I notice many changes and improvements, each time I return to this point of departure for Italy, Spain, Egypt, and other lands on the Mediterranean.
CXXVIII.
Algiers, Africa, Feb. 1, 1858.
Notwithstanding we had some boisterous weather in the Gulf of Lyons, our voyage across the Mediterranean brought us in less than forty-eight hours in sight of the African coast. The city seen from the sea with its triangular form upon a steep slope, appears like a white mass of chalk surrounded with verdure. The Arabs compare it poetically to a diamond set in emerald and sapphire. Its primitive appearance, as occupied by the Dey before the conquest by the French, in 1830, is greatly changed by the opening of wide streets near the base, and the erection of buildings of modern style, and public squares and gardens. The new port and quays give portions of the city an European air.
The blending of Moorish and French architecture, and the great variety of costume worn by Arabs, Moors, Jews, Spaniards, and government troops and officials, strike the stranger with astonishment; and had I not been familiar with Egyptian, Turkish, Greek, and Continental races, I should have been as much astonished as some of our fellow passengers seemed to be.
The day of our arrival was fine, and the sun’s rays warm, as the thermometer in winter always keeps considerably above the freezing point, although the Atlas Mountains in the distance are at times tipped with snow. The venders of fresh dates, oranges, bananas, and other fruits, advised us of a much warmer climate than we had left.
The summit of the triangle is crowned with the chateau La Casbah. A half league to the left of this ancient fortress, the last residence of the Dey, stands the famous Fort of the Emperor, the explosion of which, by the French, in 1830, decided the fate of this well-fortified city.
Algiers was founded by the Berbers Mosgan tribe of the BeniMezarhama, and the companions of Hercules the Lybian, who left the army of the hero and fixed themselves here. It then became part of the Mauritanic Cæsariene.
On the fall of the Roman empire, it became the prey of the chief of the Vandals, and was destroyed. It was reconquered by the Arabs, who armed piratical vessels, which became so formidable that the Spanish king, Ferdinand, fitted out an expedition, and occupied a small island in front of the city, where the lighthouse now stands. The Algerines called to their aid the celebrated pirate, Barbarossa, who was checked by the Spaniards. Furious with his defeat, he seized and killed the sovereign, and took possession of the city.
All the efforts of the Spaniards were defeated, and the fleet destroyed by tempests or otherwise.