43 2 prit le faubourg: 'took the street which leads through the suburb.' Faubourg meant originally the portion of a city outside the walled town (bourg); then also the street leading through this district. Cf. note to 49 7.--route de Mustapha: 'Mustapha road', cf. note to 1 5. Mustapha is a suburb of Algiers, on the sea.
43 4 corricolos: corricolo is the Neapolitan word (Latin 'curriculum, 'chariot'; see curricle in Engl. dict.) for a sort of gig.--fourgons du train: 'army wagons', train = train des équipages, 'the train,' an army's equipment for the transportation of provisions and other necessities.
43 5 chasseurs d'Afrique: French light cavalry serving in Algeria; transl. 'Africa cavalry.'
43 7 Alsaciens émigrants: 'emigrating Alsatians'; contrast émigrés alsaciens 'Alsatian emigrants.' After the Franco-Prussian war (1870-871), as a result of which Alsace became a German province, many Alsatians emigrated rather than submit to German domination. In 1871 about 11,000 natives of Alsace-Lorraine were granted land in Algeria. Daudet visited Algeria in 1861, before the Alsatians immigrated in large numbers.
43 8 spahis: 'spahis,' native cavalry in the French service, commanded by French officers.
43 12-13 bouchers: 'butchers.'--équarrisseurs: 'slaughterers.' Équarisseur, probably because of a falsely imputed connection with Latin equus, is ordinarily used to mean 'horse slaughterer,' 'knacker.' The root of the word is, however, Latin quadratus, French carré, and an équarisseur is properly 'one who cuts a beast into quarters,' one whose chief interest is in the by-products--hide, bones, fat, etc.
43 20 ne devaient pas être: 'ought not to be,' 'surely were not,' 'could not be', see note to 2 10.
43 29 crut devoir: 'thought he had better'; see note to 2 10.