R

the sky, and a strong north-westerly wind began to blow. To an astonishing heat, succeeded sharp cold and heavy the gale increased, and at sunset rose to a furious

rain ; storm.

Durand de Villegaignon, a contemporary historian, relates that

“The Emperor had taken all the precautions which human prudence could suggest, and the army was giving itself up to rejoicing on its happy success, when an event occurred which it was impossible to foresee or avoid. At the first hour of the night, a terrible flood of rain began and continued throughout the course of it. The soldiers had disembarked without furnishing themselves with any shelter. They had neither mantles to secure themselves against the cold, nor tents, and their courage seemed to go from them with their strength. During the night the sea began to rage in an incredible manner. Such was its agitation, that many ships too feeble to resist its violence, broke their cables and were dashed on the shore or sank to the bottom."

When morning dawned the Emperor saw from the heights above the city, the wrecks of a hundred and fifty of his ships lying upon the strand. At this moment of discouragement, the Turks sallied out and attacked the Spaniards. A desperate struggle ensued, which ended in a general rout of the Spanish army, whose only ambition now was to regain the scattered remnant of their fleet. But for three days the storm continued with scarcely any abatement; and without shelter, and without food, their gunpowder spoiled by the rain, and their spirits crushed by disaster, they were harassed on all sides by the now triumphant Turks.

"The soldiers, enervated by fatigue and disappointment, seemed to have lost all strength, and many fell dead by the wayside from exhaus tion. The ground was so spongy that they could neither lie nor walk upon it without great difficulty, and when they desired repose, they

KOUBBA OF SIDI BELAL.

291

could only plunge their lances into the earth and so lean on them."L'Expédition de Charles V. Villegagnon.

After incessant marching and countermarching, they at length reached the shore at Cape Matifou. Even then Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico, who was in the expedition, and the Count d'Alcandete, proposed to return and renew the attack on Algiers; but the Emperor, we are told, unwilling that others should succeed where he had failed, gave the order for the immediate embarkation, and on November 3rd the Spanish fleet set sail from the bay, leaving in the hands of the Arabs an immense quantity of booty and six thousand prisoners.

On the sea-shore, a few yards beyond the Jardin d'Essai, half buried in the sand, is the little koubba of Sidi Belal. There are different traditions extant as to this personage, who is held in much honour by the negro population of Algiers. Some believe him to have been that Belal, the black slave of Mahomet, who was the first negro converted to Islamism. More probably, thinks M. Piesse, the name recalls to the negro mind, some fond remembrance of the old Phoenician god Belal, Belus, Baal, since the Mahomedan negroes have never thoroughly emancipated themselves from the traditions and practices of idolatry. The rites which are yearly celebrated at the koubba of Sidi Belal, certainly seem to savour of heathenism, consisting of prayers, incantations, sacrifices and dances, in the course of which the excited devotees, both men and women, have the habit, we are told, of throwing themselves headlong into the sea, from which they are often, with difficulty, rescued by their companions. This takes place every spring, and is known as

the Feast of Beans-beans forming a prominent part of the banquet, into which the religious frenzy finally resolves itself.

A short way further down this road is Hussein Dey, so called from a summer palace belonging to the last Dey, which was situated here, and is now a tobacco manufactory. From this point either tramway or train can be taken back to Algiers.

CHAPTER XVII.

MUSTAPHA SUPÉRIEUR.—THE COLONNE VOIROL, AND WALKS FROM THENCE.

"Nature smiled, and o'er the landscape threw
Her richest fragrance and her brightest hue."

Rogers.

Omnibus to Mustapha Supérieur every hour, from the corner of the Place du Gouvernement.

F

ROM the Place Bresson, passing in front of the Hôtel

de l'Europe, the Rue Rovigo begins the ascent of the hill, which, continued by the Rue d'Isly, leads to the towngate of that name. On the road, the Place d'Isly will be passed-an open space, in the centre of which stands a bronze statue of Marshal Bugeaud, the victor of Isly, by M. Dumont. This quarter is quite modern, and anything but picturesque, only relieved from dreariness by the quaint figures and unlovely features of the old negresses, whose enormous black eyes glare at the passer-by, as they crouch over their baskets of bread and fruit. They possess the attraction of pug-dogs and Dandy Dinmonts-the beauty, because the absolute perfection, of ugliness-that is according to our notions; but they may (who knows?) think the same thoughts of the daintily clad, fair-skinned English or French women, who regard them almost with an involun

tary shudder. It should surely be a matter of constant gratitude and rejoicing to all of us in this world that tastes differ.

This part of the town was the old faubourg without the gates, of which Pierre Dan tells us, where the Arab and Moorish merchants, with their camels, were accustomed to encamp when bringing provisions into the city.

Just before arriving at the handsome Porte d'Isly, will be seen on the left, the English church, a neat little building which was erected by the English visitors and residents, the ground being presented by the Government, at a cost of about £2,500. It was consecrated on January 1, 1871. There is still a considerable sum of money left unpaid. The interior of the building is at present simply whitewashed, and has an extremely bare and glaring effect; but a plan of decoration is mooted, and the munificence of the English visitors will, no doubt, soon enable it to be carried into effect.

The pulpit, font, and stained-glass windows were all presents. The large circular window at the west end of the church, representing the release of St. Peter from prison, with the inscription, "Lord, show thy pity upon all prisoners and captives," was put up by subscription, in memory of the English who died as slaves at Algiers; and a memorial window has recently, chiefly through the exertions of the present Consul, been erected to the celebrated traveller Bruce, whose name will be found in the list of English Consuls preserved on the wall of the church. There is also a marble tablet recording the glorious victory of Lord Exmouth on August 27, 1816, by which Christian slavery was for ever put an end to, and one or two other commemorative tablets.