in all attitudes of prayer; standing, kneeling, squatting cross-legged, or prostrate, with their foreheads on the ground; the only sound to be heard is the purring of a number of beautiful cats and kittens who seem to belong to the place. At the entrance of the mosque, on the steps leading down to the port, a sort of market is held, where not only grapes, figs, bananas, dates, oranges, and almost every kind of southern fruit can be bought, but also vast numbers of tortoises and chameleons are offered for sale. The only streets in Algiers which are wide enough for carriages are those which have been made by the French, and are in the lower town; in fact, there can be said to be but two real streets, and these are always crowded with every kind of conveyance, for everybody in Algiers, however poor, rides in an omnibus, the usual price of which is about twopence. There are also donkeys, mules, camels, and horses. The houses in these streets are like the tall French houses of any town in France, and the shops are not remarkable, except perhaps for the high price of everything in them, and the number of Jews who inhabit them. It is the old town, or the upper town, or the Moorish town, into which the traveller must penetrate to see what is really African, Eastern, and par excellence Algerian; and certainly it is a wonderful place. Enchanting and disgusting, dirty and poetical. Here go with the Arabian Nights in your hand, or rather in your head and heart, and you will be transported instantly to the times of the good Haroun Alraschid. One-eyed calenders meet you at every step, philosophically to be explained by the prevalence of ophthalmia. If it is evening, you will be quite sure that the white woman who flits by is going to the tombs beyond the walls of the city to enjoy a horrid feast there, that the man who walks behind her, evidently trying to conceal his face in his embroidered burnous, is her unhappy lord and master! Up and up, higher and higher; up flights of steps which the mules and donkeys mount as if they were as used to them as the high road, through dark alleys like tunnels, houses meeting over our heads, out again under the open sky, which is a narrow strip of blue seen between high walls, till at length we are out of breath, and sit down to rest upon some carved marble steps. The houses which surround us have very few windows looking into the street, and those are small and caged with bars of iron, and often have projecting iron bars with crescents at the end to keep off evil spirits from the house. At a hole here and there black eyes may be seen, but oftener voices and music heard; and if a door opens, probably a beautiful square court, arched round about, will be exposed to view, the columns of marble and the arches decorated with colored tiles, and in the centre of the court a little plot of garden; the pendant leaves of the banana hanging over a cistern of water, the flame colored prince's feather and the brilliant yellow African marigold gleam in the sunshine; and looking as we do at this little enclosure from the dark street, it is like fairyland, and we can understand something of the pleasure these Moors have in shutting crowd which he will see from his window: there a mass of Arabs, perfect in their national dress, the long classical woollen drapery, white and flowing, the linen head-covering bound round by a fillet of camel's hair cord; their faces, long, handsome, and expressive, their feet bare, and their hands and arms in continual action as they discuss evidently the merits and price of a miserable little white Arab horse, whose tail is dyed red and whose magnificent saddle and bridle seem to our eyes worth twice the price of the beast who bears them. Near them stands a Kabyle, who has taken kindly to French civilization; by his square face, his round head, and his blue eyes, you see at once he is quite a different creature from the Arab his neighbor. The Kabyle has bare legs and gaiters of skins, and what we remark of French civilization is a sack, which he wears as a shirt, ornamented down his broad back by the word " 'fragile" in red letters, the English of which is "Glass, with care;" a good joke the unconscious mountaineer bears about with him, and it insures him a smiling welcome wherever he goes. Here stand a group of Spanish workmen in blue jackets and trousers, red sashes, and those little hats with tufted plumes which English ladies have adopted so generally for riding; some of these men have very handsome thick scarfs, something like Scotch plaids, but thicker, and of very beautiful colors and patterns. Moorish women all in white glide about like phantoms in the dark streets, mysterious and poetical when we can see nothing or but little of them; but there is one in the broad sunshine who looks like a bundle of dirty clothes, waddling along without form or shape, though we cannot deny but that her black eyes gleaming out from under her white veil are very magnificent, and such as we rarely have seen before, so black, so long and narrow, and such lovely lashes! There is a little bundle, a bundle who appears to be about ten years old, led along by a tall Negress, clothed in one long garment of dark blue cotton from head to feet, leaving her arms bare, which are decorated, as well as her feet, with massive rings of gold. Moors are hurrying backwards and forwards, dressed in many colored costumes, turbans, jackets, sashes, and full trousers. Jewesses, whose dress is a caricature of the classical costume as seen in the British drama, but with very rich embroidery, forming a kind of breastplate. Of course there are French officers in all variety of uniform; and Zouaves, who are the most picturesque of all. The Place and the surrounding buildings are all French; there is nothing Moorish but the mosque, which is very beautiful, and has a lofty square tower decorated with colored tiles. This mosque was built by a Christian architect, a slave; he built it in the form of the cross, and prophesied that some day it should be used as a Christian church, for which blasphemy he was immediately hung by the Dey of Algiers. The interior is very large and plain; the floor of the mosque is covered with thick matting and carpets; all the Moors leave their shoes at the door, so that even when the place is nearly full of Arabs and Moors the silence is most impressive. The men may be seen in all attitudes of prayer; standing, kneeling, squatting cross-legged, or prostrate, with their foreheads on the ground; the only sound to be heard is the purring of a number of beautiful cats and kittens who seem to belong to the place. At the entrance of the mosque, on the steps leading down to the port, a sort of market is held, where not only grapes, figs, bananas, dates, oranges, and almost every kind of southern fruit can be bought, but also vast numbers of tortoises and chameleons are offered for sale. The only streets in Algiers which are wide enough for carriages are those which have been made by the French, and are in the lower town; in fact, there can be said to be but two real streets, and these are always crowded with every kind of conveyance, for everybody in Algiers, however poor, rides in an omnibus, the usual price of which is about twopence. There are also donkeys, mules, camels, and horses. The houses in these streets are like the tall French houses of any town in France, and the shops are not remarkable, except perhaps for the high price of everything in them, and the number of Jews who inhabit them. It is the old town, or the upper town, or the Moorish town, into which the traveller must penetrate to see what is really African, Eastern, and par excellence Algerian; and certainly it is a wonderful place. Enchanting and disgusting, dirty and poetical. Here go with the Arabian Nights in your hand, or rather in your head and heart, and you will be transported instantly to the times of the good Haroun Alraschid. One-eyed calenders meet you at every step, philosophically to be explained by the prevalence of ophthalmia. If it is evening, you will be quite sure that the white woman who flits by is going to the tombs beyond the walls of the city to enjoy a horrid feast there, that the man who walks behind her, evidently trying to conceal his face in his embroidered burnous, is her unhappy lord and master! Up and up, higher and higher; up flights of steps which the mules and donkeys mount as if they were as used to them as the high road, through dark alleys like tunnels, houses meeting over our heads, out again under the open sky, which is a narrow strip of blue seen between high walls, till at length we are out of breath, and sit down to rest upon some carved marble steps. The houses which surround us have very few windows looking into the street, and those are small and caged with bars of iron, and often have projecting iron bars with crescents at the end to keep off evil spirits from the house. At a hole here and there black eyes may be seen, but oftener voices and music heard; and if a door opens, probably a beautiful square court, arched round about, will be exposed to view, the columns of marble and the arches decorated with colored tiles, and in the centre of the court a little plot of garden; the pendant leaves of the banana hanging over a cistern of water, the flame colored prince's feather and the brilliant yellow African marigold gleam in the sunshine; and looking as we do at this little enclosure from the dark street, it is like fairyland, and we can understand something of the pleasure these Moors have in shutting away from the world all their treasures, and if all were as it looks in that instant we are spying, a most happy existence the inmates must lead. The Negresses, whom we meet continually carrying fruit, bread, and wine, or attending children, are very remarkable figures; they are much taller than the generality of women, and very grandly formed; their faces are beautiful or ugly according to taste, but we think no one can refuse to admire those who have the Memnon cast of countenance. We have seen one Negress who certainly was a little Cleopatra in her way; she was very young and very slight, and extraordinarily fascinating in her gestures and movements. Quite at the top of the town is a fine old pile of buildings called the Casbah, the ancient palace of the Deys of Algiers, the scene of murders without end and tortures untold, and the scene too of the famous insult which the last Dey offered to the representative of the French Government; that slap on the ear with his fan which was the excuse for the declaration of war and the final seizure of Algeria. From the flat roof of the Casbah and the neighboring ramparts, the view of the town is very curious; we can see down upon the roofs of nearly all the houses in Algiers, which lie below us like flights of broad irregular steps going down to the sea. So close do the houses appear to one another that we can hardly believe that it is not possible to step from one to the other without any difficulty. Leaving the town by the Casbah, or Eastern gate, we find ourselves on the side of a steep hill, intersected by ravines covered with aloes, cacti, and olive-trees. The whole of the Tell, or sea-shore range of hills on which Algiers is situated, is very fertile, almost every kind of European tree growing upon it, with the addition of many African trees, such as the palm and the jujube. The highest point of the Tell is the Bouzaréah, which is 1,230 feet above the sea; the whole of the country to be seen from this point is inexpressibly beautiful and diversified. The Bouzaérah is five miles from Algiers; the road leading to it by El Biar, or the Place of Wells, presents views of the Mediterranean with every variety of foreground, and Moorish houses, looking like square towers for defence rather than dwelling places, surrounded by cypress and fig-trees, sometimes having also a wall of cactus, by way of outworks or defence. Some fine stone pines grow on this road, and one or two palm-trees of prodigious height. The mountains become higher as we rise, or rather we see more and more of them, and at last the plain of the Metidja is spread open before us like a golden sea, perfectly flat for miles and miles, but as it nears the mountains gradually undulating and rearing up and up until it folds itself into the mountain side and is lost in the blue masses of the Atlas. From the Bouzaréah can be seen the grandest view of the immediate neighborhood of Algiers, and we strongly recommend all visitors to go there on their arrival; the effect is like that of looking on a map, and will give a general idea of the country and the coast, which will add much to the interest of everything seen afterwards. The group of Arab tombs at the Bouzaréah are alone well worth a visit; they are the tombs of priests, called Marabouts, and are good specimens of Moorish architecture, having domes in very beautiful proportion to the height of the walls and low arched doors; these tombs are surrounded by tall groups of the palmetto, which, with its straight stem and its mass of fan leaves at the top, is, on a smaller scale, quite as beautiful as the great feathery palm-tree. The side of the hill sloping down inland from the Bouzaréah is covered with gravestones and mounds; here the jackals often find a meal, for the Arabs do not bury their dead very deep. Hyænas are still to be found here. We saw the bones of a donkey which had been eaten a few nights before by two hyænas, and only two years ago a panther, strange to say, was found here; probably he had lost his way, or certainly he would not knowingly have come within five miles of such a nest of hunters as Algiers. A few hundred yards from the tombs is an Arab village strongly fortified with cacti ; the dwellings are only tents made of mud, stones, and branches of trees, each guarded by one or more dogs: we went into some of these dens, and were received very kindly by the women, who-though evidently very poor, and all living in one room in the most miserable manner, with very little clothing and few cooking utensils were very hospitable, and offered us coffee in the most gracious manner in the world. The Arabs, men, women and children, have admirable manners and gestures, and never seem in the least embarrassed or discomposed by the most unexpected events; they are naturally well-bred, which can be said of very few if any of the northern nations. Education gives something of the grace which these southern people possess, but never can give the perfect dignity and appropriateness of gesture, which belong to the Arabs above all other people. The Kabyles and the Jews, races far exceeding the Arab in intellectual endowment, have not this gift; the Spaniard has it, and in a lesser degree the Italian, and next to him the French peasant, and then perhaps the Moors, Kabyles and Jews, and last of all the German and the Englishman. Here they are altogether, and can be compared with ease. The Arab woman, though perfectly unaccustomed to "good society," or any society at all, is always at her ease, and by her gestures can manage to exchange much goodwill and express much delight on the honor of a visit. We were charmed with one woman whom we visited, she was very handsome, not very young, and had a grand expression, fine eyes, and a nobly developed forehead, which was tattooed with broad lines of blue and black; she wore immense earrings, and round her neck very weighty ornaments of silver and pearls. Probably these ornaments were very ancient, as her apparent poverty contrasted painfully with such signs of wealth. The men of this Gourbi, or Arab village, gain their living by selling poultry (and sometimes by stealing it again, as the French who inhabit houses near the Bouzaréah find to their cost), by cultivating the land near, by cutting and selling wood, and by collecting the leaves of the palmetto-which are used in the |