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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. 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