"That is a mesjid, which means a second-class mosque, as you Americans would say. The principal ones are called djamas, and some of them are very elegant. The tomb of a dey or a very rich pacha is often exceedingly fine."
"The houses here are very queer, Mr. Belgrave," said Miss Blanche; "but they are like those we saw in Mogadore, and not at all like those in the lower town."
"That is a French town, and I saw two or three buildings five and six stories high. They have earthquakes here, and I should rather be in one of these Moorish houses than on the sixth floor of one of those lofty structures," replied Louis, who had read up a little as soon as he returned to the ship. "These dwellings all have flat roofs, Miss Blanche. Do you know why that is so?"
"So that the rain can get into them, I should suppose," replied the beautiful maiden; and not only the French but the Moors had paused to get a second look at her.
"Hardly for that; but as soon as the sun has gone down, in the cool of the evening, the people pass their time on the roof. I read some stories by a French writer who had spent some time in Algeria, and he speaks of passing his evenings on the roof of the house he had hired, a Moorish house in Bougie, on the seashore."
"These houses have no windows, as we understand the word," said Blanche, who was taking in all the strange sight before her. "They are nothing but peek-holes, with iron bars, which make them look like so many prisons."
"These houses would not suit us any better than ours would the people who live in them. These narrow streets keep out much of the glare of the hot sun, and make the place cooler than it would otherwise be. You noticed the same thing in Cadiz and Seville, and it is an Oriental idea."
"It looked very odd to see omnibuses in the Place Royale, just as we see them in Paris."
"The French have introduced a great many improvements here; in fact, they have everything here as they do in France, even to the horse-racing, of which the Arabs are very fond, as well as the Frenchmen."
"Where did you learn so much about Algiers, Mr. Belgrave?" asked Miss Blanche, bestowing a pleasant smile upon him.