CHAPTER LXXVI.
INTO ALGERIA.
Striking off from the empire of Morocco, as we journey eastward into Algeria we come to the town of Tlemcen. A passing glance at the town is, at first, very pleasing. A triple row of fine trees, such as the white poplar, the plane tree, the acacia, the nettle tree, and a species of tree the foliage of which is so thick that no sunbeam can ever penetrate it, lines the avenue of Méchonar, which leads to the gate of Bon Medina. At the left can be seen the old walls of Méchonar, which was the citadel of the town. At the right the eye beholds a scene strongly in contrast, for the houses, with possibly a few exceptions, are squalid in the extreme.
It is impossible to enter the town except from the southwest; as all other approaches to it present steep and rugged sides. The district about it abounds in fruit trees of all descriptions. The olive tree is the most valuable among them. Much of the land is cultivated for the production of cereals, tobacco, etc.
Tlemcen is the capital of the province of Oran. It is situated some eighty miles from its chief town, Oran, and enjoys a delightful situation in an undulating country under a thorough system of irrigation and cultivation. A range of hills, some four thousand or more feet in height, protects it from the south wind sweeping up from the desert sections.
The climate of the town is somewhat remarkable for its sudden changes in temperature, which are as distinct from day to day as are the changes of our climate from season to season. Sometimes they come in rapid succession, even in a single day, during the summer season.
Rain falls in abundance. The rainy season begins usually in October and continues, with occasional periods of fine weather, until the following May or June. The spring rains and the frequency of morning fogs render the vegetation so luxuriant as to astonish the traveler, even in the heat of the summer. After journeying through districts where the vegetation is parched and withered by the heat of June, the freshness of the verdure around Tlemcen cannot fail to delight as well as surprise the stranger.
The town rarely feels the effect of the sirocco, or wind from the south, and never longer than for two or three days in succession. Thunder is occasionally heard in winter or in the spring, and sometimes at the close of an unusually sultry day. When storms come they pass rapidly, for strong currents of air draw them away, usually towards the southeast.