhaps -I shall induce others to go and see for themselves. -And on their gratitude I rely with -confidence.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The reproduction here of some of Mr. -Thoroton’s admirable drawings of Arab doorways -may serve to lead the attention of -travellers—and perhaps of the authorities—to -these interesting features of the old town -of Algiers. The destroyer is busy, but here, -as elsewhere, his ruinous energy makes what -he has spared more precious. There are -signs that his days are numbered, of the rise -of a more enlightened public opinion concerning -<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>the preservation of features of antiquarian -value or natural beauty. The excellent -work of the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>Service des monuments -historiques</em></span> is bearing good fruit. At Timgad -it has given a Roman City to the modern -world; at Tlemçen it is safeguarding the -treasures of Arab decorative art; the less -important antiquities of Algiers and Constantine, -and of a hundred less considerable -places, should be its future care.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is too much to expect that a trading -and agricultural community should wax enthusiastic -over such matters for their own -sake. The point we have to emphasise is -that there is money in them; that they have -a very distinct and rising commercial value, -easily destroyed, and, once lost, irrecoverable.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The guide-books to Algeria, in the English -language at all events, are, in view of modern -conditions of travel, hopelessly out of date. -The motorist will, of course, provide himself -with Messrs. Michelins’ admirable road-book. -There he is furnished with precise and condensed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>information as to distances, surfaces, -and hotels. The traveller who desires to -look beyond these primary facts will find -in M. Maurice Wahl’s <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“L’Algerie”</span> (Cinquième -Edition, Paris, 1908), a compendium of information—concise, -logical, and complete, after -the French manner; and he will regret that -its usefulness is much diminished, in accordance -with an unfortunate French fashion, by the -absence of an index.</p> - -<div class='c008'>C. T. S.</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='small'><span class='sc'>Brighton</span>, <i>July, 1911</i>.</span></p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span> - <h2 class='c005'><i>CONTENTS</i></h2> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='85%' /> -<col width='14%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr><td class='c009' colspan='2'>I—<span class='sc'>Araby’s Daughter</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'> </td> - <td class='c011'><span class='small'>PAGE</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>Europe and the Mediterranean—Algiers—The clash of civilizations—Things ancient and modern—The strangers’ quarter—Arabs, Berbers, Moors, Jews, and others—A tale of a telegram</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#ch01'>17</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c009' colspan='2'>II—<span class='sc'>The Corsair City</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>The old town—The Arab <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">ménage</span>—The Penon—Barbarossa—French achievements and shortcomings—The Arab house—Christian slavery—Lord Exmouth</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#ch02'>48</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c009' colspan='2'>III—<span class='sc'>New Roads and Old Cities</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>Rome’s successors—The Road and its influence—Algerian highways—The motor-car and modern travel—An aqueduct—Cherchel—Cleopatra’s daughter—Tipasa—The French as Colonists—Viticulture</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#ch03'>77</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c009' colspan='2'>IV—<span class='sc'>A Garden and some Buildings</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>Jardin d’Essai—A lost opportunity—Some suggestions—The villas of Mustapha—A model museum—Arab art—Its origins—Its limitations—Its significance</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#ch04'>104</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c009' colspan='2'><span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>V—<span class='sc'>Sword and Plough</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>Great events and trivial causes—The Dey’s fan—France roused—England as dog-in-the-manger—The French expedition and conquest—Clauzel—Abd-el-Kader—Bugeaud</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#ch05'>122</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c009' colspan='2'>VI—<span class='sc'>Tlemçen the Holy</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>Western Algeria—Sidi Bel Abbès—The Foreign Legion—A city of learning—Its inhabitants—The Mosque of Aboul Hassan—Mansoura—Its story—Sidi Bou Medine—Oran—Spanish immigrants</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#ch06'>148</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c009' colspan='2'>VII—<span class='sc'>The City of Precipices</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>Road and rail to the eastward—Constantine—Its remarkable site—Its chequered history—French Conquest—Roman remains—Fronto—The Mairie—The road northward—The Aurès</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#ch07'>178</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c009' colspan='2'>VIII—<span class='sc'>The Alluring Oasis</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>El-Kantara—The Gateway of the Desert—Biskra—Its attractions—The dancing-girls—"Hichenstown"—A garden and a vision—Railway extension—Conquering Mohammedans—Sidi Okba—The Arab’s point of view</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#ch08'>201</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c009' colspan='2'>IX—<span class='sc'>The Sahara</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>The desert in imagination and reality—Underground water—Artesian wells—Mozabites—Touaregs—The camel—Recent developments—Railway projects—The Army of Africa</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#ch09'>228</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c009' colspan='2'><span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>X—<span class='sc'>Timgad</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>The Roman frontier—Lambessa—The Empire ruined by bad finance—African Emperors—The plan of Timgad—Buildings, inscriptions, and mosaics—Prosperity of Roman Africa—Local patriotism—The Roman tradition</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#ch10'>242</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c009' colspan='2'>XI—<span class='sc'>A Public Library</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>A romantic find—A municipal library of the third century—A Roman Carnegie—Christian Africa—The Donatists—Genseric the Vandal—Justinian—Timgad and Pompeii</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#ch11'>266</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c009' colspan='2'>XII—<span class='sc'>The Road Through Khabylia</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'>Sétif—The Chabet pass—A fishless river—A lovely coast—Bougie—Khabylia—Greek types—Fort National</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#ch12'>285</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>Index</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#INDEX'>305</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span></div> -<div class='doubletop'> - -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c005'><i>ILLUSTRATIONS</i></h2> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='10%' /> -<col width='67%' /> -<col width='22%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Algiers:</td> - <td class='c013'>Doorway in the Rue Kleber</td> - <td class='c012'><i><a href='#frontis'>Frontispiece</a></i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'> </td> - <td class='c013'> </td> - <td class='c012'><span class='small'>TO FACE PAGE</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c014'>"</td> - <td class='c013'>Carved Stone Doorway in the Native Quarter</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i017'>17</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c014'>"</td> - <td class='c013'>Doorway in the Rue de la Kasbah</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i024'>24</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c014'>"</td> - <td class='c013'>Moorish Doorway, Rue Porte Neave</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i035'>35</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c014'>"</td> - <td class='c013'>Marble Doorway, Rue Bruce</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i036'>36</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c014'>"</td> - <td class='c013'>Doorway, Rue Medea</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i048'>48</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c014'>"</td> - <td class='c013'>Doorway in the Rue Ben-Ali</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i054'>54</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c014'>"</td> - <td class='c013'>Entrance-door of the Mosque, Rue de la Marine</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i068'>68</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>Cherchel: the Aqueduct</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i090'>90</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Algiers:</td> - <td class='c013'>Garden of the Hotel St. George</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i104'>104</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c014'>"</td> - <td class='c013'>Fountain in the Kasbeh</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i108'>108</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c014'>"</td> - <td class='c013'>Dragon Tree in the Garden of the Hotel Continental</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i112'>112</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c014'>"</td> - <td class='c013'>Fountain, Rue de l’Intendance</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i118'>118</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>Evening Prayer</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i138'>138</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>Caravan of a Caid</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i141'>141</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>Tlemçen: the Minaret of Agadir</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i153'>153</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>The Walls of Mansoura</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i164'>164</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>The Tower of Mansoura</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i169'>169</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'><span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>Sidi Bou Medine: the Bronze Doors</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i172'>172</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>Constantine</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i181'>181</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>Zouaves</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i191'>191</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>El Kantara</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i201'>201</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>Old Biskra</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i215'>215</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>Biskra: Statue of Cardinal Lavigerie</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i217'>217</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>Sidi Okba: a Street</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i222'>222</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>The Outskirts of the Sahara</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i228'>228</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>An Artesian Well</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i232'>232</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>A Native Well</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i234'>234</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>A Caravan</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i238'>238</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>A Street at Timgad</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i245'>245</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Timgad:</td> - <td class='c013'>Arch <a id='corr14.13'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='at'>of</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_14.13'><ins class='correction' title='at'>of</ins></a></span> Trajan</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i255'>255</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c014'>"</td> - <td class='c013'>The Public Library</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i271'>271</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span></div> -<div class='doubletop'> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xlarge'><i>ABOUT ALGERIA</i></span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='large'><i>ALGIERS—TLEMÇEN—CONSTANTINE—BISKRA—TIMGAD</i></span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='doublebot'> - -</div> - -<div id='i017' class='figcenter id003'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span> -<img src='images/i_017f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p>ALGIERS: CARVED STONE DOORWAY IN THE NATIVE QUARTER</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span></div> -<div class='doubletop'> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xxlarge'><i>ABOUT ALGERIA</i></span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='doublebot'> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='ch01' class='c005'><i>I—ARABY’S DAUGHTER</i></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c015'>Europe and the Mediterranean—Algiers—The clash of civilizations—Things -ancient and modern—The strangers’ quarter—Arabs, -Berbers, Moors, Jews, and others—A tale of a telegram.</p> -<hr class='c016' /> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“E’en now the devastation is begun</div> - <div class='line'>And half the business of destruction done.”</div> - <div class='line in31'><span class='sc'>Goldsmith.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c007'>Some of the ashes of the Roman -Empire have been recovered. The -Mediterranean is once more a European -lake. The Turk indeed still holds -its eastern shores; the amazing Sultanate of -Morocco yet persists in the west; strong, -after the manner of Barbary for centuries, in -the jealousies of Europe. Yet the Turk, while -maintaining his assertion of the Unity of the -Godhead, which divides him from Christendom, -is, nevertheless, in other ways almost -to be accounted a member of the European -<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>family; and even in the vigorous days of the -Empire the wild tribes of the Greater Atlas -recked little of the might and majesty of -Rome. These are the limitations; our concern -is with the achievement, and especially -with the fertile country, once Rome’s granary, -now after a thousand years of neglect and -abasement restored to the orderly uses of -civilized man. We are to visit a land unsurpassed -in the variety of its historical -vicissitudes, and strewn with the stones of -many empires; a land where to-day a European -nation, cherishing, perhaps more than -any other, Roman traditions in its law and -polity, controls by force of arms and of -character a vast and heterogeneous population, -previously united only in its submission to -the brooding blight of Islam.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The grand object of travelling,” said Dr. -Johnson, “is to see the shores of the Mediterranean; -on those shores were the four great -empires of the world; the Assyrian, the -Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman. All -our religion, almost all our law, almost all our -arts, almost all that sets us above savages has -come to us from the shores of the Mediterranean.” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>The Doctor’s aspirations were doubtless -confined to its northern shore. If he had -indiscreetly placed himself within the jurisdiction -of the Dey of Algiers or the Bey of -Tunis he might have found his value appraised -on a basis different from that which -prevailed at The Club, and in default of -ransom have been set to uncongenial tasks. -We are more fortunate in our generation.</p> - -<p class='c001'>To men trained in the traditional scholarship -of English schools and universities certain -places of the earth are holy places. The -Acropolis of Athens, the heights and harbour -of Syracuse, the Roman forum; perhaps in -a scarcely less degree, Constantinople seen -from the Bosphorus;—these stir to life sentiments -born of youthful struggles and enthusiasms, -but buried beneath a load of years -crowded with other interests. Such sentiments -may even prevail over those which -attach to more recent history and national -predilections. The approach by sea from the -Atlantic to the Straits of Gibraltar is an experience -to move the most indifferent; to an -Englishman a very moving experience. He has -passed Cape St. Vincent, with its undying fame, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>and the Rock is ahead, with its triumphant -symbolism of his country’s world-power. -Across the straits lies the rocky coast between -Tangiers and Ceuta, a rampart of that vast -continent, the last home of mystery, which -has played so great a part in the lives of the -present generation of Englishmen. And the -Rock itself, detached, impregnable, is rich in -English memories from Blake to our own day.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Yet to him who has preserved some shreds -of his classical learning, the passage from the -Atlantic to the Mediterranean has a still -deeper significance. It marks the separation -of the old and the new worlds. At the Pillars -of Hercules the old world ended; they guarded -the threshold of the unknown. On the inland -sea within were cradled the civilizations on -which our own is mainly based—Hebrew, -Hellenic, Roman. Perhaps we may wonder -at their limitations, especially at the comparative -inefficiency of Rome in maritime affairs. -If Rome with her vast resources had owned a -spark of the naval enterprise of ancient -Phœnicia or modern Britain; if she had spent -on the sea a tithe of the energy she exercised -on land—exhibited nowhere more completely -<span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>than in that Northern Africa to which we are -bound—the history of the world might, indeed, -have taken a different course. But it was -reserved for the great awakening of the -fifteenth century to probe the secrets of the -mysterious Atlantic, and to throw open vast -fields for conquest and colonization to the -European races. And when through the -gathering darkness we look back to the twin -peaks, we recall the legend of the two dragons -guarding the entrance to the Garden of the -Hesperides, and wonder if it was invented -by ancient mariners to cover their lack of -enterprise.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Many Mediterranean cities present a fair -prospect to him who comes by sea, especially -in the pearly radiance of the Mediterranean -dawn. Algiers surpasses all. The -steepness of the hill-side which it fills and its -own white brilliancy give to it a special distinction. -Many writers, following a leader as -sheep that have gone astray, have compared -it to the tiers of seats rising one above another -in a Greek theatre—a fanciful and baseless -comparison. There is no such ordered arrangement. -The straight lines of modern houses -<span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>enclose a central mass of strange irregularity, -so confused that from a distance it has the -semblance of a heap of ruins. This is the -remnant of the Arab city, a swarming ant-heap -of native life, filled with strange and -savage memories of the astonishing pirates -who were through centuries, and even until -living memory, the scourge of Christendom. -The sea front has entirely lost its ancient -aspect; its long line of symmetrical houses, -with its Boulevard de la République, and its -Boulevard Carnot, recalls Palermo or Messina. -And stretching south and east along the hills -which encircle the bay the city’s suburbs seem -to have no end; white houses gleam amid -dark foliage and splendid villas crown the -heights.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The first view of the streets is something -of a shock and a disappointment. We have -heard of the ancient Arab city, we have seen -photographs of narrow lanes with quaint -Moorish houses almost meeting over the wayfarer’s -head; and yet we find ourselves -driving at a hand gallop through wide, modern -streets, with their normal garniture of tramways -and motor-cars. An occasional snow-white -<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>mosque, a public building or two of -Arabesque style, suggest the Orient; in -other respects the streets are those of a very -prosperous and busy modern French town. -It is easy to see that Algiers enjoys a municipality -anxious to be in the forefront of civic -progress; that M. le Maire is determined -that his city shall not be ashamed to look -Marseilles and Nice in the face; and that as -the native and the stranger wander incuriously -through the streets, earnest committees—sanitary -committees, waterworks committees, -lighting committees, tramway committees, -committees for the regulation of everything -that can be regulated—are seated in upper -chambers eagerly concerting measures for -their welfare. And it may even be that -civilization is sufficiently advanced for a -Ratepayers’ Association to be keeping a bilious -eye on the proceedings of its chosen representatives, -and endeavouring to solve the -eternal problem—<span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Quis custodiet custodes?</i></span></p> - -<p class='c001'>It will be recalled that the immortal Tartarin -suffered a similar disenchantment. He had -figured to himself an Oriental town of fairy -mythology, holding a middle place between -<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>Constantinople and Zanzibar—"<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>il tombait -en plein Tarascon</i></span>." But that soaring and -romantic spirit refused to be bound in the -chains of the commonplace, and, following -humbly in his wake, let us strive to see an -Arab beauty beneath the veil of our neighbour -in the tram-car, and to hear in the rumble of -a distant train at night the roar of ravening -lions.</p> - -<div id='i024' class='figcenter id004'> -<img src='images/i_024f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic004'> -<p>ALGIERS: DOORWAY IN THE RUE DE LA KASBAH</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The hasty and inconsiderate modernization -of an ancient and historic town such as Algiers -suggests serious considerations. The process -of destroying what is noteworthy for age or -beauty in the name of improvement would -seem to be generally accepted as one of the -conditions of progress. Cities and towns, it -is not unnaturally held, are not museums or -curiosity shops; men are massed in them to -gain their livelihood, or to pursue their -pleasures. The antiquaries, those who admire -and study the works of the past, because -they are the works of the past; the nature-lovers, -who “cultivate the beautiful without -extravagance”; these are an insignificant -section drawn for the most part from that -hard-working class which is known to politicians -<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>as the idle rich. Their protests are of -no great avail. Governments, if well-meaning, -are lukewarm; local authorities, eager to be -in the municipal movement, are commonly -apathetic as regards the claims of mere -ancientry or natural comeliness. Of what -the modern Italians are doing to desecrate -Rome and despoil Florence it is difficult to -speak with patience. And it is the work of -their own fathers that they are pulling down -or vulgarizing. The conditions here are quite -different, and the reforming zeal of the French -so far less flagrant. They have replaced by -their own civilization what they regard as the -barbarism of a conquered race; they wanted -the city of that race to live in, and they found -it in every way repugnant to their tastes and -unsuited to their needs. The soldiers began -the work of destruction; soldiers destroy -ruthlessly in the day of battle; but the -persistent waste of the horde that follows -after—the engineers, the architects, the speculative -builders, the railway constructors, and -the great industrial companies—is infinitely -more damaging in the long run.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And what are we that we should cast a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>stone at the French? How much have we -spared of old London and its suburbs? How -much of the urban beauty and rural charm of -England did our rude forefathers of the nineteenth -century wantonly and light-heartedly -destroy? When have railway projects or -proposed public works been stayed on æsthetic -grounds? Do the station and bridge at -Charing Cross lend dignity to our great river? -And, to look further afield, to what fate have -we, masters of the Nile, condemned Philae?</p> - -<p class='c001'>In this changeful North Africa succeeding -conquerors have imposed their civilizations -and their works upon those of the conquered -in a manner which has scarcely any parallel in -Europe. Carthage destroyed, Rome came -in her might and built a hundred cities, conducted -water, brought huge areas into cultivation, -and made roads after her manner; and -in due time overthrew her own ancient altars -in zeal for a new faith. In the age of her -decrepitude Byzantium strove to maintain -the Pax Romana, to curb the Vandal usurpation -and the Arian schism, and to keep the -aspirations of the indigenous population within -bounds. All went down in a day before a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>troop of Arabians who rode as conquerors -from Egypt to the Atlantic. Islam followed -in their wake. The civilization derived from -Europe disappeared; the watercourses were -broken, the desert resumed its sway, and the -stones of Roman temples and basilicas went -to build the mosques and villas of the visitors. -For twelve centuries the creed of Mahomet -held dominion; Europe was busy with its own -affairs, and endured the insolent depredations -and exactions of the Deys with scarcely a -serious attempt to suppress them. But at -length the cup was full. An English fleet -struck the first blow; a few years later France -took the subjugation of Algeria seriously in -hand; and to-day European civilization is -once more paramount in the ancient provinces -of Rome.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There are hotels in the town, frequented, -perhaps, more by commercial than by leisurely -travellers, and the visitor will probably prefer -to lodge himself at Mustapha Supérieur. -Here, if he chooses a house in a good situation, -and obtains a room with a southern aspect, he -may feast his eyes untiringly on a scene of -great beauty. At his feet lies the bay where -<span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>Charles V landed his ill-fated expedition—a -shallow bay in which often the waves breaking -afar out roll to the land in foam. Towering -above the lesser hills which front its opposite -shore are the snow-clad mountains of the -Djurjura range, guarding the highlands of -Khabylia, and glistening as if with crystals -in the strong southern light. All around, on -the well-wooded heights, are countless villas, -of high and low degree, almost all of dazzling -white, the whiter for the sombre foliage of -cypress and stone pine and olive in which -they are set. Perhaps no city of the earth -possesses a lovelier suburb. The Englishman -will find himself quite at home. The villas -and the hotels are to a great extent occupied -by his compatriots; and the institutions of his -country are fitly represented by an Anglican -church and a nine-hole golf-course. If he -should be led to climb through an aromatic -wood of eucalyptus to the home of “le golf,” -and be able to remove for a moment his eye -from the ball, he may enjoy a most glorious -prospect. The snowy Djurjura of the south-east -finds a rival in the Lesser Atlas to the -south-west, and between the two lies a billowy -<span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>champaign of cultivated and wooded hill and -plain. If his preconceived notions of Algeria, -like the great Tartarin’s, are dominated by -the Sahara, if of Africa he knows only the -river banks of Egypt and the rolling veldt of -the South, he will perhaps recognize once -more that Africa is ever the continent of -surprise.</p> - -<p class='c001'>To return to the town. If at first sight -the aspect of the French quays, and the -modern streets, shops, and boulevards, destroys -pre-existing illusions, ample amends are made -by the colour and variety of the crowds which -frequent them, a very <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>colluvies gentium</i></span>. -Jews, Turks, infidels, and heretics jostle the -faithful on equal terms; men and women -sprung from very diverse stocks in Africa, -Asia, and Europe, impartially and to all -appearance fraternally throng the pavements -and the public conveyances. The eye is -dazzled by the combination of European -fashions and smart French uniforms, with -the outlandish aspect of Zouaves and Spahis, -the white-robed dignity of the stately Arab -and the rich colours of the impassive Turk. -It is only after a time that one is able to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>separate them into classes, and to perceive -that the native inhabitants fall naturally -into further subdivisions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The greater part of the inhabitants of -Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco, known collectively -to Arabs as the Maghrab, and to our -forefathers as Barbary,—an island girt by sea -and desert,—still represents those original -peoples who preceded the Phœnicians and the -Romans. They have endured and survived -many conquests, for the most part accommodating -themselves to the conquerors’ institutions -and religions. The Arabs called them -Berbers,—the origin of the name is doubtful. -Being to-day Arab in all but descent,—and -very mixed in that,—they are described in -common parlance as Arabs.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In <span class='fss'>A.D.</span> 647, when the Sultan Othmar -decided to attempt the conquest of North -Africa, it was still under the rule of the weak -Byzantine Emperors, Gregorius being its -governor. Othmar collected 20,000 of the -élite of the Arab forces, and added to them -a similar number of Egyptians. This small -army performed a brilliant feat of arms. -Advancing against Gregorius, who was stationed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>at Sbeitla (in Tunisia), the Arab leader, -Abdulla Ibn Säad, offered the Christian leader -terms: that he should embrace Islam and -render tribute to the Sultan. These being -declined, a fierce battle raged for several -days. Gregorius was in command of 120,000 -men, but they were probably no match for -the disciplined Arabs. It is said that his -daughter, a maid of incomparable beauty, -fought at her father’s side, and promised her -hand and a fortune to whoever should kill -Abdulla. This seems to have been a somewhat -ill-advised proposal, for Abdulla, hearing -of it, offered the same reward to the slayer -of Gregorius. After several days of desperate -fighting the Christian host was utterly defeated. -Gregorius fell in the final onslaught, -and his daughter was bestowed on Ibn Ez-Zobeir, -who had slain him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>So ended the first Arab attack on Northern -Africa. It had momentous consequences. -Not only did it bind to Islam for twelve -hundred years the provinces which for centuries -before had been Christian and an -appanage of Europe, but it paved the way -for the Arab invasion of Spain.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>Abdulla’s raid was shortly followed by -other military expeditions. Eighteen years -later Sidi Okba, having established a permanent -government, pursued his course through -what is now Morocco to the Atlantic Ocean. -In order to complete the downfall of Christianity, -a special tax was imposed on Christians, -a leaf out of the book of Constantine the -Great, who, in order to ensure its spread -through the Roman world, had ingeniously -enacted that no pagan master should own a -Christian slave. The tax had the effect -desired, and the whole population embraced -the faith and rule of Islam.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Four hundred years later a great Arab -immigration took place. The brigand tribes -of Hillal and Soleim being driven from Arabia -into Egypt, speedily found their way thence -into Northern Africa, which they overran -like a flight of locusts. From these nomad -hordes are descended in the main the Arabs of -to-day.</p> - -<p class='c001'>If the true Arabs only represent a fraction -of the total Mohammedan population, -variously estimated at a third and a sixth, -they have imposed on the remainder their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>language, their religion, their institutions, and -their customs, with the result that in a sense -all are Arabs, though not of race. The pure-bred -Arab is of an aristocratic type—tall, -thin, muscular, and of dignified carriage. -His narrow and retreating forehead indicates -no great brain power; this feature is sometimes -so marked as to give an aspect of semi-idiocy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A rigorous childhood ensures the survival -of the fittest; the Arab children are left to -themselves, naked in heat and cold, in sun -and rain and frost, and only the hardiest -reach manhood. The result is seen in the -finely tempered physique of the race, in the -Arab’s extraordinary powers of endurance, -and in his disregard of hardship and suffering. -Whole tribes are infected with what are -called the diseases of civilization; typhus -and smallpox sometimes blaze like a flame -among them; the Arab scorns precaution -or cure, and lives or dies with indifference.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As becomes his aristocratic traditions, he -prefers war to peace, and plunder to work. -His nomad life, which accords with these -tastes, is probably an accident forced upon -him by the climatic conditions of the country. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>His wealth depends on his flocks and herds, -his very existence is tied to the necessity of -finding pasture for them. New ground has -ever to be sought, different altitudes being -visited according to the season and the period -of rainfall. For a people of filthy habits a -nomad life has many advantages; the constant -change of camping-ground counteracts -in some degree the want of sanitary conditions.</p> - -<div id='i035' class='figcenter id005'> -<img src='images/i_035f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic004'> -<p>ALGIERS: MOORISH DOORWAY, RUE PORTE NEUVE</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>According to European ideas the Arab is -a barbarian, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>sans foi ni loi</i></span>. With some limitations, -as in his hospitality, although he will -not scruple to rob his guest next day, he -has no sense of honour, and aims not at -telling the truth, but at telling a lie adroitly. -His women are mere beasts of burden, absolutely -at the mercy of their lord. A whole -world of progress lies between the Frenchman -who works his fingers to the bone to give his -daughter a dower, and the Arab who sells -his to the highest bidder. And in love as in -life the Arab is often a nomad, as the desert -towns bear witness. But as he stalks haughtily -through the streets of Algiers, he is an attractive -and interesting figure. And who may -measure his disgust at the triumph of the infidel?</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>It is impossible to contemplate this strange -being, moving among a medley of races, -without wondering what the future has in -store. Will the Arab live apart, as the Jew -has often lived apart, or can he be brought -to assimilate the ideas and methods of his -conquerors? At present he seems dazed; -his civilization founded on war has failed -him in war. It is useless to think of France -converting him to Christianity; you cannot -convert a man to a faith you have abandoned -yourself. And his religion, absolute and -absorbing—not of his life a thing apart, but -his whole existence—seems to oppose an -impassable barrier to European influences. -You cannot reason with a man under a spell. -Yet it is impossible to suppose that the present -situation can continue indefinitely, and this -is fully recognized by the French themselves. -The only solution so far attempted is in -some kind of education for Arab children. -Our problem in India and Egypt is a less -urgent one; we have not colonized either -country as the French have colonized Algeria.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>sang pur</i></span> of the original inhabitants, -called Berbers by the Arabs, is most fully -<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>represented by the Khabyles, who inhabit the -mountainous tracts of the littoral, both east -and west of Algiers. They were Christian -under the later Roman rule, but adopted -the religion of Islam after the Arab invasions. -Otherwise they have little in common with -the later comers; physically they are more -nearly allied to the races of Southern Europe. -Living in their mountain fastnesses they -have retained their own customs and institutions, -some of which are said to show -a trace of Roman influence. Their women -are not veiled, and occupy a much more independent -position than is usual in Mohammedan -countries. Their men, to be seen in the -streets of Algiers, may frequently be distinguished -from the Arabs by their fair -complexions, blue eyes and reddish hair. They -have no inclination to a nomad life, and are -naturally industrious, freely offering their -labour to the French colonists. They would -seem to present a more likely field for the -spread of social progress according to European -ideas than does the lazy indifference of the -Arab; but in their case, too, religion is a -bar.</p> -<div id='i036' class='figcenter id006'> -<img src='images/i_036f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic004'> -<p>ALGIERS: MARBLE DOORWAY, RUE BRUCE</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>The Mohammedan townsfolk, chiefly engaged -in commercial pursuits, are called -Moors, a name which has no connection -with Morocco. Chiefly Arab or Berber in -ultimate descent, there is among them much -admixture of Turkish and European blood. -Their somewhat effeminate appearance exhibits -the influence of generations of town -life. They affect brightly coloured clothing, -embroidered waistcoats and voluminous trousers -fastened at the ankle. They deal largely -in embroidery, perfumes, and fancy articles, -and may commonly be seen lolling in their -little shops in attitudes of exaggerated indolence -and unconcern. The Moorish women, -like those of the Arabs, are veiled; a white -linen handkerchief is tied closely across the -nose, leaving the eyes visible, and perhaps -somewhat heightening their effect. A white -shawl, called a <em>haik</em>, is thrown over the head -and extends to the knees or lower; the legs -are encased in very voluminous trousers tied -at the ankles, and setting in a way which -gives them the appearance of being stuffed -full. Altogether a very ungainly costume. -But even so they are less wanting in dignity -<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>than the middle-class European women decked -in a travesty of a mode which is itself absurd. -The veiling of all Mohammedan women for -the last twelve hundred years is due to the -jealousy of the prophet of his young and -beautiful wife Ayesha.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Since the decree of 1870, which constituted -them French citizens, the Jews have gradually -ceased to wear a distinctive dress, and have -become, as far as outward semblance goes, -merged in the European population; but -their physiognomy bewrayeth them. It is, -however, as far at least as the men are concerned, -of a less marked type than that of -the German and Russian Jews, with whom -we are more familiar; and, possibly from some -admixture of Arab and Spanish blood, has an -air suggestive of better breeding. The Jews -have existed in Algeria from early times; -according to tradition since the fall of Jerusalem. -It is certain that the first Arab invaders -found many Jewish colonies which had made -numerous proselytes among the indigenous -population. But the modern Algerian Jews -are probably derived in the main from the -Jews who were expelled from Italy in 1342, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>and from the emigrants from Spain in the -fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. These -Spanish Jews, better instructed and more -cultivated than their African brethren, have -exercised a dominating influence, exhibited -to-day in their names, their customs and -their language. The Jew of the South is -scarcely to be distinguished from the nomads -among whom he lives.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Jew will go to any country, and live -under any government; and he can make a -living anywhere, except, it is said, in Aberdeen. -He has been trained for countless generations -to endure the restraint of princes and the -buffets of outrageous fortune; but probably -at no time and in no place has he had to put -up with such treatment as was commonly -meted out to him by the Deys of Algiers. -Habitually subject to every kind of indignity, -he was liable on the smallest provocation to -be put to torture and to death. If he raised -a hand to the striker the hand was lopped -off. “But,” said one of them to an English -traveller, “look what a lot of money we make.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Profits may no longer be what they were, -but the ancient race has ceased to quail -<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>before the oppressor. It is indeed not slow -to exhibit the contempt which it was long -forced to conceal. A little Jew entered a -railway carriage in which every seat was -taken but one, and over that sprawled a big -Arab, who showed no intention of making -room. The Jew pushed him aside with scant -ceremony, whereupon the Arab turned and -said, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Est-ce que vous desirez me manger?”</span> -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Vous manger? Moi?”</span> replied the other; -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“je suis juif.”</span> The refined insult of this -reference to Jewish rules of diet was doubtless -lost on the barbarian, but it is a happy illustration -of the passing of the old order.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In Algeria the Jews number about 70,000, -or in the proportion of one to six of the -European population. Since their admission -to French citizenship they appear to have -performed the civil and military duties attaching -to it in the most exemplary manner. -This has not prevented the rise of a very -strong anti-Semitic feeling among the European -immigrants. It is based partly on the -objection to the Jews which is felt in other -countries, on the fact that they toil not, -neither do they spin, but that by commercial -<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>arts they grow rich where others fail, and -are able to make more money in five days than -“Christians” can in six. This is appreciated, -it may be, with especial force in a new colony, -to which adventurous spirits resort in hope -of fortune, only to find that every avenue -is already closed to all but Jewish enterprise. -Partly this animosity is due to local causes, to -the solidarity with which they have used -their electoral privileges, with a view, it is -said, to support their own interests, rather -than for public objects. It will be recalled -that in 1898, at the instigation of the notorious -Max Régis, a mob composed of the turbulent -elements always present in Mediterranean -towns attacked and pillaged the shops and -warehouses of Jewish traders in Algiers. -This tribulation, however serious in itself, -must have seemed comparatively slight to a -race which remembered the rule of the Deys. -And the crisis past things have settled -down again. An agitation for the abrogation -of the rights of citizenship granted in 1870 -still exists, but it is unable to produce serious -grounds in support of such an extreme step. -To an observer it would appear that the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>commercial and financial enterprise of the -Jews must be of immense advantage. Algiers -itself is booming. Mr. Lloyd George’s mouth -would water at the rise in the value of suburban -land from a few pence per metre ten years -ago to more than as many francs to-day; -and building is progressing in all directions. -The command of capital which the Jews -with their international connections possess -is almost certainly an important factor in -this prosperity. And the decline of credit -in England, the fear of spoliation by predatory -politicians, from which its capitalist classes, -rightly or not, are suffering, may be having -unsuspected results in assisting the development -of other countries.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Another race of traders will attract the -attention of the observant stranger. Of -heavy build, flat-faced, broad-nosed, and thick-lipped, -the Mozabites have nothing in common -with the physical qualities of the Arab. They -represent a section of the original Berber -inhabitants; although, it may be from the -different conditions under which they have -lived for many centuries, their appearance -bears no great resemblance to that of their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>Khabyle connections. They inhabit a far country, -the district of El-Mzab, in the most -arid part of the Sahara. By persevering toil -they have turned this inhospitable region into -a garden; have dug wells and created a complicated -system of irrigation. They are no -less active as traders than as agriculturists. -They have established markets in their own -oasis, and frequent others throughout the -Sahara. A considerable portion of the tribe -has long lived in Algiers, being encouraged -by the Deys. They have almost a monopoly -of certain of the more humble trades; they -are especially butchers and greengrocers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Biskris, a very low-class Berber tribe -from the neighbourhood of Biskra, are the -water-carriers and scavengers of the city. -They form picturesque groups around the -fountains in the Arab quarter. Their dark -complexions suggest a considerable admixture -of negro blood. The true negroes are also -numerous, and with their alert and smiling -faces offer an agreeable contrast to the sombre -impassiveness of the Arab. As elsewhere, -they do much of the hard work of the country, -as masons and workers on the roads and railways. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>Negresses are employed as servants, and especially -as masseuses in the Moorish baths.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Such, mingled with Frenchmen, Italians, -Spaniards, Maltese, and a sprinkling of almost -every European race, are the numerous types -of diverse humanity which the streets of -Algiers everywhere present. In so rich a -scene the artist will find fruitful sources of -inspiration, both of form and colour; the -ethnologist will have scope for studying the -features and carriage of different races, and -for tracing the effects of their not infrequent -intermixture; to the politician it will all -give furiously to think. During the last -century or two a large portion of the Mohammedan -world has fallen under Western dominion. -France, like England, has acted on -the Roman principle, <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>parcere subjectis et -debellare superbos</i></span>, but neither has succeeded -in infusing the conquered races with the -ambition of citizenship, as Rome did. Their -attitude at best seems to be one of sullen -acquiescence in the inevitable, at worst that -of a hunted beast who waits his opportunity -to spring. And the most incurious tourist -will not escape a certain wonder at the strange -<span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>and varied inhabitants of a city so near his -home that he may read his Monday’s “Times” -on Wednesday afternoon.</p> - -<p class='c001'>To outward appearance Algiers is a busy -French town. But when we come to probe -below the surface we find that the Golden -East, with its leisurely and slipshod methods, -holds us in fee. The mere sending of a -common telegram is no light matter. I -desired to telegraph five words to an inhabitant -of the city of Funchal in the island of Madeira. -I took the despatch to a branch office at -Mustapha, officered by female clerks. It -caused some commotion. The young women -laid their heads together, pored over several -tattered volumes, and finally informed me, -with a certain touch of commiseration, that -the charge was four francs and fifteen centimes -a word. Now as the charge from London -is one shilling a word, this was obviously -too much. What visions of Madagascar or -Macao they had conjured up I know not; -they are, I believe, both islands, both, like -Macedon, Monmouth and Madeira, have M’s -in them, and both are distant enough to -justify some such charge. I tried to point -<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>out that Madeira does not ride in such remote -seas, but to no purpose; and wearily I betook -myself to the chief post office. This is a -magnificent building in the finest style of -neo-Arab art, glorious within and without. -It is agreeable to find that the French authorities -are now erecting great buildings -in the local style, instead of reproducing the -monotonous ugliness of the Third Empire. -If only the Boulevard facing the harbour -could be so transformed, the view of the port -would indeed be worth looking at. In this -resplendent Temple of Mercury one youthful -clerk is considered sufficient to receive the -telegrams of Algiers. He took my paper, -counted the words backwards and forwards, -and said airily, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Un franc.”</span> I inquired -whether he meant for each word, or for the -whole. He replied for the whole. Now he -was evidently erring on the side of moderation, -as his sisters had erred on the side of excess. -I protested that I would not pay so little. -Books were consulted, higher officials interviewed, -many shoulders shrugged and many -palms spread, but to no purpose. Meantime -in a somewhat impatient <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>queue</i></span> the telegraphic -<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>business of Algiers stood waiting. At length -I was invited to state what I would like to -pay, and I suggested a suitable amount. -It was then discovered that as the charge -for Teneriffe, which is also situate in the -Atlantic Ocean, is one franc twenty centimes -(or thereabouts) a word, this figure might -not be unsuitable for Madeira; on that -basis the account was adjusted, and Algiers -restored, after a considerable interval, to telegraphic -communication with the outer world.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Although the words colonization and colonists -are on everybody’s lips, Algeria is not -in fact a colony. It is attached to the Ministère -de l’Intérieur, and is therefore technically -a part of France. It is divided into -three departments, each of which sends to -Paris two deputies and one senator. The -suffrage is “universal,” but confined to citizens -of French origin or naturalized. The Mohammedan -natives are subjects, not citizens. -A colonial air is given by the existence of -a Governor-General, appointed by the President -on the advice of the Ministre de l’Intérieur. -The organization of local government -is similar to that of France.</p> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span></div> -<div class='doubletop'> - -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='ch02' class='c018'><i>II—THE CORSAIR CITY</i></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c015'>The old town—The Arab <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>ménage</i></span>—The Penon—Barbarossa—French -achievements and shortcomings—The Arab house—Christian -slavery—Lord Exmouth.</p> - -<div class='doublebot'> - -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“That execrable sum of all villanies.”—<span class='sc'>Wesley.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c007'>A perambulation of the town -of Algiers removes much of the impression -of its over-modernization -which is received on landing. The -boulevards facing the sea and the streets immediately -behind them are all new, but where -the hill begins to rise steeply the traveller -will pass at a step from the French city to -the old Arab town. A greater contrast could -not be imagined. The French love broad -streets, lofty houses, big windows, open spaces, -and above all straight lines. The Arab town -is a labyrinth of narrow lanes, twisting and -curling according to no sort of plan, in fact -to all appearance so inextricably confused and -so full of blind alleys that one might suppose -<span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>no living man capable of mastering their -meanderings. But a stranger need be under -no apprehension of being lost. He has only -to keep ascending to reach the Kasbeh, the -old Turkish fort at the top of the town, -or descending, a course which sooner or later -will bring him back to civilization. The -lanes are very narrow, in many cases only -just wide enough to permit a horseman to -pass a foot-passenger; and as a rule the first -floors of the houses, supported on diagonal -cedar poles, in themselves an interesting -and picturesque feature, extend over the -footways, and almost meet. In many cases -the road is completely vaulted. Beyond -the general suggestion of ancientry there is -really little in this old town to engage the -attention of the stranger; a few charming -marble doorways of conventional Arab design; -an occasional glimpse of a colonnaded court-yard -within; that is all. Writers on Algiers have -strained their vocabularies in frenzied efforts -to make something of this curious maze of -dwellings; to produce any effect they have -generally had to fall back on their imagination -of what is happening behind those locked -<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>portals and those heavily barred windows; -of that life of the Orient of which we know -and comprehend nothing. Perhaps there is -nothing very extraordinary to be known. -The sombre, tyrannical master and husband, -the infantile and enslaved wife,—that is our -general impression of the Oriental <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>ménage</i></span>. -Yet even Arab wives are not dumb animals, -and all men that are born of women are born -to be henpecked. Perhaps even here <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>les paroles -de l’oreiller</i></span> have their force, and it may be -that the stately lord sometimes meets his -match.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“From a vixen wife protect us well;</div> - <div class='line'>Save us, O God! from the pains of hell,”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>says The Gulistān. The conventional sternness -of the husband’s control suggests a -sense of his own weakness. It certainly -confesses a curious diffidence as to his own -charms, perhaps with reason, for, says an -Arab proverb, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Quand la femme a vu l’hôte, -elle ne veut plus de son mari.”</span> So even if -the Western idea of Mohammedan domestic -tyranny is correct (I am far from believing -that it is), we may at least console ourselves -<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>with the hope that the wife sometimes has as -much of her own way as is good for her.</p> - -<div id='i048' class='figcenter id007'> -<img src='images/i_048f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic004'> -<p>ALGIERS: DOORWAY, RUE MEDEA</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>And it would seem that women everywhere -must still have chains to hug. If in Western -countries the husband is no longer lord, and -the priest no more director, the tyranny -of the dressmaker is cheerfully, nay, eagerly, -accepted. In one decade a tight cape prevents -the lifting of the arms, in the next a -skimpy skirt hobbles the legs; a mere man -may venture to see in these disagreeable -manifestations a surviving badge of ingrained -servitude.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The lanes of this old town, with its squalid -exteriors and possibly rich interiors, are not -very clean, and to the Western eye, if not -nose, they suggest insanitary conditions. But -it is never safe to judge from appearances, -and it may be that your brand-new <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>hôtel de -luxe</i></span> is richer in lethal germs than this ramshackle -city. I am not armed with any -statistics bearing on the point. At any rate, -these devious thoroughfares appear to be -admirably policed, and in spite of their cut-throat -appearance it is said that they are -safe for passage by day or by night.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>If the aspiring word-painter has failed to -convey any due impression of this curious -labyrinth, the artist has seldom been more -successful. Perhaps it passes the endurance -of flesh and blood to sit and paint, where -there is too little room to sit, exposed to the -torments of an Arab crowd. Even the humble -photographer must own defeat. The narrowness -of the lanes, the height of the houses -and the unwelcome attentions of the passers-by -try his skill beyond endurance. The -casual wayfarer, content with his own impressions, -has the best of it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It appears that in Turkish times the streets -of the city had no distinctive names. It may -be that everyone knew where everyone else -lived. The Arab, at any rate, had no address. -Presumably he had no extensive correspondence. -And perhaps he seldom received callers. -There were certainly no public vehicles, -indeed no vehicles at all. It was all, and is, -a strange tangle; an incongruous medley -of great houses and squalid shops, of “the -grey homes of the people and the palaces -of the mighty,” as Mr. Lloyd George said -at Mile End. With laudable intentions the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>French set to work to unravel it—to give -at least to every street a name, for to the -European mind a street without a name is -inconceivable; although we frequently see -in new-fledged localities names bestowed on -streets which are as yet in embryo. The -official who was entrusted with the job -deserves immortality in the pillory. A more -hopelessly inappropriate collection of titles it -would be difficult to conceive. Such aberration -almost touches genius. Rue du 4 Septembre, -Rue d’Amfreville, Rue du Galmier, -Rue Annibal,—such are the gems which -greet our astonished eyes. And, above all, -Rue Sidney Smith! What is the witty parson—or -is it the admiral?—doing in this galley? -If only he had lived to know it. But so for all -time, or until the next conqueror arrives, will -it be.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The amateur will look in vain in Algiers -for fine examples of Arab art, such as he -may study at Cairo, at Granada, or at Tlemçen, -in the province of Oran. The ravages of war, -the stress of successive bombardments, amply -account for this. The old minarets are gone; -such work of the best period as may have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>existed has long disappeared; what the French -have spared is chiefly of the Turkish domination.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But, in truth, during the great days of -Mohammedan art Algiers was not of much -importance. Its site had been previously -occupied by the Roman Icosium, a town of -little place in history, but the seat of one of -the numerous North African bishoprics of -the fifth century. The Arab town was -founded in the tenth century, at which -time numerous monuments of the Roman -period are said to have been still standing. -About the year 1500, when the Moors were -expelled from Spain, many settled here, -and adopted the profession of pirates. It is -at this time that the importance of Algiers -in the history of Europe commences.</p> - -<div id='i054' class='figcenter id008'> -<img src='images/i_054f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic004'> -<p>ALGIERS: DOORWAY IN THE RUE BEN-ALI</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The Penon, the islet which, being connected -with the shore by a mole, forms the -present inner harbour of Algiers, the old -harbour of the corsair fleet, is intimately -connected with this period. Some good -Arab work is to be seen, notably a -magnificent doorway in the Bureau de la -Marine, carved in white marble, or ornamented -<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>with inscriptions and with tigers,—an -infringement of the Moorish law which -perhaps indicates its Persian origin.<a id='r1' /><a href='#f1' class='c020'><sup>[1]</sup></a> A -small and very charming Arab house with -good carving and many tiles is used as the -residence of the Admiral. As I gazed deferentially -at the exterior an obliging sailor invited -me to enter. “This,” he said, “is the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>grand -salon</i></span> of the Admiral; and this,” laying his -hand on the handle of a door, “the Admiral’s -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>bureau</i></span>.” I recalled the Oxford undergraduate -who showed “his people” over his college: -“That,” he said, “is the Master’s Lodge, and -that,” hurling a stone at a window, “is the -Master.” Perhaps my face showed some -apprehension of the possible apparition of a -fierce French admiral with bristling moustache -hastening to repel the foreign invader, for my -conductor reassured me. “M. l’Amiral est -absent,” he said. From a pleasant flagged -terrace, with a summer-house at the further -end, the Admiral may look down on the inner -harbour, packed now with the French torpedo-boats -which have replaced the lateen-rigged -vessels of its former owners.</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f1'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r1'>1</a>. See Chapter <a href='#ch04'>IV</a>.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>The island and its mole have a strange -history,—not the least astonishing episode -in the annals of this astonishing city. The -depredations of the Moorish pirates soon -became extremely harassing to Spain; not -only did they seriously interfere with Spanish -commerce, but they made frequent raids on -the Spanish coast, pillaging towns and carrying -away their inhabitants to slavery. The evil -became so pressing that at length a determined -effort was made to put a stop to it. In 1509 a -Spanish expedition, under Cardinal Ximenes, -captured Oran and Bougie, and as a check -to the pirates of Algiers occupied the island -facing the town. Here they built a fort, -which still exists in part, and forms the base -of the lighthouse. This expedition, for which -the Cardinal supplied the funds, was known -as the “Crusade of Ximenes de Cisteros,” and -was regarded as a holy war, bestowing certain -indulgences on those who took part in it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>For nearly twenty years the Spaniards -held the island, commanding the roadstead -and controlling the maritime proceedings -of the Algerines. These found the position -so irksome that their Emir, to his own undoing, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>called in the services of the celebrated -pirate, Baba Aroudj, known to Christendom -as Barbarossa,</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“A corsair’s name, linked with a thousand crimes.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>The romantic story of this king of robbers -supplies a curious picture of the times. At -the beginning of the sixteenth century Lesbos, -in Mytilene, was the head-quarters of Turkish -piracy in the Eastern Mediterranean. A -simple potter, or fisherman, as some say, of -the island had four sons, of whom two, -Baba Aroudj and Kheir-ed-Din, rose to fame. -Aroudj was in particular of a soaring spirit. -Marking the avenues to fortune which the -staple industry of the island presented, he -became “apprenticed to a pirate.” An early disaster -seemed like to blast his promising career; -he was captured by a vessel of the Knights -of Rhodes and condemned to the galleys. -But such checks are to the really great only -stepping-stones to higher things. Having, -as was inevitable, effected his escape, he -betook himself to Tunis, determined in -the freer air of a new country to wipe out -the memory of his early failure, and to find -<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>a fresh theatre for his energies. His professional -knowledge stood him in good stead. -He proposed to the Sultan of Tunis that -they should enter into a partnership, in -accordance with which he should conduct the -active part of the business, and the Sultan -receive half the profits, in consideration of -his countenance and support. The Sultan, -with that discernment that has so often -characterized sovereigns, saw that he had to -deal with a man of mark, and jumped at -the proposal. A pirate station on the most -approved lines was established at Djerba, -where Aroudj was shortly joined by his -brother, Kheir-ed-Din. The enterprise met -with more than the success it deserved. -Besides the ordinary dividends of the business, -the brothers were able to make many very -handsome presents to their partner and patron. -On one occasion, it is recorded, they offered -to him fifty Spanish youths holding in leash -hounds and hawks of the rarest breeds, and -four young ladies of noble birth, attired in -splendid garments and mounted on magnificent -horses. Mulai Mohammed, the Sultan, -however keen a hand in purely business -matters, was not the man to turn a deaf -<span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>ear to the appeal of a brother in distress. -The plight of his fellow-monarch, the Emir -of Algiers, moved him deeply. With a -quite distinguished disinterestedness he proposed -to his associates that they should -abandon for a time the ordinary course of -their duties and proceed to Algiers to turn -the obnoxious Spaniards out of their eyrie -on the island. Baba Aroudj arrived at Algiers -with 5000 men, and was hailed as a deliverer. -But the instincts of his trade were too strong -for him. Instead of attacking the Spaniards -on the Penon, he put the Emir to death, -proclaimed himself King, and gave the town -to pillage. Master of Algiers, with his vessels -dominant at sea, he set himself to win an -empire. He occupied Medea and Tlemçen, -and menaced the Spanish position at Oran. -This was too much, and Charles V sent thither -a powerful force to check him. He retired -on Tlemçen, and fell in an obscure fight at -Oudjda, on the frontier of Morocco, a town -of some significance in recent history, and -now in the occupation of the French.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“He left a name at which the world grew pale,</div> - <div class='line'>To point a moral and adorn a tale.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c021'><span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>His brother, Kheir-ed-Din, assumed the -reins of power at Algiers. Lacking the vaulting -ambition of the terrible Barbarossa, he -seems to have possessed a sounder business -head. His first care was to assure his position; -and with this object he offered his -African dominions to Selim I, Sultan of -Turkey. The Turk accepted the offer, and -named Kheir-ed-Din his “Captain-pasha.” -So arose the Turkish domination of Algeria, -which lasted for three centuries, and inflicted -on Europe unnumbered woes. If Europe -had only known it, now was the time to cut -off the serpent’s head; but Europe, as usual, -was busy with its own quarrels. Charles V -did indeed conduct an expedition in person -in 1535, but it was half-hearted and proved -abortive. No native prince arose to repel the -Turkish pretensions, which were consolidated -by the capture of Tunis and the occupation of -Kairouan, the holy city.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Kheir-ed-Din next turned his attention to -the Spanish garrison on the Penon. Having -procured heavy guns, he bombarded the -position for fifteen days with an incessant -fire. The garrison of 150 men made a heroic -<span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>resistance, but when all save twenty-five -were killed, the island was captured and the -survivors put to death.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The brave commander, Martin Vargas, was -offered the alternative of embracing Mohammedanism -and a Mohammedan wife or execution. -He chose the latter, and was beaten to -death with sticks, his body was dragged through -the streets, cut into pieces, and thrown into -the sea. So did the corsair treat a gallant foe.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was then that Kheir-ed-Din conceived -the project of uniting the island and the -city, with the double object of preventing -any repetition of the Spanish occupation and -of providing a harbour for his fleet. Thirty -thousand Christian slaves supplied him with -labour, and materials lay near to hand. The -ruins of the old Roman city of Rusgania -strewed the shore at Cape Matifou; and -countless blocks of Roman hewn stone and -marble lie buried beneath the floor of the -mole. The work, a very big work for the -period, was finished in three years, and henceforth -for nearly three centuries the corsair -fleets lay within, safe from the storms of the -Mediterranean and the attacks of their enemies. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>Kheir-ed-Din’s son mounted batteries on the -Penon, and built the lighthouse tower in 1544. -It is of octagonal shape, nearly 120 feet high, -and visible for a distance of fifteen miles. -A band of gleaming tiles below the summit -happily relieves the monotony of its elevation.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The present great harbour, covering 222 -acres, was commenced by the French in 1836. -It was formed by continuing the line of Kheir-ed-Din’s -mole to the south-east, and building -another of irregular form from a point to -the south of the city. In these works blocks -of concrete were used for the first time in -such operations,—an experiment which has -had important results. In the making of -this great harbour, as in so many other constructive -matters, the French have risen to -the level of their opportunities. Their genius -in such large matters is unquestioned; and -if anyone doubts their pre-eminence in minor -arts, let him compare their coinage and their -postage stamps with those of any other -nation.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The French have done many great things; -one thing they have omitted,—to provide -an adequate service of passenger steamers -<span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>between France and North Africa. They -have generally fallen behind in the race of -maritime improvement in recent years; but -the insufficiency of this particular service may -be due to the fact that trade between Marseilles -and Algeria is held to be French coasting -trade, and therefore reserved to vessels sailing -under the French flag. The stimulus of -foreign competition is absent. But nothing -can prevent the indirect competition of the -superior steamers of the North German Lloyd -to Genoa, which are securing much of the -tourist traffic. This company is gradually -establishing a network of steamer lines in the -Mediterranean. And a service of fast steamers -covering the voyage between Barcelona and -Algiers in twelve hours is now mooted. This -may prove a further nail in the coffin of the -Marseilles route. But the French have it in -their hands to retain the trade by running -adequate steamers properly equipped.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In spite of the heavy hand of the destroyer -a few fine houses of the Turkish domination -survive, and some are put to public uses and -are accessible to the stranger. They exhibit -a usual characteristic of the Eastern house; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>they are insignificant, sometimes even squalid -without, but like the princess they are all -glorious within. Christendom builds its houses -for the public eye. This is not entirely -altruistic; not wholly due to a desire to -please the neighbours; a man’s credit and -importance (even, it is said, the amount of his -doctor’s bill) bear some relation in the opinion -of his world to the outward appearance of the -house in which he lives. And in the northern -view, at any rate, a man’s house is a consideration -prior to his equipage, his retinue, and his -personal adornment. And some value attaches -to what is called “a good address.” Wherefore -our note-paper headings often contain a -<span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>suggestio falsi</i></span>; and Glenalmond Villa or The -Elms strive to conceal the banality of a mere -terrace.</p> - -<p class='c001'>All this is unmeaning to the Mussulman. -He fulfils Bacon’s dictum that “houses are -built to live in, not to look upon, wherefore -let use be preferred before uniformity.” A -bare wall with narrow and barred windows -facing a mean alley;—such is his house’s exterior. -It seems rather to desire to escape -than to court observation. It has more the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>air of a fortress than of a dwelling. The -doorways are an exception to the prevailing -plainness. They exhibit a great variety of detail, -but mainly follow a Roman or Byzantine -scheme, of a round arch supported on columns, -the whole copiously decorated. The doors -themselves are generally of simple woodwork, -often heavily studded with iron, and -sometimes retaining their fine old handles and -knockers. To the wanderer in the Arab town -they offer a never-failing source of interest and -study. The elaboration of the doorway when -all else that is external is plain would seem to -be thoroughly congruous with Oriental taste -and tradition. The door of the house and -the gate of the city stand for much in private -and public life, for the line that divides the -intimate and the stranger, the friend and -the foe. Our fathers had some sense of the -dignity of the door, a sense which in our -careless acceptance of decadent conventions -we have almost lost. We may strive to -recover it in contemplating these Arab portals. -The charming drawings of Mr. Thoroton, -here reproduced, accurately represent their -general scheme and the variety of their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>ornament. A common decorative feature -appears to be based on the artichoke; the -precision of its symmetry doubtless appeals -strongly to Mohammedan prejudices.</p> - -<p class='c001'>When you have passed the portal the -very contrast of the squalor without heightens -the effect of the splendour and refinement -within. The usual type of house is one -which the Arabs owe to the Romans, or both -to an earlier source. The doorway opens on -to a long vestibule, with a row of marble -seats on either side, divided at regular intervals -by columns, often twisted and generally -suggesting the Ionic order. From this you -pass into the main dwelling, a square marble -court open, or partially open, to the sky, -round which are grouped the chief rooms. -Marble columns support the gallery of the -first floor, the walls are a blaze of tiles, a -fine dark balustrade of open woodwork surrounds -the gallery; and in the centre of the -court-yard perhaps the pleasant plash of a -fountain emphasises the pervading peace. It -is all very splendid, and yet most dignified. -Such a beautiful house is used as the Bibliothèque -Municipale, a library with 35,000 -<span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>volumes, many Arabian and Persian MSS., and -an up-to-date card catalogue. Another is -the residence of the Archbishop. This is -said to be a fragment of the ancient palace -of the Deys. It is a pleasant touch of humour -which lodges the Archbishop in the last -remnant of the harem. To these may be -added the Governor’s Winter Palace, with a -modern front and rich interior decorations; -and a few other houses occupied by officials, -and not open to inspection without an introduction.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A mere civilian must bow before the -requirements of the military authorities, but -he may be permitted to regret that they -should have seen fit to turn the Kasbeh, -the ancient fortress of the Deys, into a barrack. -As may naturally be expected, the decorations -and many of the original features have disappeared; -marble columns have been replaced -by wooden posts, tiles have been picked -off,—and the Dey’s pavilion has been repainted! -Worse than all, a public road has been driven -right through the centre of the old compact -mass of buildings surrounded by their embattled -wall. The visitor will turn away with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>disgust from this reckless spoliation, which will -some day no doubt be bitterly regretted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Of the mosques of Algiers, that of Sidi -Abd er Rahman, adjoining the tomb of the -saint, is the most picturesque. The great -mosque of Djama el Kebir has a very handsome -exterior, notably a magnificent colonnade -fronting the Rue de la Marine. The entrance -is pleasing, but the interior rather bare. The -mosque in the Place du Gouvernement, known -as the New Mosque, was built in 1660 to the -designs of a Christian slave, and is in the form -of a Greek cross. The Catholic Cathedral was -formerly a mosque, and is now an eclectic -monstrosity.</p> - -<div id='i068' class='figcenter id009'> -<img src='images/i_068f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic004'> -<p>ALGIERS: ENTRANCE-DOOR OF THE MOSQUE, RUE DE LA MARINE</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The interest which Algiers has for the -traveller is closely bound up with the hideous -story of the Christian captives. Our literature, -especially of the seventeenth century, is full of -allusion to their miserable condition. Their -numbers were prodigious. In 1646 it was -reckoned that there were not less than 20,000 -such slaves. During our Civil War the Channel -was full of Algerine pirates, and their operations -extended to the North Sea. The Long -Parliament passed an Act “whereby they did -<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>manifest unto the world their resolution of -undertaking that Christian work of the Redemption -of the Captives from the cruel -thraldom that they lay under,” and established -a tax on merchants’ goods, called “Algier -duty,” to provide funds for the purpose. -Many distinguished men were at one time -or another slaves in Barbary. Cervantes was -in captivity for five years, and has related -some of his miseries in the story of “The -Captive” in “Don Quixote.” He who went -to sea in those days had to face the chance -of “being taken by the insolent foe and sold -to slavery.” It will be recalled that before -he set forth on his immortal voyage Robinson -Crusoe was captured by a Sallee-rover, and -worked as a slave. Samuel Pepys records -(February 8th, 1660-1) a conversation on -the subject: “At noon to the Exchange to -meet Mr. Warren the timber merchant, -but could not meet with him. Here I met -with many sea commanders, and among others -Captain Cuttle, and Curtis and Mootham, -and I went to the Fleece Tavern to drink; -and there we spent till four o’clock, telling -stories of Algiers, and the manner of the life -<span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>of slaves there. And truly Captain Mootham -and Mr. Dawes (who have been both slaves -there) did make me fully acquainted with -their condition there: as, how they eat nothing -but bread and water. At their redemption -they pay so much for the water they drink -at the public fountaynes, during their being -slaves. How they are beat upon the soles of -their feet and bellies at the liberty of their -padron. How they are all, at night, called into -their master’s Bagnard [prison]; and there -they lie. How the poorest men do use their -slaves best. How some rogues do live well, if -they do invent to bring their masters in so much -a week by their industry or theft.” Other -accounts give far more harrowing details of -the sufferings of the slaves and of the tortures -they endured.</p> - -<p class='c001'>When a prize was brought in, the crew -and the passengers were forced by torture, -generally the bastinado, to declare their -quality and condition. The Dey selected -one in eight for himself, generally preferring -skilled workmen. The remainder were sold -by auction for the benefit of the owners and -crews of the pirate vessels. The European -<span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>Powers maintained consuls at Algiers, and -through them, and other agencies, those of -the captives whose friends could find the -ransom demanded, were, after much delay, -redeemed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>That such an iniquity was more or less -tolerated for centuries is one of the curiosities -of history. It can only be explained by the -fact that European nations found it a convenient -scourge for their enemies. France -and England especially were continually intriguing -to make infamous treaties with the -Dey to the benefit of each against the other. -All nations, including the United States of -America, after they obtained their independence -in 1783, paid tribute to the Dey in one -form or another to secure the exemption of -their vessels from capture; but the Algerines -never respected any treaty when they could -violate it with advantage or probable impunity.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The close of the Napoleonic wars gave -England not only undisputed command of -the sea, but leisure to deal with the open sore -of Algerian piracy. She was not slow to use -it. At the beginning of 1816 Lord Exmouth -<span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>was ordered to visit the Barbary States and -obtain the release of such slaves as were -British subjects—chiefly Ionians—or subjects -of Great Britain’s allies. At Algiers the Dey -readily released the Ionians, and also the -Neapolitans and Sardinians, on payment of -a ransom. Lord Exmouth proceeded to -Tunis and Tripoli, and concluded treaties -with the Beys, who agreed to abolish the -institution of Christian slavery altogether. -He then returned to Algiers and endeavoured -to get the Dey to make a similar treaty. -The Dey declined to accede, but finally -consented to treat at London and Constantinople. -Lord Exmouth took a high hand; -he told the Dey that he evidently had little -idea of the power of a British man-of-war, and -that he would engage, if hostilities became -necessary, to blow the place to pieces with -five line-of-battle ships. Shortly after he -had sailed for England matters were brought -to a climax by an attack by Turks and Arabs -on a large number of coral-fishermen, sailing -under French and English colours, who had -landed at Bona on Ascension Day. About -two hundred were massacred in a church and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>hundreds more wounded. The British consul -was killed, the houses of Christians pillaged, -and the British flag trampled under foot. The -British Government considered that the cup -was now full, and that strong measures must -be taken against these barbarians. On Lord -Exmouth’s arrival a fresh fleet was fitted out. -He was offered any force he required, but he -determined to rely on the five battleships he -had mentioned to the Dey. To these were -added five frigates and some smaller vessels. -At Gibraltar he found a Dutch squadron -of five frigates and a corvette under Admiral -van Capellan, who asked and obtained leave -to co-operate.</p> - -<p class='c001'>After some vexatious delays Exmouth arrived -off Algiers on August 26th, 1816. His -despatch, dated August 28th, is very interesting -reading. He had previously sent on the -<em>Prometheus</em>, to endeavour to bring away the -British consul, Captain Dashwood. A landing -party brought off his wife and daughter, -disguised in midshipmen’s uniforms. The -surgeon was following with the consul’s infant -child concealed in a basket. As he was entering -a boat the child, unfortunately, cried, with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>the result that the surgeon, three midshipmen, -and others, in all eighteen persons, were -seized and confined as slaves in the usual -dungeons. “The child was sent off next -morning by the Dey, and as a solitary instance -of his humanity it ought to be recorded by me,” -says his lordship. Captain Dashwood was -closely confined in irons.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The <em>Prometheus</em> brought word that energetic -measures of defence had been taken; that -additional works had been thrown up, and a -large army assembled. The whole Algerine -fleet was collected within the mole. On the -morning of the 27th the fleet was lying in -sight of the city becalmed, and Exmouth -sent ashore a flag of truce with the demands -he was instructed to make. Receiving no -answer, and the day breeze landwards having -sprung up, he moved his fleet in towards the -mole, the <em>Queen Charlotte</em>, the flagship, leading. -The shore batteries opened the engagement -with a tremendous fire, whereupon the leading -ship commenced action. Before nightfall the -enemy’s fleet was completely destroyed, his -batteries abandoned, and half the town in -ruins. At midnight the ships and parts of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>town were still burning. Thus did Lord -Exmouth demonstrate to the Dey the power -of five English ships of the line. The battle -was of quite an unprecedented nature; it was -a new departure to bring a fleet up close under -the guns of formidable batteries. The fleet -had poured 50,000 shot, weighing over 500 tons -of iron, into the town, and used 118 tons of -powder. A little touch illustrates the close -quarters of the combatants. A vast crowd -of Arabs was collected on the shore, and before -he opened fire Lord Exmouth called out and -waved to them to depart. The warning had -no effect, and thousands were killed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The English losses were considerable, 123 -men killed and 690 wounded. The Dutch -had 13 killed and 52 wounded. Lord Exmouth -himself was struck three times, but -escaped unhurt. It was pointed out at the -time that, in proportion to the number of -men in the English ships engaged, the casualties -were far higher than in any of Nelson’s -victories.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Dey must have passed an uncomfortable -night, and morning found him in a very -humble mood. He agreed to all the English -<span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>demands; these were, the abolition of Christian -slavery for ever, and an undertaking -to treat prisoners of war according to the -usage of civilized nations; the immediate -delivery of all slaves; the repayment of the -ransom of the Neapolitan and Sardinian -captives; an apology and reparation to the -English consul. Having accepted these comprehensive -and ignominious terms, not as -regards the apology to the consul with a very -good grace, the Dey consoled himself by -beheading his prime minister.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It has been given to another nation to -break down for good and all the Turkish -tyranny, and to restore these fair lands to -Europe and civilization, but we may congratulate -ourselves that the gallantry of our -own navy dealt the first serious blow, and -exposed the hollowness of the game of bluff -which the corsairs of Algiers had played -against Christendom for centuries. Yet nothing -can quench our wonder that the hand -was held up so long, even into the lifetime -of men still living and vigorous.</p> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span></div> -<div class='doubletop'> - -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='ch03' class='c018'><i>III—NEW ROADS AND OLD CITIES</i></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c015'>Rome’s successors—The Road and its influence—Algerian highways—The -motor-car and modern travel—An aqueduct—Cherchel—Cleopatra’s -daughter—Tipasa—The French as Colonists—Viticulture.</p> -<hr class='c016' /> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Among the ruins of old Rome, the grandeur of the</div> - <div class='line'>Commonwealth shews itself chiefly in temples, highways,</div> - <div class='line'>aqueducts, walls and bridges.”—<span class='sc'>Addison.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c007'>From many points of view the modern -French may be regarded as representing -most fully among the peoples of -Europe the Romans of the Empire. -The sturdy physique and unrivalled endurance, -the unsurpassed gallantry and devotion to -duty of their soldiers, recall the qualities of -the legions. Their absorbing pride in and -love for their native land is an echo of the -tremendous sentiment of Roman citizenship. -The logical coherence of their legal system -is frankly based on the jurisprudence of Rome. -Their faculty, for producing the most perfect -<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>work in the more refined forms of engineering -and the manufacture of delicate tools and -machines is a natural development of Roman -thoroughness in constructive matters. And -like the Romans they are the slaves of convention. -Everything Roman was according -to a settled plan. The empire was a vast -aggregation of cities which aspired to be -little Romes. From the borders of Scotland -to the fringe of the Sahara, from Portugal to -Asia Minor, cities were raised more or less, -as circumstances permitted, fulfilling the conventional -design; conventional not only in -town-planning, and in the scheme of public -buildings, but in the architecture of private -houses and the most minute details of decoration. -We grow weary in the museums of to-day -of the repetition of the same motives in -sculpture, in mosaic and in bronze-work. The -only variety is in the quality of the execution. -So, too, must a French town, a French house, -a Frenchman’s manners and a Frenchwoman’s -clothes be in accordance with a sealed pattern -deposited in the temple of the great goddess -Comme-il-faut. The French are the most -law-abiding of nations, but their laws are -<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>les convenances</i></span>. The occasional licence exhibited -in their art and literature and morals -is but the effort of a few eccentric individuals, -not always of unmixed French breeding, to -break through the trammels in which the -mass of the race is bound.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In this country the French have set themselves -from the first to carry on the Roman -tradition in the making of roads. In a land -which for twelve centuries has known little -but destruction and decay they have built, -as the Romans built before them, solid, -uncompromising, inevitable highways, roads -on which armies may march secure of ambush, -and almost regardless of the hostility of natural -forces;—roads which create not only peace, -but prosperity in their course. The road is -one of the most effective as it is one of the -most permanent works of man. In England -quite a large proportion of our main roads -still follows the lines laid down by the Romans. -We are ourselves rather road-menders than -road-makers. Our genius finds its work in -other directions. We have been in South -Africa far longer than the French in -North Africa, and what have we to show -<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>there at all comparable with the Algerian -roads?</p> - -<p class='c001'>In one of the most notable books of our -generation, Mr. Hilaire Belloc has set before -us the uses, the influence, the interest, and -the fascination of the road. In the course -of an exploration of one of those ancient -highways which we English have permitted -to fall into decay and in part to disappear, -he has taken occasion to impress on us the -part which the road has played in the spread -of civilizing influences. Algeria—roadless and -anarchical for centuries, orderly and webbed -with roads to-day—may add point to his -argument. “More than rivers and more -than mountain chains, roads have moulded -the political groupings of men. The Alps -with a mule-track across them are less of a -barrier than fifteen miles of forest or rough -land separating one from that track. Religions, -which are the principal formers of mankind, -have followed the roads only, leaping from -city to city and leaving the ‘Pagani,’ in -the villages off the road, to a later influence. -Consider the series, Jerusalem, Antioch, -Ephesus, Athens and the Appian Way; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>Rome, all the tradition of the Ligurian Coast, -Marseilles and Lyons. I have read in some -man’s book that the last link of that chain -was the river Rhone; but this man can never -have tried to pull a boat upon the Rhone upstream. -It was the Road that laid the train. -The Mass reached Lyons before, perhaps, -the last disciple of the apostles was dead; -in the Forez, just above, four hundred years -later, there were most probably offerings at -night to the pagan gods of those sombre and -neglected hills. And with religions all that is -built on them: letters, customs, community -of language and idea, have followed the Road, -because humanity, which is the matter of -religion, must also follow the road it has made. -Architecture follows it, commerce of course, -all information; it is even so with the poor -thin philosophies, each in its little day drifts, -for choice, down a road.”<a id='r2' /><a href='#f2' class='c020'><sup>[2]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f2'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r2'>2</a>. “The Old Road,” 1904, p. 5.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The making of the Algerian highways has -been no light matter. They have frequently -demanded much engineering skill. Their -repair is a difficult and expensive business, the -heavy winter rains and the fierce summer -<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>sun have a rapidly disintegrating effect on -the friable materials available. Algeria is -not only an exceedingly mountainous country, -but its physical conditions are very peculiar, -and, except by those who have explored -them, not as a rule very fully understood. -The common idea of a fertile belt, more or -less hilly and of varying width, between the -sea on the north and the Sahara on the south, -is imperfect and incorrect. As a very rough -generalization, subject to innumerable variations -of mountain and valley and plain, -Algeria may be said to consist of two parallel -ranges of mountains running north-east and -south-west. The northern range slopes very -gradually to the sea, often in a series of plains, -providing with its copious rainfall that fertile -tract known as the Tell, once the granary -of Rome, and now again developing a great -export trade. The Tell itself contains -numerous ranges of lesser hills, called Sahels. -The southern range faces the desert, in the -east, in the great rocky mass of the Aures, -with steep cliffs; in the west less abruptly. -Between the two ranges is contained a lofty -plateau, of convex form, in the main barren -<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>and sandy, but covered here and there with -scrub. In many of its features it imitates the -true desert. It has its shallow depressions -filled with brackish water; and its inhabitants -dwell in rare oases where fresh water occurs. -The mountains attain no great elevation, -their summits seldom exceeding 6000 feet. -This is a pity. A lofty range treasuring -copious stores of eternal snow would perhaps -have made of the high plateau a veritable -garden; and its influence would have been felt -far southwards into the Sahara. The direction -of the mountain lines causes the Tell, the -land of tilth and colonization, to be wide at -the western end of the Colony, in the province -of Oran, and narrow at the eastern end, in -the province of Constantine.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Where the desert breaks in waves of shifting -sand against the southern range, where the -streams run southwards and lose themselves,—there -and not on the seaboard of France -and Spain would seem to lie the destined -boundaries of Europe; this the proper limit -of European enterprises. The sea is to-day -less than ever a barrier, <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>dissociabilis</i></span>; it is -rather a link. The Mediterranean may lash -<span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>itself in rage, but its rage is impotent to check -the progress of the great steamers. The -southern frontier of the Roman Empire is -once more the southern frontier of Europe. -The burning sands of the great Sahara are -the true divide. Yet French enterprise is loth to -admit this. The indomitable spirit of adventure, -of adventure however profitless,—the spirit -which led their Crusaders to the Holy Land, -the army of Napoleon to Moscow, and Marchand -on his interminable desert march to -anticipate Kitchener at Fashoda,—this spirit -is still at work. Further into the Sahara the -outposts are continually being pushed; a -railway is projected to Timbuctoo, now a -journey of three months for caravans; and -the connection of the French Colonies in -North and West Africa has long been mooted. -We may admire this spirit and its manifestation, -but in all deference may ask, Is it business?</p> - -<p class='c001'>At the time of the French invasion, eighty -years ago, there was not a single road in the -interior of Algeria. The Roman roads had -disappeared. The Arab paths only permitted -the passage of horsemen, and wheeled vehicles -<span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>were unknown. In the Tell transport was -by mules, in the south by caravans. The army -no sooner landed than it began to lay out -roads, and for some time afterwards their -construction was in the hands of the military -engineers. They are now in the care of a -special department. The system which has -been evolved consists of a great artery running -east and west from the frontier of Tunis to -the frontier of Morocco, united by branch -roads to the chief ports on the coast, and -sending forth great feelers southward to the -Sahara. These are the great national trunk -roads constructed and maintained by the state -for strategic purposes, and they have a total -length of about 2500 miles. Besides these, -the state has assisted in the making of a great -number of roads partly strategic, but for the -most part designed to open up new regions to -colonization. These, with the ordinary country -roads, make up a total of nearly 10,000 miles.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It would almost seem that in the design -of the great highways running east and west, -and north to sea, and south to the desert, -the French had some prescience of the invention -of the motor-car. The roads are, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>in fact, most admirably adapted to its use, -often from their open character and long -straight stretches (a part, no doubt, of their -military intention), at almost any possible -speed. And their surface is commonly excellent. -Remote places formerly only to be -reached by painful journeys in jolting diligences -are now within easy reach. And -although the automobile is still the luxury -of the few, it may not be long before popular -“omnibus” vehicles will extend its advantages -to the many. The railway train is becoming -the inferior beast of burden,—crawling wearily -along at its African pace of fifteen or twenty -miles an hour; while the sprightly motor-car -flies past, perhaps at a speed of fifty. It is -true that Article 14 of the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Règlements</i></span> for -Algeria provides that <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“en aucun cas, la vitesse -n’excédera celle de 30 kilomètres à l’heure en -rase campagne et celle de 20 kilomètres à l’heure -dans les agglomérations,”</span> but there seems to -be no disposition to enforce this; and there -are no police traps, and no A.A. scouts. The -really important provision is, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“le conducteur -de l’automobile devra rester constamment -maître de sa vitesse.”</span></p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>We may take it therefore that travel in -Algeria is entering on a new phase; that this -most beautiful and interesting country has at -a blow become accessible to the traveller who -has neither time nor inclination for primitive -methods of journeying; and that in the -matter of country hotels French enterprise -will surely rise—it is already rising—to the -new opportunities. There are motorists and -motorists; to one class the car itself is all-important, -the country traversed a minor -matter, the surface of the road on which -“she” is to display her powers being the -first consideration. Such enthusiasts will -bring their own cars, and will perhaps not -regret doing so. But there are also persons of -grovelling mind, who cannot rise to any -enthusiasm over carburetters and petrol consumption, -who, in fact, regard the motor-car -as merely a very agreeable means to a very -desirable end. Such lowly souls will perhaps -be satisfied with hiring a car in Algiers. -They will find no difficulty in selecting an -adequate vehicle at a reasonable rate; no -Black Care will sit behind them,—if a breakdown -occurs they have only to study the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>scenery until it is repaired; and they will -have the advantage of a chauffeur who knows -the country, and will not forget the rule of -the road at a critical moment. He may have -other qualities;—ours was a sportsman, and -would produce a gun and shoot thrushes for -our dinner while we photographed Roman -temples. Our murmured pity at their death -missed its mark; he regarded them simply as -very good—to eat. And so they are.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Before he sets forth on more ambitious -journeys, the master, temporary or permanent, -of a motor-car may make several interesting -expeditions in the neighbourhood of Algiers. -The guide-book will suggest his objective, the -excellent maps of the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Voies de Communication”</span> -will point out the way. If his tastes -run in the direction of visiting historic sites, -he may spend a very interesting day in motoring -to Cherchel, the ancient Julia Cæsarea, situate -on the coast about seventy miles west of -Algiers. He has a choice of routes; he may -proceed inland to Blidah, and thence to -Marengo, and so to Cherchel, and return by -the coast road, or vice versa. We chose a -middle course. We followed the Blidah road -<span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>as far as Boufarik and then turned westwards -by country roads to Marengo. With occasional -interludes of roughness, especially where the -marshy nature of the country renders their -maintenance difficult, these roads are very -good. They traverse a well-cultivated district -of the great plain between the coast-hills and -the Lesser Atlas, of which the snowy summits -are brilliant in the morning sun. On a hill -to our right we catch a glimpse of the curious -Tombeau de la Chrétienne, so called;—in all -probability the mausoleum of Juba II and -Selene his wife, the founders of Cæsarea. -It is placed on the summit of a hill 756 feet -above the sea, and is a circular building of about -130 feet in height. Like most Roman buildings -it has been used as a quarry by subsequent -peoples; perhaps the solitary capital of a -column which I noticed on a farm gateway -came from this source.</p> - -<div id='i090' class='figcenter id010'> -<img src='images/i_090f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic004'> -<p>CHERCHEL: THE AQUEDUCT</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Between Boufarik and Marengo the country -is fairly well cultivated; substantial farmhouses, -surmounted by groves of eucalyptus -trees, stand amid great fields of vine and -corn. It is difficult to realize that, in spite -of its long history, this is essentially a new -<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>country, far newer than the Colonies of South -Africa, newer than a good deal of Australia. -At Marengo we join the main road from -Blidah to Cherchel and descend rapidly by -the side of the newly-constructed railway. -From a contemplation of the enterprise of -modern France, we are taken back at a bound -to the works of ancient Rome by the appearance -on a hill to the left of a portion of the -aqueduct of Cæsarea. At this point it spans -a lateral valley in a triple series of arches, -rendered perhaps more impressive by a breakage -in the middle. Leaving the car we scramble -up by the side of a stream and reach the great -watercourse itself. Passing beneath its arches -we ascend the valley a little, and turn to look -down on its immense proportions. Amid -the rough mountain scrub we have passed from -all evidence of modern cultivation, and are -alone with this mighty fragment of the past. -It is difficult to find a reason for the feeling, -but few of Rome’s monuments impart a -fuller sense of her magnificence than the -aqueducts which survive at so many different -points of her Empire. They are a symbol -perhaps of her relentless power over nature -<span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>and man, of her determination to have what -she wanted at all cost. Sometimes, as in the -Campagna, it is the long lines of interminable -arches which impress us; here it is rather -their soaring height. Many modern peoples -would have carried the open watercourse -by a circuitous cutting on the hill-side round -the head of the little valley; such a proceeding -was alien to the directness of Rome.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“See distant mountains leave their valleys dry,</div> - <div class='line in1'>And o’er the proud arcade their tribute pour,</div> - <div class='line in1'>To lave imperial Rome.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c021'>The city to whose fountains and baths the -aqueduct brought copious streams of fresh water -from the hills has disappeared. A squalid -little port fills some of its site, and entombs -its marbles, but the aqueduct, situate too -far from the habitations of subsequent man -to serve his purpose as a quarry, and too -threatening with its mass to encourage any -hasty attempt at demolition, has survived.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A mile or two lower down are a few arches -of a branch of the same aqueduct; perhaps -more picturesque in their greater ruin, but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>less impressive in their situation and height. -All around as we enter Cherchel are evidences -of its ancient glory. The fashioning of the -ground, the great squared stones which are -built into the walls, the marble columns lying -about in the town square, and the huge masses -of shapeless brickwork on the shore prepare -us for the collection of statues and other -objects gathered together in a well-arranged -museum.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The city of Cæsarea, renowned for its -magnificence in the splendid Roman world -of the first century, rose under the hand of -a woman, as Carthage under Dido’s. To the -loves of Antony and Cleopatra was born the -Princess Selene. In her veins flowed the -blood of the Ptolemies,—perhaps of the -Pharaohs,—and of the paramount family of -Rome. Truly, to adapt the language of -the turf, was she bred for building. Possibly -with the idea of providing for this inconvenient -young lady at a safe distance from Rome, -Augustus mated her to Juba, a descendant -of that Masinissa, King of Numidia, who -had been the staunch ally of the Romans -in their long struggle with Hannibal. Juba, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>educated at Rome, had developed literary -tastes. He is lauded by Pliny for his erudition, -and we learn from Plutarch that he merited -a place among “Royal and Noble Authors.” -Save perhaps for the dark blood of his ancestry, -he was a fitting match for Cleopatra’s daughter, -especially as he was restored to the Numidian -throne of his family, with all the power of -Rome behind him. Retiring to the ancient -Phœnician town of Iol, the Royal pair set to -work to raise a noble city, which perhaps -with a punning reference to its former name -they called Julia Cæsarea; and to gather -around them a circle representing the best -culture of the time. Marble colonnades and -porticoes, baths and theatres and temples -sprang into being on the fair curve of the -bay beneath the wooded hills. Great libraries -enshrined the literary labours of the monarch -and the learning of the age. The scholars -of Greece found a comfortable and inspiring -home at the court of the pedantic king, -and the existence of a hundred thousand -citizens attested the material wealth of the -new city. Juba and Selene lived here in -peace to old age. The king died in <span class='fss'>A.D.</span> 19, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>and was succeeded by his son Ptolemy, who -inherited none of his father’s good qualities. -A debauched tyrant, he plunged his kingdom -into anarchy and was summoned to Rome. -He was received with every mark of honour, -but was put to death by Caligula, because, -as it was said, the splendour of his attire unduly -excited the attention of the populace.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ptolemy’s sister Drusilla was the wife of -that Felix, Governor of Judæa, before whom -Paul reasoned of righteousness, temperance -and judgment to come, so that Felix trembled, -and answered, “Go thy way for this time; -when I have a convenient season I will call -for thee.” Drusilla is described in the Acts -of the Apostles as a Jewess, which she was not, -by birth at any rate.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is sad to learn that as late as 1840 much -of the Roman city was still to be seen. The -theatre, now marked by a mere depression in -the ground, was almost perfect. Here we -have a genuine grievance against the French -conquest; but 1840 was in the dark ages. -So Cæsarea has passed; the Vandals, the -Arabs, the earthquakes, and the French have -all done their worst: and between them they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>have made an end of it. Perhaps even a -systematic excavation would not yield us -much of value. The statues to be seen in -the museum are for the most part copies of -statues already found at Rome, and suggest -that there was little originality in the artists -employed by Juba and Selene. But nothing -can impair the beauty of the site, and not -even the presence of a banal Franco-Arab -town can forbid us to dream of a white marble -city beneath a deep blue sty and facing a -purple sea.</p> - -<p class='c001'>So we turn homewards. For a while we -follow the Marengo road by which we came; -pass the great aqueduct again; but shortly -turn to the left to reach Tipasa and the seaside -road to Algiers. As we approach the -coast traces of the Roman past are everywhere;—on -every mound great shaped stones, -“the splendid wrecks of former pride,” lie -in confusion, and here and there a portico -suggests the existence of a suburban villa,</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“While oft some temple’s mouldering tops between</div> - <div class='line'>With memorable grandeur mark the scene.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c021'><span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>When we reach Tipasa itself the great stones -lie in heaps, in most admired disorder. The -ruins in their extent seem to indicate the -existence of a greater town than the historians -admit Tipasa to have been. It is said to have -been founded by Claudius as a colony of -veterans, and to have contained 20,000 inhabitants. -It is rich in memories of the -great Arian controversy which played so -important a part in the history of North -Africa after the triumph of Christianity. In -<span class='fss'>A.D.</span> 484 the Vandal king, Huneric, imposed -an Arian bishop on the Catholic inhabitants. -A great part fled to Spain; those who remained -and refused to accept the heresy had -their right arms lopped off and their tongues -cut out. It would seem that different branches -of Christendom have often been inclined to -treat their erring brethren with more severity -than they meted out to the unregenerate -heathen. Perhaps the heathen has ever been -a more likely convert.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The situation of Tipasa belies the opinion -that the ancients had no eye for natural -scenery. It stood on a fair promontory -sheltering from the east a little cove which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>is protected from the west by the great -mountain mass of Djebel-Chénoua, which -lies between Tipasa and Cherchel. The -country around is singularly picturesque, and -the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>tout ensemble</i></span> very beautiful, even for this -beautiful coast.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Thence we start for a run of fifty or sixty -miles by the seaside road to Algiers, a road -which has been splendidly engineered, and is -kept for the most part in a condition beyond -praise. In front of us stretches the coast-line -past the Bay of Algiers to Cap Matifou; -on our right are the wooded hills of the Sahel. -Here and there the land between the road and -the sea is laid out in gardens formed in small -rectangular plots divided by hedges of a tall -reed to break the force of the wind. Even so -the Dutch nurserymen erect screens to protect -their tulips on the wind-swept lowlands of -Holland. In these enclosures we particularly -note frequent plantations of the tall “silver” -banana. And so in due time we reach Algiers, -conscious of a well-spent day.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Travel gives the death-blow to many illusions. -If there is one tenet to which British -self-complacency has clung with more desperate -<span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>energy than another, it is that our people are -the only successful colonists. We are ready to -admit that the German has hardly had a fair -chance. He is relegated for the present to -desert tropical lands which failed in the past -to tempt even Portugal. That France owns -colonies of a different class we have been -dimly aware, but the oracles of the club and -of the Press have consistently pictured to us -the French colonist as a miserable being who -passes his time sipping absinthe in a café, -and longing for his return to <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>la belle France</i></span>. -Possibly in the purlieus of Algiers such a being -might be discovered; at any rate, he is certainly -not more in evidence than the “remittance -men” and bar-loafers are in our -own colonies. And a motor drive for twenty -or thirty miles through the rich plain which -encircles Algiers will send our long-cherished -belief a-packing to the limbo of dead British -prejudices. We have recently discovered that -the home-staying French, at any rate, know -something about practical gardening, and the -raising of vegetable crops for market; that -their scientific methods and untiring energy -combine to get more out of the ground than -<span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>we do; and we have even been led to pocket -our pride and to import certain practical -French gardeners, at a fancy wage, to show -us how the thing is done. In this we are only -following the example of our ancestors, who -acquired most of their arts and crafts from -French and Flemish refugees. Yet it was -quite a shock when one of these new-comers, -looking round him at the fair fields of the -home farm on a great estate in a southern -county, ingenuously remarked, “But why is -not this country cultivated?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Of this great plain between the sea and the -mountains no such question could be asked. -Some corn is raised, and some vegetables, -such as artichokes, but most of it is devoted -to the culture of the vine. It is all in the -highest state of cultivation, and not an inch -is wasted. The vines are planted in open -fields, with the precision of the hops of Kent. -Now is the time of pruning, and they are all -being cut back to within a foot or so of the -ground. To an eye accustomed to the hill-side -and rocky vineyards of the Rhine, of -Italy, or of Madeira, to the vines which in -Southern Europe throw themselves in reckless -<span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>abandon over trellises and wayside trees, these -flat fields, which suggest turnips or beet, -have a very unromantic appearance. But it is -easy to see that the cultivation is conducted -on the most scientific and business-like lines.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was our privilege to be invited to visit a -French gentleman and his family at their -residence about twenty miles from Algiers. -Our host has purchased a large tract of land, -the whole of which he has turned into a great -vineyard. He has built a pleasant country -house, and filled it with treasures of Arab art, -and the trophies of travel in other lands. -He has planted a garden of palms and sub-tropical -shrubs—a garden not kept up to the -standard of English trimness, but rich in -shade, and pleasantly suggestive of a jungle. -Not only are his vines planted and pruned with -mathematical precision, but all his machinery -for the extraction and treatment of the grape -juice is of the latest and most practical character. -A long building lined with huge vats -gives an idea of the greatness of his undertaking, -and is designed to enable him to hold -the produce of two vintages in the event of -a bad market:—a very important advantage -<span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>to a producer. There is nothing of the model, -or pleasure, farm about the place; it is all -intensely practical. “It is an industry,” -said our host; and indeed it is; a fine example -of industrial intelligence applied to agriculture. -The presence on the farm of two motor-cars -and an aeroplane is evidence that he is otherwise -abreast of the movement.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It may be that our host is exceptionally -gifted, both in enterprise and resources, -but at any rate his example must be of great -value. And the vistas all around of similar -properties with pleasant houses bowered in -trees and gardens suggest that it is followed. -It is agreeable to learn that this industry meets -its due reward. In 1910 it has been exceptionally -profitable. The chief buyers of Algerian -wines are the wine-shippers of Bordeaux and -Macon, from whose cellars they emerge as -claret and Burgundy. The complete failure of -the vintage in Europe has caused a rise of -fully fifty per cent in the price of the produce -of Algeria. In this happy climate, sure of its -winter rain and its summer sun, a failure of the -vintage is unknown and almost inconceivable. -Viticulture has become the most important -<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>of the industries in which Europeans in -Algeria are engaged, and its prosperity is of -great importance to the Colony. Before the -French conquest, the use of wine being forbidden -by the Koran, the vine was only -grown to a small extent for its fruit; the -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>raisin sucré</i></span> of Khabylia was especially esteemed -as a sweetmeat for dessert. The first -colonists made experiments in the production -of wine, but with insufficient knowledge and -inadequate equipment. Wine-makers are an -aristocracy among agriculturists; a high intelligence -and inherited traditions count for -much. The ravages of the phylloxera in -France created the opportunity of Algeria. -The wine-growers of the South thrown out of -work were ready to emigrate, and the deficit -in the mother country’s production offered -a great market for the Colony. Since that -time the industry has made steady progression. -In 1850 2000 acres were under cultivation -as vineyards; in 1905 about 450,000 acres. -The production of wine, which amounted to -370,000 gallons in 1878, is now over 150,000,000 -gallons. The price obtained for wine exported -is subject to very wide fluctuations. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>In 1903 the 100,000,000 gallons exported -realized £4,000,000. In 1906 110,000,000 -gallons realized only £1,600,000.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Algeria has managed to keep comparatively -free from the phylloxera; the provinces of -Oran and Constantine, west and east, have -suffered somewhat, but the central province, -Algiers, has so far escaped. Energetic measures -are taken to guard against the extension of the -plague, and owners of vines which it is found -necessary to destroy are compensated by the -State. The policy of the Government is now -not to encourage the extension of the vineyards, -but to improve the quality of their -produce. An effort should be made to find -other outlets than the French market, and -thus counteract the wide fluctuations in -value which arise from its varying demands. -Some attempt has already been made to -produce rich dessert wines similar to those of -Portugal and Madeira, of which there is a -considerable consumption in France, and it -would appear that there is no obstacle to its -success. A delicious Muscat is already made, -which might conceivably obtain a great vogue.</p> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span></div> -<div class='doubletop'> - -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='ch04' class='c005'><i>IV—A GARDEN AND SOME BUILDINGS</i></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c015'>Jardin d’Essai—A lost opportunity—Some suggestions—The villas of -Mustapha—A model museum—Arab art—Its origins—Its limitations—Its -significance.</p> -<hr class='c016' /> -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“There is an art to which I hold no key,</div> - <div class='line'>A tangled maze of curve and line I see;</div> - <div class='line in2'>Do you, my brother, keener-eyed, discern</div> - <div class='line'>A silent symbol of infinity?”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c007'>The amateur gardener, especially if -he has any knowledge of tropical -or sub-tropical horticulture, will -probably not be long in Algiers -without visiting the Jardin d’Essai. This -modest title is given to an extremely successful -attempt at acclimatization, chiefly of tropical -trees, on a large scale. It was established by -the Government eighty years ago, and is now -the property of the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Compagnie Générale -Algérienne</span>, which grows vast quantities of -young palms and other trees for export to -Paris and London.</p> - -<div id='i104' class='figcenter id011'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span> -<img src='images/i_104f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p>ALGIERS: GARDEN OF THE HOTEL ST. GEORGE</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The garden in itself will be a disappointment -to the garden-lover. It is a rectangular piece -of ground, intersected by straight alleys, and -with the exception of a pool of water at the -southern corner, containing a small island, -there is little attempt at what is called landscape -gardening. And the possibilities of a -water-garden are neglected. One wonders -what an Algerian Wisley would be like. The -whole aspect of the place suggests a not very -well kept nursery garden, which in effect it is. -But the wealth of its contents completely -atones for its poverty in design.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Perhaps the most striking feature is an -avenue of india-rubber trees, which have -attained a gigantic size,—a height in some cases -of sixty feet and a girth of twenty feet. It is -a wonder that this garden was not “floated” -on the London market during the recent -“boom.” At any rate, it does contain rubber -trees, which it is understood some of the areas -offered to the public did not. Another -species of <em>ficus</em> covers a large space of ground, -throwing down fresh roots from its lateral -branches, and apparently prepared to travel -in this way in every direction. It is unfortunate -<span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>that the trees and shrubs are very -insufficiently labelled; occasional fragments -of labels more or less indecipherable, and in -some cases, I think, incorrect, may be discovered; -but there is no systematic attempt -to afford information. This ought not to be -so in a garden for which the State is partially -responsible.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The palms are very fine, and of many -different species, including some great rarities -which I am unable to name. All the commoner -bamboos are in profusion, but being for the -most part planted as hedges rather than as -clumps they lose their natural effect. Various -Yuccas vie with the india-rubber trees in -their splendid growth. At the southern end -of the garden, where the formality of the -avenues gives place to a little wilderness, are -some magnificent clumps of <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Strelitzia augusta</i></span>,—finer -in size and growth than I have seen -elsewhere,—and towering above them are -some lofty specimens of <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Chorisia speciosa</i></span> from -Brazil. In the drier spots are various species -of aloe; and in the wetter papyrus flourishes -exceedingly. The fantastic <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Monstrera deliciosa</i></span> -is quite at home, and imbeds its constricting -<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>coils in the palm-trunks, in a way which -must be very painful to them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Not much colour is to be expected in the -early months of the year, but two or three -Bougainvilleas make a moderate show, and -both <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Bignonia venusta</i></span> and <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>B. Smithii</i></span> are in -flower. The exquisite <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Plumbago Capensis</i></span> is -coming into bloom; also the single red <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Hibiscus</i></span> -and its less attractive double variety. A little -trouble spent on this garden would soon make -it one of the finest in the world, without in -any way impairing its commercial uses. The -material is there, and a little skill in rearrangement -of walks and in grouping of specimens is -all that is wanted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Perhaps a friendly critic may venture to -be also an adviser. It is to be presumed that -Algiers welcomes the advent of strangers. -And I find that the local press records with -satisfaction that hotels are full, and also that -great steamers with hundreds of tourists -constantly arrive. These strangers do good -to trade, and it may therefore be worth while -to pay a little attention to their tastes, and -to increase rather than diminish the attractions -which draw them hither. Even if the inhabitants -<span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>of Algiers care little about the beauty of -the surroundings of their city, they are part of -its essential charm, and should be preserved -from the destruction which is everywhere -threatening them. The ruthless felling of -ancient trees, the obstruction of points of -view, the vulgarization of pleasant places,—these -may seem little things individually, -but in the mass they tell. There are, I believe, -full powers to deal with such matters, and the -Minister of the Interior has recently addressed -to the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>préfets</i></span> of France a circular calling -attention to the necessity of safeguarding sites -of artistic and natural beauty. Let Algiers -lead the way, and she will not repent it. But -she may some day bitterly repent inaction now.</p> - -<div id='i108' class='figcenter id012'> -<img src='images/i_108f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic004'> -<p>ALGIERS: FOUNTAIN IN THE KASBEH</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Another suggestion. It would not be a -great matter for the town to purchase a -block of buildings in the old streets below the -Kasbeh, to clean them out and to preserve -them without undue restoration. Strangers -wish to see what the old town was like, and -are not all able to battle with the squalor and -turmoil of the old streets as they are. Such -a little natural museum would more than pay -for its cost. And—this is a smaller matter -<span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>still—it would be for the convenience of -foreigners if notices were affixed to public -buildings, stating at what times they are -opened to inspection. It is annoying, for -instance, to arrive at the Bibliothèque in the -morning and to find it closed, with nothing -to indicate when it will be open.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I could extend these suggestions. But -perhaps it would be too much to expect in a -town largely peopled by Mohammedans that -strangers visiting the mosques, or even passing -in their neighbourhood, should be relieved -from the importunities of irresponsible and -worrying touts. The town is generally so -well policed; the importunity of beggars is -so trifling with what one suffers in Egypt, for -example; that, like Oliver Twist, one asks for -more.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The suburb of Mustapha takes its name -from the last Dey but three who erected -the palace now used as the official summer -residence of the Governor. The vast sums -he expended on it excited the anger of the -janissaries, and led to his disgrace and death. -There are many other Arab villas now -modernized; they are well described by the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>artist Fromentin, a painter in words as on -canvas: “To-day without exception they -belong to Europeans. So the deep mystery -which veiled them has vanished, and much of -their charm has disappeared. The architecture -of these houses has no great meaning when -applied to European uses. We must therefore -accept them for the pleasure of their exterior -aspect, and study them as the graceful monuments -of an exiled civilization. Inhabited by -the people who built—I might say, dreamed—them, -these dwellings were a creation both of -poetry and genius. This people knew how -to make prisons which were places of delight, -and to cloister its women in convents where -they were unseen yet seeing. For the day, -a multitude of little apertures through stretching -gardens of jasmine and vines; for the -night, the terraces;—what more malicious, -and at the same time more full of care for -the distraction of the prisoners? The gardens -resemble those playthings which are designed -for the amusement of the Arab woman, that -singular being whose life, long or short, is -never anything but childhood. You see there -only little gravelled walks, little rivulets in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>marble channels, where the water meanders -in moving arabesque designs. The baths, too, -suggest the invention of a husband at once -a poet and a jealous lover. Imagine vast -cisterns where the water is not more than -three feet in depth, flagged with the finest -white marble, and open through vaulted -arches to a wide horizon. Not a tree reaches -this height; when you are seated in these -aerial bathing-places you see only sky and sea, -and are seen only by the passing birds. We -have no understanding of the mysteries of such -an existence. We walk through the country -to enjoy it; when we return it is to be indoors. -This secluded life near to an open -window, this motionless existence before so -vast a space, this household luxury, this -enervating climate and radiant country, the -infinite perspective of the sea—all this must -give birth to strange dreams, must throw the -vital forces into disorder, and mingle a sentiment -beyond the power of words to describe -with the sorrows of captivity. But,” concludes -our author, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“ne me trompe-je pas en prêtant -des sensations très littéraires à des êtres qui -assurément ne les ont jamais eues?”</span></p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>Those who are fortunate enough to have -access to some of these villas will find their -original features of house and garden carefully -preserved; the gardens improved and -extended in accordance with more intelligent -views of horticulture. Others may see in the -spacious and well-ordered gardens of the Hôtel -St. George, the largest of the hotels frequented -by English visitors, what in the way of vernal -loveliness the soil and climate of Algiers are -capable of producing. In the grounds of the -Hôtel Continental, another large house with a -sunny situation and a magnificent view, are -some curious and interesting trees, a dragon -tree which is considered to be six hundred -years old.</p> - -<div id='i112' class='figcenter id013'> -<img src='images/i_112f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic004'> -<p>DRAGON TREE IN THE GARDEN OF THE HOTEL CONTINENTAL</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>There is an excellent Algerian museum at -Mustapha Supérieur in a pleasant garden, -close to the Governor’s Summer Palace, -built with a court-yard, in the Moorish -manner, an admirable form for a museum. -It is laudably confined to Algerian antiquities -and Arab art; there are no irrelevant South -Sea Island curios; it has not been used as a -receptacle for the rubbish of the local collector, -a dumping-ground of the perplexed widow -<span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>and the embarrassed executor. Algerian -history is thoroughly represented; there are -the flint implements of primitive man, a -collection of Punic pottery from Gouraya, -Roman antiquities of every kind, and numerous -examples of Arab and Berber handicrafts. -These treasures are exhibited with the taste -which distinguishes the French in such matters, -as is evidenced in their dressing of shop-windows. -Of the Roman antiquities perhaps -the gem is a bronze figure of a boy with an -eagle, two feet high, and of fine style. It was -found at Lambessa. From Lambessa come -numerous other exhibits, including some gold -coins of the period of Septimius Severus, an -emperor of African origin, of Julia his wife -(with filigree mounting), and Caracalla and -his son, of Macrinus and Severus Alexander. -These are in mint condition. And there is a -very fine gold medallion of Postumus. There -are numerous mosaics,—in Roman Africa mosaic -pavements were very popular and well executed,—marbles -of all kinds from Cherchel, and a -very interesting stone tablet recording the -rules for the distribution of water from an -aqueduct to Roman colonists. The Arab -<span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>portion includes arms, jewellery, the elaborately -embroidered saddlery of Arab cavaliers, pottery, -carpets, woven stuffs,—a fine assortment -of Arab and Berber handiwork. Altogether a -most creditable museum,—a very model of -what a local museum should be. In a neighbouring -building is a “Forestry” collection;—stuffed -examples of Algerian wild animals, and -fine specimens of Algerian woods, and so on. -Some magnificent examples of slabs of the -native <em>Thuja</em> are worth notice.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As with other public buildings in Algeria, -the usefulness of this museum is somewhat -curtailed by the short time it is open,—only in -the afternoon and not every day,—and, what is -worse, by the absence of any notice of the -hours during which it may be visited. In my -ignorance I tried to enter on two or three -occasions. Goaded to desperation one morning -I rang the bell, and found the amiable -custodian at leisure to admit me, but only by -favour. Such a collection is worthy of a -notice-board in French, Arabic, English, -German, Spanish, and Italian, setting forth -the hours it is open, and to a foreigner (I -make the suggestion with diffidence) it appears -<span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>that the morning hours should not be forgotten. -This is too good a museum to be -circumscribed by such antiquated and provincial -arrangements as prevail at present. -The object of a museum should be to get -people to come in, not to keep them out. -I was informed that it was closed on Monday -afternoon because there were too many people -about! The British workman’s Monday is -evidently not the insular institution I had -supposed. But a museum is not a fortress.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We are wont to speak of “Arab Art,” but -the term, if consecrated by usage, is incorrect -and misleading. There is, in fact, no such -thing. The Arab has never been an artist. -The nomad had of necessity no architecture, -and architecture is the mother of the arts. -Artistic incapacity and an effort to break -away from anthropomorphism in religion went -hand in hand among the Semitic races;—“Thou -shalt not make to thyself any graven -image, nor likeness of any thing that is in -heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or -in the water under the earth.” And when -Solomon builded his temple he turned for -assistance to the King of Tyre; and one -<span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span>Hiram, a brassworker of Tyre, “wrought all -his work.” To this day the Jews, who have -excelled in finance and statecraft, in literature -and in music, have made little mark in art.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The rise of Islam is an extraordinary -phenomenon. In one generation the Arab is -a wanderer, half patriarch, half brigand, -pasturing his flocks on the verge of the cultivated -lands of more civilized peoples, and -snatching such prey as hazard brought within -his grasp; in the next he is a conqueror -ruling from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic, -and threatening to extinguish Christendom. -On the vanquished he imposed his religion and -his social code; he had no art to impose. -Having become by force of conquest and the -exigencies of government a dweller in cities, -he showed his incapacity to understand the -work of his predecessors in such eccentricities -as re-erecting their fallen buildings with the -columns inverted, using the capital as base, -and the base in the capital’s place. As architects -he employed the natives of the countries -he had overrun, in Egypt Copts and Greeks, -who reproduced Byzantine forms and fixed -the typical lines on which the development -<span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>of “Arab art” was to take place. In this -deference to local tendencies is to be found the -origin of the wide divergencies of art in the -Mohammedan world,—of Persian art in the -east, and Moorish art in the west. The conquered -and converted peoples continued to -build, as far as the main plan was concerned, -in the same way as they had built before -their conversion, adapting their previous -methods to present needs, and to the requirements -of their conquerors.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In Barbary the development of art followed -closely that of Spain. The Moorish art of -Spain was chiefly Roman or Byzantine in -origin; the first mosque built, that of Cordoba, -is said to have been designed by architects from -Byzantium. Columns used in its construction -were brought from the ruins of Merida and -other Roman towns, and even from distant -parts of the Mediterranean. From this commencement -sprang the later glories of Moorish -art, exhibited in their most splendid developments -at Granada in Spain, and Tlemçen in -Algeria.</p> - -<p class='c001'>If in the scheme of its buildings Moorish -architecture followed earlier examples, the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>Byzantine basilica and the Roman house, in -its decorative features it was more distinctively -Mohammedan. Yet if the Semite nourished -his traditional aversion from the graven image, -if the Prophet forbade idolatry and his -disciples extended the prohibition to the -portrayal of the human body, and enjoined -that only trees, flowers and inanimate objects -should be depicted; it is nevertheless necessary -to seek some deeper cause for the objection -of the western Mohammedans to any artistic -representation of animal forms. This objection -was by no means universal in the -Mohammedan world. The Persian rejoiced -in his pictures and statues. The explanation -may be found perhaps in the zeal of the -iconoclasts which had rent North Africa before -the Arab invasion. Fathers of the Church -had thundered against images; humbler Christians, -such as the Copts in Egypt, had striven -to dissociate their art from materialistic -suggestions, and to find in geometric designs -some expression of their aspirations for the -infinite. But Hellenism, with its delight in -nature, and especially the human form, was -still dominant in Christian art. It disappeared -<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>before the onslaught from Arabia. The -Coptic builder saw his opportunity. His -abstract ideas fitted exactly with those of -his new master. In his rhythmical representations -of foliage, his polygonal figures and -intersecting angles, may perhaps be found the -germ of the characteristic motives of Mohammedan -decoration.</p> - -<div id='i118' class='figcenter id014'> -<img src='images/i_118f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic004'> -<p>ALGIERS: FOUNTAIN, RUE DE L’INTENDANCE</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Its elements may be divided into three -groups;—inscriptions in writing, and interlacements, -rectilinear and curvilinear. It -will be found that almost all Moorish decoration -falls under one of these three heads. -The inscriptions as a rule are not historic, but -ornamental, verses of the Koran, pious sentences -and so forth. The style is at first sober -and monumental, more stately than the -cursive hand in ordinary use. As we should -expect, it became in time more elaborate -and fantastic, harmonizing well with the -decorative interlacements which commonly -surround the lettering. The inscriptions themselves -are often in geometrical form, so as to -give at first sight the impression of a pattern; -for instance, a sentence may be repeated four -times around a central letter.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>To the variety of geometrical and curvilinear -interlacements there is obviously no -limit. Angles, straight lines and curves are -frequently combined in the style we denominate -arabesque, a style which has prevailed -far beyond the limits of Arab conquest, and -is particularly a feature of Venetian art. -Late examples show great development, especially -on floral lines. Leaves of particular -trees, notably the palm, are represented. -But a mathematical suggestion does not -cease to prevail. The passion for interlacement -and for excessive decoration of surface -gives rise to curious vagaries,—such are the -intricate intersection of arches, the breaking -up of the arch itself into subsidiary arches, -and the “stalactites” which commonly adorn -the roof of the <em>mihrab</em>, the Holy of Holies. -It is not without interest when visiting a -mosque to note these developments and to -strive to trace them to their original elements.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Our insight into the Arab mind is so limited, -we have ourselves so slight an inclination to -the symbolic and the mystic, so strong a -preference for directness in art and speech, -for “straight-flung words and few,” that we -<span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>may well hesitate to dogmatize in such a -matter as Moorish decoration. In the light -of our own tame submission to a superabundance -of ecclesiastical and domestic ornament -which is without significance we should -regard it as merely a habit of clothing blank -spaces with conventional markings. Yet it -may be that the spiritual dreamer, ever intent -on the conception of an abstract deity, -rejecting with scorn the idea of a God made -flesh and dwelling among men, finds in the -geometrical expressions of unending line and -angle, in the interminable intricacies of the -interlacing curve, some harmony with his -own longings, and some suggestion of the -Infinite.</p> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span></div> -<div class='doubletop'> - -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='ch05' class='c018'><i>V—SWORD AND PLOUGH</i></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c015'>Great events and trivial causes—The Dey’s fan—France roused—England -as dog-in-the-manger—The French expedition and conquest—Clauzel—Abd-el-Kader—Bugeaud.</p> -<hr class='c016' /> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“They shall beat their swords into ploughshares.”</div> - <div class='line in41'><span class='sc'>Isaiah.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c007'>It is naturally impossible for a traveller to -traverse Algeria without being constantly -conscious of the effects of the French conquest. -His own presence there otherwise -than as a Christian slave is one of them, and -not the least important one for him. But in -the course of his journeyings he will be so -frequently informed of important incidents in -the series of campaigns, of the connection of -localities he is visiting with some phase of -victory or defeat, that a short résumé of the -lengthy transactions may not be out of place. -With many side-issues the story resolves itself -in the end, as such war-histories often do, -into a struggle for the mastery between two -great men. The Frenchman won the rubber.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>Stern as was the lesson which Lord Exmouth -inflicted, it was soon forgotten, and the ingrained -habit of centuries reasserted itself. A -subsequent Dey set himself to re-create a fleet, -and in 1820 he had forty-four vessels with 1560 -sailors. Fresh trouble arose with the British -consul, and the weakness of the admiral who -was sent to support him only made matters -worse. The Dey refused to see Mr. McDonell, -who had been forced to leave, and treated Mr. -St. John, who replaced him, with ignominy. -“All the disgraceful ceremonies in the intercourse -between the representative of Great -Britain and the Turkish authorities were -continued. The consul was obliged, the -moment he came in sight of the Dey’s palace, -to walk bareheaded in the hottest sun; in -waiting for an audience he had to sit on a -stone bench in the public passage; he could -not wear a sword in the Dey’s presence, nor -ride to the palace, though his own servants, -if Mohammedans, might do so.” And the -corsair fleet began once more to harry the -coasts of France and Spain.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the early days of the Turkish domination -the corsairs had been influenced by political -<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>preferences. They had especially waged war -against the Spaniards, who had expelled the -Moors, and whose sovereign, Charles V, was -the enemy of the Sultan. They respected the -vessels of Francis I, the Sultan’s ally. So may -even pirates follow the dictates of conscience. -But as time went on the high character of the -Algerian corsairs suffered some abasement -through association with the renegades of -Christendom, and French and Spanish vessels -met a like fate,—all was fish that came to their -net. The French, who had formerly felt -that the Spaniards were getting no more -than their deserts, and had even afforded -Kheir-ed-Din a temporary refuge in the port -of Marseilles during a storm, were naturally -hurt at the ingratitude of these proceedings. -They went so far, in the reign of the Grand -Monarque, as to bombard Algiers on two -occasions,—with the customary result. Their -fleets sailed away; Algiers rebuilt itself, and -proceeded upon its piratical way. No one -has ever rivalled the Deys in the art of taking -a beating, and coming up again with a smile,—unless -it be their ultimate conquerors.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Great changes in the history of the world -<span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>have often been, or have seemed to be, the -result of accident. Wars have been waged, -conquests effected, empires created, not of -settled intention and design, but as the outcome -of the personal quarrels, and the personal -ambitions of individuals, less, in modern times -at any rate, of sovereigns than of subjects. -The British Empire has been created rather in -spite of than by the aid of the governing -powers of Great Britain. Cecil Rhodes is but -the latest of the long line of Englishmen who -imposed imperial responsibilities on a half-hearted -England. Governments seldom dream -imperial dreams; they are more concerned to -keep their seats. Sovereigns like George III -may lose an empire. Mere accidental citizens, -as Clive or Rhodes, may create one.</p> - -<p class='c001'>So this fertile North Africa, through history -the shuttle-cock of Asia and Europe, with an -illimitable hinterland of “rather light soil,” -to quote the words of a statesman who had -little sympathy with African conquest, became -French because an Algerian Dey struck a -consul with his fan. This incident arose—as -modern international incidents frequently -arise—out of a financial dispute. Certain -<span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>Jews of Algiers had a claim against France -for corn supplied during the Napoleonic wars. -The Dey pressed this claim as his own; and -being dissatisfied with the delay in settlement -he made a violent scene with the consul, -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“et s’oublia jusqu’à le toucher de son chasse-mouches.”</span> -Apologies were demanded and -refused, and for three years, from 1827 to 1830, -France endeavoured to blockade the port of -Algiers. The Dey Hussein continued obdurate. -So little repentant was he that when the -<em>Provence</em> entered the port in 1829, having on -board a French admiral, charged to make a -last effort at negotiation (for the blockade was -costing seven millions of francs a year and -effecting nothing), all the batteries opened -fire on her. Even now the French ministry -was reluctant to make war, and proposed to -the Sultan of Turkey that Mehemet Ali, -Pasha of Egypt, should bring the Barbary -states under his rule. The Sultan refused his -authorization, and an expedition was decided -on. France was destined to become an -African power, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“un peu malgré elle.”</span></p> - -<p class='c001'>The naval authorities were strongly opposed -to a military expedition; it would, they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>declared, be absolutely impracticable to land -an army with its indispensable materiel; and -former experience, especially the failure of -Charles V, appeared to support their view. -But the French Cabinet decided to make the -attempt. With the exception of England, the -European powers were complaisant. England -demanded explanations as to the object of the -preparations. M. de Polignac in a circular -note explained that his master desired only -to suppress piracy, slavery and the tribute -paid by Christian nations to the Dey. England -was not satisfied and asked for a formal renunciation -of a policy of annexation. The -President of the Council replied to the British -ambassador that the King was not led by any -sentiment of ambition, that he was not aware -that he had need to ask the permission of anyone -to avenge an insult to his flag; that he -had already made known his intentions, and -that his word ought to be sufficient guarantee. -England returned to the charge. M. de Polignac -then produced a second circular note in -which he declared that “if Algiers fell into -the power of the French army the King -would examine in conjunction with his allies -<span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>what new order of things it would be fitting -to establish for the benefit of Christianity.” -England complained that this note contained -no formal engagement not to keep Algiers; -the French minister put an end to the discussion -by declaring that the King’s communications -required no further development.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is interesting to recall these diplomatic -amenities; <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>mutatis mutandis</i></span> they bear strong -resemblance to certain international passages at -the time of the English occupation of Egypt. -But France does not seem to have given any -undertaking that her operations should be only -temporary.</p> - -<p class='c001'>If his memoirs are to be trusted, Admiral -d’Haussez, the French Minister of Marine, -lacked the diplomatic suavity of his colleague. -Even a sailor’s bluffness hardly covers the tone -of a declaration he made to the British ambassador. -“The King wishes the expedition to be -made, and it will be made. France laughs at -England. She will do in this instance what she -likes, and will put up with neither control nor -opposition. We are no longer in the days when -you dictated laws to Europe. Your influence -<span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>rested on your wealth, your ships and your -habit of domination. All that is past. I suppose -you are not willing to compromise what -remains of your influence by going beyond -threats. But if you wish to do so, I will give -you the means. Our fleet is already assembled -at Toulon, and will be ready to sail in the -last days of May. It will call at the Balearic -Isles, and it will land the troops to the west -of Algiers. If the fancy takes you, you may -meet it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>France had her way without interference; -the admiral’s prophecy (recorded after the -event) was fulfilled to the letter. An army -of 35,000 men under General Bourmont was -transported in 300 vessels, and disembarked -with no great difficulty at Sidi Ferruch, about -fifteen miles to the west of Algiers, on June -14th, 1830. The landing was unopposed, -Hussein having expected it to take place to -the east of the town and collected his army -there. A few days later the Dey’s son-in-law -and general, Ibrahim, came into conflict -with the French troops and was defeated. -A second attack had the same result. The -French army marched on Algiers, laid siege -<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>to Fort l’Empereur, so called because it stood -on the heights above the town where Charles V -had pitched his tent. The French soldiers -knew only one Emperor, and promptly called -it Fort Napoleon. The Turkish garrison -blew up the fort and fled, and Algiers lay -at the mercy of the invaders.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It appears that Hussein was ready to resist -to the death, and sooner than submit to blow -up the city. But disaffection appeared among -his troops, who sent an emissary to Bourmont, -offering the Dey’s head as a token of conciliation. -The Dey then decided to treat; he was willing -to make every reparation for the insult offered -to the consul, to abandon his pecuniary claims -and to pay the cost of the war. But Bourmont -would have nothing but the surrender of the -city and its forts. The Dey was to be at -liberty to retire to some place to be fixed on, -with his family and his riches. As regards the -inhabitants,—<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“l’exercice de la religion mussulmane -restera libre. La liberté des habitants -de toutes les classes, leur religion, leurs propriétés, -leur commerce, leur industrie ne -recevront aucune atteinte, leurs femmes seront -respectées: le général en chef en prend l’engagement -<span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>sur l’honneur.”</span> These terms were -accepted; the French army entered Algiers on -July 5th; and it appears that the conditions -were fairly well observed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>An eye-witness has described the attitude of -the population. “Algiers,” he says, “on the -entry of the French, did not present the sad -and desolate aspect of a conquered town. -The shops were closed, but the traders, seated -quietly before their doors, seemed to await -the moment for opening them. You met here -and there groups of Turks and Moors who -appeared more indifferent than alarmed. A -few veiled Mohammedan women could be -seen peering through the narrow windows of -their dwellings; Jewish women with greater -boldness filled the terraces of their houses -without exhibiting any surprise at the novel -spectacle. Our soldiers threw everywhere -eager and curious glances, and all they saw -filled them with astonishment at a city where -no one seemed astonished at their presence. -The resignation to the will of God which is so -profoundly graven on the spirit of the Mussulman, -the sentiment of France’s power, and -her well-known generosity, all made for confidence; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>and it was soon established.”<a id='r3' /><a href='#f3' class='c020'><sup>[3]</sup></a> With -such ease and light-heartedness did France -enter, on her career of African conquest. Her -troubles were to come.</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f3'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r3'>3</a>. Pelissier de Reynaud, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Annales Algériennes.”</span></p> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The policy to be pursued was the first of -them. The expedition had achieved its -punitive object, Algeria appeared to be poor -and sterile, and there was much to be said -for abandoning it altogether. At the other -extreme was the proposal to attempt a complete -and definite conquest. A middle course -was adopted,—to occupy only certain important -points on the coast and in the interior. It is -easy to be wise after the event; our own -colonial experience is full of evidence of the -futility of half-measures; and we need not -claim much perspicacity for observing that -France missed the golden opportunity for -occupying the country when the central -Government, such as it was, had been destroyed. -But, for all the brave words of the -truculent admiral, she doubtless felt some -diffidence in view of her declaration to Europe, -and the continued hostility of Great Britain -was not without its effect. France’s own -<span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>political position, too, was in a very disordered -condition. On the 18th of August a revolution -took place, Louis Philippe was proclaimed -King and Bourmont was recalled.</p> - -<p class='c001'>For the next ten years, from 1830 to 1840, -what was known as the policy of Restricted -Occupation was pursued. Certain ports on -the coast were occupied—Oran, Bougie, Bône, -etc.—and attempts were made to bring the -plain of the Metidja under French control -by placing garrisons in such towns as Medea -and Blidah. The army of occupation was -much reduced, and Clauzel, the general in -command, endeavoured to raise native auxiliary -troops, with small success. He was, at any -rate, a master of bombast. Having occupied -Blidah and ascended one of the passes of the -Atlas, he addressed his troops: <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Soldats! les -feux de nos bivouacs qui, des cimes de l’Atlas, -semblent dans ce moment se confondre avec -la lumière des étoiles, annoncent à l’Afrique la -victoire que vous venez de remporter,”</span> etc. -This pronouncement was followed by the -withdrawal of the garrison and a hasty retreat -to Algiers. Early in 1831 Clauzel was recalled. -His successors, Berthezène, the duc de Rovigo -<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>and Voirol, essaying a great undertaking with -inadequate means, had no better fortune.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Under Voirol General Desmichels was sent -to Oran with the object of establishing order -in the west. The tribes were in arms, and at -their head-quarters at Mascara had chosen as -their general a celebrated marabout, or holy -man, named Mahi-ed-Dine, who, having attacked -Oran several times without success, -resigned the command to his son, Abd-el-Kader, -then only twenty-four years of age, -but destined to become one of the greatest -leaders of modern times. He was, says Camille -Rousset, “of middle height, but well made, -vigorous and untiring. He was the best -among the best horsemen in the world. -Physical qualities are highly valued by the -Arabs; Abd-el-Kader had more—the qualities -which make men conquerors: intelligence, -sagacity, strength of will, genius to command. -In eloquence he was the equal of the greatest -orators, and could bend crowds to his will. -He spoke in serious and measured tones, and -was sparing of gesture, but his pale face was -full of animation, and under their long dark -lashes his blue eyes darted fire.” It may be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>remarked that the blue eyes point to a Berber, -rather than an Arab origin. Such was the -man who for years to come was to bid defiance -to the French.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Their first dealings with him were unfortunate. -Desmichels arrived at Oran in the -spring of 1833. Finding that he could make -no headway against Abd-el-Kader, who from -his capital of Mascara was preaching a holy -war for the extermination of the infidels, he -concluded with him a treaty which enormously -increased the Arab’s authority. Abd-el-Kader -was described in it as Emir; all practical -power was placed in his hands; and he was -permitted to purchase arms and ammunition -in French towns. No mention was made of -French sovereignty. The treaty, though contrary -to the instructions of the French Government, -was accepted by it in the belief that it -assured peace. Difficulties soon arose. Desmichels -was recalled; his successor, Trezel, -at the head of a column of 1700 men, was -attacked by Abd-el-Kader in the marshes of -La Macta, and defeated with the loss of a -third of his force.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The prestige of this victory brought many -<span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>waverers to the Arab leader’s flag. But France’s -disaster brought home to her the seriousness -of the position, and in the end the defeat did -more towards the ultimate conquest than a -victory would have done.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clauzel, who had left Africa almost in -disgrace in 1831, was sent back in full command -in 1835. He alone of the French -generals had exhibited any military qualities. -His grandiose projects have been justified by -events. His main plan consisted in occupying -Mascara and Tlemçen in the west, Medea and -Miliana in the centre, and Constantine in the -east. Of Tlemçen and Constantine he said, -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Si vous n’occupez pas ces deux Gibraltar de -la Régence d’Alger, vous n’en serez jamais les -maîtres.”</span> His failure was due to his attempt -to effect these objects with the inadequate -means with which he was supplied. He commenced -by advancing against Abd-el-Kader, -who retired before him. Having occupied -Mascara and Tlemçen, he returned to Algiers, -whereupon Tlemçen was promptly besieged -by the Arabs. At this point the great Frenchman, -destined to overthrow the Arab power -and to conquer Algeria, appeared on the scene. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>General Bugeaud was sent to command in the -west. He was personally opposed to conquest, -and regarded French intervention in Algeria -not only as having been badly conducted, but -as initially a mistake. These views did not -prevent him from putting his hand to the -plough. He began by revolutionizing the -methods of warfare; in spite of the opposition -of his officers, he dispensed with heavy trains -of baggage and artillery, lightened the loads of -the soldiers, and carried their provisions on -mules. Attacking Abd-el-Kader at La Sikkah -he inflicted on him a signal defeat, his native -auxiliaries pursuing the flying enemy with -fury and slaughtering them in great numbers. -Bugeaud then returned to France.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Meantime Clauzel, having had some success -in the neighbourhood of Algiers, attacked -Constantine, but was ignominiously repulsed, -and was recalled. The city fell the following -year to General Valée. In 1837 Bugeaud was -sent back to Oran, with instructions to make -terms with Abd-el-Kader on the basis of -surrendering to him the province of Oran in -consideration of his recognizing the sovereignty -of France and paying tribute. The two leaders -<span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>met and negotiated the treaty of the Tafna. -It was all in the Arab’s favour; the tribute -fixed was nominal, the sovereignty question -ignored. In native eyes Abd-el-Kader became -a veritable monarch, his territory was assured -to him and he had leisure to gather his forces -for a further struggle. We must suppose -either that Bugeaud’s private preferences -carried him away, or that the situation in the -west was too desperate to warrant his insisting -on better terms. For two years peace reigned, -but in 1839 Abd-el-Kader proclaimed a holy -war. Arabs and Khabyles invaded the Metidja -and burnt the farms of the French colonists. -Hostilities lasted for two years with no decisive -result. In October, 1840, the Governor-General, -Valée, was recalled, and Bugeaud -was sent out in supreme command to inaugurate -a new policy.</p> - -<div id='i138' class='figcenter id011'> -<img src='images/i_138f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p>EVENING PRAYER</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The half-hearted efforts of ten years were -at an end, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>l’occupation restreinte</i></span> was to give -way to <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>l’occupation totale</i></span>. France set herself -at all cost to occupy effectively the whole -territory of Algeria up to the desert. She had -missed her chance at first. “Occasion,” says -Bacon, “(as it is in the common verse), -<span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>turneth a bald Noddle, after she hath presented -her locks in Front and no hold taken.” The -unwise temporizing with Abd-el-Kader had -enormously increased the difficulties of the -position. But there was to be no more -dalliance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Bugeaud was one of those born leaders to -whom the exigencies of the occasion are more -important than military tradition. To seek -the enemy’s force and to destroy it was for him -a leading principle, as it has been for our great -naval commanders. He abolished the garrisons -of his predecessors, and substituted for them -mobile columns. He believed, and proved, -that the manœuvres of such columns were far -more effective, even for the protection of -colonized districts, than the occupation of -definite points. In the main he relied on -infantry, supported by a light and very mobile -artillery. The <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>a priori</i></span> view that cavalry is -necessary to meet a mounted enemy found in -his operations no support, however useful it -may be for surprises and pursuit. Can it be -that the famous telegram to our Colonies at -the beginning of the last South African War,—“infantry -preferred,”—was due to a statesman’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>study of the memoirs and correspondence -of Marshal Bugeaud?</p> - -<p class='c001'>He even conceived the idea of mounted -infantry, mounting his men on mules or -camels as occasion served. He prohibited the -use of waggons for baggage and provisions, -and dared, in spite of the indignant protests -of his cavalry officers, to use the troop horses -to carry rice and corn. Sprung himself from -the ranks,—he had fought as a corporal of the -guard at Austerlitz,—he understood the soldier’s -needs, powers and limitations; and was in -turn trusted and beloved,—<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>le père Bugeaud</i></span> -he was affectionately called. Such was the -man who was to win for France her African -empire.</p> - -<div id='i141' class='figcenter id011'> -<img src='images/i_141f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p>CARAVAN OF A CAÏD</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>It is unnecessary to recount the details of -the long duel between Bugeaud and Abd-el-Kader. -Step by step the Arab leader was -driven from the fertile regions to the high -plateaux, and with every reverse his authority -over the tribesmen waned, even if his own -resource and resolution never failed. A -severe blow was dealt in the spring of 1843. -Abd-el-Kader had established a vast caravan, -known as the <em>smalah</em>, comprising the families of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span>his forces, their flocks and herds, and a crowd -of non-combatants who abandoned their homes -and followed his fortunes rather than submit -to the foreigner. It was, as Bugeaud said, -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“la capitale ambulante de l’empire arabe.”</span> -It was reputed to contain 40,000 persons, -defended by 5000 combatants. The young -Duc d’Aumale, son of Louis Philippe, was -charged with its capture. Having located its -position at Taguine, he attacked it with a -force of 600 horse, without waiting for his -infantry, consisting of 1300 men. The suddenness -of his onslaught broke down all resistance; -the defenders fled, leaving much booty and -many thousand prisoners in the hands of the -French. For some months more Abd-el-Kader -continued to make a futile resistance, but -finally fled to Morocco. In July Bugeaud received -the fitting acknowledgment of his -success, and was named Marshal of France.</p> - -<p class='c001'>France now came into conflict with the -Empire of Morocco,—the commencement of -a page of history still unfinished. The Sultan, -perhaps against his own inclinations, was -compelled by the sympathies of his people -to espouse the cause of the Arab leader. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>His son led an army of 40,000 men to the -frontier. Bugeaud, with a force of 8000, -met him on the banks of the Isly. The night -before the battle Bugeaud addressed his -officers, who were assembled at “un punch” to -welcome some comrades arrived from France: -“With our little army of 6500 bayonets and -1500 horses I am going to attack the army of -the Prince of Morocco, which amounts, -according to my information, to 60,000 horsemen. -I would the number were double, or -thrice as great, for the greater would be its -disorder and disaster. I have an army; he -has only a mob. And I will explain to you -my order of attack. I give my little force the -form of a wild boar’s head. The right tusk -is Lamoricière; the left tusk, Bedeau; the -snout is Pelissier; and I am between the ears. -Who can stop our penetrating power? Ah! -my friends, we will cut our way into the -Moorish army as a knife cuts butter.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>This new eve of Austerlitz was followed on -the morrow by an overwhelming victory. By -midday the Moors were in flight and their -camp of a thousand tents, with all their -artillery, was captured. The bombardment -<span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>of Tangier and Mogador by the Prince de -Joinville assisted to bring the Sultan to his -senses, and peace was concluded by the Treaty -of Tangier.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But the troubles of the French were not -over. In 1845 the indomitable Abd-el-Kader, -having recruited 2000 men in the Sahara, -appeared in the west and <a id='corr143.8'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='sic: razed'>raised</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_143.8'><ins class='correction' title='sic: razed'>raised</ins></a></span> the whole -province of Oran; farms were burnt, crops -destroyed and bridges thrown down. Bugeaud, -recalled from France, set himself to make an -end. He collected a force of 100,000 men, -divided into eighteen columns. A mighty -hunt began. Abd-el-Kader was everywhere -in turn. As ubiquitous as De Wet, he was -now in the Tell, now in the high plateaux, -now endeavouring to raise the mountaineers -of Khabylia. But the end was inevitable. -The tribesmen whom, having raised, he left to -their chastisement, grew weary of the process. -“You are like the gad-fly,” they said to him, -“which arouses the bull. When you have -done your work of irritation you disappear, -and it is we who bear the brunt of the blows.” -After a fruitless effort to obtain fresh aid from -Morocco, he was captured on the frontier by -<span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>Lamoricière and sent to France. He was -subsequently allowed to retire to Syria, where -he lived on a pension paid by the French -Government till his death in 1883. He left -a name venerated by his countrymen and -respected by his conquerors. The French -have had to face serious insurrections since, -but no native leader has arisen to repeat the -exploits or rival the fame of Abd-el-Kader.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Bugeaud was more than a great soldier; -he was a statesman and a colonizer. He chose -as his motto, <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“Ense et aratro.”</span> He held that, -except as a forerunner to the plough, it was -useless to draw the sword. The military and -civil control of a subject population, such as -the English rule in India, and in recent days -the <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>pax Gallica</i></span> of the Sahara, may be an -excellent undertaking for a people of super-abundant -energies; for Bugeaud the conquest -of Algeria was only a necessary preliminary to -its organization as a French colony. <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“La -conquête,”</span> he said in his first proclamation, -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“serait stérile sans la colonisation. Je serai -donc colonisateur ardent, car j’attache moins -de gloire à vaincre dans les combats qu’à -fonder quelque chose d’utile et de durable.”</span></p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>The French invasion brought in its train a -number of civilians. They were perhaps -rather adventurers than of the stuff from -which successful colonists are made. And the -task before them was a stern one. The breaking -of the soil was the first difficulty. It was -covered with brushwood and dwarf palms, and -its clearance involved much painful toil. -There were no roads; even in the Metidja, -close to Algiers, no means of communication -but the mule paths; and no bridges. It is -said that the journey to Blidah, which you -may now cover in an hour or two, took four -days. The country was most insecure; troops -of bandits continually descended on the -cultivated plains and robbed and murdered -the colonists. Perhaps the greatest trouble of -all was the prevalence of fever, especially in -the Metidja. “The cemeteries,” said a -general, “are populated faster than the -villages.” Later the spread of cultivation -diminished its virulence, and the use of -quinine provided a remedy. It is said that -absinthe was used by French soldiers as a febrifuge,<a id='r4' /><a href='#f4' class='c020'><sup>[4]</sup></a> -and that they took back to their homes -<span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>a habit which has become so widespread. A -treatise might be written on the influence of -war on fashions in drink. The introduction of -champagne into England is said to be due to -the English officers who had discovered its -virtues in Paris at the time of Bonaparte’s -downfall.</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f4'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r4'>4</a>. See “Notes and Queries,” February 25th and March 4th, 1911.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The Holy War of 1839 had extinguished the -feeble flicker of French colonization. The -colonists were removed to Algiers for safety; -and the Arabs pillaged and burnt their farms. -The land reverted to barbarism. Bugeaud -set himself to repair this damage, and to -place colonization on a firmer basis. His -idea was that the state should prepare the -way by granting land under certain conditions -of military service, that it should make careful -selection among applicants for grants, and -should provide funds for preliminary works,—roads, -wells and farm-buildings. This system -was partially carried out, and has been justified -by success. In spite of many troubles and setbacks, -a constantly increasing area has been -brought under cultivation. In 1854 the -cultivation of cereals occupied about two -million acres; in 1861 it had risen to five -<span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>millions; in 1885 to seven millions. Since -that date the total has not sensibly increased, -but methods have improved and the yield is -greater. It is said that on the whole agriculture -in Algeria is more progressive than in France. -And as he traverses Algeria’s interminable -cornfields, the traveller may be disposed to -render homage to the great soldier who, -personally averse from conquest, drew the -sword to establish peace, and strove to bring -plenty in her train.</p> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span></div> -<div class='doubletop'> - -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='ch06' class='c018'><i>VI—TLEMÇEN THE HOLY</i></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c015'>Western Algeria—Sidi Bel Abbès—The Foreign Legion—A city of -learning—Its inhabitants—The Mosque of Aboul Hassan—Mansoura—Its -story—Sidi Bou Medine—Oran—Spanish immigrants.</p> -<hr class='c016' /> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“A city dreaming of her ancient pride</div> - <div class='line'>Amid the orchards on her mountain-side;</div> - <div class='line in2'>Do you sleep sound, O saint that shares her fame,</div> - <div class='line'>While stranger horsemen through her portals ride?”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c007'>Far to the west, beyond Oran, and -close to the frontiers of Morocco, -lies a hill city, once the seat of -empire and of learning, but now sunk -to the condition of a provincial town. Yet -Tlemçen has occupied so high a position in the -Mohammedan world, and the reputation of its -existing monuments is so widespread, that the -enterprising traveller will desire to visit it. The -distance from Algiers is great, some 800 miles -there and back, and as there is little of interest -on the road, a journey by motor-car is not inviting. -It is perhaps better to make use of the -excellent train service between Algiers and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>Oran. If you leave Algiers at nine p.m., you -may change about six a.m. at a junction a little -short of Oran and reach Tlemçen about eleven. -Or you may go on to Oran and hire a motor-car -for the remaining 110 miles, which it will cover -faster than the train does. In any case it is a -tiresome journey. The road and the rail alike -rise through a series of great plains divided by -rocky steps, and chiefly devoted to corn-growing. -The country is very bare and very -uninteresting. There are few trees. It is said -to have been once well wooded, but, although -the Arab will take care of a tree near his house -or his mosque, he has no regard for trees in -general. So countless generations of browsing -goats have made an end of the woods. One -cannot but think that more attention to re-afforesting -would meet with its reward.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here, as elsewhere in Algeria, both in the -plain and on the mountain side, the traveller -will notice a number of square whitewashed -buildings, surmounted by a cupola. They are -known by the name of <em>koubba</em>, and are generally -the tomb of a marabout or saint, and serve as -objects of pilgrimage and much local veneration.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>At Sidi Bel Abbès, a town of 25,000 inhabitants, -about half of whom are Spaniards, -are the head-quarters of the famous Foreign -Legion. The very name of this corps stirs -memories of forlorn hopes and dare-devil -enterprises. The inimitable Ouida, whose -disregard of the grammatical niceties of her -own and other tongues was a generation ago -the delight of undergraduates; who could say -of her high-born hero that he ignored the -proud motto of his haughty race, <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Pro patria et -rege</i></span>, and acted on the principle, <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Pro ego</i></span>; -Ouida has pictured for us after her own -fashion, in “Under Two Flags,” the life of a -foreign adventurer in the French service -during the earlier days of the occupation. -The picture, if imaginative in details, is full of -life, and it is no doubt true that many broken -men of gentle birth and upbringing found in -the campaigns on the verge of the Sahara an -outlet for energies for which civilization had -no use. To-day the Legion is composed -largely of Alsatians, Germans and Poles, and -is celebrated for its band. But it is still to the -fore when stern work is on foot. The situation -of Sidi Bel Abbès renders it very convenient -<span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>in the event of trouble with Morocco, which is -constantly recurring. The town and its environs -are an agreeable exception to the surrounding -country in being pleasantly wooded. -The olive trees are most carefully pruned, all -the centre branches being cut out, and the -outer ones trained to form a cup. This system -admits light and air to the fruit, and facilitates -the gathering of the crop.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Within a few miles of Tlemçen the scenery -becomes more bold. The train climbs on -to and encircles a rugged mountain range, -traverses a great ravine, down which roars a -graceful cascade, and emerges from a short -tunnel into the noise and hubbub of Tlemçen -station. The high road takes another course. -It skirts the base of the rocky hills, and boldly -ascends direct to the town, offering pleasant -views of its walls and minarets. This is the -habit of roads and railroads in many lands; -the road approaches boldly to a frontal -attack; the railroad creeps in stealthily or -remains diffidently outside. So does the -traveller by rail too often miss the beauty -of the incoming.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Arab horsemen who in the seventh -<span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>century of our era rode through North Africa -and carried the crescent into Europe were the -élite of the race. Not only did they and their -sons and those to whom they taught their faith -and language and made like unto themselves -conquer kingdoms and found great cities, -promote commerce and achieve enormous -material prosperity, but under their rule were -produced works of art worthy to be ranked -with the best. It is perhaps lucky that progress -in these respects was accompanied, as -it is generally accompanied, by a decline -in martial prowess, or Western Europe might -to-day be tied fast in the chains of Koran, and -the women of London and Paris be veiled as -was Mahomet’s wife. Among the greatest of -Mohammedan cities from the eleventh century -to the fifteenth Tlemçen stood high. It was -peopled rather by Berbers than by Arabs of -pure blood; but, at any rate, they spoke the -Arab tongue, held the Arab faith and represented -Arab culture at its highest excellence. -In spite of the continual stress of war, it was -enriched with noble buildings; it became a -kind of university of Arab learning for North -Africa; and it acquired the reputation and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>sanctity of a holy city from the selection of a -neighbouring village as his last resting-place -by a great Mohammedan saint.</p> - -<div id='i153' class='figcenter id015'> -<img src='images/i_153f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic004'> -<p>TLEMÇEN: THE MINARET OF AGADIR</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>At the period of its greatness Tlemçen was a -large and populous city, containing 100,000 to -150,000 inhabitants. The enceinte constructed -by the French encloses a much smaller area -than the old walls, of which at least two series -can be traced. The present town has about -30,000 inhabitants, for the most part Arab or -Jew. It does a considerable trade, especially -in olive oil; but it has lost its position as the -terminus of the caravan routes from the south, -since the construction of the Saharan railways; -it is cheaper to unload the caravans at the -southern stations, and forward the goods to -Oran by rail. Apart from the mosques the -streets present little of interest. It is said that -the French found the town almost in ruins; -to-day it is a shabby fifth-rate French town. -The inevitable boulevard has been constructed, -and even where the old houses remain they are -hidden behind a hideous modern front. The -old palace of the bey has unhappily been turned -into a barrack. The commercial value of -antiquities as an attraction to tourists was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>not realized in time; it is hardly understood -now. Tlemçen occupies an important strategic -position, close to the Moroccan frontier, and is -garrisoned by French troops. At the Hôtel de -France, a somewhat ramshackle but not uncomfortable -hostelry, with very obliging hosts, -breakfast many officers of the garrison. The -variety of uniform is great; not less great the -variety of human types:—from the fair, and -apparently frail, young exquisite, whose -physique suggests rather the counting-house -than the Sahara, to the grizzled veteran of -many campaigns.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Yet the native inhabitants lend colour and -interest to the mean streets. The Arabs of the -better class wear a dark blue overcoat and -hood, which shows off their proportions to -great advantage. The women are very closely -veiled, only exhibiting one eye. The children, -especially the little girls not yet come to the -age of veiling, are cheerful and pretty, their -rosy cheeks bearing witness to the cold and -bracing qualities of winter at this elevation. -The Jewesses affect bright colours; and red is -the colour of their mourning. An occasional -stranger of fierce aspect and unusual dress -<span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>attracts your attention, and your guide murmurs -“Marocain.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Some handicrafts survive in Tlemçen. The -rubbishy trinkets dear to the Arab woman -and the Christian tourist are laboriously -turned out by Jews in the street of the goldsmiths. -It is something to know that they -are not made in Austria. Here and there you -will catch a glimpse of an old Moor bending -over a carpet loom. A good deal of leatherwork -is done, and there is a brisk business in -harness and saddlery. Tlemçen is no longer the -terminus of the railway which runs to the frontier, -but many frontiersmen come here to trade.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is in vain to look in Tlemçen, as in other -towns of Algeria, for the pure-bred Arab. -Those who pass by the name are the result of a -continual mixture with the indigenous races; -they are Berberized Arabs or Arabized Berbers. -But in many ways they compare favourably -with their compatriots elsewhere. Tlemçen -has preserved some of its traditions as a city of -learning. Even to-day it contains a large -number of educated Mussulmans and a few -savants. You may see here, as often you may -see in Cairo and the cities of the East, a tradesman -<span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>seated in his little shop poring over an -Arab text. In Algeria generally the standard -of education among the natives is very low; -only a small fraction of one per cent can read -and write. The religion of the Tlemçen Arabs -is naturally of a somewhat higher type than -that of those who, knowing nothing of the law -and the prophets, are content with the observance -of fast days and a cult of saints mixed -with all sorts of survivals of fetishism. The -Arabs of Tlemçen are said to eschew fanaticism, -as becomes men of learning, to regard those -who are not of their faith less with hate than -with pity, as having missed the true way of -salvation; an attitude not uncommon in other -lands. But their religion is incrusted with -intense superstition. They live in constant -terror of the influence of evil spirits, the -Djinns, to which are attributed almost all -human ills. A madman especially is said to be -possessed of evil spirits, and he cannot be cured -till they are cast out of him. This fear of evil -spirits influences every action of their daily -lives; it is the chief stimulus to devotion, for -the Djinns are kept not away save by prayer -and fasting.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>To-day the French are masters, but the Arab -in his centuries of decadence has grown used to -masters. They come, and pass, and he remains. -It is the will of God. The French are lenient -and just masters; they provide many material -advantages,—security of property, means of -communication, avenues of trade. God is -good. But the Arab is always waiting for -something to turn up; he will be sustained in -almost fruitless labour on his barren plot in -the hope of finding a treasure; he will waste his -scant earnings in buying favourable horoscopes -from his sorcerer; and if no treasure is unearthed, -and no fortune arrives, he will put it -all down to some flaw in the incantations. If -all fails he has at any rate said his prayers five -times a day and is sure of Paradise.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Yet in his heart he is ever looking for the -advent of a Messiah, of a <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>deus ex machinâ</i></span> who -shall overthrow the infidel, and restore the Arab -to his own again. Let France be involved in -difficulties elsewhere and the events of 1870 -may repeat themselves. The preaching of a -holy war, the announcement that God’s good -time has come—such are the conditions to -raise a wave of religious fanaticism strong -<span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>enough to sweep away all considerations of -prudence and self-interest. As long as his -religion remains a compelling force, this is his -danger and Europe’s. In its present state Arab -civilization, greatly fallen from its high condition -of culture and learning in the twelfth -and thirteenth centuries, may be compared with -that of Europe in the centuries following the -destruction of the Roman Empire. The Arab -is now in the Dark Ages. The forms of his -faith remain all-powerful, but the spirit is -dead. A thousand years separate him from -the Europe of to-day. Perhaps the best hope -lies for him in a revival of his religion on the -spiritual side; from which may spring in turn -a germ of those ideals of citizenship, toleration -and benevolence which are the basis of our -civilization; ideals flowing from the teachings -of Christianity, but not confined in their influence -to the orthodox of any section of -Christendom.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A very cursory view of Tlemçen suggests that -those enthusiastic writers who have described -it as the equal, or almost the equal, of Granada -are somewhat extravagant in their praise. It -occupies indeed a fine situation, and it looks -<span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>down from its height of 2500 feet over a rolling -country of hill and vale to the sea thirty miles -away. But it has none of Granada’s grandeur -and it lacks the noble background of the Sierra -Nevada. It has no great building like the -Alhambra, although its mosques contain magnificent -work, which is unsurpassed and perhaps -unequalled elsewhere. Excessive praise which -raises expectations destined to be disappointed -is to be deplored. Tlemçen has enough of -beauty and interest to stand on its own merits. -In one respect it has an advantage over the -Moorish cities of Spain. It is indeed held by -an alien race, but its mosques are still for the -most part put to the purpose for which they -were built, and the worshippers are the present -representatives of those who built them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Great Mosque, the most notable building -within the walls, was not built all at one -time, but grew, like a Gothic cathedral, under -the hands of different monarchs and dynasties. -These dynasties of Tlemçen were continually -changing; their outlandish names cumber the -guide-books, but they have less interest for us -than the vicissitudes of the Guelphs and -Ghibellines. The first stone of the mosque was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>laid in the year 530 (you must add 605 to bring -it to the Christian era), as a contemporary -inscription obligingly records. The minaret -was built by Yar’morasen, the great Berber -monarch who raised Tlemçen to its pitch of -power in the thirteenth century; and in the -fourteenth various auxiliary buildings, including -a hospital for the aged and incurable, -were added. The interior of the mosque is -impressive, with its forest of pillars—there are -seventy-two in all—and its dim religious light. -The mihrab, the holy of holies, the shrine -which looks towards Mecca, is finely decorated -with leaves of acanthus and Arabic inscriptions. -The large court is charming; it is surrounded -by arcades, and two basins of running water -provide for the ablutions of the faithful. The -material of the whole was originally onyx, and -much remains. It is truly a noble building, -and it has escaped any serious restoration.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Unhappily the same cannot be said of the -neighbouring mosque, known as the Mosque of -Aboul Hassan, an eminent lawyer and saint; -a combination which seems unusual. On this -delightful little building the hand of the -restorer has lain heavy. He has seen fit to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>plaster it with modern tiles, suggestive of the -bath-room; and in order to throw more light -into the building, which is now used as a -museum, has made several openings in the -walls. It is poor comfort to find in a distant -land that we English have no monopoly of -ecclesiastical vulgarity; even our church restorers -could hardly have done worse than this. -It is not easy to formulate the ethics of restoration; -the right course can only result from intelligent -and instructed effort,—but this may be -said of almost everything. The ignorance and -indiscretion of those who add poor modern -ornament to a grand old building passes understanding. -It happens that this little mosque, -charming otherwise within and without, enshrines -a masterpiece, its mihrab. The mosque -was erected in <span class='fss'>A.D.</span> 1298, according to an inscription -on one of its arches, and presumably -the interior decoration is of the same date. -The dates of the world’s few masterpieces are -important. The decoration of the mihrab is -executed in plaster. I am not competent to -describe its details; they follow the conventional -scheme of leaves and scrolls, but -with quite unusual refinement. This mihrab -<span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>has been highly praised; but no praise can be -too high for it. It has been described as the -finest example of Mohammedan art in existence; -it is very likely that it is. An eye that has -enjoyed any training will see at a glance that it -is on a par with the greatest decorative works -of man; it exhibits all the characteristics of -the finest periods, especially the combination -of exuberant fancy with dominating restraint. -Its exquisite delicacy and its small size give -emphasis to its unique distinction. I cannot -refrain from quoting a French writer who -fitly appreciates its qualities: <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Cette décoration -est le comble de la richesse et du goût -ornamental. Elle réunit en effet les qualités -les plus diverses; homogénéité de l’ensemble, -variété infinie du détail, netteté et fantaisie, -largeur et minutie dans l’exécution. Elle est -empreinte d’une sorte d’<em>atticisme</em> oriental, -d’une beauté atteinte sans efforts et naturellement. -Capter la lumière sans grands reliefs, -l’emprisonner dans les réticules d’une ténuité -extrême, la forcer de se jouer dans ses méandres -idéalement fins, donner à des murailles toutes -unies un vêtement de dentelles; un encadrement -de rubans historiés qui les aggrandit et -<span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span>les rend pour ainsi dire immatérielles; entraîner -le regard et l’éblouir par la complication, -le rassurer par l’ordre et la paix, voilà le -problème que d’obscurs ouvriers out résolu à -la fin du treizième siècle de notre ère.”</span><a id='r5' /><a href='#f5' class='c020'><sup>[5]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f5'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r5'>5</a>. Ary Renan, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Paysages historiques.”</span></p> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Another pleasant little mosque, that of -Sidi-el-Haloui, lies outside the walls in a -squalid native suburb, which is nevertheless -a better frame for it than the banal French -houses of the town itself. It has a very fine -portal and a pleasant court. It commemorates -a very extraordinary character, who from being -Cadi of Seville became in disguise a confectioner -at Tlemçen. He was put to death -apparently for spreading seditious doctrines, -but his ghost having given some trouble he was -canonized.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is said that Tlemçen was built on the site -of a Roman camp called Pomaria. The name -happily expresses the abundance of orchards -by which it is surrounded. In February only -a few almond trees are in blossom, but the -ground is beginning to put forth its wild -flowers. A diminutive iris is everywhere, and -gives a blue tinge to the wayside, as the bluebells -<span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>to an English copse. In April, when the -trees are bursting into leaf and the whole -country-side is full of flowers, Tlemçen must -be set in a very bower of delight. And it is in -the environs that the most interesting, picturesque -and romantic of its antiquities are to -be found.</p> - -<div id='i164' class='figcenter id011'> -<img src='images/i_164f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p>THE WALLS OF MANSOURA</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Just outside the Fez gate of the city lies a -great artificial basin or reservoir, now dry, -which is said to have been constructed by a -king of the fourteenth century to give his -wife the pleasure of witnessing miniature sea-fights. -It is related that Barbarossa drowned -in it the descendants of the ancient kings whom -he found at Tlemçen, and watched their -struggles with glee. A short distance further -on is an arch, ruthlessly restored, which was -part of the wall of circumvallation built -around Tlemçen by Abou Yakoub, Sultan of -Fez, who besieged it from 1299 to 1307 <span class='fss'>A.D.</span> -A little further on are the extremely picturesque -walls of Mansoura, the city which -during the siege he built for himself. The -story of this siege and of the building of -Mansoura is very curious. It is told at -length by the Arab chroniclers. Perhaps the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>following abbreviation of their account will -suffice.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And it came to pass in the reign of Othman, -King of Tlemçen, that Abou Yakoub, King -of Fez, gathered all his host together and went -up and besieged Tlemçen seven years. And he -built towers against it round about, and a wall -so strong that the people said one to another -that not even a spirit might pass through from -within to without the city. And forasmuch as -the city was not yielded unto him, but held -out against him for seven years, did Yakoub -the King of Fez set up for himself in the camping-place -of his host a great palace wherein to -dwell; and all about the camp he built a -great wall with towers so that he made of it a -fenced city, and within he built palaces for -his wise men and his mighty men of war, and -great houses, and fair gardens wherein were -streams of water running continually. And -he caused to be set apart also a dwelling-place -wherein might be tended they that were sick, -for that he was moved to compassion of their -sickness; and to the strangers he gave inns to -lodge therein. Moreover he built a mighty -temple with a tower of exceeding height so -<span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>that it might be seen in all the land; and he -bowed himself therein before his God upon -the seventh day. And many merchants of -that country did gather themselves together in -the town which Yakoub the King had builded, -and the kings of far countries sent unto him -ambassadors with gifts. And Yakoub called -the town which he had builded Mansoura, -which being interpreted signifieth “The Victorious.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And in the fifth year of the siege Othman, -King of Tlemçen, was gathered to his fathers, -and his son Abou-Zeiyan reigned in his -stead. And the people of Tlemçen were in -sore distress for that no food could be brought -into the city by reason of the wall which -Yakoub the King had builded round about it. -So when the siege had continued for the space -of three years more, the King Abou-Zeiyan and -Abou-Hammon, the King’s brother, called -unto them the captain to whom was given -charge over the stores of food in the city and -said unto him, “How long may we feed the -people with the food which is left?” And -he answered, “For the space of three days.” -And there came in unto the King Dâd, the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>servant of the Queen-Mother. And Dâd -said unto the King, “Let not, I pray you, the -princesses and the women of your house fall -into the hands of our enemies, but rather let -them be put to death.” And Abou-Hammon, -the King’s brother, answered, “What Dâd -hath spoken is good counsel.” But the King -said, “Nay, we have yet three days, perchance -God will come to our aid. And if it be so that -we must deliver up the city, then we will cause -the Jews and the Christians to kill the princesses -and the women of our house, and we ourselves -will sally forth and fall upon the host of our -enemies.” And the King wept. But lo, -while they yet spake, a man of the host of -Yakoub the King lifted his hand against him -and smote him so that he died. And Yakoub -the King’s brethren and his sons, and his son’s -sons strove among themselves who should be -king in his stead. And the son of one of his -sons, who was called Abou-Thabet, obtained -the mastery over them. And Abou-Thabet -made peace with Abou-Zeiyan, King of -Tlemçen, and led back his host to the country -of Fez, whence it came. And Tlemçen had -peace thirty-three years.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>So runs the tale of the Arab chroniclers, and -the walls and towers of Mansoura stand to-day -in witness that they lied not. Their entrancing -story is full of the elements of Oriental -romance:—the fairy city springing into being -almost in a night; the fearful proposal of the -aged servant that the women should be killed; -the long years of the siege reaching their tremendous -climax in the assassination of the -aggressor at the very moment when the besieged -were preparing to sell their lives dearly; -the struggle of the dead Sultan’s brothers and -sons and grandsons for the succession. Such a -struggle is a commonplace of Mohammedan -politics; we have seen it in our own day in -Afghanistan and Morocco; we may see it in -Turkey to-morrow. It may plunge the country -where it occurs in civil war, but in a South -American republic even a change of party -groupings will do that. As a system it can -claim some merit in that it tends to place on -the throne the strongest or the most astute -member of the royal house.</p> - -<div id='i169' class='figcenter id016'> -<img src='images/i_169f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p> THE TOWER OF MANSOURA</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Of the dream city of Mansoura nothing -remains but the square of the ramparts enclosing -a space of 250 acres, and the great -<span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>minaret of the mosque. The city itself was -destroyed by the Tlemçenites after the departure -of the Moroccan army. The walls are -about 40 feet high, and the towers 120 feet -apart. They are all built of concrete, and -though broken in places, are marvellously preserved. -Weathered to a delightful tint of rich -brown, they contrast admirably with the -sombre monotony of the olive trees; and they -lend to the pleasant mountain landscape a -unique spice of romance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The minaret, of which the inner portion has -fallen while the outer remains standing, is a -very noble tower, and the finest architectural -work of Moorish times in Algeria; it would -be difficult to match it anywhere. It stands -about 130 feet high, and is built of hewn -stone. Its front was decorated with coloured -tiles, of which many are left. Legends have -gathered round it. It is said that in his haste -Abou Yakoub employed not only Mohammedan -but Jewish and Christian masons, and that -it is the work of the infidels which has fallen, -while that of the faithful survives. It seems to -have been also a starting-place for an early experiment -in flying. A certain Jew imprisoned -<span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>therein made himself wings, and setting forth -on the occasion of a great service, fell lamentably -at a spot called to this day <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Le Col du -Juif.”</span> Such is the fate of pioneers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The status of Tlemçen as a holy city, which -draws to itself pilgrims not only from the -countries of North Africa, but from the very -confines of the world of Islam, rests on its connection -with the saint Sidi Bou Medine. It -has long ceased to be the capital of an African -empire; it is no more a university of Mohammedan -learning; its very name is almost unknown -to the present generation of European -men; but in the eyes of the faithful it is ever -honoured. It is a little difficult for an unbeliever -to comprehend what constitutes peculiar -eminence in a Mohammedan saint, and -there is nothing in the recorded life of Bou -Medine to throw light on the question. It is -related that he was born at Seville in <span class='fss'>A.D.</span> 1126, -that he was an ascetic and a mystic, that he -travelled through various Mediterranean countries -performing miracles, preaching the vanity -of earthly things, and emphasizing the beneficence -of God and the authority of his -prophet. Accused of heresy by the doctors of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>Tlemçen, he was summoned thither by the -reigning monarch from Bougie, then within -the boundaries of the Tlemçenian Empire. His -failing strength sustained him almost to the -city’s gates, when, looking up at the little -village of El-Eubbad, with its hanging woods -beneath the rugged cliff, and owning at last -the charm of the world he had so fiercely disdained, -he breathed a wish to be buried in that -lovely spot, and expired. And there for seven -centuries he has lain, and you may stand -beside his tomb, which is decked in the tinsel -pomp of Mohammedan finery and surrounded -by the offerings of the faithful. It is approached -from a little court-yard, in which is -an ancient alabaster well-head curiously worn -by the chain which draws the bucket.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The mosque which adjoins the tomb was -raised shortly after the saint’s death. It is of -no great size, but both structurally and decoratively -it possesses a charm which is unique. -The high portal is a blaze of tiles in the finest -style; tiles said to be partly of Moroccan, -partly of Spanish, origin; and the doors of -cedar wood, covered with bronze, ornamented -with a design of arabesque interlacement, are -<span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>incomparably beautiful. It has been said that -they are to Moorish art what the doors of -Ghiberti are to Italian; but in their decorative -flatness—a quality which becomes doors—they -have a distinction which is their own. -In the whole realm of Moorish decoration I -have seen nothing more charming. The -mosque itself does not belie the promise of its -entrance. It follows the usual plan, but on a -very high level. Its plaster decorations, if -somewhat less fine than those of the mihrab of -Bel Hassan, are in the best style. The whole -building is instinct with the charm of unassailable -fitness, and fills the mind with an -ineffaceable impress of beauty.</p> - -<div id='i172' class='figcenter id017'> -<img src='images/i_172f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic004'> -<p>SIDI BOU MEDINE: THE BRONZE DOORS</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>From these heights—mountainous and æsthetic—it -will probably be the lot of the -traveller to descend by easy stages to the town -of Oran, which, as a commercial port, is the -rival of Algiers. Unless he desires to do -deal in olive oil or esparto grass, or intends to -become a shipper of fine clarets and burgundies, -it will not detain him long. Yet it is -pleasant for an hour or two to sit before one -of its brilliant cafés and survey the palpitating -life of the streets. Oran is more than half -<span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>Spanish; it is historically almost wholly -Spanish. To-day, if you inquire of a stranger -your way in French he will very likely reply by -asking if you have the Spanish, and if you have -it not you must try again. But the Spaniards, -great builders in Europe and beyond the seas, -built little but fortifications on the African -shore. Oran is frankly modern and European -in aspect; the most Oriental-looking building -is the railway-station. The French have -built fortifications too; a picturesque fort -crowns a hill to the west, a thousand feet -above the town; and there is much show of -strength below. And there is an important -garrison. Brilliant groups of officers frequent -a café at the corner of the Place d’Armes, and -get through a most unconscionable amount of -hand-shaking. I notice that one of them, -apparently a Siamese, who yet sips his <em>sirop</em> as -to the manner born, is the object of much -attention. With the mass of the café’s frequenters -the soldiers appear to have no -acquaintance. These men of business are -Frenchmen in manner and speech, but there -is a prevalence of that Levantine air which -pervades the Mediterranean ports;—not quite -<span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>Greek, not quite Jew, and yet not wholly -European.</p> - -<p class='c001'>If there is one institution more characteristically -French than another, it is the Café. -And, further, it is an institution which no -other people, unless it speaks French, as do the -Belgians, can reproduce. France has set the -mode to Europe for centuries, but it has reserved -the café. The other Latin nations are -content with bastard imitations; the northern -peoples frankly own their failure. Who can -conceive a café in Hull or Aberdeen? Not -more incongruous was the attempted battle of -flowers in a Lancashire town,—the mayor had -visited Monte Carlo,—which ended in the -choockin’ o’ loomps o’ coal and the military -being called out. It is not a matter of climate; -Brighton and Worthing have climatic advantages -over Boulogne and Dieppe. It is -rather a matter of character. The café -depends for its existence on French moderation -and French civility, in the widest sense. The -German in his beer-garden piles empty glass -on empty glass; the Englishman lolls at his -reeking bar; only the Frenchman can be -trusted to sit at his will at his little marble -<span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>table, and contemplate his little drinks, and -play his little games. He does not exceed, he -does not quarrel; if he did either, the café -were impossible. So is he a free man, while we -for our sins must submit to stringent regulations -of police.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Oran’s fine old Spanish fort and the ancient -walls still speak of the Spanish dominion. It -was a penal station to which convicts were sent, -and the governors were in the habit of putting -their labour to some useful purpose. An inscription -records that the citadel was built -at no cost to his Catholic Majesty but for -the timber and scaffolding. After repeated -struggles the town was surrendered to the -Turks in 1791, a very convenient arrangement, -as things turned out, for the French, who -occupied it forty years later. And they have -made it what it is. Yet among the lower orders -the Spanish element is perhaps still preponderant. -To paraphrase the words of a -French writer<a id='r6' /><a href='#f6' class='c020'><sup>[6]</sup></a>—"the peasants of Valencia -and Murcia have only a few hours of sea to -cross, and a bad season at home brings them in -hundreds. If they find no work in and around -<span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>Oran as gardeners they betake themselves to -the country, and become field-labourers, or -harvesters of esparto grass. Sober and industrious, -they are especially fitted to the -conditions of cultivation in Algeria, which -without irrigation is unproductive. They have -in their veins the blood of those Moors who -taught Spain to husband her waters. Oran is -for them almost their own country, the two -sides of the Mediterranean have identical -characteristics; and in the smallest villages of -the province they find themselves at home -among their own people."</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f6'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r6'>6</a>. P. Bourde.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>It is interesting to recall in this connection -that the increase of emigration from Spain -generally is becoming a very serious matter. -It reaches the annual average of 200,000 -persons, or considerably more than one per -cent of the total population. The late Government -in 1907 dealt with the matter, and appointed -a Conseil Supérieur de l’Emigration, -which took the exceedingly futile course of -endeavouring to check it by police interference -with persons arriving at a port to emigrate, the -arrest of emigration agents, and complicated -regulations affecting steamship companies, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>which it has been found impossible to carry -out. The chief effect has been to conceal a -certain amount of emigration, which doubtless -exceeds the official figures. The present radical -Government, pledged to reform in every -department of the national life, is attempting -to check unemployment and emigration by a -scheme of extensive public works. Meantime -under French institutions, Spaniards are living -contentedly and prosperously in a country -marked out by nature for their occupation, -which they were never able to secure for -themselves.</p> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span></div> -<div class='doubletop'> - -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='ch07' class='c018'><i>VII—THE CITY OF PRECIPICES</i></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c015'>Road and rail to the eastward—Constantine—Its remarkable site—Its -chequered history—French Conquest—Roman remains—Fronto—The -Mairie—The road northward—The Aurès.</p> -<hr class='c016' /> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“A towered citadel a pendant rock.”</div> - <div class='line in17'><cite>Antony and Cleopatra.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c007'>If the traveller intends to journey from -Algeria into Tunisia, he will do well to -visit Khabylia before he starts further -east; if not he may proceed first to -Constantine, and motor through the mountain -districts from Sétif on his return. For the -greater part of the way the great trunk road -and the railway from Algiers to Constantine -take a similar course; but towards the end -they diverge, Constantine being situate north -of the main line from Algiers to Tunis, at a -distance of twenty miles from the junction of -El-Guerrah, while the road passes through the -city. Hence it comes that the distance by road -is 434 kilometres, by rail 464. There are not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>many convenient stopping-places, perhaps Sétif -is the best.</p> - -<p class='c001'>By train you may make the journey either by -night or by day; the latter is preferable, as -much of the scenery is beautiful and interesting. -Leaving Algiers the line crosses the -Metidja, the great plain which encircles the -<em>Sahel</em>, the rocky promontory on which Algiers -stands, stretching on either side of it from sea -to sea. At Ménerville it begins to ascend, and -shortly enters the Gorge of the Isser. The -country here is very picturesque; the river -roars through a narrow cleft in the rocks, -Khabyle villages are perched on isolated -points, and ruddy mountains stand bare -against the deep blue sky. Palestro, a little -further on, was the scene of a terrible and -treacherous massacre in the Khabyle insurrection -of 1871. The European residents, numbering -over a hundred, were attacked in their -residences. After a desperate resistance about -half surrendered on terms, but were immediately -killed. The remainder held out longer -but about forty survivors, including thirty-two -women and children, were ultimately captured -and kept prisoners till the revolt was crushed.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>Further on the line runs under the southern -slope of the snowy Djurjura range, which is -such a prominent object from Algiers. The -view of the mountains is very fine. All the -time the line is ascending, as it continues to -do as far as Sétif, 200 miles from Algiers, and -3573 feet above the sea. Here we are in the -centre of a vast corn-growing district, once -the granary of Rome. The country-side is full -of Roman remains, of towns and country-houses -and farms. At this altitude the climate, -if hotter in summer, resembles that of Central -France. The landscape is very bare,—a vast -sea of corn, without a tree to break its monotony. -To the east of Sétif the plain begins -to slope downwards; the railway diverges to -the south, but the road enters the valley of -the Roumel, the river which forms the moat of -the rock-girt city of Constantine.</p> - -<div id='i181' class='figcenter id011'> -<img src='images/i_181f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p>CONSTANTINE</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Constantine occupies one of those positions -of natural strength which from the earliest -times man has seized upon as a habitation -secure from the attack of his fellow-man. It is -too much to suppose that its beauty had any -force in such a selection. Yet it combines -picturesqueness and grandeur with strength to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>a remarkable degree. A circular chasm or -ravine, nearly 1000 feet deep, and sometimes -not more than 200 feet wide, creates a plateau -which is in fact a peninsula of rock, only -united to the mainland by an isthmus on the -west side. Through the abyss roars the river -Roumel. The plateau is not circular, but in -the form of an irregular square, with sharp -angles,—a formation which greatly increases -the majesty of its effect. The length of the -sides averages about 1000 yards. In this confined -space are crowded together the habitations -of men,—the European quarter, the Arab -quarter, and the Jewish quarter,—the public -buildings incident to an important town, and -considerable barracks and fortifications.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Le fantastique Roumel, fleuve d’une poème -qu’on croirait rêvé par Dante, fleuve d’enfer -coulant au fond d’un abîme rouge comme si -les flammes éternelles l’avaient brûlé. Il fait un -île de sa ville, ce fleuve jaloux et surprenant; -il l’entoure d’un gouffre terrible et tortueux, aux -rocs éclatants et bizarres, aux murailles droites -et dentelées.”</span><a id='r7' /><a href='#f7' class='c020'><sup>[7]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f7'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r7'>7</a>. Guy de Maupassant, “Au Soleil,” 1904.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>A great part of the attraction of a city -<span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>occupying such a site lies in its suggestion of -romance. It calls up visions of furious siege -and desperate defence, of attempts to scale -impossible cliffs, of hand-to-hand encounter -at the only gate. And the actual records of -Constantine almost surpass the possibilities of -romantic imagination. It can lay no claim to -that happiness which comes from having no -history. Alike from its commanding situation -and the richness of its surrounding lands it has -been marked out by nature to be an incentive -to ambition. It has known many masters. It -is said to have stood eighty sieges. Its apparent -impregnability has but invited attack. -It has been a necessary mainstay to the support -of every power which has aspired to the lordship -of Barbary. It has seldom been a fitting -residence for those who desired a quiet -life.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Under its early name of Cirta it was the -capital of that dynasty of Numidian kings who -fought first for Rome against Carthage, and -then for themselves against Rome. It became -in due course a Roman colony. In the -fourth century it was ruined in the wars -which rent the empire, and re-arose as Constantine. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>Re-naming, with a spice of subservience, -was a passion of the time; even so -to-day do the Piazza Umberto and Boulevard -Carnot obliterate ancient landmarks. The -frenzied quarrels of Christians and Christian -heretics, which tore Africa to shreds, raged -within its walls, but spared its buildings. -Genseric the Vandal, and the Byzantine -Belisarius were its lords in turn. Then came -the Arab. Darkness broods over its history -for centuries, broken only by lightning flashes -of capture and recapture. The Barbarossa -brothers recognized the truth that he who -would rule in Algeria must hold Constantine. -They and their successors conquered it, and -lost it, and conquered it again. Its Beys were -nominally subservient to the Deys of Algiers, -but Constantine breeds insurrection, and maintained -its traditions during the Turkish domination. -Even at the beginning of the nineteenth -century, during a period of thirty -years, twenty Beys succumbed to poison, the -bow-string, or the sword.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Here Sultan after Sultan with his Pomp</div> - <div class='line'>Abode his Hour or two and went his way.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c021'><span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>At the time of the French invasion its Bey, -Hadj-Ahmed, was in insurrection against the -Dey, but made common cause against the unbeliever. -After the capitulation of Algiers he -retired to Constantine and declared himself -independent, and took the title of Pasha, with -the countenance of the Porte. His minister, -Ben-Aissa, a humble Khabyle in origin, and a -blacksmith by trade, was a man of marked -ability. The two created an army of Khabyles, -and breathed defiance to the French. In 1836 -Marshal Clauzel advanced against Constantine -with 8000 men. Among them was a young -captain of the staff, afterwards Marshal Macmahon. -Clauzel attempted an assault by the -bridge of El Kantara, but was repulsed with -great loss, and hardly retreated with his -broken army to Bône. France could not brook -such a defeat. Another army of 10,000 men -was despatched under General Damrémont -and arrived before the city on October 6th, -1837. To his summons to surrender came the -response, “He who will be master of Constantine -must cut the throat of the last of its -defenders.” A few days later the General in -command and General Perrégaux were killed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>side by side in the course of siege operations, -and General Valée assumed the leadership. -On the 13th he took the city by assault. -Numbers of the besieged endeavoured to -escape by ropes into the ravine, but the ropes -breaking they perished. Hadj-Ahmed evaded -capture, and for eleven years maintained himself -in the Aurès mountains. In 1848 he surrendered, -and died two years later. For -seventy years an unwonted peace has brooded -over the heights of Constantine; but who shall -say that the end is yet?</p> - -<p class='c001'>As usual, the French have destroyed most -of the remains of the Roman city; the exigencies -of space are here a better excuse than -exists elsewhere. But the antiquary may still -ferret out endless evidences of the ancient -town. The ordinary traveller may amuse himself -by strolling through the Arab quarter; -he may perambulate the gorge by the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Chemin -des Touristes</i></span>; he may cross the bridge and -ascend the opposing height to view in its -majesty this unique city of precipices. With -a map and moderate intelligence he will need -no guide; but he will be pestered by the -attentions of guides, responsible and irresponsible. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>They throng the door of his hotel, -they mark his goings-out and his comings-in, -and unless he succumbs to paying blackmail to -one of the fraternity, they will strive to make -his life a burden to him. Yet is there a -certain fierce pleasure in denying them. The -guide who haunts the hotel door is generally -one of the least estimable of men, especially in -Oriental countries. If you are weak, he will -prey on your weakness; if you are vicious, he -will reap his reward in ministering to your -vices. He does not shrink from suggestion, -and he seems to know no shame. He sometimes, -when not guiding, fills a menial office in the -hotel; one can hardly suppress a smile at the -idea of the epicurean having his pleasures -chosen for him by the Boots. To the credit of -Algiers it may be said that one is there little -troubled by these vermin; but Constantine -has something to learn.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Roman city of Cirta must have presented -a marvellously beautiful spectacle. -Classical architecture perhaps looks its noblest -in buildings which crown a height. The -temples of Cirta were of course not individually -comparable with those which adorned -<span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span>the Acropolis of Athens, or the line of cliffs at -Girgenti; but from a general scenic point of -view the effect would be similar and on a -greater scale. If the present city, which (like -the belfry of Christchurch) has no architectural -merits, looks so impressive at a little -distance, the ancient city with its marble -columns and triumphal arches must have -been grand beyond our powers of realization. -We know from the ruins at Timgad what a -Roman city in Africa was like, and Thamagudi -was a provincial town of no great mark, while -Cirta was the capital. Its remains are to be -seen everywhere, especially by the iron bridge -of El Kantara, which replaces the ancient -Roman bridge, a very remarkable structure -which stood until 1857, when two of its arches -fell. It was designed to carry an aqueduct, and -a roadway, which was supported on a double -series of arches, stood 400 feet above the level -of the river. It excited the wonder and admiration -of all travellers. Shaw saw it in -1740. He says it was “ indeed a masterpiece -of its kind, the gallery and the columns of the -arches being adorned with cornices and festoons, -ox-heads and garlands. The keystones also of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>the arches are charged with Caducei and other -figures.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The gorge contains many other Roman remains. -Numerous inscriptions, statues and -ornaments have been removed, and are collected -in a garden near the Place de la Brèche. -In this neighbourhood was found a delightful -epitaph of one Praecilius, a silversmith, written -in very inaccurate and unclassical Latin, which -may be thus translated:—</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Here I, silent myself, in verse describe my -life. I have filled an honourable career in -prosperous times; Praecilius my name, a -householder of Cirta and a silversmith by -trade; a man of acknowledged probity and unvarying -truthfulness. I have been friendly to -all men, and whom has my charity failed? -Laughter and good cheer I ever enjoyed with -my chosen friends. Life was not the same to -me after the death of my virtuous wife Valeria; -I found my happiness in holy wedlock. I have -celebrated in honourable fashion a hundred -happy birthdays. But there has come at last -the day when I must shuffle off this mortal coil. -The inscription you read while yet living I -have prepared against my death. Let it be as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>Fortune wills; never has she deserted me. -Follow my example. Here I await you. -Come!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>To one illustrious citizen Cirta gave birth, -Fronto the orator, friend of the Emperor -Antoninus Pius, and tutor of his heir, Marcus -Aurelius. Some of the correspondence of the -master and his pupil has been preserved. It -abounds in intimate and homely touches. The -prince went out hunting one morning, and on -his return wrote: “I betook myself to my -books. I took off my boots and my clothes, -and went to bed for two hours. I read two -orations of Cato. I think I have caught cold, -perhaps because I walked in sandals this -morning. So I will pour oil on my head and -go to sleep. Farewell, my dearest and sweetest -master, whom I love better than Rome itself.” -When Marcus Aurelius succeeded to his imperial -throne he offered his old tutor the proconsulship -of Asia, one of the greatest positions -in the Empire, but Fronto, who perhaps preferred -to remain in his native Africa, refused -the office on the ground of ill-health. Nothing -has been discovered at Cirta bearing on -Fronto’s connection with the city, but an -<span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span>inscription built into a house at Guelma, the -ancient Kalama, records his official appointment -as patron of that town.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Arab quarter, which is gradually being -squeezed out of existence, is quite different in -character from that of Algiers. Its lanes are -equally tortuous and narrow, and even more -dirty, but it is more full of life and more actual. -In Algiers most of the native shops are in -modern, Frenchified streets; here they line -the ancient alleys. Merchants sit in the serene -Eastern fashion beside their stores of merchandise; -artisans ply their little trades in a very -confined space. More than half the population -appears to be occupied in making shoes. The -general confusion is increased by the constant -passage of animals, horses, mules, donkeys and -camels. It is a little bit of an old world, and -being in close contact, yet hopelessly out of -touch, with the dominant world of the day, its -hours are numbered. The march of improvement, -especially when cribbed and confined -as by the cliffs of Constantine, brooks no -denial. And if we are compelled to hold our -noses, we may nevertheless be disposed to shed -a tear.</p> -<div id='i191' class='figcenter id011'> -<img src='images/i_191f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p>ZOUAVES</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>As becomes a city set on a hill, Constantine -is more retentive of its ancient customs than -a port like Algiers, which is subject to the -levelling influences of the sea and its traffic. -Here, for example, the Jewesses retain their -distinctive dress. They delight in bright -colours, and in heavy barbaric jewellery, such -as broad bracelets and large circular earrings. -They wear a peculiar head-dress, a sort of lace -veil with gold or gilt ornaments, surmounted -by a pointed cap. The girls affect a very -diminutive form of this cap, generally of -brilliant red or blue, stuck jauntily on one -side of the head. They are very lovely, these -Jewish girls, the finest type of their race, with -noble features and clear olive complexions. -In point of refinement and the carriage which -marks good breeding perhaps no race touches -such wide extremes as the Jewish; for some -reason or other the Constantine Jews are at -the top of the tree.</p> - -<p class='c001'>You may sit in a café of the Place de la -Brèche and watch the endless pageant of -commingled East and West. The military -note is predominant; Zouaves and Spahis are -everywhere. Behind a series of transport -<span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span>waggons of the Chasseurs d’Afrique a motor-car -hoots impatiently. Next a group of little -donkeys bearing loads, heads low, and ears -wearily flopping. Then carts heavily laden -with stone, drawn by five horses,—sometimes -a grey team, sometimes a brown,—harnessed in -single file, the driver walking by the penultimate -horse; a group of neat French children -on their way to school; an Arab lady of high -degree veiled in the daintiest grey chiffon, -riding on a caparisoned mule and holding a -lovely child before her; an old Arab seated on -a mass of saddle-bags which almost hide his -donkey, waggling his feet up and down after -the Arab manner, even as civilized man works -a salmon-rod; and as you turn to go there -comes a troop of men chanting a dull Gregorian -measure, and bearing something on a -stretcher covered with a green and gold -flowered cloth;—an Arab on his way to his last -resting-place.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Such is a fraction of the cosmopolitan and -parti-coloured crowd. And as you watch you -will reflect how much it owes to the fact that -the natives, high and low,—you do not see -much of the former,—wear a distinctive dress. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>The Arab’s robe is often shabby and often unclean; -but it avoids the meanness and vulgarity -of European clothes. The working classes of -Northern Europe have discarded their suitable -dress of the past;—even the lingering smock-frock, -most appropriate and dignified of -coverings, has gone,—they habit themselves in -the cast-off clothings of the well-to-do, or in -badly-made imitations of them. The women -suffer in appearance more than the men, but -both combine in their personal aspect to contribute -to the grim squalor and hideousness of -our meaner streets.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is said that the plateau on which Constantine -stands is honeycombed with caves and -subterranean passages, and that formerly it was -possible to walk round the city underground. -Probably these caves were excavated by the -river before it had carved out its present bed -at a lower level. These great natural storehouses -were used in troublous times for -the keeping of provisions and munitions of -war; and during the French attack of 1837 -many of the inhabitants took refuge in them. -They are now for the most part bricked up, -but a very remarkable grotto lies beneath the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span>Hôtel de Paris, and may be visited from the -hotel.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There is a museum at the Mairie. It is, as -Mr. Lucas found the Soane Museum in -Lincoln’s Inn Fields, very difficult to get into; -and it is still more difficult to get out of, especially -if you are a sympathetic listener. The -good lady whose place is in the porter’s lodge, -and who has the key, will, when at leisure, -conduct you to a long room containing the -usual assortment of battered coins and broken -pottery, and one gem, a bronze statuette of -Victory, found beneath the Kasbeh. When -you are sufficiently depressed by the antiquities, -your guide has something in store for -you. She will show you—you only, you are -given to understand; it is an exception;—the -marble staircase and the saloon in which the -Mayor receives. And very fine the marble -columns and marble panels are, and you will -notice how here a butterfly with long tails is -faithfully depicted in their rich grain, and -there the head of an old Arab to the very life. -And if you will have the goodness to look out -of window, you will see a house on the hill -opposite, and just beyond it on the other side -<span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>is the quarry from which all these marbles -come. And in all Algeria there is no such a -Mairie as this. And you may be led to discuss -systems of local government, and to mention -that you yourself, who speak, take some small -share in such matters, if only as a member of -an Education Committee, or a County Council, -or what-not. And you will perhaps be pained -to discover that the very name of your important -county town is unknown to your -entertainer; a pain to be mitigated later by -the reflection that the caretaker of its Town -Hall is perhaps not fully informed as to -Constantine. And the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>pièce de résistance</i></span> -comes last. You shall see the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>salon</i></span> in which the -Mayor conducts the marriages. And very -suitable and dignified it is. Has your Mayor so -fine a marrying-place? You are constrained to -confess that as far as you are aware your Mayor -has nothing to do with any marriages but his -own. A quick look as at an impostor detected, -a shrug of the shoulders, and a sigh for the -barbarous condition of foreign countries, and -it is over.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Constantine is a busy place. It is naturally a -great corn-market. It has long been celebrated -<span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span>for its leather goods. In their manufacture a -large number of tanners, saddlers and shoemakers -are employed. Here are produced all -the elaborate articles of harness affected by -Arab cavaliers, often curiously wrought and of -high price. And there is a considerable woollen -industry. Here are woven the <em>haïks</em> and -<em>burnous</em> which form part of Arab dress; and -certain finer articles, called <em>gandouras</em>, made -partly of wool and partly of silk. And the -development of the minerals of the province, -especially zinc, iron-ore and phosphates, is -bringing activity and prosperity to Constantine.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The last conquerors have indeed set their -seal upon the ancient city. They have wrought -more damage to its beauty in less than a century -than the Arabs in a thousand years. They have -done their utmost to reduce it to the level of a -common French provincial town, and they may -boast such partial success as its conditions permitted. -We are inured to regarding such proceedings -as inevitable. We have let our own -towns grow as the speculative builder willed; -we have spared nothing except by accident; -we should have dealt with Constantine very -much as the French have, perhaps more outrageously. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>The folly and iniquity of it all is -dawning on us too late, we are beginning to -see that the nineteenth century betrayed its -trust; it destroyed wantonly in time of peace -what even the stress and exigencies of centuries -of war had spared.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The cliffs of Constantine’s great gorge still -hold aloft its plateau; if they enclose a city unworthy -of their protection, such a condition is -perhaps, relatively to their own permanence, -merely transitory. They will doubtless see the -passing of all that our banal age has set up; it -is fortunately not built for lasting. And a more -enlightened race of men may yet arise to crown -with the towers of a noble city the finest site -in the world.</p> - -<p class='c001'>From Constantine the traveller will doubtless -turn his face southwards. He will have in -front of him the ruins of Roman cities on the -northern slope of the Aurès mountains, for -which Batna, 122 kilometres from Constantine -by road, is a convenient head-quarters; and -further on, after passing through a gorge which -severs the range, he will enter the true Sahara -and, at 116 kilometres from Batna, reach the -oasis of Biskra, the much honoured and much -<span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>sung. The railway takes during part of the -journey a somewhat different course from the -road, but the distance is about the same, the -journey occupying seven or eight hours.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There is nothing very remarkable about the -first part of the route. The country is bare -and somewhat marshy. Half way to Batna -both rail and road pass close to two salt lakes, -which are the haunt in winter of flamingoes -and wild duck. A little further on a glimpse -is caught of the Medrassen, a remarkable -monument recalling the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Tombeau de la -Chrétienne,”</span> near Algiers. It is interesting to -the archæologist, but perhaps hardly repays an -ordinary traveller for the trouble of visiting it. -Different opinions are held as to its purpose; -it was probably the burial-place of the Numidian -kings, perhaps of Massinissa, in which -case its date would be about 150 <span class='fss'>B.C.</span></p> - -<p class='c001'>At Batna the road to Timgad and other -ancient cities of the Roman frontier diverges -to the eastward. Proceeding northwards we -continue to ascend for a few miles, until the -watershed is reached, where we enter the -valley of the Oued Fedhala, the river which -runs southward to Biskra and the desert. East -<span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>of the road lies the great mass of the Aurès -mountains. On their northern side they slope -gradually, forming, in the manner of Algerian -mountains, great plains, which again, after the -lapse of many centuries, have been brought -into cultivation. Their southern face rises -more or less precipitously from the Sahara, and -defines, as has been suggested, the limits of -European colonization.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The mountain fastnesses of the Aurès, -seldom penetrated by the stranger, are the -home of a race, the Chawia, which possesses -remarkable characteristics. In the main a -branch of the aboriginal Berbers, they have -been preserved by the seclusion of their -mountains, like their cousins the Khabyles, -from any Arab admixture. But there is little -doubt that they represent also the débris of the -Roman, Vandal, and Byzantine colonies driven -to the hills by the Arab invasion. Even so were -the last remnants of Romano-British civilization -driven to the highlands of Wales and -Cumberland before the Anglo-Saxon hosts. In -their features, their speech and their customs, -the Chawia betray their classic origin. Many -travellers have dilated on the beauty of their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span>women:—"their well-featured countenances, -fair-curling locks, and wholesome ruddy looks." -Their language is full of Latin words. “They -observe the 25th of December as a feast, under -the name of Moolid (the birth), and keep three -days’ festival both at springtime and harvest. -They use the solar instead of the Mohammedan -lunar month, and the names of the months are -the same as our own.” In the peculiarities of -this isolated people, for which I cannot personally -vouch, we seem to see the germ of -some of Mr. Rider Haggard’s romances.</p> -<div id='i201' class='figcenter id011'> -<img src='images/i_201f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p>EL KANTARA</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span></div> -<div class='doubletop'> - -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='ch08' class='c018'><i>VIII—THE ALLURING OASIS</i></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c015'>El-Kantara—The Gateway of the Desert—Biskra—Its attractions—The -dancing-girls-"Hichenstown"—A garden and a vision—Railway -extension—Conquering Mohammedans—Sidi Okba—The -Arab’s point of view.</p> -<hr class='c016' /> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Ship me somewheres east of Suez, where the best is like the worst,</div> - <div class='line'>Where there aren’t no Ten Commandments, an’ a man can raise a thirst.”</div> - <div class='line in45'><cite>Barrack-room Ballads.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c007'>From the watershed to the north of -Batna the descent by road or rail is -rapid to El-Kantara, where the mountain -chain is riven by a deep and -narrow gorge. It is called by the Arabs <em>Foum-es-Sahara</em>, -the Mouth of the Sahara. The -scenery is very striking; Nature is here in a -theatrical mood; the mountains are bare and -rugged and of a rich yellow hue, and as one -emerges from the gorge the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>coup d’œil</i></span> is -magnificent. Immediately in front is a lovely -oasis, rich in palms and fruit trees, offering a -delicious contrast of greenery to the rough -<span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>weather-scarred rocks above. Around and -below, to the southward, are the rugged foot-hills -of the Aurès, and beyond all the great -illimitable sea of sand. This is one of those -rare places of the earth where nature seems to -set herself of deliberate intention to produce -an effect. And nothing is wanting to its -success; nothing is superfluous. No one could -have planned a more fitting, a more impressive, -a more romantic, gateway to the desert.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We continue to descend by the river, which -is soon to meet its doom in the sand, through a -strange country which suggests in its apparent -absence of design the effect of some vast catastrophe,—"the -quarries of an enormous desolation." -From the seamed and wrinkled and -time-worn cliffs, with their endless repetition -of narrow buttresses, stand out weird pinnacles -as might the ruins of a fantastic castle, or the -fangs of some huge primeval monster, “the -dead bones of the eldest born of time”; while -the floor of the valley is covered with curiously -regular pyramidal heaps, which bear the -semblance of man’s fashioning. Such a landscape -might serve for a poet’s or painter’s -Inferno; such may be the scenery of the moon. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>Little by little we leave this nightmare of the -foot-hills and emerge into the plain. We pass -several little oases, and traverse sandy areas -with scanty scrub. The river, or its bed, is -ever with us, with here and there an oleander -growing on its banks. Where water can be led -away from it, a little ground is irrigated, and -corn is sown. But ever we are tending to the -open desert. And at last, when we have -passed completely from all contact with the -hills, and know that we have attained the great -Sahara, at last we come to Biskra.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is a little difficult to analyse the charm of -Biskra. The charm is great and the attraction -strong. They do not lie altogether in the -brilliance of its sunshine, in the shade of its -palms, in the richness of its colouring, in the -exuberance of its life. These things we may -meet elsewhere. Biskra has other qualities; -it is barbaric, African to the core, tropical in -its intensity.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Biskra is barbaric. To one entering by rail -or road its trim streets and squares, and housing -himself in a hostelry which might be anywhere -within the bounds of the civilized world, this -is a hard saying. Yet he may soon perceive -<span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span>that its veneer is very thin and understand -that it is very transitory. A hot wind from the -desert in April, and it is gone, and the real -Biskra will reassert itself. But even during -the months of the incursion of the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>hiverneurs</i></span>, -the barbaric note is never absent; to the ear -that listens it is predominant; it rings more -shrill by force of contrast. The troops of -snarling camels, with their loads from the -Great Beyond, the clash of African musicless -music, the thronging crowds of jostling races -in its markets, the hooded figures crouched -motionless round its cafés, the bedizened -native harlotry which stalks unashamed,—nay, -proudly as mistress of the town,—in its streets; -all are there to mark its essential savagery. A -few hours ago in the upper lands behind the -desert gateway we breathed the chill atmosphere -of Europe; at Biskra we have passed -the bounds; sun and sky and earth and man -and outrageous woman combine to tell us -that at last we have entered Africa.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It may be that therein lies Biskra’s attraction -to the jaded European. It is all a little unnatural -from the European point of view. -There is a sense of walking on the slopes of a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span>volcano, or of playing with fire; and if we may -believe our novelists, European nature under -its influence tends to eccentric and eruptive -manifestations. Yet its frequenters exhibit -little outward sign of disturbance. German -tourists, arrayed indeed as if about to combat -a Touareg onslaught, yet read novels peacefully -in the pleasant seclusion of the hotel -garden; the Kodak fiend stalks his prey; the -traffic in post cards goes merrily along; but -we cannot escape an uneasy feeling that this -nonchalance is a cloak. Perhaps the novelists -have got on our nerves.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Biskra consists of a modern French town and -garrison, and several more or less distinct -native villages grouped together on a large -oasis, a strip of cultivated ground between -three or four miles in length, with an average -width of half a mile. It contains an immense -number of palm trees, the chief source of -wealth in the great Sahara. There is abundant -water from springs, and during winter from -the river, which conveys the snows of Aurès to -the desert, and is finally lost some miles further -to the south. It has a swarming native population, -of every North African race, and every -<span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span>hue. There is obviously a very great infusion -of negro blood; no doubt because Biskra is -situate on a highway of the nations, at a point -where the caravan routes from the extreme -south reach the mountain lands of Barbary. -These natives of various races are collected in -great numbers in the morning market, and -throng the neighbouring cafés throughout the -day, where squatting figures play interminable -games of dominoes and backgammon. Conspicuous -in the crowd are the dancing girls of -the Ouled Naïl tribe dressed in tawdry finery, -hung with barbaric jewellery and masses of -gold and silver coins, their hair mixed with -wool and plastered with grease, their faces -tattooed and darkened with <em>khol</em> and <em>henna</em>. -These women delight their patrons with their -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>danses à ventre</i></span> in the Cafés Maures at night, -and later sit—waiting and watching—on little -balconies in the street which is assigned to them. -Many attempts have been made by French -and English writers to shed a halo of romance -over these unfortunate beings. The whitewashing -of the harlot is a common literary pose. -The story that they come to the desert towns -to earn their dower and subsequently return -<span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>to their own tribe and marry may have some -foundation; such a procedure is not unknown -in other parts of the world; but to judge from -the appearance of some of them they are a -long time thinking about settling down.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It may, at any rate, be said of these girls that -they are not a mere “exploitation of local -colour,” got up for the benefit of the tourist. -They are a genuine native product, flourishing -no less in the oases of the Sahara seldom visited -by Europeans than under the shadow of the -hotels of Biskra. Their <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><em>danses</em></span> excite their -native admirers to great enthusiasm, they -often provoke furious jealousies, and are -sometimes the object of extraordinary prodigality. -Some of them appear to affect an air -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>très grande dame</i></span>. <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Celles des Ouled-Naïl qui -sont de grande tente apportent dans leurs relations -avec leurs visiteurs toute la générosité -et la délicatesse que comporte leur origine. Il -suffit d’admirer une seconde l’épais tapis qui -sert de lit pour que le serviteur de la noble -prostituée apporte à son amant d’une minute, -dès qu’il a regagné sa demeure, l’objet qui -l’avait frappé.”</span><a id='r8' /><a href='#f8' class='c020'><sup>[8]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f8'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r8'>8</a>. Guy de Maupassant, “Au Soleil.”</p> -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span>Biskra may be compared with a Nile town -such as Luxor, if one can imagine Luxor without -the river, without the temples, and, it must -be added, without the flies. But it is a desert -town, the town of an oasis, born of springs of -water rising in a dry place, and it revels in the -desert sun and sky. It is most pleasant when -the sky is cloudless and the air still. But its -beauty is greater when a moderate wind is -blowing and light clouds are passing. Then -are glorious deep blue shadows thrown on -scarred cliffs of the tawny Aurès range. The -tower of the Royal Hotel is a vantage point -from which to view Biskra and its landscape. -Thence you may note the extent of the oasis, -the belts of palm trees in the distance which -mark the existence of other oases, and miles -to the south the dunes of shifting sand which -to the imagination of most of us represent the -real Sahara. Especially beautiful is the scene -at sunset. The changing lights on the mountains, -the ruddy glow all around, the peculiar -quality of transparency in the sky when the -sun has set, and perhaps Venus appears and -hangs like a lamp between earth and heaven,—only -in the desert may we behold these last -<span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>glories of departing day. The shady, bird-haunted -garden of this hotel is a very haven -of shelter when the desert wind blows strong -and raises the light dust of Biskra in the street -without. It is surrounded on all sides by the -hotel buildings built in the spacious Oriental -manner with corridors opening to the garden -and pleasant balconies above.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Biskra of the tourists, <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>urbs circumcurrentium</i></span>, -is in a fair way to rechristen itself Hichenstown. -The novelist and his not very edifying story -pervade the place; they are thrust at you -everywhere with damnable iteration. And the -worst of it is that however mawkish the book it -has undeniable power, and if you are unfortunate -enough to have read it you will be unable -to avoid recognizing at every turn the scenes -in which the much-longing-to-be-loved heroine -and her uncouth lover played their parts. You -will probably not have been in the town many -hours, perhaps not many minutes, before a -guide will accost you and produce with much -dignity a visiting-card of Mr. Hichens, on -which something is written. If you express -neither interest nor emotion he will regard -you with a mixture of incredulity and pity. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span>What are you here for but to worship at the -shrine of the marabout Hichens? Hichens has -made—or marred—Biskra, and Biskra is not unmindful. -There is little or nothing to guide you -to in Biskra, wherefore is it full of guides. -They are an ever-present nuisance. The easier -course is to engage one, he will at least keep -off the others; if you have more grit you may -set out to prove yourself unguidable; every -guide’s hand will be against you at first, but -you will reap your reward. You will have no -difficulty in hiring a guide when you really -want one, and he will respect you the more. -The Arab is no mean judge in such matters. -The authorities have endeavoured to mitigate -the nuisance by licensing certain men to act -as guides; but they have not altogether -suppressed the unauthorized, and the licensed -merely give themselves additional airs. Silly -sentimental visitors have aggravated matters, -and have, moreover, turned many of the boys -and girls into impudent beggars. Books have -actually been written embodying the views -on life and religion of these petted striplings; -their remarkable inaccuracies in serious matters -suggest that the youth of Biskra is not averse -<span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>from “pulling the legs” of its amiable patrons. -It is all rather sad. But the debasing effect of -the inconsiderate tourist is not peculiar to -Biskra.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The garden of Count Landon is botanically -interesting, and a delightful refuge from glare -and dust and importunity. It is not in the -ordinary sense a garden; it is rather a great -plantation or shrubbery divided by winding -paths. The excessive neatness of these paths, -built of hard mud and carefully sanded, rather -spoils the effect of the wilderness to an English -eye. There is abundance of running water, and -the palm, which likes to have “its toes in the -water and its head in the sun,” flourishes exceedingly. -With it are many bamboos, peppers, -oranges, and various species of <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>ficus</i></span>,—the usual -subtropical assemblage. I observe no tree-ferns; -yet the conditions appear very suitable. -It is one continuous jumble; there is no -attempt at grouping, which would perhaps -have produced a more noble and more natural -effect. But as you come suddenly here or -there to the verge of this thicket, you are -startled and delighted by the contrast of -mellow shade within, and the shimmering -<span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>glare without;—a contrast quite after the -manner of Biskra, which revels in the juxtaposition -of the incongruous. Those who come -to the desert in search of peace and quiet may -find themselves in the plight of the guests of a -Swiss innkeeper who advertised: “My hotel is -recommended to those in search of solitude; -thousands come here in search of solitude -every summer.” But in the garden of M. -Landon you may be at rest, and dream dreams -and see visions, as I did. I had been reading -certain modern French writers who are concerned -to prove that the inhabitants of this -country, the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>indigènes</i></span>, are not Arab at all. -They don’t deny the Arab conquest, but hold -that the claim to have “come in with Okba” -is as empty a boast as among us is the assertion, -“We came over with the Conqueror.” They -are arguing to a case. If the native is not of -Semitic origin there is hope for him. He has -been more or less Christian before, so he may -be Christianized again, or anti-clerical radical -socialized, or whatever is necessary to make him -an up-to-date Frenchman. But with all their -theorizing nothing is effected. The Arab,—or -Berber,—goes on in his Arabian,—or Berberic,—way, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>unmoved by any attraction of French -politics and irreligion. How is he to be broken -in? A chance remark of an American fellow-traveller -opened to me the great discovery. -History supplies other instances of idle words -changing its course. There is to-day a great -civilizing influence at work on cosmopolitan -lines such as the world has never seen before. -It has already profoundly affected some of -the greatest of human interests,—religion, -commerce, and clothes. It will ultimately -bring about the abolition of war, because no -one will have time to fight. It is permeating -the most unlikely quarters; if I mistake not -my German neighbours this evening at dinner -were continually alluding to it; and what -Germany thinks to-day, Europe will think to-morrow. -The Arab, or Berber, must be -brought into the movement. He must play -golf. My American friend informed me that -golf has changed the habits of the American -business man. It appears that since Columbus -arrived this individual has never taken any -exercise; he has sat in his office glued to his -desk from dewy morn till long after sunset. -All that is over, and in a moment. At 3 p.m. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>he now furtively affixes to his office door a -notice, “Back in ten minutes,” and is off to -the American Sandwich. Saturday is a whole, -not a half, holiday; and Sunday has become -a day of especial unrest. If in the twinkling -of an eye such a slave of ingrained habits may -find salvation, need we despair of the poor -Arab, or worry ourselves about his pedigree? -To all appearance he is usually short of a job; -his posture of seemingly permanent repose is -explained to me as one of waiting till his -dates are ripe. Golf will alter his whole -attitude of mind as of body. Local conditions -are most favourable. The Sahara contains the -finest sand-bunkers in the world. The creation -of greens is merely a matter of sinking Artesian -wells, a laudable process on which the French -Government is already embarked, but with no -full appreciation of its real significance. Temporary -club-houses of galvanized iron would -meet all requirements for the present. At -once the Arab’s (I must continue to call him -the Arab, in spite of my French authors) -distinctive dress would go. No one who has -not put it on can realize in what a cuirass, in -what folds, he is involved. As he is he could -<span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span>never hope to drive a decent ball. Array him -in a Norfolk jacket and knickerbockers and -putties (I observe that his French conquerors -are greatly affecting putties) and his aloofness -disappears. At a stroke he enters the world-movement; -Colonel Bogey will oust the Lord -Okba; and when Hadji ben Mohammed ben -Yakoub comes over to represent the Biskra and -North Sahara Golf Club at St. Andrews may -I be there to see him win.</p> - -<div id='i215' class='figcenter id018'> -<img src='images/i_215f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p>OLD BISKRA</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>A little way further south than the garden of -Count Landon, on the Touggourt road lie the -scattered native hamlets known to the French -as <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>La Vieille Biskra</i></span>, the crumbling houses of a -ragged population. Here is the very <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>ne plus -ultra</i></span> of Arab untidiness. But the play of sunbeams -through the palm trees’ grateful shade -turns squalor into beauty. Arab villages are -often half in ruins. Their irregular construction -of blocks of dried mud gives them the -aspect of the homes of animals rather than -of men,—the creation perhaps of some gigantic -ant. When it rains they not infrequently fall -down. And the labour of rebuilding is not -lightly undertaken.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Biskra is soon to lose its present distinction -<span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>as the end of the railway line. The rails are -being rapidly laid towards Touggourt, 212 -kilometres to the south, a desert town where -splendid gardens flourish beneath the shade -of 200,000 palm trees. The irrepressible -motor-car has already stirred its dust. The -prudent Michelin guide describes the road -thither as <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>piste carrossable mais imprudente à -suivre par mauvais temps</i></span>. You are advised to -take mats to lay down in the softer places for -the car to run over. But what happens in the -event of a serious breakdown is not explained. -When the rail is finished the enterprising -tourist may pass by Biskra as a mere wayside -station and continue to the end. But he may -be only going farther to fare worse. It does -not appear that the distant towns of the Sahara -present any special points of interest beyond -their existence. Yet perhaps there are some to -whom the desert calls as to others the veldt. -But they will stick to their camels and their -mules, and merely use the railway extension -as a jumping-board for further explorations.</p> - -<div id='i217' class='figcenter id019'> -<img src='images/i_217f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p>BISKRA: STATUE OF CARDINAL LAVIGERIE</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>To him who strives to peer beneath the -obvious surface nothing in Biskra is more -significant than the statue of Cardinal Lavigerie. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>It stands in the main street close to the -luxurious Royal Hotel, hard by the quarter of -the Arab cafés and the street of the Ouled-Naïl -dancing-girls, a symbol of the eternal -amidst the evanescent, a protest for God -against the Devil and the world. And it looks -south. Thousands of miles away, across the -vast expanse of the continent, another statue -looks north. Rhodes and Lavigerie, two types -of our civilization, further apart in intention -and in ideals of human conduct than are their -statues, look forth over Africa from their -separate standpoints, the Africa for which -each spent his strength. Both worked to -bring to the Dark Continent the accumulated -wealth of light to which Europe is heir; they -drew perhaps on different departments in the -great storehouse; they directed the illumination -to different points; but to evolve order -from chaos, to substitute freedom for tyranny, -to impose peace even, if need were, by the -sword,—these were the objects which both -pursued.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The neighbourhood of Biskra is rich in -memories of Sidi Okba, the barber of the -Prophet, and the first of the Arab conquerors. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span>It was he who pushed westward from Kairouan -through Barbary to the Atlantic, having defeated -the Berbers under Koceïla and other -chieftains. Arrived at the shore of the ocean -he raised the standard of the Prophet crowned -with the crescent, and indicating with it the -course of the sun from its rising to its setting, -dashed forward and breasted the waves with -his horse, crying, “God of Mahomet, were I -not stopped by the waves of this sea, I would -go to the ends of the earth to carry the glory -of thy name, to fight for thy religion and to -destroy those who will not believe on thee!” -On his return journey he was attacked by a -force of Berbers under Koceïla near Biskra -and killed with three hundred of his followers. -He was buried in the oasis which bears his name, -and his tomb is an object of pilgrimage and -veneration.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But the Berbers, if they had killed one leader, -did not succeed in maintaining their independence. -That they adopted the invaders’ -religion is not very surprising. Their previous -religions seem to have sat lightly on them: -idolaters, pagans, converted in numbers to -Judaism, orthodox Christians, Donatists,—they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>had been all in turn. The dogmatic simplicity -of Islam is summed up in the words, “There is -no God but God, and Mohammed is the Prophet -of God.” It only demands a belief in this one -God and the veneration of Mahomet, last of -the prophets, invested by God with the mission -to bring back men to the religion of the ancient -patriarchs and to the acknowledgment of the -Unity of the Godhead. It is completed by -belief in three revealed books, the Bible, the -Gospel, and the Koran. It denies the Trinity -and the divinity of Jesus Christ, who is -regarded only as a prophet, but allowed to have -possessed a special nature.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The simple formula of Mohammedanism -was not very difficult for a man with no prejudices -to accept. It meant, of course, more -than appeared from its positive assertion; it -was directed alike against the Trinitarianism -of the Christians and the idolatry or image-worship -of pre-Mohammedan Arabians. In -its rejection of anthropomorphism it stands on -a high intellectual plane; and it is one of the -marvels of history that such an abstraction as -the God of Mahomet should have been sufficient -to rouse the Prophet’s followers to their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>pitch of conquering enthusiasm. Races beaten -in battle no doubt easily accepted its primary -proposition. “People follow the religion of -their kings,” says an Arab proverb. But there -was more behind. The Prophet attached to -his religious doctrine a very precise ethical code, -a moral system admirable on the whole in its -exposition of the duties of man to man; yet -in its permission of polygamy regarding women -as inferior to men. And on the political side -he united the functions of the priest, the -judge and the king. It follows that however -enlightened the main basis of Mohammedanism -it is fundamentally opposed alike to Christianity -and to modern theories of democratic -government and the equality of the sexes. -“Men are superior to women on account of -the qualities with which God has gifted the -one above the other,” says the Koran.</p> - -<p class='c001'>After the manner of organized religions all -sorts of complicated additions have been made -to the originally simple rule of the Prophet, -which enjoined prayer, ablutions, fasting, -abstinence from wine and the flesh of the pig. -These accretions are largely concerned with -the veneration of saints and the exorcising of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>spirits. Among the former not the least is -Sidi Okba, canonized rather, we may suppose, -for his prowess as a conqueror and his zeal as -a propagandist than for any peculiar sanctity -of life.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The oasis of Sidi Okba lies about twenty-one -kilometres south-east of Biskra. The road -crosses a level plain, and is at present in a -rather rough condition, but is being re-metalled. -The drive is a pleasant one, with the -long line of mountains on the left fading away -into a blue distance; on the right the desert -with an occasional oasis marked by its group -of palms. As we approach Sidi <a id='corr221.14'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='Obka'>Okba</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_221.14'><ins class='correction' title='Obka'>Okba</ins></a></span> the -dark belt visible from Biskra takes shape. The -little town lies in the midst of an immense -group of date-palms, of all sizes, some of great -age; one has the honour of being described as -the oldest palm in Africa. Sidi Okba has not -been in any way Europeanized, it is still the unadulterated -East; its houses built of mud, of -one story; its streets narrow, winding and -very unclean. It appears to be greatly over-populated, -and the mass of its inhabitants to -be very poor. The streets are thronged with -men, but scarcely a woman is to be seen. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span>stranger, who will do well on this occasion to -bring a guide, will be quite unmolested, and -to all appearance totally disregarded. A main -street full of little shops, curious and interesting, -leads to the market-place, which is the -very climax of Arab untidiness. Sidi Okba is -not a place for the squeamish.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The chief object of interest is the mosque, -which is considered to be the oldest Mohammedan -building in Africa. It is a square -building surrounded by a portico, with a flat -roof supported on twenty-six rudely carved -columns. The saint’s tomb is contained in a -little chapel which it is unlawful for the unbeliever -to enter. The mosque and its porticoes -are greatly resorted to by students and -pilgrims; it contains little cells in which they -are lodged, and endowments have been created -by pious benefactors for their support. There -are many present to-day: here a single student -reading laboriously a passage of the Koran -written on a wooden slab; there a little group -of doctors squatting in a circle apparently -discussing a knotty point, but in reality only -capping each other’s quotations from the -sacred book. In an adjoining room is the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>usual Arab school—a number of boys surrounding -a seated master who is armed with a long -cane, and yelling their lesson (the Koran again) -with all their might. It is all very far apart -from the workaday western world. Yet even -into this very shrine of esoteric Islam has the -West edged its way. On the walls of the -mosque hang highly-coloured prints of the -holy cities of Arabia, Mecca and Medina. My -guide pointed them out to me as objects of -interest. In the corner of the view of Medina -I noticed the words, “All rights reserved. The -Cairo Punch.”</p> - -<div id='i222' class='figcenter id011'> -<img src='images/i_222f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p>SIDI OKBA: A STREET</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>On one of the pillars is engraved in early -Cufic characters the grandly simple inscription, -“This is the tomb of Okba, son of Nafè. -May God have mercy on him.” The wooden -door of the mosque is very finely carved in a -curious design. It is said to have been brought -from Tobna, in the high plateau of the Hodna, -and to have been formerly covered with -precious metals and jewels, which were sold -for the benefit of the mosque; but this may -be doubted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>To obtain a view of the township and the -oasis you may ascend the minaret. Here your -<span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span>guide will not accompany you. Arabs object -to any prying eye surveying their roofs, which -are the resort of their women. They have -perhaps grown accustomed to the irrepressible -European, who will always go to the highest -point at all hazards; he is also beneath their -contempt, and in any case will depart and be -no more seen. With one of their own countrymen -it is different; he may be the European’s -servant, but he is a fellow-religionist and not -a mere animal like his employer. So the -European is tolerated with a shrug. For the -office of <em>muezzin</em>, the custodian of the mosque, -whose business it is to ascend the minaret and -call the faithful to prayer, a blind man with a -brazen voice is in much request. If not -actually, the <em>muezzin</em> is conventionally blind. -So he will light a candle to guide you up the -dark staircase, and accompany you to the top. -The town lies below you and all around,—a -curious collection of square mud boxes. On -many of the roofs are basket-work erections, -which are explained to you as the framework of -tents, in which the inhabitants sleep during the -great summer heats. Over the heads of countless -palm trees your eye ranges to the desert, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>bounded on the north by the cliffs of Barbary, -limitless to the south. And southwards you -will gaze till you grow weary of immensity.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Perhaps nowhere more than at Sidi Okba, -under the shadow of the great conqueror’s -tomb, may you feel the haughty disdain of the -Arab. He stalks past you apparently in utter -unconsciousness of your presence. You belong -to a civilization which for the moment has -conquered his in war. Allah has willed it. -But you represent with your anthropomorphic -religion, your abominable demeanour and -social arrangements, especially your own lack -of dignity and the licence you allow to your -women, all that he holds most accursed. You -attach undue importance to human life in -this world; and this leads you into a ridiculous -state of worry about trumpery matters of -sanitation and so forth, which are quite beneath -the notice of a man concerned with the -higher mysteries of the universe and considerations -of eternity. Your grovelling disregard of -the really great things gives you leisure to -devote yourself to such trifles as trade and -transport, and so you grow rich, which is -rather to your discredit than the reverse. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>Wherefore the Arab expresses his contempt -for you by the supremest indifference, striving -only to preserve the hem of his robe from -contact with the unclean.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The ordinary traveller will perhaps leave -Biskra with no great regret, however much he -may have found of interest in his visit. But to -those rare spirits among us who endeavour to -repair the mischief caused by our first parents, -Biskra presents very special opportunities. -There is very little to see, and nothing whatever -to do; it is a capital place for sitting in the -shade with a brilliant sky above. The Garden -of Eden is an Oriental ideal; these Arabs who -exist in contemplation of their palm trees -are striving to live up to it. It is not at all -an English ideal. The primeval curse lies -heavy on the Englishman; he has made the -best of it and has come to regard work as a -virtue. Not only by the sweat of his brow must -he earn his living; by the sweat of his brow -must he achieve his pleasure. A paradise in -which he could not knock a ball about or -kill the other animals were no paradise to him. -Yet even among our strenuous people there -are emancipated individuals, to whose simple -<span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span>needs a sunny climate and regular meals at a -comfortable hotel suffice:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough,</div> - <div class='line in1'>A flask of Wine, a Book of Verse,”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>such will find a congenial resting-place.</p> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span></div> -<div class='doubletop'> - -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='ch09' class='c018'><i>IX—THE SAHARA</i></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c022'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The desert in imagination and reality—Underground water—Artesian</div> - <div class='line'>wells—Mozabites—Touaregs—The camel—Recent developments—Railway</div> - <div class='line'>projects—The Army of Africa.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c023' /> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“I’ve in the desert with these eyes beheld</div> - <div class='line'>The hurrying pilgrim to the slow-stepped yield;</div> - <div class='line'>The rapid courser in the rear remains,</div> - <div class='line'>While the slow camel still its step maintains.”</div> - <div class='line in34'><span class='sc'>The Gulistān.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c007'>Everyone, it has been said, has his -own Sahara. For many of us perhaps -the geography lessons of childhood -left an impression of an ocean of -shifting sand, sometimes separated from the -sea by a narrow strip of cultivated land, sometimes -extending to the very shore, from which -majestic lions, appropriate lords of the inhospitable -desert, gaze pensively at the setting -sun. If we had the misfortune to be born -half a century or more ago, the maps of Africa -of the period, with their vast interior emptiness, -suggested to our youthful imagination that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span>this unpleasant region extended over the -greater part of the continent, the elephant -taking the place of the lion in the more -southern portions.</p> - -<div id='i228' class='figcenter id011'> -<img src='images/i_228f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p>THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE SAHARA</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“So geographers, in Afric maps,</div> - <div class='line'>With savage pictures fill their gaps,</div> - <div class='line'>And o’er unhabitable downs</div> - <div class='line'>Place elephants for want of towns.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c021'>The last generation has seen these mediæval -ideas considerably modified. Travel and war -have been the means of filling much of the -blank space; the arts of peace have followed -in their wake; African railways would occupy -quite a respectable page in a world-wide -Bradshaw; and the Stock Exchange in a -searching for economy of syllables has irreverently -shortened the poetical Tanganyika -to the practical Tank. The great flat plain is -last to go;—the millions of acres of rather -light soil which the French have been so -unaccountably anxious to daub with their -colour on the map. We have given up the -lions; we know that such carnivorous beasts -can only live in a fairly fertile country which -supplies sufficient food to their prey. But we -have clung to the plain and the sand. Nevertheless -<span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span>it seems that they must go too. We -read that you may travel for days in the -Sahara on rocky hills and not find enough sand -to dry your signature. So perish the beliefs -of youth.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Yet to any picture of Algeria the Sahara -supplies a romantic background. The sight of -a caravan arriving from some distant oasis still -has power to stir the imagination. Even in -face of our information as to the Sahara’s only -partial sterility, we cherish some shreds of -wonder at the men who can wring a livelihood -and find the means of travel under such -inhospitable conditions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Sahara has been defined as the region -which receives only as an exception any rainfall, -whether of Mediterranean origin, or from the -tropical regions of West Africa. It is only -relatively a desert in the strict sense of the -word; no part of it is absolutely without rain, -and even in the districts which are reputed -the most dry the traveller may meet with -violent storms. The generally arid nature of -the soil is due to the fact that water circulates -not on the surface, but underground. Where -it comes to light either by natural or artificial -<span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>means, a focus of intense cultivation, an oasis, -is produced.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Algerian Sahara is only a portion of the -great desert of Northern Africa. Yet it is ten -times the size of Algeria itself. It consists -roughly of two great depressions separated -by an isthmus of calcareous hills. Each of -these basins contains a great expanse of dunes, -and the two chief groups of oases occur in -their lower levels. A generation ago it was commonly -believed that the Sahara was the bed -of a sea which had disappeared at no very -distant date; and projects were formed of -admitting the Mediterranean by means of a -canal. But more precise knowledge has shown -that its sterility is due to other causes; that -like the rest of the continent it has its ancient -conformation of mountain and plain; that it -has distinctive flora and fauna long established; -and that the portion which lies below the level -of the Mediterranean is of very small extent.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Between eighty and ninety per cent of the -surface is of rock, slightly undulating and -broken occasionally by perpendicular ravines -and large crevasses. Here, as a rule, no water -can be found, and the only vegetation is an -<span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span>occasional thorny shrub. With the regions of -the sand dunes it is different. Their sterility is -by no means absolute. They have a vigorous -vegetation of their own, which will support -camels, and even sheep at a favourable season. -They absorb eagerly the rainfall which runs off -the rocky plateaux, and acting as a sponge -retain it for a long period. Their comparative -barrenness is due only to the dryness -of the climate; wherever they can be irrigated -they become fertile.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Of the underground rivers the best known -is the Oued Rir, which is met with about fifty -miles to the south of Biskra, and extends as far -as Temacin, fourteen miles south-west of -Touggourt. Its course is marked by a number -of oases, some of which have been created, and -others much improved by the Artesian wells of -the French engineers. The first experiment -of this sort was tried as early as 1856 at the -oasis of Tamerna. After twenty-two days of -work, in the presence of a crowd of incredulous -and scarcely friendly natives the bore produced -a veritable river of a thousand gallons a minute.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“In the desert a fountain is springing.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_233'>233</span>At this welcome spectacle, the ingrained -distrust of and smothered hostility towards -the stranger and his methods vanished; all -gave way to a transport of joy and enthusiasm. -The work thus begun has been continued with -great success, chiefly by French companies; -new wells have been sunk and old wells -repaired; and it is estimated that the value -of the oases of the Rir has increased fivefold, -and their population more than doubled.</p> - -<div id='i232' class='figcenter id011'> -<img src='images/i_232f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p>AN ARTESIAN WELL</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Similar results have been attained elsewhere. -But while they increase the productiveness of -the oases, and at the same time improve the -routes and the condition of the nomads, they -do not warrant any hopes of extensive cultivation -in the Sahara. The conditions of life -continue difficult. The oases are very unhealthy; -their sedentary inhabitants are the -prey of malignant fevers and chronic diseases. -The summer climate is appalling; a variation -between freezing-point and 120° Fahrenheit -in the twenty-four hours is not unknown. -Those of the inhabitants, Arabs or Berbers, -who have an admixture of the blood of the -Soudanese negroes, are best fitted to support -such trying conditions. As a place of residence -<span class='pageno' id='Page_234'>234</span>for Europeans the Sahara cannot be recommended -with any confidence.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Of the sedentary peoples of the Sahara the -most interesting are the Mozabites; of the -nomads the Touaregs, who range over the -vast region to the extreme south. Both are -considered to be of Berber origin. The -Mozabites have already been mentioned as -traders in Algiers. Their country, the Mzab, -is situate in one of the most sterile parts of -the Sahara, on the rocky promontory which -separates the eastern and western depressions. -It lies about 400 miles due south of Algiers. -Here with amazing toil they have created a -fertile region. They have dug wells and -found water, and have built dams to intercept -and retain the occasional rainfall. The contrast -of their fertile gardens with the bare and -fantastic rocks which surround them, a land of -exaggerated sterility where Nature herself -seems dead, is described by travellers as very -striking. The industry and commercial aptitude -of the Mozabites is very remarkable. -They excel as money-lenders and in small -banking business. It is said that among them -a Jew must work with his hands.</p> -<div id='i234' class='figcenter id011'> -<img src='images/i_234f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p>A NATIVE WELL</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_235'>235</span>During the last few years, without attracting -much attention from the outer world, France -has quietly conquered the Sahara, or at all -events brought its nomad tribes under effective -control. The Touaregs, neither very numerous -nor very well armed, have succumbed to -persistent pressure and a few trifling defeats. -Some are settling on the fringe of the oases; -others drifting into the service of the State. -The systematic brigands of centuries will pass, -it has been said, in a few years from the Stone -Age to the age of aviation. They recognize, -not without humour, that their rôle of levying -contributions has fallen into other hands. A -captain of spahis in garrison at Timbuctoo, -was ordered to pursue a caravan which had -made off in the night without paying the -market dues. “We also,” said the Touaregs, -“when we stop a caravan, do so to collect <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>le -droit de passage</i></span>.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The conquest of the desert, long delayed, -has only been achieved by the regular employment -of the camel. For nearly a century, -since Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt, the -French had made spasmodic efforts to utilize -this animal, but with little success. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_236'>236</span>camel corps were regarded with ridicule and -contempt, and the peculiarities of the beast -were little understood. A common belief in -fabulous stories of its powers of speed and -endurance, its capacity for doing without food -and water, occasioned much suffering and -immense loss. In fact it requires, year in year -out, as much sustenance as other herbivorous -beasts of its bulk; where it differs from others -is in its power to support extreme irregularity -in its meals. This quality, and especially its -ability to take in at one drink enough water for -several days, render it of unequalled value for -desert journeyings. The camel can work for -six months in the year on the meagre diet which -the sparse vegetation of the Sahara affords; it -is necessary for his existence that he should -spend the remaining six in complete rest at -pasture, where he feeds voraciously from -morning to night without losing a minute. -“But it must not be believed,” says M. Gautier, -“that the camel on active service does not eat; -he feeds when he has the opportunity, and the -opportunities must not be rare. For a caravan -of camels traversing the desert, the stomach of -the beasts is the sovereign lord of marches and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_237'>237</span>halts, the director of the daily programme; -day and night, the fatigue and hunger and sleep -of the men do not enter into the account; -everything is subordinated to the single necessity -of nourishment for the herd. Whenever -a little edible vegetation is met with, at whatever -point of the itinerary, a halt is made for -several hours or several days; in the intervals, -even as happens sometimes, of two or three -hundred kilometres or of five or six days, -progress, slow and regular, is made without -truce, almost without sleep, beneath sun and -stars alike. One can only stop at a pasturage; -a voyage in the Sahara is a hunt for a blade of -grass.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>God, says the proverb, having made the -desert, repaired the mischief by creating the -camel. Considered absolutely it is an inferior -beast of burden to the horse and mule, considered -relatively to the conditions of the -Sahara it is invaluable. But it must be treated -according to its necessities. In the mines of -Algeria, for props in the galleries, pine is -preferred to oak; oak breaks suddenly when -the limit of its strength is reached, pine on the -contrary cracks and creaks,—it gives warning. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_238'>238</span>The camel is as the oak, he gives no warning. -Exhausted, he stops abruptly like a motor-car -which has run short of petrol; he crouches and -dies, with plenty of dignity and with an air of -thinking of something else. So have ended -countless camels in the service of France. But -since 1902 camel corps have been raised on a -scientific basis; the animal used being almost -invariably the <em>méhari</em>, a species of dromedary. -A body of natives of the tribe of the Chaamba -has been organized, each of whom in return -for a definite sum of money supplies two or -three camels, which are his own property, to -exchange, to sell, to traffic with as he pleases. -He is, in fact, a contractor. For a further sum -he provides his own food, clothing and equipment. -This system seems to be a reversion to -an ancient custom, which the very word -“soldier” recalls.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The effect has been magical. Almost without -a blow the Touareg has recognized his master. -The Chaamba patrol the desert and enforce -French conceptions of law and order. Communications -have been opened in all directions; -the tremendous journey between Algeria and -the West African possessions of France is now -<span class='pageno' id='Page_239'>239</span>frequently made without danger and without -exciting remark. The <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>méharistes</i></span> have solved -the problem so long insoluble.</p> - -<div id='i238' class='figcenter id011'> -<img src='images/i_238f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p>A CARAVAN</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>But a greater project is agitating the minds -of the forward Colonial party, the linking of -the French possessions by a Trans-Saharian -railway. The scheme is not a new one. It -was much discussed thirty years ago. The -French Government appointed a scientific -commission to study the matter, and the -French public, ever ready to support a vast -engineering scheme, was eager to subscribe the -necessary capital. The murder by Touaregs of -the Flatters mission administered a cold douche, -and for the time being the subject dropped. -It has been revived of late by M. Leroy -Beaulieu and other writers. Two lines are -projected, one to Lake Tchad, the other to -Timbuctoo. The distance to be covered is -enormous, in each case about 2700 miles, of -which 2000 is desert. The engineering difficulties -are not great, but the commercial -prospects of such a line seem very poor. A -train or two a year would deal with all the -existing traffic, and there appears little scope -for development. It is suggested that the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_240'>240</span>Upper Niger may become another Nile, but -even then its trade would seek an outlet rather -to the Atlantic than to the Mediterranean and -across the Great Sahara. The post route to -South America might be shortened a little, but -at what cost and inconvenience! The best -hope for the would-be railway builders lies in -the discovery of minerals. A mining industry -would develop the Sahara as it has developed -the bare uplands of the Transvaal and the icy -wastes of Klondyke. But of this there is no -present indication.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Meantime, in the extreme west, on the -borders of Morocco, the railway has been -extended as far as Colomb-Béchar, a distance -of 728 kilometres to the south-west of Oran. -This is a strategic line. It is in the direction of -Morocco that the eyes of the army of Africa -are now turned. French writers are never -tired of repeating that Barbary is one, and -should be undivided, that the masters of -Tunis and Algeria must be lords of Morocco -too. The safety of Algeria itself is said to -depend on the French control of Morocco. -Such is ever the language of him who would -go forward. We have said it ourselves often -<span class='pageno' id='Page_241'>241</span>enough, and to fix the limits of empire is -sometimes more difficult than to advance -them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It may be worth while to note what is the -present military force of France in North -Africa. According to the project for the -Budget of 1911, the force in Algeria consists of -2134 officers and 52,927 men; in Tunisia of -698 officers and 17,007 men. The cavalry -numbers in all 440 officers and 9074 men. -The number of native troops is singularly small, -about 15,000 infantry and 1800 spahis. Judging -by our experience in India it would be -possible to make a far larger use of native -military talent, to the great advantage of the -population, and to the consolidation of the -French hold on the country. The native troops -employed in the late Morocco campaign, -especially the Tunisians, bore themselves with -the greatest credit.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the Sahara special companies have been -recently raised. They contain a certain -admixture of French troops:—24 officers and -123 men to 817 men. It would seem a special -field for the raising of a force of natural -cavalry and camel-men.</p> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_242'>242</span></div> -<div class='doubletop'> - -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='ch10' class='c018'><i>X—TIMGAD</i></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c015'>The Roman frontier—Lambessa—The Empire ruined by bad finance—African -Emperors—The plan of Timgad—Buildings, inscriptions, -and mosaics—Prosperity of Roman Africa—Local patriotism—The -Roman tradition.</p> -<hr class='c016' /> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“As in those realms where Cæsars once bore sway,</div> - <div class='line'>Defaced by time and tottering to decay,</div> - <div class='line'>There in the ruin heedless of the dead,</div> - <div class='line'>The shelter-seeking peasant builds his shed.”</div> - <div class='line in36'><span class='sc'>Goldsmith.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c007'>East and west of Batna lay the Roman -frontier line during the first two -centuries of the Empire. It was -marked by a series of cities, partly -military, partly commercial; extensive ruins -bespeak their ancient importance. As elsewhere -in Europe and North Africa the fall of the -Empire seldom meant the abandonment of the -city sites; they continued to be occupied by -successive generations of men, even though, like -Rome herself, for a period they sank to insignificance. -And their ruined buildings, public and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_243'>243</span>private, offered a convenient quarry to the builders -of subsequent ages. It results that we are -scarcely able to find an ancient city in which the -original plan of house and street has not been -seriously interfered with. While, as in many -English towns, the main lines of the streets -often follow the Roman thoroughfares, we -have seldom the opportunity of studying the -scheme as a whole, although all through -Southern and Western Europe innumerable -individual features exist more or less well -preserved.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We owe the existence of Pompeii and Herculaneum -to the accident of their overwhelming -by ashes and lava from Vesuvius. The former -has been laid bare; the excavation of the -latter, a much more serious matter, awaits the -day when the disposers of wealth, public or -private, shall see fit to undertake a work, which -promises the greatest results. It happens by a -piece of exceptional good fortune that here, -on the southern edge of Barbary, Pompeii has a -serious rival. The Roman city of Thamagudi, -now called Timgad, has since its destruction at -the time of the Arab invasion of <span class='fss'>A.D.</span> 692 never -been the habitation of man. To this cause -<span class='pageno' id='Page_244'>244</span>alone may its present condition be attributed. -It has passed twelve centuries in a great silence. -Its ruined temples and baths have been the -haunt of the panther and the jackal. No -neighbouring town despoiled its stones, or -ground its marbles to make mortar. Its -columns lay prone, its temples and houses -were for the most part levelled with the ground; -yet a massive arch or two told through the -centuries to the watcher from afar that here -once stood a Roman city.</p> - -<div id='i245' class='figcenter id011'> -<img src='images/i_245f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p>A STREET AT TIMGAD</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The night of centuries is past; the long -silence is broken; the jackals have fled to their -mountains; and a Latin race is tenderly safeguarding -its heritage. Once again a road leads -to the portals of the ancient city, and with -infinite skill and care the debris has been cleared -away. Columns have been re-erected, masonry -replaced in its original position and fragments -of inscriptions pieced together; a very triumph -of that vast capacity for taking pains which -is such an important element of French genius. -One charm of the place to the visitor is that it -is not exploited as a tourist resort. A little -museum has been set up to hold the treasures -found among the ruins, a modest hotel has been -<span class='pageno' id='Page_245'>245</span>built, and the neighbouring Arabs have been -encouraged to hold a weekly market outside -the walls; but there is no turnstile to be -passed, you are not delivered over to a guide, -no tout is permitted to worry you, and you are -free to pass to and fro, to go in and out as you -list as long as you don’t steal or deface anything. -So for a contemplative mind every -possible attraction is conserved.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Roman conquest and civilization—or -rather assimilation—of North Africa were -slow, tentative and reluctant. Scipio Æmilianus -burnt Carthage in 146 <span class='fss'>B.C.</span>; it was more -than a hundred years later that Julius Cæsar -handed over Cirta to the soldiers of Sittius. -Under Augustus a camp was established at -Theveste (Tebessa), and the Third Legion, -Augusta, was stationed there with the object -of protecting the territory of Cirta, and the -proconsular province which is now Tunisia. -Under the shelter of this post, during the first -century of our era, the great corn lands enclosed -by the Aurès mountains were gradually -brought under Roman control. The building -of Thamagudi in the reign of Trajan, in the -year <span class='fss'>A.D.</span> 100, is evidence of the importance to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_246'>246</span>which this region had by that time risen. This -process continued during the next two centuries. -No doubt as the population of Italy -declined, and her fertility decreased, Rome -came to rely more and more on the corn of -Africa, and more land was continually brought -under cultivation. This is the significance of -such a city as Timgad, lying over 3000 feet -above the sea on a slope of the Aurès -mountains.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Our ideas of the Roman Empire are perhaps -coloured by the title of Gibbon’s great work. -We are disposed to think that its decline began -with its establishment. Gibbon had always at -the back of his mind the belief that Christianity -was the cause of its ultimate ruin, and -that the Empire began to totter on the day -when the first Roman citizen was baptised a -Christian. But for two or three hundred -years, though the Empire was frequently torn -by political dissensions, its material prosperity -was very great. We know now that it was -ruined in the end by its financial errors, its -unwise and unjust system of land taxation, the -grasping greed of Treasury officials and the -anxiety of upstart Emperors to gratify their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_247'>247</span>supporters in the army and the Roman mob -at anybody’s cost.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is a vice of civilizations to believe themselves -invulnerable. As late as the fifth century -it was inconceivable to a Roman gentleman that -the mighty structure could be swept away; -and it is perhaps true that even then it might -have been saved by a return to sounder -systems of finance. Even so to-day the -European nations are arming to the teeth -against each other, instead of husbanding their -resources and concerting measures of defence -against races more numerous and more prolific. -The uprising of the Asiatic peoples is a fact -to which we cannot be other than wilfully -blind. A beginning of the trouble may be -upon us at any minute.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Timgad was built by the soldiers of the -Third Legion, then stationed at Tebessa. Its -head-quarters were shortly afterwards moved -to Lambessa, and during the second and third -centuries the frontier outposts were gradually -pushed forward. They occupied a line on the -south side of the Aurès range, extending to -the south and south-east of Biskra and then -branching north-west to Bou-Saida. At least -<span class='pageno' id='Page_248'>248</span>in some districts a ditch and rampart marked -the limits of the Empire.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Lambessa grew into a large city said to have -contained 60,000 inhabitants. Its considerable -ruins, of which the most important are the -Prætorium and certain arches, are visible -to-day. The importance of the position is -realized by the French, who have large barracks -and a force of 4000 men at Batna, only a few -miles off. Striking evidence of the success of -Rome’s treatment of subject races is to be -found in the fact that with all the wealth of -numerous great cities to protect, her military -force in North Africa consisted only of one -legion of 5500 men and auxiliary forces of -infantry and cavalry, making a total of 15,000 -men. At first the legionaries were raised in -Europe, chiefly in Gaul, but in the second -century they were recruited entirely among -the indigenous population. Retired soldiers -were granted lands and exemptions on the -condition that their sons enlisted. In this way -towns like Lambessa, half military, half commercial, -grew up. The actual number of emigrants -from Italy was small; with her declining -population she had no emigrants to send.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_249'>249</span>There is, therefore, reason to believe that -the inhabitants of such cities as Timgad were -not to any appreciable extent colonists from -Europe; they were rather Romanized Berbers. -The names as they appear in inscriptions -corroborate this. They are not Latin, if Latin -in form. This point is of great importance in -considering not only the nature of the Roman -rule in North Africa, but also the history and -possibilities of the Berber population. They -were Romanized once, they are Arabized -to-day; what may they be to-morrow?</p> - -<p class='c001'>As we stand in the Forum of Timgad to-day, -we may reflect that this noble city was built -and inhabited by the ancestors of the gabbling -native crowd which is holding its market at the -gate. Doubtless in their simple minds these -robed figures are wondering what in the world -we come for. They must be aware that it is -not a religious exercise; we have our holy -places to which they observe that some of us -betake ourselves on Sunday mornings; no -Christian marabout lies buried here, and we -are therefore not votaries making a pilgrimage. -Yet is our conduct not mere levity; we -wander about with little books in our hands -<span class='pageno' id='Page_250'>250</span>and are very earnest and sometimes vociferous -to our companions. Perhaps the most enlightened -native opinion inclines to the belief -that we are working a spell or enchantment, it -may be for the benefit of our motor-cars, which -we bring with us to the gate.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rome, the great mother, welcomed all to -her bosom, and it seems that all were glad to -come. Little by little the African townships -became Latin or Roman municipalities. Roman -citizenship became the ambition and the pride -of their inhabitants. No higher honour could -be inscribed on a tombstone than <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Civitatem -Romanam consecutus</i></span>. And the Roman religion -helped the process of consolidation. Olympus -was no close borough. There was always room -for another deity. We know, in fact, that the -Romans were ever ready to welcome a fresh -cult. It was the political, not the religious -attitude of the Christians which brought them -within the reach of the law and under the -displeasure of the Emperors. So the Berbers’ -gods were Romanized like themselves. Baal -Ammon became Saturnus Augustus. The open -sanctuaries gave way to closed temples of -classical design. Human sacrifice was abandoned. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_251'>251</span>And the Berbers learnt to raise shrines -to the Roman allegorical deities, Concord, -Fortune, Peace, and Victory; above all to -worship the existing order in the divine person -of the Emperor. His personal character had -nothing whatever to do with this. The -infamous Caracalla was the object of as much -veneration as the philosopher saint Marcus -Aurelius. At the beginning of the third -century Africa gave many of its sons to the -purple. Macrinus, who attained it by the -murder of Caracalla, was a native of the district -of Cæsarea. His successor, Elagabalus, of -execrated memory, was the son of a former -commandant of the Third Legion. And the -Gordians, representing as they did the noblest -blood in Rome, the blood of the Gracchi and of -Trajan, came to the throne from the proconsulate -of Africa. Concerning the younger -Gordian Gibbon has left us a memorable -sentence, which at once exhibits the antithetical -bias of his style, and a certain sly humour of -which he was master. “His manners were less -pure, but his character was equally amiable -with that of his father. Twenty-two acknowledged -concubines, and a library of sixty-two -<span class='pageno' id='Page_252'>252</span>thousand volumes attested the variety of his -inclinations; and from the productions which -he left behind him, it appears that the former -as well as the latter were intended for use -rather than for ostentation.<a id='r9' /><a href='#f9' class='c020'><sup>[9]</sup></a> The Roman -people acknowledged in the features of the -younger Gordian the resemblance of Scipio -Africanus, recollected with pleasure that his -mother was the granddaughter of Antoninus -Pius, and rested the public hope on those -latent virtues which had hitherto, as they -fondly imagined, lain concealed in the luxurious -indolence of a private life.”</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f9'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r9'>9</a>. “By each of his concubines the younger Gordian left three or four -children. His literary productions, though less numerous, were by no -means contemptible.”—Note to Gibbon.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Timgad is situate thirty-four miles to the -east of Batna, on the fine modern road which -proceeds through the Aurès range to Khenchela -and Ain-Beida. You may cover the -distance in a motor-car within the hour, and -you will pass on the way the ruins of Lambessa. -These, however, are scarcely worth the -prolonged attention of anyone who is not an -archæologist, and such picturesque qualities as -they may possess are ruined by the proximity of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_253'>253</span>a huge convict prison. The ordinary sightseer, -snatching a few hours between two trains, -will hasten on to Timgad. The drive itself is -very interesting. The road is undulating and -at one point ascends to a considerable altitude, -and in its way the scenery is impressive. We -traverse a great rolling plain which from end to -end is one vast cornfield. There is a bare range -of hills to the north, and to the south the -Aurès mountains, guardians of the desert, with -the snow still, in March, lying among their -topmost cedars. At the highest point of the -road we meet a driving storm of sleet. We are -inclined to resent the general treelessness of the -landscape, but much may be forgiven to a corn-growing -country, and imagination revels in -what must be its glory when the crop is ripe -for harvesting. But for its fertility the general -contour of the country has a very South -African appearance. The soil appears to be -“rather light,” and, no doubt, nothing but -the copious rainfall which the Aurès mountains -bring redeems it from the miserable -barrenness of the high plateaux to the south -of Algiers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At last you come to Timgad, and you see at -<span class='pageno' id='Page_254'>254</span>a glance that you are face to face with what the -Americans call “a big proposition.” A whole -hill-side is covered with the dry bones of a -town—a town of which the top seems to have -been sliced off, with here and there groups of -columns or an arch or two rising from the -dismantled mass.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It has been given to few great towns to -spring into being at one leap. The growth of -towns is usually that of mundane things in -general, a gradual process liable to interference -from many exterior influences. But Timgad -rose full armed from the fiat of the Emperor, -as Athene from the brain of Zeus. Trajan -said, “Let there be a city,” and there was a -city. It was no mushroom growth to serve a -temporary purpose. It lasted more or less -intact for six hundred years, and but for the -hand of destroying man it might have lasted -six thousand. This is its dominating note,—its -huge, its almost unnecessary solidity. And -from the circumstances of its birth it presents -a fine example of Roman town-planning. -British municipal corporations which are -concerned in putting into practice our newborn -aspirations in such matters should not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_255'>255</span>omit to send a deputation to study Timgad on -the spot.</p> - -<div id='i255' class='figcenter id011'> -<img src='images/i_255f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p>TIMGAD: ARCH OF TRAJAN</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>But perhaps even with the disquieting -possibility of a foreign raid on our shores, -denied by our politicians with such emphasis -that we are led to believe in its existence, it is -not necessary for us to base the plan of our -towns on the arrangements of a camp. Such -was the underlying plan of Timgad. It was -divided, as was the conventional Roman camp, -into four parts by two main intersecting streets. -That which led from east to west was called -<span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>decumanus</i></span>, that which pointed north and -south <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>cardo</i></span>. The former was a portion of the -main road from Lambessa to Tebessa, and was -doubtless the most used in the town. Its solid -pavement shows the wear of wheels, as do the -streets of Pompeii. It was naturally at the -junction of these streets that the chief buildings -were situate. Here is the Forum, with the -Theatre behind it and the Municipal Library -in front. Looking east from the Forum along -the <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>decumanus</i></span> we see the magnificent Triumphal -Arch, the most impressive monument in -the town. It is also the best preserved, and -thanks to its existence the attention of scholars -<span class='pageno' id='Page_256'>256</span>was called to Timgad in the first instance. -With the aid of the excellent and well-illustrated -handbook prepared by M. Albert -Ballu, Architecte en chef des Monuments -historiques de l’Algerie, the visitor will be -able to identify and study the whole of the -works excavated and restored. Probably most -visitors to Timgad will have previously seen -Pompeii, and will have some general acquaintance -with the arrangements of a Roman town -and the nature of its public buildings. Timgad -will introduce them to some new features; of -its Public Library and the romance of its -discovery I shall speak later; it has a remarkably -complete series of markets; and the public -conveniences behind the Forum will interest -those who are concerned about sanitary matters.</p> - -<p class='c001'>However satiated with the wonders of the -town itself the visitor should not omit to visit -the Museum. Here amid the usual assemblage -of mediocre Roman antiquities he will find some -mosaic pavements of the highest excellence.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Perhaps we are most of us disposed to be -more interested in comparatively trivial matters -of decoration and so forth than in the structure -and disposal of important edifices. We are -<span class='pageno' id='Page_257'>257</span>not all architects and town-planners. And -here we may take especial delight in a little -piece of evidence that even in this frontier -city life was not all strenuous. On a stone of -the Forum are graven the following words:—</p> - -<table class='table1' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='62%' /> -<col width='37%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>VENARI</td> - <td class='c024'>LAVARI</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>LUDERE</td> - <td class='c024'>RIDERE</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>OCCEST</td> - <td class='c024'>VIVERE</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c003'>“Hunting, bathing, play and laughter,—such -is life.” This symmetrical arrangement -of letters is divided by a device consisting of -a vase of flowers surmounted by a bird. It -speaks to us across the ages a pleasant message; -in such happy human touches Timgad is less -rich than Pompeii. And perhaps neither town -has anything so delightful as the mosaics found -in a bath and a stable at Oued Atmenia between -Constantine and Sétif, on the site of a considerable -Roman country house. The mosaics in the -baths depict various incidents of rural life;—hunting -scenes in which huntsmen and hounds -are named, a garden scene with a lady spinning -under a palm tree. One mosaic represents -six favourite horses with inscriptions recording -their names and qualities;—with Pullentianus is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_258'>258</span>stabled Altus, <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“unus es ut mons exultas”</span>—"you -have no peer, you leap mountain-high"; -Delicatus, “the gentle one,” stands alone; -Titas, “the giant,” shares a manger with -Polydoxus, “the glorious”; <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“vincas non -vincas te amamus Polydoxe,”</span>—"win or lose -we love you, Polydoxus." In a corner by -himself stands Scholasticus, “the Scholar.” -In the scene representing a stag-hunt, the -master himself appears with his hounds, -Fidelis and Castus. Other mosaics represent -the farm, the fish-ponds with aquatic plants, -the quarters of the huntsmen and the mansion-house -itself. This is a large building with -several storeys and numerous windows, surmounted -by a balcony or awning. The -buildings are roofed with square red tiles, and -chimneys appear below the ridge. “This remarkable -series of mosaics gives some insight -into Roman life and customs in North Africa -at the close of the fourth century, and bears -striking testimony to the peaceful condition of -the country in the declining years of the Empire. -Sixteen centuries have passed since Pompeianus -presided over this lordly retreat, as a patron -of the turf and a lover of sport in all its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_259'>259</span>aspects. A few years after his decease the -disturbing influence of the invading Vandals -must have rendered the maintenance of such -an establishment an absolute impossibility, -and one can picture the life work of this -distinguished Roman neglected, abandoned, -and finally becoming a mere hunting-ground -for Vandal or Byzantine, Arab or Moor.”<a id='r10' /><a href='#f10' class='c020'><sup>[10]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f10'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r10'>10</a>. Graham, “Roman Africa,” 1902, p. 294.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>It has often been suggested that the great -prosperity of this region under the Empire was -due to a climate superior to that of to-day; -that there was in fact a more abundant rainfall -and a more equable temperature. The Romans -left us no weather statistics (an essentially -modern passion), and such evidence as we -have appears to be against the theory. The -lakes in the province of Constantine were no -greater than they are to-day; Roman ruins -on their banks attest this. Roman bridges -exist here and there throughout the country, -and they were not designed to span wider rivers -or to resist heavier floods. But this does not -settle the matter. It is certain that there was -far more timber; the Arab has continually -destroyed and he does not plant. The rainfall of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_260'>260</span>to-day is probably less continuous and more uncertain. -Yet we cannot believe that the climate -is seriously changed. Sallust complains that in -Africa both sky and earth have too little water. -But the Romans made the best of what there -was. The remains of their canals and cisterns -are everywhere. In the country to the south -of Sétif they dug hundreds of wells, many of -which still exist. They barred the course of -rivers and created reservoirs. Their extensive -works of irrigation are described by Procopius, -and appear to be exactly similar to those now -in use. Elaborate water-rights existed. A -monument found at Lambasba sets forth the -number of olives and fruit trees which every -farmer possessed and the number of hours of -running water to which he was entitled. This -system of reckoning a right to water-supply by -hours is still in vogue in the island of Madeira, -and probably elsewhere. Every effort was -made to encourage planting. Exemptions -from taxation for a certain number of years -were granted to cultivators who planted vines -or olives, or grafted the wild olive. Olive -oil was exported to Rome in enormous quantities; -fragments of jars found in the Tiber -<span class='pageno' id='Page_261'>261</span>bear the mark of Tubusuctu, a town near -Bougie. Such facts go to show that the great -prosperity of North Africa was rather due to -intelligent use of its resources than to any -superiority of those resources. This prosperity -seems to have reached its culminating point -under the dynasty of Septimius Severus, himself -a native of Africa. The fact that he died -at York illustrates the extent of his empire. -He and his son Caracalla showered favours on -their compatriots, as numerous inscriptions -attest.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Arab writers of the seventh century bear -ample testimony to the fertility of the territory -which had fallen so easily into their hands. -From Carthage to Tangier, a thousand miles -east and west, the whole country was clothed -with olive woods, and it was said that you -could walk from village to village beneath a -roof of foliage. Therein they have written the -condemnation of their successors. A pleasant -story is told that the Arab chief who defeated -Gregorius expressed his amazement at the -richness of the land. “Whence comes this -wealth?” he said. A peasant picked up an -olive and laid it before the conqueror, saying, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_262'>262</span>“From this.” And he added that the Byzantines -who had no olives in their country were -Africa’s best customers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Timgad is interesting and impressive in -itself; in general as a town surviving through -the ages almost untouched at least in its -ground plan; and in particular for its several -very uncommon and very informing details. -But it is even more noteworthy in its suggestiveness. -It flashes to us across a yawning -chasm a message from a distant past, -a message from a civilization not essentially -different from our own; a civilization based on -ordered liberty and individual effort, on public -spirit and service, on private wealth amassed in -agricultural and commercial enterprise; anticipating -in its municipal buildings and in the -dwellings of its citizens, rich and poor, with -sufficient resemblance the conditions of our -own life, public and domestic; yet reckoned -in the lapse of centuries and the generations of -men of an almost incredible remoteness, a -remoteness emphasized, as everything is emphasized -in this land of staring contrasts, by the -hopeless barbarism and neglect which have -filled the intervening gulf. Yet there are -<span class='pageno' id='Page_263'>263</span>differences. The city stood on the very -frontier of the Empire, but it was not built as -men build in such situations to-day. Its -solidity and magnificence suggest great local -pride, the pride of wealthy citizens, who -preferred to adorn their own city to spending -their money as strangers in the “smart” world -of Italy, who chose rather to rule in Africa -than to serve in Rome; and they are evidence -of provincial prosperity and contentment during -that great second century which Gibbon -regarded as the happiest period mankind had -known. And we cannot suppress our surprise -that the very existence of such a town is -scarcely known to us from historical sources. -If it were not for its ruins very few among -scholars would have heard the mean of Thamagudi. -In any endeavour to picture to ourselves -the Empire as a whole such a fact is of -great significance. And with such throbbing -life at its extremities it is difficult to regard the -heart as unsound.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The contemplation of such a town as Timgad -helps us to realize the compelling force of -Rome’s unequalled genius. On this remote -frontier of her Empire we may trace to-day -<span class='pageno' id='Page_264'>264</span>the same motives in building—all that meets -the eye—which were dominant in the mother -city. “In every branch of art, whether in -sculpture, painting as displayed in the decorative -forms of mosaic, or in architectural design, -the same monumental remains await our -coming; the basilica, the amphitheatre, the -triumphal arch; the aqueduct and the -fountain; the bridge, the temple and the -tomb. They stand before us as examples of -dignity of conception, unerringness of line, -justness of proportion, fitness of purpose and -soundness of construction.”<a id='r11' /><a href='#f11' class='c020'><sup>[11]</sup></a> We see nothing -but the remains of these buildings, but we may -assume from them that in more vital matters,—in -law, in public life, in the family and in individual -habits the pattern set by the capital was -equally predominant. And we may further -reflect that Rome’s influence was not merely -geographical in extent; it did not perish with -her fall. Modern civilization is essentially -Roman. The Roman’s “laws, his language, -his literature, his festivals, even his calendar, -keep their ground.” The Roman tradition -is ingrained in our minds and conduct, and in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_265'>265</span>small things as in great we unconsciously and -as a matter of course pursue the Roman model. -And it may be that the desperate struggle for -the hegemony of Europe—and Africa—now -proceeding is heralding the evolution of another -Empire on Roman lines.</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f11'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r11'>11</a>. Graham, “Roman Africa,” p. 304.</p> -</div> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_266'>266</span></div> -<div class='doubletop'> - -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='ch11' class='c005'><i>XI—A PUBLIC LIBRARY</i></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c015'>A romantic find—A municipal library of the third century—A Roman -Carnegie—Christian Africa—The Donatists—Genseric the Vandal—Justinian—Timgad -and Pompeii.</p> -<hr class='c016' /> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“They say that scholars thronged the column’d court;</div> - <div class='line'>To drain reluctant learning’s cup they sought;</div> - <div class='line in2'>Lo! all to utter nothingness have passed,</div> - <div class='line'>Alike for book and scholar life is short.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa1_0_0_8 c007'>Among the buildings unearthed at -Timgad there is one which, from its -nature and the fact that it is unique, -or almost unique, is especially interesting, -and merits particular attention. The -learned world has long been aware that the -Public Library, which is a comparatively recent -addition to most of our own towns, was a -Roman institution. The allusions of Latin -authors tell us so much; there were twenty-eight -public libraries at Rome in the fourth -century; and we gather from inscriptions that -there is nothing original about Mr. Carnegie, -except the extent of his munificence. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_267'>267</span>public libraries of provincial cities were often -due to the liberality of wealthy citizens, and -once established they were frequently enriched -by the gifts and bequests of others. By -a succession of fortunate accidents, which -happily illustrate the romantic side of excavation, -the Public Library of Timgad has -been found and identified beyond question. -This fact in itself gives a very special distinction -to the ruins.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In 1901, in clearing a block of buildings in -the Cardo, not far from the principal gate of -the Forum, the nature of which was unknown, -the excavators found a broken portion of an -inscription. It seemed to refer to the dedication -of the building as a public institution, -but threw no light on its nature. It was -vaguely considered to be a school or <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>salle de -réunion</i></span>. The mutilated inscription was as -follows:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>VINTIANI FLAVI RO</div> - <div class='line'>MENTO SUO REIPUBLICAE</div> - <div class='line'>SIUM PATRIAE SUAE LE</div> - <div class='line'>EX IS CCCC MIL. NUM</div> - <div class='line'>CTUM EST</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_268'>268</span>This merely indicated that the building had -been erected at a cost of 400,000 sesterces, or -about £4000, as a result of a legacy of one -Q. F. Ro——.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In 1904, in the course of some digging in -a neighbouring house, a little to the north, a -second fragment of this inscription was found. -It fitted exactly to the left-hand side of the -former fragment, and read as follows:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup lgright'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>TE M IVLI Q</div> - <div class='line'>AD TESTA</div> - <div class='line'>VGADEN</div> - <div class='line'>OTHECAE</div> - <div class='line'>A PERFE</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>This was very tantalizing; it did not explain -the exact object of the building, but it proved -that it could only be something of which the -Latin name ended in the letters <span class='fss'>OTHECA</span>. Now -in the Latin language there are five such -words;—<span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>pinacotheca</i></span>, a picture gallery; <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>apotheca</i></span>, -a wine-shop; <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>oporotheca</i></span>, a store-room for -fruit; <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>zotheca</i></span>, an apartment with niches for -statuary; <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>bibliotheca</i></span>, a library. Of these the -only words at all applicable were the two last. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_269'>269</span>Between them the usual controversy of <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>savants</i></span> -arose; much could be said, and was said, on -either side. From the first the advocates of -the library seemed to have the best of it. They -based their arguments on the nature of the -building. It occupies with its dependencies -a rectangular space measuring 77 by 80 feet. -Its principal front, facing east, is composed of -a portico in the form of a letter U sustained -by twelve columns of white calcareous stone, -framing a court which opens on to the street. -On each side of the portico was an entrance to -two partially open chambers, bounded by two -side streets leading to the Cardo. Behind -these was a great central hall with a room on -either side of it, each having a niche at the -further end. The termination of the hall was -of semicircular form; on each side of it were -six detached columns of white marble, corresponding -to the same number of pilasters in -the wall, between each side pair of which was -a square recess. In the middle of the semicircle -was a larger and deeper recess, which -doubtless contained a statue. The advocates -of the <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>zotheca</i></span> theory urged that the main -purpose of the building was to be the shrine of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_270'>270</span>an important statue, bequeathed by Quintianus -Flavus Ro—— to his mother city. The case -for a library seemed stronger and more attractive. -It was suggested that the rectangular -recesses were receptacles for volumes or rolls -of papyrus, and that benches or steps which -led up to them from the centre of the building -were intended to serve as seats for readers. -The detached columns were considered to -have supported two upper galleries containing -a second set of bookcases, while the great niche -at the end was an architectural feature, doubtless -containing a statue of Minerva. The head -of such a statue was found in the neighbourhood. -The two side rooms were held to be -further store-rooms for books; one of them, -having a door into the street, perhaps reserved -for the use of the librarian. There are -indications of recesses in their walls also. The -great hall, it was observed, was exceptionally -well lighted by a skylight in the vaulted roof -of its semicircular portion, and therefore very -suitable for reading.</p> - -<div id='i271' class='figcenter id011'> -<img src='images/i_271f.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p>TIMGAD: THE PUBLIC LIBRARY</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The question was settled in 1906,—on the -17th of March, at five p.m.,—as M. Ballu -records with exulting precision. In making an -<span class='pageno' id='Page_271'>271</span>experimental hole beside the Cardo, a workman -drove his pick against a fragment of inscribed -stone, which proved to be the missing piece -containing the first portion of the inscription. -The supporters of the library theory were right. -The words on the stone were as follows:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>EX LIBERALITA</div> - <div class='line'>GATIANI. C.M.V. QV</div> - <div class='line'>COLONIAE THAM</div> - <div class='line'>GAVIT OPUS BIBLI</div> - <div class='line'>CVRANTE REPVBLIC</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>“There is no necessity,” says M. Ballu, “to -tell with what joy we received a telegram -announcing this discovery. It was the consecration -of our suppositions, certitude succeeding -to probabilities, which had nevertheless -not left much room for doubt. It was, -above all, a revelation of the arrangements of -those ancient Roman libraries of which so -many Latin authors speak; but as to the -construction of which we possessed no evidence.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The full inscription is to the following -effect:—</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Out of the funds bequeathed by Marcus -<span class='pageno' id='Page_272'>272</span>Julius Quintianus Flavus Rogatianus, of senatorial -memory, by his will to the colony of -Thamagudi his mother city, the erection of a -library has been completed at a cost of 400,000 -sesterces, under the direction of the city -authority.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The name of this benefactor is otherwise -unknown. The building which bears it was -well built of fine materials, with marble -columns, and marble veneerings to the walls, -of which copious fragments have been found. -Among these fragments are some of particularly -fine coloured marbles which perhaps -adorned the niche in which stood the statue -of the presiding goddess. The pavement, -which remains, is of a very finished type.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is not possible to assign a precise date to -the building, but it is considered to be of the -third century. It doubtless took the place of -an <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>insula</i></span>, or large private house isolated by -four streets, of which other examples line the -Cardo. It occupies a rather larger space than -these houses; the semicircular portion of the -hall extends into the back street, and on the -south side the normal width of the street is -reduced by it.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_273'>273</span>A somewhat fanciful calculation has been -made of the number of books which the -library might contain; and the figure of 6800 -for the interior hall, and 16,200 for the other -chambers, has been arrived at. This seems to -be carrying reconstitution a little too far.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There are some to whom Timgad is the most -interesting place in Algeria; to many antiquaries, -and perhaps to many of that large -class which is concerned one way or another -about all that appertains to books, this Public -Library, identified beyond all cavil by such -happy fortune, will be Timgad’s most interesting -building.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It may be noted that about the time of the -discovery of this library, the Austrian Archæological -Institute, in the course of excavations -on the site of Ephesus, found a building in -many respects similar to this one. An inscription -in Greek and Latin left no doubt -that it was a library. Its form is rectangular -instead of semicircular, but it possesses a niche -at the end for the statue of Minerva, and the -walls contain similar recesses for the reception -of books. It has a portico in front, but lacks -the side chambers which occur at Timgad.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_274'>274</span>The interest of Timgad, and its part in -illustrating history, are not exhausted by a -view of those buildings of the second and -third centuries which mark the period of its -greatness. If in the troublous times which -followed it suffered, yet it played a part in -African affairs until the Arab conquest. To -the understanding of its monuments some -slight acquaintance with events is necessary.</p> - -<p class='c001'>During the latter part of the third century -two processes were at work in Africa, the -formation of great estates out of the ruin of -small proprietors, and the spread of Christianity. -The two were not unconnected. The new -religion attracted all who were dissatisfied with -the existing order. It ran like a flame through -Barbary. It produced three great men: -Tertullian in the second century, Cyprian in -the third, and Augustine in the fourth. But -the movement throughout was more political -and social than religious. It was based among -the Berber population rather on discontent -than conviction. With the official recognition -of Christianity under Constantine its attraction -as a symbol of revolt disappeared. A substitute -was found in schism. The curious inter-workings -<span class='pageno' id='Page_275'>275</span>of finance, politics and religion have -never been more fully illustrated. The misery -of the cultivators under the wretched financial -system of Rome has not been accorded its -due weight as a factor in the most extraordinary -event in history, the conversion of -the Empire to Christianity.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Even under Constantine, the first Christian -Emperor, the schism of the Donatists, destined -to ruin Roman Africa, grew to a head. It -arose from a personal dispute as to the position -of a bishop named Donatus; if there were any -differences on points of doctrine they were -insignificant. But it plunged Africa into -anarchy for centuries; it laid open the -way to the invasion o£ the Vandals, and -was extinguished only with Christianity -itself.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Timgad was the very focus of Donatist -agitation. Its bishops took a leading part; -of one of them Augustine says that for ten -years Africa trembled beneath his yoke. To -this century perhaps belong the ruins of -several Christian churches unearthed in the -city. The schism was not bounded by the -arguments of doctors. It extended to the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_276'>276</span>pillage of estates and the sack of cities. The -wild tribes of the Aurès and other mountain -districts which had never completely owned -the sovereignty of Rome made common cause -with the schismatics. And Roman Africa was -ruined. Then came the Vandals.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The historian Gibbon, who rises to his -highest flights in the consideration of Christianity -and its heresies, has sketched the -Donatist pretensions in immortal words: “Excluded -from the civil and religious communion -of mankind, they boldly excommunicated the -rest of mankind. They asserted with confidence, -and almost with exultation, that the -apostolical succession was interrupted; that -<em>all</em> the bishops of Europe and Asia were infected -by the contagion of guilt and schism; -and that the prerogatives of the catholic -church were confined to the chosen portion of -the African believers, who alone had preserved -inviolate the integrity of their faith and -discipline. This rigid theory was supported -by the most uncharitable conduct. Whenever -they acquired a proselyte, even from the distant -provinces of the East, they carefully repeated -the sacred rites of baptism and ordination; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_277'>277</span>as they rejected the validity of those which he -had already received from the hands of heretics -and schismatics. Bishops, virgins, and even -spotless infants, were subjected to the disgrace -of a public penance before they could be admitted -to the communion of the Donatists. -If they obtained possession of a church which -had been used by their catholic adversaries, -they purified the unhallowed building with -the same jealous care which a temple of idols -might have required. They washed the pavement, -scraped the walls, burnt the altar, which -was commonly of wood, melted the consecrated -plate, and cast the holy eucharist to the dogs, -with every circumstance of ignominy which -could provoke and perpetuate the animosity of -religious factions.” Such an account would -almost describe proceedings of religious fanatics -at a date much nearer our own age. But the -fervour to which the Donatist schism gave -birth produced under the African sun remarkable -developments. “The rage of the -Donatists was inflamed by a frenzy of a very -extraordinary kind; and which, if it really -prevailed amongst them in so extravagant -a degree, cannot surely be paralleled in any -<span class='pageno' id='Page_278'>278</span>country or in any age. Many of these fanatics -were possessed with the horror of life and the -desire of martyrdom; and they deemed it of -little moment by what means, or by what -hands they perished, if their conduct was -sanctified by the intention of devoting themselves -to the glory of the true faith, and the -hope of eternal happiness.” They would -disturb worshippers, waylay travellers, or insult -courts of justice, in the hope of achieving -martyrdom. Failing other resources, they -would cast themselves headlong from some -lofty rock. “In the actions of these desperate -enthusiasts, who were admired by one party as -the martyrs of God, and abhorred by the other -as the victims of Satan, an impartial philosopher -may discover the influence, and the -last abuse, of that inflexible spirit which was -originally derived from the character and -principles of the Jewish nation.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Genseric, King of the Vandals, landed in -Africa from Spain in <span class='fss'>A.D.</span> 429. Born a Catholic, -he embraced the Arian heresy, and made -common cause with the African Donatists. -He swept through Barbary, an easy conqueror. -His fleets ravaged the coasts of Italy and Sicily. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_279'>279</span>In <span class='fss'>A.D.</span> 455 he sacked Rome. For a hundred -years the rough Northmen held the fertile -provinces. They <a id='corr279.3'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='sic: rased'>rased</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_279.3'><ins class='correction' title='sic: rased'>rased</ins></a></span> the fortifications, but -did not overthrow the Roman cities; they -rather succumbed to their luxury. They did -not destroy, but they constructed nothing. -They had no thought of substituting their -own institutions for those of the conquered -races. They considered themselves merely a -garrison, for which the country must provide -subsistence. Their decadence commenced with -the death of their leader.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the early part of the sixth century -Byzantium set himself to take up the mantle -which Rome had let fall. The great Justinian -determined to make good his claim to all the -former possessions of the Empire. The Vandals -were in no condition to offer a vigorous resistance. -The native population was everywhere -in revolt. The tribes of the Aurès -descended from their mountains and sacked -the fair cities which had been raised under the -protection of the Third Legion—Tebessa, -Bagai, Lambessa, and Timgad. Belisarius, the -Byzantine general, landed in Tripoli in <span class='fss'>A.D.</span> 533, -and, marching rapidly westward, met with little -<span class='pageno' id='Page_280'>280</span>resistance. In a few years a great part of the -corn-growing districts was brought under -effective control. All the ports were held by -Byzantine garrisons. Barbary was to experience -an Indian summer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The first care of the Greeks was to build a -series of fortresses to hold in check the tribes -of mountain and desert which for generations -had been acquiring greater boldness in war -and pillage. Remains of such forts are all -over the country. There is one at Timgad, -situate about 150 yards from the Southern -Baths. It is a great quadrilateral flanked with -square towers, and covering more than 7000 -square yards. It is extraordinarily solid in -construction, the walls being nine feet thick. -But it is at Tebessa that the most perfect -example of Byzantine fortification exists. The -enceinte encloses the Arab town, and to put it -into a state of defence the French have only -had to execute a few repairs. For these -hastily constructed fortresses any materials -which came to hand were used. Into the -solid walls faced with square blocks were -thrown the debris of private houses, the -friezes of temples, the statues of the gods. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_281'>281</span>What the Vandal had spared, the Berber -and the Byzantine between them made an -end of.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Under the shelter of these fortified places a -neo-Roman civilization budded again. The -great proprietors and the wealthy financiers of -the later Empire had disappeared. Their -place was taken by the Church. The bishops -occupied themselves with business of every -description, political, financial, administrative, -and even military. Vast sums were spent in the -construction of great basilicas and monasteries, -the ruins of which may be seen at Timgad and -Tebessa to-day. To this period doubtless -belongs the huge building, basilica and monastery, -to the west of Timgad. It covers a -space of not less than 20,000 square yards. The -basilica is 200 feet long and 70 feet wide, and is -preceded by a court-yard of the same size as -itself. It is built chiefly of stones taken from -the neighbouring pagan temples, which must -have been already in ruin at the time of its -erection. If, as some suppose, these great -churches were built originally during the -fourth and fifth centuries, before the Vandal -invasion, there can be little doubt that they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_282'>282</span>were rebuilt with modifications and enlargements -during the Byzantine period.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The domination of the Church did not make -for the prosperity or security of the people. -The great dreams of Justinian were never -realized; his enterprise from the very beginning -had in it the seeds of decay. The rapacity of -the ecclesiastics at least equalled that of the -former Treasury officials; the husbandmen -were plunged in a condition of abject poverty; -the persecution of schismatics decimated the -population. Native insurrections, mutinies of -troops, sullen detestation of the people prepared -the way for the easy fall of the Byzantine -administration before the invading Arabs of -the next century.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is natural to compare Timgad with -Pompeii, and the comparison has often been -made. But beyond the fact that both were -towns of the Roman Empire, and that the -ruins of both have been preserved to an extent -unparalleled elsewhere, they have no great -resemblance. It happened to me, as probably -it has happened to few, two or three weeks -after leaving Timgad, while the memory of it -was fresh, to stand once again in the Forum of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_283'>283</span>Pompeii. I recalled their different conditions. -They were not contemporary; Pompeii was -destroyed before Timgad was built; Pompeii, -rather Greek than Roman in origin, was a -pleasure town of the first century, which, after -damage by an earthquake at the zenith of its -prosperity, was overwhelmed by ashes from -Vesuvius; Timgad was a military and commercial -town of the second and third centuries, -ruined first by religious faction and financial -breakdown, and finally overthrown of set -purpose by a horde of mountaineers. To -compare them is like comparing the Tunbridge -Wells of the eighteenth century with the -Pretoria of the twentieth. The contrasts their -ruins present are those we should expect. Timgad -is more solid and more serious; its public -buildings are finer; its main streets are more -important; and there is nothing at Pompeii to -compare with the magnificent arch of Trajan. -But Pompeii is richer in minor matters, in all -the illuminating incidents of private life; its -chief interest lies in its wonderful houses, and -in the almost miraculous preservation of much -of their interior decoration. And their situations -accord with their peculiarities. Timgad -<span class='pageno' id='Page_284'>284</span>lies on a bare hill-side, far from the habitations -of man; Pompeii hard by the lovely bay of -Sorrento, in one of the fairest landscapes of -Italy. The cities are not rivals; they supplement -each other; and those of us to whom -a study of what was before is one of the chief -interests of life may be grateful that we have -so much of both.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_285'>285</span> - <h2 id='ch12' class='c018'><i>XII—THE ROAD THROUGH KHABYLIA</i></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c015'>Setif—The Chabet pass—A fishless river—A lovely coast—Bougie—Khabylia—Greek -types—Fort National.</p> -<hr class='c016' /> -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in6'>“A rough laborious people, there,</div> - <div class='line'>Not only give the dreadful Alps to smile,</div> - <div class='line'>And press their culture on retiring snows,</div> - <div class='line'>But, to firm order trained and patient war,</div> - <div class='line'>They likewise know, beyond the nerve remiss</div> - <div class='line'>Of mercenary force, how to defend</div> - <div class='line'>The tasteful little their hard toil has earned.”</div> - <div class='line in35'><span class='sc'>Thomson.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c007'>He who returns by motor-car from -Biskra to Algiers may avoid the -detour via Constantine by taking -the new direct road from Batna -to Sétif, a distance of 132 kilometres. It -ascends to an altitude of over 5000 feet, -and in winter is sometimes blocked by -snow. But this is not likely to be a frequent -trouble. Whichever way he comes, direct or -roundabout, by road or rail, the traveller must -<span class='pageno' id='Page_286'>286</span>make Sétif his point. If he omits to take the -road from Sétif to Bougie, through the Chabet -pass, a distance of 113 kilometres, he will have -no idea of what Algeria is capable of in the -way of mountain scenery.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There is a distinct tendency among Englishmen -to-day to revolt against the domination -of the guide-book. With our ancient constitution -in the melting-pot, and our most -cherished national convictions openly contested, -it is hardly surprising that even the -revered name of Murray has failed to maintain -its authority. There are abandoned men who -openly flout it, who want to see nothing of the -things that ought to be seen, to know none of -the things that ought to be known. The reaction -was inevitable. Murray and Baedeker -and the like set poor human weakness an impossible -ideal. They direct us as if we were -an army of invasion; they map out our -operations day by day and hour by hour with -a ruthless precision. Has anyone ever carried -through the programme of How to spend -ten days in Rome, and survived to boast -of it?</p> - -<p class='c001'>Wherefore in our iconoclastic age there are -<span class='pageno' id='Page_287'>287</span>men to whom the guide-book’s double star is -but a danger signal. Let me implore them to -waive their prejudices as far at least as the -Chabet pass is concerned. If much be-praised -it is still quite un-hackneyed; and it is magnificent. -And they may steal a march on the -enemy. The guide-books, as far as Algeria is -concerned, have not discovered the motor-car. -They direct you to hire a carriage at Sétif, to -sleep at a roadside inn, and to lumber into -Bougie at the close of the second day. We -have changed all that. We take a car at Sétif -after <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>dejeuner</i></span>, and loitering by the way we -yet reach Bougie in time to stroll round the -town before dinner. So we have a day in -hand. But let us haste to do it before a -revised edition comes out.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The plateau of which Sétif may be considered -the centre lies at a high altitude, and -as the sea is no great distance off, we may -perceive from a glance at the map that there -must be a more or less rapid landfall towards it. -Such conditions commonly produce a picturesque -coast-line. Here we have more than -this. The plain is supported by a very abrupt -range of mountains rising to twice its height,—the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_288'>288</span>peaks to 6000 and 7000 feet. Such a range -must either be crossed by a high pass, or it may -be that we may find an outlet where a mountain -stream, taking advantage perhaps of a rift -caused by a natural convulsion, has worn for -itself a passage. Such a passage is the gorge of -Chabet-el-Akhira.</p> - -<p class='c001'>From Sétif, most hideous of modern French -towns, the road leads northward for some -distance through an uninteresting corn-growing -country. After a few miles the surface becomes -more broken, Khabyle villages begin to -appear on neighbouring hill-tops, and Khabyle -gardens are rich in apricot blossom. We cross a -chain of hills running east and west, from the -summit of which we obtain a splendid view of -the mountain range which we are about to -penetrate. We descend rapidly to the stream -which is to be our companion, and at a distance -of fifty-three kilometres from Sétif reach -Kherrata, at the mouth of the pass. Here is -the half-way house where the carriage-folk of -former days were wont to pass the night. It -lies in a cool upland valley at the foot of bare -stony hills which might be in Wales or Cumberland. -It is market-day in the village, and the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_289'>289</span>street is crowded with Khabyles,—as ragged -and dirty a crowd as you may see in county -Galway. Their Arab dress looks curiously -incongruous with such very northern surroundings.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Immediately beyond Kherrata the road -enters the gorge with a dramatic suddenness. -It descends rapidly by the side of the stream -which here becomes a torrent. The valley -contracts and soon grows so narrow that the -road has to be bored, as it were, through overhanging -cliffs, or borne on arches above the -river. There are many kinds of gorges; the -least interesting perhaps are those which run -directly between unbroken cliffs. This is of -the finest kind. Its turns are rapid. It has -numerous lateral valleys which break its almost -perpendicular sides into seeming pinnacles of -rock. One looks almost directly upwards to -peaks five and six thousand feet high. Even -where the road is carried several hundred feet -above the river you may toss a stone and strike -the opposite cliff. It is said that before the -French road-makers came not even an Arab -could pass the gorge on foot. Great caves -appear on the mountain sides, the haunt of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_290'>290</span>innumerable pigeons; monkeys are generally -to be seen, but on market-days the exceptional -traffic scares them to seclusion. Here and -there waterfalls descend from the tributary -gorges, and rapidly swell the turbid stream.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Even the all-pervading Roman seems to -have found this gorge too much for him. Yet -it is not easy to discover an <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>endroit</i></span> which has -not echoed to the tramp of the legions. Mr. -Belloc<a id='r12' /><a href='#f12' class='c020'><sup>[12]</sup></a> tells a delightful story of a French -general who, filled with pride at having conducted -his troops through an almost impossible -defile, sent a party to inscribe a record of the -achievement on the face of a cliff. The men -came back to say that there appeared to be -lettering on the cliff already. On examination -this proved to be <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“Legio III Augusta.”</span></p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f12'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r12'>12</a>. <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“Esto Perpetus.”</span> London, 1906.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The actual gorge is about four miles long. -The valley then gradually widens, the hills -become rather less abrupt, their sides are -clothed with ample vegetation, chiefly forests -of cork and oak trees, and the lateral valleys -grow larger, in due proportion to the general -scheme. We pass from the thrilling sensations -of the unique defile into a mountain -<span class='pageno' id='Page_291'>291</span>valley of great beauty, but less unusual in -character.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It happened that I offered a seat in my car -to a gentleman whose party were inconveniently -crowded in their own. I began by doing -the unpardonable thing; deceived by certain -guttural syllables, I said, “Are you a German?” -He replied: “No! thank God, I am Dutch.” -And my heart was glad within me, for the -Dutchman is our brother, and our friend; -perhaps because we have fought him over and -over again, and sometimes we have beaten -him, and sometimes he us. We have had, as -far as I am aware, no such pleasant relations -with the German; perhaps if we had fought -him for a century or two we should appreciate -his good qualities. In spite of this -inauspicious beginning, I soon found points -in common with my chance companion. We -both knew many lands; especially we both -knew the same places and the same men in -Norway. My Dutchman loved Norway as I -love it, and knew it better. Our points of -view were different. His to range far and -wide, to sip as a bee winging from flower to -flower the varied beauties of fjord and fell, of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_292'>292</span>fond and brae; mine to mark the rise and fall -of one much-studied river, chained as a galley-slave -to my angle.</p> - -<p class='c001'>So we played the pretty and seductive game -of resemblances. Here in this fierce African -landscape we contrived to see Bratlandsdal, -here Sundal, here the smoothened rock-faces -of Naerodalsosen. Lower down where a vast -amphitheatre of hills guarded the meeting -of two waters we saw the Pyrenees. But the -while I was hugging to myself a secret study -of which my comrade recked nothing. Even -as a man may travel by train, and mark a -country, and consider within himself how he -would ride over it to hounds;—so was I -noting the pools and streams of the river, -muddy as a glacier-fed river may be in a hot -July, and judging where the fish would be like -to lie, and how I should put the fly to them. -A very pretty pastime, but clouded by the -knowledge that no fish that is a fish, not even -a wee trout, may live in these waters. They -contain calcareous salts, or something unpleasant, -which no fish of the royal race will -stand. There are hopes of acclimatizing -tench; but who can wax warm at the prospect? -<span class='pageno' id='Page_293'>293</span>Yet was this to look upon a real river, the -finest river (with all respect to the Nile and -the Zambesi; I speak as an angler) that I -have seen in Africa; a fair succession of pool -and stream,—of pools running swiftly beneath -steep banks and shelving shores, of -streams just steep enough to make the pools -holding. The pity of it! From end to end -Africa has an air of being unfinished and ill-designed; -there is always something wanting -to its completeness; in some ways it is too big, -in others too small; it lacks water, or it has too -much; and things are seldom what they seem,—when -you descry a distant lake it is generally -the mirage; wherefore a salmon river without -salmon falls quite within the natural order of -African things.</p> - -<p class='c001'>So on through the broadening valley, with -glimpses of azure sea ahead, and soaring -mountains, clad with primeval forest, all -around. The road, well engineered,—that -goes without saying,—is much cut up by the -heavy traffic to and from certain mining -enterprises in the hills. One iron-ore mine,—the -property of an English company, I hear -with national pride,—on the opposite side of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_294'>294</span>the valley has a little railway and a little port -of its own; and two vessels, hovering suspiciously -in the offing, are not corsairs, but -intent on a lawful freight. But here, as -everywhere, the authorities are busy in making -the road smooth for the motor-car, and the -repairers and a steam-roller are at work. The -car is not yet a familiar object to man and -beast. A mule bearing a native bolts at our -approach, and unseats its rider. We call to the -chauffeur to stop. He replies, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Mais, ce n’est -qu’un Khabyle”</span>; in which I recognize a -common colonial note. We look round to see -the mule caught and the rider up again, and -go on happily.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The long descent comes to an end at length, -and at a point about twenty-three miles short -of Bougie we reach the sea. The coast-lands -here consist of a series of semicircular plains, -divided by great spurs which run northward -from the main range, and form capes. Across -these flat and highly cultivated plains our road -lies where it may with Algerian directness, but -rises to dizzy heights by zigzags to surmount -the precipitous headlands which once or -twice bar its progress. The contour of this -<span class='pageno' id='Page_295'>295</span>variable and rocky coast is eminently picturesque, -the views of sea and mountain of -infinite variety. And afar the dazzling whiteness -of Bougie stretching upwards from its -harbour among the olive groves invites us. -The level lands appear to be of great fertility; -amid great fields of corn and vine pleasant -and prosperous-looking country houses stand, -girt about with fruit trees,—figs, apricots -and peaches. In some places the cultivation -is carried almost to high-water mark, in others -a sward of fine turf seems to meet the sand.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Bougie, rising on the steep hill-side behind -its protecting cape, looks almost southward, -and its bay appears to it as a land-locked -lake. On the southern shore stand the majestic -mountains through which we have bored our -way from Sétif, with plenty of snow on this, -their northern face, crowning their copious -forests of cedar and pine. Few seaports have -such a romantic outlook. It cannot be doubted -that this coast is destined some day to be a -second and grander Riviera, and if another -Lord Brougham sets to work to create another -Cannes, it is perhaps in the neighbourhood of -Bougie that he will place it. Apart from its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_296'>296</span>own abounding attractions, it is surrounded -east and south and west by incomparable -scenery. Its charms are already beginning to -be known. It is a meeting-place of excellent -roads, and the motor-car has rendered it easy -of access. Its comfortable hotel is always full, -and is making haste to enlarge itself. Let -Bougie start a casino and band, and it will -begin to have a season. And in my mind’s eye -I can see golf-links along the shore of the bay, -<span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>para thina thalasses</i></span>, where the sea-sand meets -the verdure.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There is something theatrical about Bougie’s -scenery. Stand on the shore in front of the -old Saracen gateway and look upwards at the -background of the town rising tier on tier, a -town of brilliant white houses gay with the -dazzling purple of the <em>bougainvillea</em>, with the -bastions of an apparently cardboard fort to -the right, and a suggestion of ruined castles to -the left, and you may fancy that you are in the -stalls at the Opera, and that a chorus of fisher-girls -will shortly appear and point to a pirate in -the offing.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Bougie, exporter of wax, is said to have given -its name to the candle. And it has other -<span class='pageno' id='Page_297'>297</span>historical associations. Its story is not very -dissimilar from that of many ports on this -coast. Phœnician traders, Roman colonists, -Vandal invaders, Byzantines, Berbers, Arabs, -Spaniards and Turks,—all have had their day, -and many of them have left their impress. -Traces of the Roman wall exist; the Saracenic -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>enceinte</i></span>, enclosing a space seven times the -size of that which lies within the present -fortifications, is still marked by ruined towers -which rise picturesquely among the olive trees. -In the matter of piracy Bougie followed the -example set by Algiers with great zeal and -success. So troublesome were its corsairs to -Spain that in 1508 Ferdinand V was goaded -to action, and sent a fleet of fourteen ships -under Don Pedro Navarro to take possession -of it; and the Spaniards held it for nearly -forty years. But the failure of the expedition -of Charles V against Algiers in 1545 put great -courage into the Algerians. They attacked -the castle on the harbour and the citadel on -the heights with an overwhelming force. The -governor, Don Alonzo de Peralta, seeing -resistance hopeless, and anxious to save the -lives of his garrison and its women and children, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_298'>298</span>surrendered the town on condition that all the -Spaniards within the walls should be allowed -to depart, and that ships should be furnished -to carry them to Spain. The Emperor, -doubtless still smarting under his defeat, did -not take this fresh reverse in good part and -condemned the unfortunate governor to lose -his head. Thenceforth until the French invasion -Bougie was held by a small Turkish -garrison, and the town, which is said to have -contained in its palmy days a population of -100,000, fell into decay. It is now once again -on the up-grade of prosperity.</p> - -<p class='c001'>From Bougie it is possible to proceed to -Algiers by steamer, or by train, but the traveller -who has reached it by motor-car from Sétif -should on no account miss the opportunity -to drive through Khabylia, the beautiful and -interesting mountain district which lies between -the snowy Djurjura and the sea. The -distance via Fort National to Tizi-Ouzou, on -the western side of the upland country, whence -Algiers may be reached by train in three hours, -is about 150 miles. A magnificent new road -breasts the mountain wall which confines the -valley above Bougie, and leads with interminable -<span class='pageno' id='Page_299'>299</span>curves and zigzags through forest and -cultivated land, through heath and downland -turf, to a chilly height of nearly 5000 feet.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The configuration of this country, the foot-hills -of the Djurjura, is peculiar. A series of -slopes confines a wealth of valleys great and -small, into which project knife-edges, commonly -crowned at their termination with -castle-like rocks. The Djurjura range protects -these valleys from the hot and drying -winds of the desert, and its snows supply -copious torrents and a moist atmosphere. -The country affords a very striking contrast to -the typical arid upland of Algeria. In such -conditions we naturally find a very luxuriant -vegetation. Cedars, oaks, olives, figs and -vines flourish exceedingly, and beneath them -the sward suggests a more northern land. -Africa maintains its character as the continent -of surprises.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On every vantage-point which offers possibilities -of defence, especially on the narrow -ridges near their final crests, stand Khabyle -villages, commanding both slopes. In such a -situation there is seldom water to be found; -and it is the perpetual task of the women (who -<span class='pageno' id='Page_300'>300</span>are unveiled) to carry it to their homes from -the cascades on the neighbouring hills. The -villages are composed of small stone houses -densely crowded together, roofed with tiles, -the lines of the roofs being generally parallel, -which gives them a curiously symmetrical -appearance. Their dirt and squalor is indescribable.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A strange people these Khabyles:—a white -race, or at least not more tanned than many -dwellers on the northern shore of the Mediterranean, -and recalling in physique an Italian -type; ardent cultivators and determined -fighters in defence; with a long-established and -intelligent system of local self-government, and -elaborate institutions, public and domestic; -yet confessing the faith, and wearing the garb -of the Arab, with whom they have nothing else -in common. Till the French came they had -never owned a master. Before 1871 they had -maintained and been permitted a modified independence; -but to their own undoing they -took a leading part in the rising of that year, -and committed many savage murders and -outrages on helpless French colonists. Their -subjugation followed as a matter of course; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_301'>301</span>many of their lands were forfeited, and they -became the servants of the new lords.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There is quite a large and serious literature -dealing with the peculiar habits and customs -of the Khabyles after the thorough and logical, -if somewhat dull, manner of French writers. -From an artistic point of view an Englishman, -Mr. Edgar Barclay, has made Khabylia his own. -His “Mountain Life in Algeria” (London, -1882) is a description of the country as it appears -to an artist and a scholar. The common -eye is filled with the non-essential details of -personal uncleanliness and the squalor of -seldom-washed garments; the artist looks -below these to the inherent qualities of form. -In the troops of girls filling their pitchers at the -waterfall or bearing them in line to their -village, in the wood-cutter and the shepherd, -Mr. Barclay has seen again the types of ancient -Greece when the world was young.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Fort National crowns a common ridge running -east and west between the two chief valleys -of Khabylia. It looks southward to the great -snowy rampart of the Djurjura, here evident -in all its glory. The road westward follows -the ridge to its extremity and then descends -<span class='pageno' id='Page_302'>302</span>to the vale in a series of abrupt and, to the -motorist, rather alarming zigzags. And so we -come to Tizi-Ouzou and Algiers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The magic carpet of our day has borne us in -a brief space through landscapes of astonishing -contrast; through territories which are a storehouse -of conflicting yet commingled human -interests; across the vast cornfields which -suggest man’s taming of a newly discovered -continent, to the siege-scarred cliffs of Constantine, -the awe-inspiring immensity of the -Sahara, the speaking ruins of the Roman -marches, the Alpine gorges and sylvan sweetness -of the Mediterranean shore. Perhaps -nowhere within so small a compass is the -history of twenty centuries writ so large, -nowhere the evidence of man’s struggles, and -especially of his failures, more plain for him -who runs to read.</p> -<div id='map' class='figcenter id020'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_303'>303</span> -<a href='images/i_map_large.jpg'><img src='images/i_map.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /></a> -<div class='ic003'> -<p>ALGERIA AND TUNIS<br /><span class='small'>Extracted from the Michelin Guide to the Sunny Countries 1912</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_304'>304</span></div> -<div class='doubletop'> - -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='INDEX' class='c018'><i>INDEX</i></h2> -</div> -<hr class='c006' /> - -<ul class='index'> - <li class='c025'>Ain-Beida, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Algiers, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a> <i>seq.</i>, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a> <i>seq.</i>, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a>, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a> <i>seq.</i>, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a> <i>seq.</i>, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a>, <a href='#Page_302'>302</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Atlas, the Lesser, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Aurès range, the, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a>, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>, <a href='#Page_202'>202</a>, <a href='#Page_205'>205</a>, <a href='#Page_208'>208</a>, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c025'>Bagai, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Batna, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a>, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a>, <a href='#Page_242'>242</a>, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>, <a href='#Page_285'>285</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Biskra, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a>, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a> <i>seq.</i>, <a href='#Page_247'>247</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Blidah, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Bône, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Boufarik, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Bougie, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a> <i>seq.</i></li> - <li class='c025'>Bou-Saida, <a href='#Page_247'>247</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c025'>Chabet-el-Akhira, <a href='#Page_286'>286</a> <i>seq.</i></li> - <li class='c025'>Cherchel, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a> <i>seq.</i>, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Colomb-Béchar, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Constantine, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a>, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a> <i>seq.</i>, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c025'>Djebel-Chénoua, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Djerba, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Djurjura, the, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a>, <a href='#Page_301'>301</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c025'>El-Eubbad, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a></li> - <li class='c025'>El-Guerrah, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a></li> - <li class='c025'>El-Kantara, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a></li> - <li class='c025'>El-Mzab, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c025'>Fort National, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a>, <a href='#Page_301'>301</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Foum-ês-Sahara, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c025'>Gouraya, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Guelma, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c025'>Isly, the, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Isser, the, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c025'>Jardin d’Essai, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a> <i>seq.</i></li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c025'>Kairouan, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Khabylia, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a> <i>seq.</i></li> - <li class='c025'>Khenchela, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Kherrata, <a href='#Page_288'>288</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c025'>La Macta, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Lambessa, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a>, <a href='#Page_247'>247</a>, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a></li> - <li class='c025'>La Sikkah, <a href='#Page_137'>137</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c025'>Mansoura, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a> <i>seq.</i></li> - <li class='c025'>Marengo, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Mascara, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Matifou, Cap, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a></li> - <li class='c025'><span class='pageno' id='Page_305'>305</span>Medea, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Medrassen, the, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Ménerville, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Metidja, the, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Miliana, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Mustapha Supérieur, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a> <i>seq.</i></li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c025'>Oran, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a>, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a> <i>seq.</i></li> - <li class='c025'>Oudjda, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Oued Atmenia, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Oued Fedhala, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Oued Rir, <a href='#Page_232'>232</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c025'>Palestro, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a></li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c025'>Roumel, the, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a> <i>seq.</i></li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c025'>Sahara, the, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a> <i>seq.</i>, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a>, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a> <i>seq.</i>, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a> <i>seq.</i></li> - <li class='c025'>Sahel, the, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Sbeitla, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Sétif, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>, <a href='#Page_285'>285</a> <i>seq.</i></li> - <li class='c025'>Sidi Bel Abbès, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Sidi Bou Medine, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a> <i>seq.</i></li> - <li class='c025'>Sidi Ferruch, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Sidi Okba, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a> <i>seq.</i></li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c025'>Tafna, the, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Taguine, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Tchad, Lake, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Tebessa, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>, <a href='#Page_247'>247</a>, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a>, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Tell, the 82, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Temacin, <a href='#Page_232'>232</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Timbuctoo, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a>, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Timgad, <a href='#Page_187'>187</a>, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a> <i>seq.</i></li> - <li class='c025'>Tipasa, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a> <i>seq.</i></li> - <li class='c025'>Tizi-Ouzou, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a>, <a href='#Page_302'>302</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Tlemçen, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a> <i>seq.</i></li> - <li class='c025'>Tobna, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Tombeau de la Chrétienne, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Touggourt, <a href='#Page_216'>216</a>, <a href='#Page_232'>232</a></li> - <li class='c025'>Tubusuctu, <a href='#Page_261'>261</a></li> -</ul> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<p class='c001'><a id='endnote'></a></p> -<div class='tnotes'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='large'>Transcriber’s Note</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='htmlonly'> - -<p class='c001'>A large <a href='#map'>map</a> at the end of the text is given here in a reduced version. -However, the image serves as a link to a larger, more legible copy.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and -are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original. -The following issues should be noted, along with the resolutions.</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='12%' /> -<col width='69%' /> -<col width='18%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c013'><a id='c_14.13'></a><a href='#corr14.13'>14.13</a></td> - <td class='c013'>Timgad: Arch [at/of] Trajan</td> - <td class='c024'>Replaced.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'><a id='c_143.8'></a><a href='#corr143.8'>143.8</a></td> - <td class='c013'>and [raised] the whole province of Oran</td> - <td class='c024'><i>sic</i>: razed</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'><a id='c_221.14'></a><a href='#corr221.14'>221.14</a></td> - <td class='c013'>As we approach Sidi O[bk/kb]a</td> - <td class='c024'>Transposed.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'><a id='c_279.3'></a><a href='#corr279.3'>279.3</a></td> - <td class='c013'>They [rased] the fortifications</td> - <td class='c024'><i>sic</i>: rased</td> - </tr> -</table> - -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's About Algeria, by Charles Thomas-Stanford - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABOUT ALGERIA *** - -***** This file should be named 60514-h.htm or 60514-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/5/1/60514/ - -Produced by KD Weeks, MFR, Mary Glenn Krause and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - - - -</pre> - - </body> - <!-- created with ppgen.py 3.57c on 2019-10-17 18:14:44 GMT --> -</html> diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 9991727..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/flower.png b/old/60514-h/images/flower.png Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 8c299ff..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/flower.png +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_017f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_017f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 71cc242..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_017f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_024f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_024f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index e4623ae..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_024f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_035f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_035f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index c6a3d30..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_035f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_036f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_036f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 4409fe3..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_036f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_048f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_048f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 1930fc2..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_048f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_054f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_054f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 0c80874..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_054f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_068f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_068f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 662441b..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_068f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_090f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_090f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index fc77900..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_090f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_104f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_104f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 5df0f98..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_104f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_108f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_108f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 0156c7a..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_108f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_112f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_112f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index dd9f36a..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_112f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_118f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_118f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index a484735..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_118f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_138f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_138f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index a623d9b..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_138f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_141f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_141f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 9028312..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_141f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_153f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_153f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 7b80c19..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_153f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_164f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_164f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index fa4a749..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_164f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_169f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_169f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index a289c28..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_169f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_172f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_172f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 6cc647a..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_172f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_181f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_181f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index ef45fa8..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_181f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_191f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_191f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 8345edc..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_191f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_201f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_201f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index c3002b0..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_201f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_215f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_215f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 38ca9d5..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_215f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_217f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_217f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 65a1f44..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_217f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_222f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_222f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index ec9c14c..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_222f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_228f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_228f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index bee9d31..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_228f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_232f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_232f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 5360348..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_232f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_234f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_234f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index ae181f8..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_234f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_238f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_238f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index a14f5f9..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_238f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_245f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_245f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index e937018..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_245f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_255f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_255f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 113e04b..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_255f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_271f.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_271f.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index c451766..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_271f.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_frontis.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_frontis.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 35e17a2..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_frontis.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_map.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_map.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 6c6f4e9..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_map.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60514-h/images/i_map_large.jpg b/old/60514-h/images/i_map_large.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index cc8a93f..0000000 --- a/old/60514-h/images/i_map_large.jpg +++ /dev/null |
