ALGERIA AND TUNIS IN 1845.*

NOTWITHSTANDING the desolating and desultory warfare carried on for upwards of fifteen years by a handful of Arabs and Kabyles, fighting for their country, against an army of a hundred thousand Frenchmen, it appears from Captain Kennedy's sensible and pleasant little book that the progress of civilisation is really apparent in these long-suffering realms, and that the spade and the trowel are gradually assuming duties of a less showy, but more substantial character, than those performed by the sword and the carbine.

In the lower part of triangular Algiers, the monotony of the Moorish houses is already entirely broken up by new French buildings, and the dull repose of the harem-garden is changed into the lively bustle of a French barrack-yard, while outside the walls the hills gently sloping to the sea, are studded with country-houses and gardens. Within are also modern palaces, barracks, prisons, and hospitals, magazines and factories, alternating with large hotels, fashionable cafés and showy shops.

Nor is the population less striking, composed as it is of a motley crew of Arabs, Moors, French, Maltese, Italians, &c.

Among the various costumes and styles of dress," says Captain Kennedy, seen in the streets of Algiers, none are so ridiculous as that of the European civilian dressed à l'Arabe, some fine specimens of which we saw to-day. One of this genus,' a wealthy shopkeeper from the Rue Chausée-d'Antin, had by his adventures a short time since created some little amusement-enthusiastic on the subject of the new colony, his thoughts by day had been for months of Algeria, and his dreams by night of bernoused warriors, fiery steeds, and bloody yataghans. At last, determined to see with his own eyes, he left his beloved Paris, and arrived safely in Algiers.

"His first care was to procure a complete Arab dress, in which he sallied forth the morning after his arrival. He came in search of adventures, and he was soon gratified; stalking along he accidentally hustled a couple of French soldiers, he was sworn at, thrashed, and rolled in the mud, as a 'S- cochon d'Arabe,' lost his purse from having no pockets in his new garments, and was nearly kicked down stairs by the garçon of his hotel, for venturing to enter his own room.

"Undismayed by these misadventures, he set out the following day armed to the teeth, to ride to Bleedah, when, half way there, he was seized as a suspicious character, by two Arab gendarmes, for being armed without having a permit, and pretending not to understand Arabic, was disarmed and dismounted, his hands tied behind his back, and fastened to his captors' stirrups, he spent the night on the ground in a wretched hut, with a handful of cuscusoo for supper, and next morning was dragged into Algiers in broad daylight, half dead with fear and fatigue; on being carried before the police he was instantly liberated, and taking advantage of the first packet, returned to France, after having seen more of life in Algeria in a few days, than many who had spent the same number of years in this colony."

Captain Kennedy and his friend and companion Lord Fielding tra

* Algeria and Tunis in 1845. By Captain J. Clark Kennedy. 2 vols. Henry Colburn.

velled by diligence by a capital road constructed by the troops from Algiers to Bleedah. Farmhouses were numerous on the wayside, the colonists chiefly Germans. Herds of cattle and numerous flocks of sheep were grazing on the hill-sides. A pleasing and promising state of things. "Were it not," says Captain Kennedy, "for an occasional party of Arabs going to market with the country produce, or returning from the city, it would be difficult to imagine from the surrounding scene, that you are travelling in another quarter of the globe." The absence of wood, however, is a great inconvenience.

At Bleedah there is a Place d'Armes, and a broad handsome street is building, but the native portion of the town is in a sadly ruinous condition. The European population, our author says, owing to the fine climate and abundance of water, is greatly on the increase, and will shortly outnumber the natives. Bleedah forms a link between the seaport of Algiers and the country beyond the Atlas.

Quitting this important station the party crossed the little Atlas by the ravine of the Cheefa, another military road of a highly picturesque character, and gained Medeah, the capital of a province, and head-quarters of a subdivision of the French army, the authority of which extends hence to an imaginary line on the borders of the Great Desert. Medeah was founded by the Romans in an admirable situation, easily defended, and 3200 feet above the sea. Here, as at Algiers and Bleedah, the destruction of the Arab streets is going on, and French buildings are rising in their place; the only structure of consequence yet finished is the military hospital in the upper part of the town, erected in a fine airy situation, and a conspicuous object for miles around.

An excursion made from hence in company with the French general's aide-de-camp, into the little desert, a visit to the Bel Arbi, the Dashera of the Haoueras, a sight of one or two Douars, or Arab encampments, and an unsuccessful hunt after the last of the boars, constituted the whole of Captain Kennedy's and Lord Fielding's experiences of Arab life. Bleedah was regained not without some misadventures by the pass of Mouzaia, from whence the trajét to Algiers is as before-mentioned, easy enough.

The next excursion was to Bona, by steam-packet, thence to the ruins of Hippo Regius, and by steam to Tunis. It appears that after all the pompous announcements given of the translation of the remains of St. Augustin to the place of his death, that the French prelates were obliged to content themselves with one arm, over which a sort of altar tomb has been erected in the midst of the ruins "in the worst possible taste," according to Captain Kennedy.

Our travellers speak highly of the Bey of Tunis, who appears to be marching apace with the civilisation by which he is nearly surrounded, and to be outrivalling, especially by the most noble act of emancipating the slaves, the greatest reformers that modern Mohammedanism has yet produced. From Tunis the party made excursions to Carthage, to the ruins of Adrumetum, and to Mahadeah, turning inwards to the holy Kairouan, seldom visited by Europeans, and where they were insulted by the women-always the first in the race of bigotry-and returning by Zouwan to Tunis. Near Susa they saw those beautiful birds the Numedian cranes, called by the French "Mademoisselles." "In the spring," says Captain Kennedy, "when they are paying their addresses to each

other, their proceedings are very curious; they are seen to place themselves face to face, a little distance apart, one commences bowing, and is imitated by the other; a regular minuet is then danced, each bird, with drooping wings and a graceful movement of the head and neck, advances, retires, and moves in a circle, with an easy gliding step, sometimes passing dos-a-dos; the whole performance is gone through as methodically as by young ladies at school."

The journey from Tunis to Bona was effected by land, thus allowing a good deal of country to be explored, and permitting the party to view the native at Keff as at Kairouan, in his real character. On their return to Bona they visited the forest of the Jebel Edough, ate therein a fricandeau de lion, and thence gained Constantine, the position of which, like that of most of the cities of the interior, is very remarkable-houses, walls, and castles, grouped together on a high terraced and escarped rock of irregular form, and cut up by deep ravines. The site itself, also, at a considerable elevation above the sea, insures a moderate temperature and a healthy atmosphere.

The reader will probably thank us for some idea of those corps essentially Franco-Algerine which have sprung up out of the necessities of a peculiar mode of warfare, and a peculiar country and climate, and which are beginning to occupy a prominent situation in French literature. First on the list is the Chasseur d'Afrique. He has a uniform composed of a light blue jacket with yellow facings, red overalls, strapped with leather, and a low forage-cap, diminishing in size to the crown, with a broad horizontal peak. His arms are a long carbine of small bore, a sword and pistols, plain saddlery with a very small valise. The chasseurs are exceedingly well mounted, and it is considered by all who are desirous of distinguishing themselves, the favourite corps of the army.

The Zouaves are to the infantry what the Chasseurs d'Afrique are to the cavalry, the favourite corps. It was at first essentially a native force, but at the present time is composed almost entirely of Frenchmen. "The uniform," says Captain Kennedy, "is most picturesque," being half Oriental half European. The Spahis are the Arab irregular cavalry, in the pay of France. For their pay they provide themselves with horses, accoutrements, clothing, and provisions, but their arms are supplied by government. Then there is the Légion Etrangère, a force of nearly fivethousand men, composed of adventurers, deserters, and escaped criminals of all nations. The Polish battalion is the best conducted and most distinguished of this legion. Captain Kennedy says that there are only two or three Englishmen in their ranks. Last of all come Les Zephyrs, composed of men who, having undergone a certain amount of punishment, are not considered eligible to serve again in the ranks of their own regiments. The men are a kind of soldier-farmers, and are kept in order by a very severe discipline.

It only remains to us to subjoin a few remarks on the renowned Abd-el-Kader, and the prospects of the French in Algeria as being characterised by much moderation and good sense. "There are few men of the present day," says Captain Kennedy, speaking of the indomitable Arab, "whose career has attracted so much attention, and of whose character so little that can be relied upon is known. In the prime of life (according to most accounts he was born about 1806), he is described as small of stature, with regular features, a pleasing expression, and of mild

and gentle manners. Daringly active both in mind and body, he has taken advantage of circumstances to place himself at the head of the Arab tribes discontented with Christian rule and unwilling to submit to the restraints of a regular government. For this position his talents, piety, and lineal descent from the prophet through his only daughter Fatima, eminently qualify him. Whatever his motive, be it religious ardour, patriotism, or ambition, he is a brave man and a skilful leader, struggling for the liberties of the people of his fatherland, and as such he is deserving of our sympathies; while at the same time every one must regret the continuance of a contest carried on by both parties with so much ferocity, and rejoice in any event that would tend to bring it to a speedy conclusion; the more so, as it must, if the peace of Europe remain undisturbed, eventually end in his destruction, for every year brings an enormous accession of strength to the European population, whilst the same period sees the numbers of the Arabs, and their resources, gradually wasting away in a gallant yet fruitless struggle."

It is impossible not to coincide with such sensible observations, or not to join with the gallant author in the hope that civilisation may yet take the place of barbarism, without a renewal of those horrid spectacles which the African war has too frequently presented.

RUSSIA AND ITS AUTOCRAT.*

IVAN GOLOVINE was summoned in March, 1843, from Paris, to repair forthwith to the metropolis of the Autocrat. Thinking that his travels might not terminate there, but might be prolonged into more easterly and less inviting territories, he judiciously preferred the inconveniences of disobedience to those of exile and punishment. In return for deprival of rights, confiscation of property, and all the other little et cæteras entailed by disregard of the imperial commands, the Russian subject retorts in two volumes of political and personal detraction. One would think it scarcely wise on the part of despotic power to draw upon itself these frequent missives, for although there must be some exaggeration, still what every one repeats under similar circumstances, as well as what is substantiated by unbought and unpropitiated travellers, must also contain much that is true, and Ivan Golovine's revelations possess an advantage over those of his predecessors, in being more frequently the results of personal experience, and generally of a more familiar and intimate character. The author's style is also lively and piquant, and the chapter called the "General View," is a good specimen of the Russian social system, as it is under a pope-autocrat, emperor, and hierarch at the same time. The character of the people is for the same causes exposed with more than usual felicity, and without prejudice and partiality. The cheating, thieving, and drunken habits of his countrymen being spoken of unreservedly, and amusingly illustrated. They all have their origin in the prostration of mind and intellect at the feet of despotism. Tyranny

* Russia under the Autocrat Nicholas the First. By Ivan Golovine, a Russian Subject. 2 vols. Henry Colburn.

is established, and subsists by means of the barbarism which it propagates: and sustains in its turn; while immorality necessarily succeeds, and crowns the work. "If," says M. Golovine, "they do not go so far at court as to congratulate the husband who has been deceived by a member of the Imperial family, it is as much from jealousy as from decorum; but they seldom fail to envy his lot, and he himself is so little master of his happiness, as openly to boast of it."

This prostration of mind also extends itself to the body. The use of linen is still a mark of distinction of the higher ranks. Many persons change it only when they go to the baths, once, or at most, twice a week. "So you put on clean linen every day," said a Russian officer to his comrade, who had been accustomed to Parisian habits. 66 And you?" inquired the latter. "I keep that for Saturday," replied the other, with great naïveté. In fact, there are persons who prefer coloured linen, because it is less liable to become dirty, or at least to appear so.

The universal peculation in all government offices, military and civil, is exposed as usual, and illustrated by many additional examples. We shall quote one : "The Emperor, during one of his visits to Berlin, showed Prince Augustus a snuff-box, which his Majesty intended for M. Krüger, and which the Prince greatly admired. After it had been given to the artist, His Royal Highness expressed a wish to see it again, and great was his surprise on finding a very ordinary snuff-box in place of the one which had been shown him. He spoke of it to the Emperor, who, perceiving that he had been robbed, replied, that he should have too much to do if he attempted to eradicate this vice."

Art and literature alone lift up their heads to somewhat like an equality of respect, with what they are held in this country. "In Russia," says M. Golovine, "the term 'learned man' is equivalent to an odd man, a poor devil, a sort of labourer; a professor is on a par with domestics; a literary man, one who has mistaken his vocation."

66

It appears that the German party is so powerful in Russia, that the functionaries of that nation, who surround the government, are, with respect to the Russians, in the inverse ratio of fifty to three. They fill all the great dignities of the empire. The author attributes this to their devotion to the throne, and their habits of perseverance; he claims superiority of intellect to the Russian, but does not prove his position. Of the capital, M. Golovine says, Petersburg cannot remain the capital of Russia; it is an advanced camp, the founder of which never intended to make it a permanent residence. Constantinople or Calcutta, these are the natural capitals of empire." This is absurd, the Russian despots would not have reigned at the first, ere the empire would crumble to pieces; and as to the second, the author himself exposes what a chimera is its occupation by the armies which have never been able to reduce the Circassians. But the author knows nothing about Oriental politics, when he gives Egypt to France and Constantinople to Nicholas.

The instances of tyranny, peculation, and injustice on the part of the Russian police, constitute always the most amusing portions of works written in illustration of that unfortunate country, only just emerging from barbarism. Some of these, as narrated by M. Golovine, are old acquaintances, as the case of Count Benkendorf having 1000 roubles restored to him, on his complaint, by the police, which it afterwards