Route Page
Geographical and Historical Sketch. Preliminary Information 168
28. Oran 175
a. The Harbour and the Old Town, 178.—b. The New Town,
180.—c. Environs (Fort Santa Cruz, Belvédère, Mers
el-Kébir, Promenade des Falaises), 182.—From Oran to
Hammam Bou-Hadjar, 184.
29. From Oran to Tlemcen 185
From Oran to Aïn-Temouchent. From Aïn-Temouchent to Tlemcen
viâ Pont-de-l’Isser or Beni-Saf, 185.
30. Tlemcen 187
Mansura, 193.—Sidi Bou-Médine, 194.—Agâdir, 196.
31. From Tlemcen to Nemours viâ Lalla-Marnia 197
Oudjda, 197.
32. From Oran to Beni-Ounif de Figuig (Colomb-Béchar) viâ
Damesme and Perrégaux 199
From Damesme to Arzew, 199.—From Tizi to Mascara, 200.—From
Aïn-Sefra to Tiout, 202.
33. From Oran to Algiers 206
Kalàa. From Relizane to Mostaganem; to Tiaret,
207.—Mazouna, 208.—From Orléansville to Ténès, 209.—From
Affreville to the Cedar Forest of Teniet el-Haâd,
210.—From Miliana to Margueritte. From Bou-Medfa to
Hammam Rhira, 212.—From Blida to Berrouaghia. From
Boghari to Ghardaïa viâ Djelfa and Laghouat, 215.
34. Algiers 217
a. Lower Quarter of the Old Town (Harbour, Mosquée de la
Pêcherie, Great Mosque, Jardin Marengo, Archevêché,
Cathedral, National Library), 222.—b. The Kasba, 226.—c.
Mustapha-Supérieur and Environs (Museum, Chemin du
Télemly, Birmandreis), 228.—d. The S.E. Suburbs (Jardin
d’Essai, Hussein-Dey, Kouba), 232.—e. El-Biar and
Bouzaréah (Forêt de Baïnem), 233.—f. Notre-Dame d’Afrique
and St. Eugène, 235.
35. From Algiers to Tipaza and Cherchell 236
a. Viâ Castiglione 236
Jebel Chenoua, 242.
b. Viâ El-Affroun and Marengo 243
36. From Algiers to Cape Matifou and to Aïn-Taya viâ
Maison-Carrée 247
L’Arba, 247.—Rovigo, 248.
37. From Algiers to Bougie viâ Beni-Mansour 249
Aumale, 250.—Thubusuctu, 252.
38. From Algiers to Tizi-Ouzou. From Camp-du-Maréchal to
Tigzirt 252
Port-aux-Poules. From Mirabeau to Boghni, 253.—From
Mirabeau to Dra el-Mizan, 254.—Taksept, 256.
39. From Tizi-Ouzou viâ Fort-National to Maillot or Tazmalt 256
From Fort-National through the Djemâa Valley to Michelet;
to Boghni, 257.—The Jurjura Mts. Icherridène, 258.—The
Lalla Khedidja, 259.
40. From Fort-National viâ Azazga to Bougie 260
Toudja, 262.
41. Bougie 262
Cape Carbon, 264.—Anse des Aiguades. Jebel Gouraya, 265.
42. From Bougie through the Chabet el-Akra to Sétif 265
From Souk et-Tenine to Djidjelli. Mila, 267.—From Kerrata
viâ Aïn-Abessa to Sétif, 268.—Périgotville, 269.
43. From Algiers to Constantine viâ Beni-Mansour, Sétif, and
El-Guerrah 269
From Bordj-Bou-Arréridj to Bou-Saâda, 270.—Djemila. From
Ouled-Rahmoun to Aïn-Beïda and Khenchela,
272.—Aïn-el-Hammam, 273.
44. From Constantine to Biskra viâ El-Guerrah and Batna 274
The Medracen, 274.—Zana. Jebel Touggour, 275.—Jebel
Metlili. Gorges de Tilatou, 277.—The Aurès Mts.,
278.—Environs of Biskra, 281.—From Biskra to Sidi-Okba,
283.—From Biskra to M’chounech; to Touggourt, 284.—The
Oued Rhir. From Touggourt to Nefta viâ El-Oued. The Souf,
285.
45. From Batna viâ Lambèse to Timgad 286
Ichoukkân, 296.
46. Constantine 297
47. From Constantine to Philippeville 303
From St. Charles to Bona, 303.
48. From Constantine to Bona viâ Duvivier 306
Announa (Thibilis), 307.—Bugeaud, 311.
49. From Constantine or Bona viâ Duvivier to Souk-Ahras
(Tebessa, Tunis) 312
From Souk-Ahras to Khamissa, 313.
50. From Souk-Ahras to Tebessa 313
Madaura. Vasampus, 314.
_Algeria_, the central part of Barbary (Arab. _Jezirat el-Maghreb_) and
since 1830 a French colony, covers an area of about 77,500 sq. M., or,
including the S. territories (p. 170), about 342,500 sq. M., and
contains 5,232,000 inhab. (4½ million Mohammedans and 730,000 Europeans,
mostly of French, Spanish, and Italian origin). It extends from _Oued
Kiss_, which was substituted for the _Mulûya_ (p. 93) by the Morocco
treaty of 1845, to _Cape Roux_ (p. 131), the boundary of Tunisia, and
from the Mediterranean to the _Highlands of Ahaggar_ in the interior of
the Sahara. The arbitrary division of N. Algeria into the three
_départements_ of _Oran_, _Alger_, and _Constantine_ is a survival of
the Turkish administration. The orographical regions, sharply defined
except towards the E., are the _Tell Atlas_ (p. xxx), the E.
prolongation of the Rîf Mts. (p. 93), the _Great Steppe_, and the
_Sahara Atlas_.
The TELL ATLAS (_Atlas Tellien_), the most important part of this vast
territory, consists of two parallel ranges of folded hills of recent
origin, which intersect a great basin stretching from the Atlantic to
the bay of Tunis. The highest points of the range next the coast are the
_Traras_ (3727 ft.), the _Dahra_ (5181 ft.), the _Atlas of Blida_ (5345
ft.), the _Jurjura Chain_ (7572 ft.) in Great Kabylia, and the _Babor
Range_ (6575 ft.) in Little Kabylia. In the interior rise the _Tlemcen
Group_ (6047 ft.), the _Ouarsenis_ (6512 ft.), the _Jebel Dira_ (5938
ft.), and the _Hodna Mts._ (6112 ft.), which last form the only
considerable link between the Tell and the Sahara Atlas. The _Littoral_,
842 M. in length, with long, precipitous, and almost inaccessible
stretches, has ever been dreaded on account of its storms; it is broken
by the bays of _Oran_, _Arzew_, _Algiers_, _Bougie_, _Philippeville_,
and _Bona_, but does not possess a single good natural harbour. Flanking
the coast, in front of the Tell Atlas, are several ranges of lower hills
(_Sahel_), as the _Sahel of Oran_, between Lourmel and the mouth of the
Chélif, the _Sahel of Algiers_, and the _Sahel of Collo_, while the
_Edough Group_ (3307 ft.), composed of crystalline rock, forms an
independent mountain. The extensive plains behind the Sahels, which at
Oran are marshy (_Marais de la Macta_) and have besides the remains of
great salt lagoons (_Sebkha d’Oran_ and _Salines d’Arzew_), and
especially the _Mitidja_ near Algiers, once a bay of the sea, and the
_Plaine de Bône_, are the most fertile and richly cultivated parts of
Algeria.
The HAUTS-PLATEAUX or _Great Steppe_, an almost unwatered region, was
originally a deep depression between the Tell and the Sahara Atlas,
which in the course of thousands of years was gradually filled up with
the alluvial deposits of mountain-torrents, and thus converted into a
great and monotonous undulating plain, 2300–3300 ft. above the
sea-level. The saline and gipseous soil is very sterile and is only at a
few places adapted for the culture of grain, but has proved suitable for
sheep-grazing. In the depressions of the steppe lie a number of
extensive shotts or salt-lakes, which in summer are dry and recognizable
only by their dazzling snow-white incrustation. Among these are the
_Chott Gharbi_ (_Rharbi_) and the _Chott ech-Chergui_ in Oran, the
_Zahrès Gharbi_ and _Zahrès Chergui_ in Algiers, and the _Chott
el-Hodna_ at Constantine.
The SAHARA ATLAS (_Atlas Saharien_) forms the great barrier between
Algeria and the desert. It is ‘a region of grand and wildly fissured
gorges, partly caused by erosion in the pluvial period, of valleys worn
by torrents, of lofty plains converted into mountains, and of marine
basins now filled up’ (Theob. Fischer). The chief heights are the
_Montagnes des Ksour_ (7004 ft.), a prolongation of the much higher
Morocco Atlas (p. 93), _Jebel Amour_ (6467 ft.), the _Monts des
Ouled-Naïl_ (5295 ft.), and, beyond the depression of the _Monts du Zab_
(4304 ft.), the _Aurès Mts._ (7634 ft.), which are wooded in their N.
half, and next to Great Kabylia have the finest hill-scenery in Algeria.
The SAHARA, which belongs to the Territoires du Sud or de Commandement,
governed by the military ‘Bureaux Arabes’, consists of the _Bassin du
Gourara_ or _Bassin de l’Oued Saoura_ on the W., a plateau 330–2600 ft.
above the sea, and of the _Bassin du Melrir_, named after the _Chott
Melrir_, on the E., lying partly below the sea-level. Within this desert
region, which is divided by the limestone plateau of the _Mzab_, are
distinguished the _Hammadas_, or lofty plateaux, with rocky or hard
clay-soil, entirely waterless and sterile, and the _Areg_ (sing. _Erg_),
the extensive sand-hills rising a few hundred feet above the plains.
From the Sahara Atlas and from the hills of the S. Sahara descend
numerous water-courses, mostly subterranean, towards the plains,
enabling the natives by means of irrigation to form a girdle of oases,
which like the coast-plains are apt to be malarious in summer.
Climatically also Algeria is a land of striking contrasts. The rainfall
in the provinces of Algiers and Constantine, on the coast, and
especially in the higher parts of the Tell Atlas, is abundant (thus at
Algiers 25 inches, at Blida 37, Bougie 41½, Fort-National 45 inches).
Being partly sheltered from the rainy N.W. winds by the Tell Atlas, the
_Hauts-Plateaux_ have a lower rainfall (16–20 inches), which as in the
Tell often takes the form of snowstorms. In the Sahara Atlas and the
Sahara itself, where the dry trade-winds prevail during the greater part
of the year, the rainfall diminishes considerably as we go southwards
(thus at Biskra 7, at Goléa 2¾ inches). Even in the coast-lands,
however, the prolonged drought of summer necessitates the use of
artificial irrigation by means of _barrages_ across the valleys. The
temperature on the coast varies comparatively little (thus at Algiers
54½° Fahr. in winter, 74° in summer), but the moisture of the air
renders it almost unbearably hot in summer. On the Hauts-Plateaux, on
the other hand, in the Sahara Atlas, and notably in the Sahara, there
are great extremes of heat and cold, the variations not only between
summer and winter, but also between day and night (in consequence of the
great evaporation after hot, cloudless days) being very marked (thus,
minimum at Constantine 16° Fahr., at Aïn-Sefra 17½° at Géryville 8½°
Touggourt 19½°; maximum at Géryville 109°, at Biskra 118°, at Touggourt
122°).
The fauna of Algeria is comparatively poor. The Barbary lion and the
ostrich have been exterminated, and the panther is now rare; but we
occasionally see camels, hyænas, jackals, maned sheep (p. 277), one
species of ape (Magot, Macacus ecaudatus), a few poisonous snakes, and
the unduly dreaded scorpion. The flora on the other hand is strikingly
rich and varied. In the coast-zone occur all the usual Mediterranean
plants. In the Tell Atlas there still exist, in spite of the wanton
destruction of trees by the natives, remains of ancient forests of
cork-trees (Quercus suber), evergreen oaks (Quercus Ilex and Quercus
cenis), Aleppo pines, and occasionally of cedars (p. 210). In marked
contrast to this vegetation is that of the great steppes, where the
saline plants, the meagre dwarf-palms (Chamærops humilis), and
particularly the alfa (halfa) or esparto grass (Macrochloa tenacissima),
of which immense quantities are exported chiefly from the province of
Oran, proclaim the proximity of the sterile and dreary desert. At
Bou-Saâda (p. 270), in the hottest S. valleys of the Sahara Atlas, and
in the oases of the Sahara we find the home of the date-palm (Phœnix
dactylifera, Arabic _nakhl_), whose fruit is the chief food of the
poorer classes and also an important article of commerce, whose sap
yields palmwine, whose trunks afford building material, and with whose
leaves are made the mats and bedding of the natives.
The majority of the native inhabitants, who in the S. regions, away from
the oases, are chiefly nomadic, are _Berbers_ (p. 94). These, however,
since the immigration of the Beni Hilal and Beni Soleïm (p. 323), have
mingled with Arabs much more than in Morocco, and outside of their
mountain fastnesses have completely exchanged their own individuality
for that of the Arab. The town populations, especially in the province
of Algiers, are composed of a motley assemblage of _Moors_, descended
from Spanish Moriscoes or from pirates (largely Christian apostates), of
_Kabyles_ (p. 252), _Mozabites_ (p. 216), _Biskris_ (p. 280), and lastly
of _Kuluglis_, descended from Turks and Moorish women. The _Jews_,
partly settled in Barbary since ancient times, partly immigrants from
Spain, have enjoyed, unlike the Mohammedans, the full rights of
citizenship since 1870, but, though thriving materially, they are hardly
superior in culture to the less favoured inhabitants.
Down to the end of the middle ages Algeria was historically inseparable
from Tunisia and Morocco (see pp. 95, 187, 188, 322). After the whole
coast as far as the Atlantic had been colonized by the Carthaginians,
and the whole of S. Algeria by the Romans, but with diminishing energy
as they proceeded from E. to W., a period of decadence set in. Troubles
began with the revolt of the Circumcelliones, and were succeeded by the
party strife between Catholics and Donatists, by the religious
persecutions under the Arian Vandal kings (p. 322), by the misgovernment
of the Byzantines (534–698), and by the irruption of the Arabs (p. 322).
During the Moorish period, as Algeria only formed an independent state
for a time under the Ibadites (p. 323) and the Hammadites (p. 263),
while in the W. regions the kingdom of Tlemcen (p. 188) was afterwards
founded, it proved a constant apple of discord between the powerful
dynasties of Morocco and Tunisia. The intrusion of the Spaniards (p.
178) next led to the intervention of the Turks and to the establishment
of a piratical state by Horuk Barbarossa (comp. p. 221). Under the sway
of France great improvements have been introduced; many of the most
fertile regions on the coast and in the Tell Atlas have become state
property and that of French companies or of industrious colonists
(mostly Spaniards, S. French, Alsatians, and Lorrainers), and the long
neglected seaports have awoke to new life. The whole country has been
opened up by a network of excellent roads, and railways have been
carried to the confines of the Sahara. In the towns, with the exception
of Tlemcen and Constantine, most of the old Moorish and Turkish
buildings have been superseded by French. While but few specimens of
Moorish architecture have been spared by enthusiasts for improvement,
there still survive in the Hauts-Plateaux some interesting relics of
Roman buildings, recently unearthed from the oblivion of centuries, and
now carefully preserved from further destruction.
For much fatigue and privation the traveller in Algeria will be
compensated by many a glimpse of picturesque Oriental manners and
costumes and by the varied scenery of the peaceful and luxuriantly
fertile plains, the wild mountains, and the stony and sandy wastes of
steppe and desert. Most striking of all are the wonderful effects of
light and shade on land, sea, and sky, under the glorious African
sunshine. Amid the manifold green hues of the rich subtropical
vegetation, enlivened by a wealth of flowers and blossom, gleam the
dazzling white Moorish country-houses and Mohammedan shrines (kubbas or
marabouts) and the red-tiled roofs of the mountain villages and the
European settlements. Travellers penetrating from the coast to the
Sahara will marvel, especially in winter, at the extraordinary clearness
of the atmosphere and the gorgeous sunsets, such as neither Italy nor
Greece can boast of, awakening in every beholder an enthusiastic
admiration for the desert.
Notwithstanding the considerable rainfall (p. 170) and the occasional
gales to which it is exposed, the town of Algiers is a favourite
winter resort. The best months for travelling on the seaboard and the
Hauts-Plateaux are April, May, and November, and for the Sahara
February and March. The favourite goals are, in the province of Oran:
Oran, Tlemcen, and Figuig; in the province of Algiers: Teniet el-Haâd,
Miliana, Hammam Rhira, Blida, Fort-National, and Michelet; and in the
province of Constantine: Bougie, the Chabet el-Akra, Constantine,
Timgad, El-Kantara, Biskra, and Tebessa.
The RAILWAYS, with the exception of the Chemins de Fer Algériens de
l’Etat, belong to three private companies, the Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée
Algérien, the Ouest Algérien, and the Bône-Guelma (et prolongements).
They are all single lines. The express on the chief line, that from
Algiers to Oran, travels 26¾ M. an hour only; the speed of the
ordinary trains is 12–19 M. per hour. On all the main lines dining and
sleeping cars are provided. On the branch-lines the trains often have
one first-class carriage only. For night journeys in the
Hauts-Plateaux the heating by means of foot-warmers is inadequate. In
E. Algeria the traffic is sometimes stopped for several days in winter
by snow-drifts and cloud-bursts.
The time-tables are to be found in the Livret A. Jourdan (Indicateur
des Chemins de Fer, de la Navigation, etc.; 50 c.), in the
Livret-Chaix (Guide pour les Chemins de Fer de l’Algérie, de la
Tunisie et de la Corse; 50 c.), or in the Indicateur Officiel
(Guide-poche Algérien par L. Chappuis; 60 c.). Greenwich time (ca. 59
min. behind mid-European time), which has been recently introduced in
France, is observed everywhere. Travellers should go to the
ticket-office early, as the officials have much writing to do and
their proceedings are slow. In the larger towns tickets may usually be
taken and luggage booked beforehand at the town-office of the railway
company. As in France each passenger is allowed 30 kilos (about 66
lbs.) of luggage. Return-tickets (billets d’aller et retour) for a
distance of 50 kilomètres (31 M.) are valid for two days, for
distances over 400 kilom. (248 M.) for at least seven days. The
Indicateurs above named contain further information as to
return-tickets ‘collectifs pour families’, ‘collectifs d’excursion’,
and ‘demi-places’, which last only benefit those who make a stay of
several months in the colony.
As the roads are good and the trains slow, those who can bear the
expense will often find a MOTOR CAR the swiftest and pleasantest kind
of conveyance. Among fine motoring trips may specially be noted those
from Oran to Tlemcen (comp. p. 184); from Algiers to Castiglione,
Tipaza, Hammam Rhira, Affreville, and Teniet el-Haâd, returning viâ
Blida and Boufarik; from Algiers to Cape Matifou, Ménerville,
Tizi-Ouzou, Fort-National, and Michelet (Tazmalt); from Bougie through
the Chabet el-Akra to Kerrata, or viâ Djidjelli and Mila to
Constantine; also from Algiers or Constantine to Biskra. The maximum
speed allowed in towns and villages is 15 kilomètres (9½ M.) an hour,
on highroads 30 kilom. (19 M.) per hour. The cars offered for hire in
the larger towns are generally good machines of 15–60 horse-power.
Where neither railways nor motor-omnibuses are available persons of
limited means travel by DILIGENCE (see time-tables in Jourdan’s
Indicateur, mentioned above). Besides the ‘Courrier’, or postal
diligence, there is sometimes a ‘Concurrence’, an inferior and cheaper
vehicle. Careful inquiry as to time-table and fares should be made,
and front seats secured beforehand. The officials sometimes charge
strangers more than the legitimate fare. If the passenger prefers to
walk or ride part of the way, he may arrange with the driver as to the
carriage of his luggage.
Off the highroads and for mountain excursions RIDING is often
preferable to walking. A mule (_mulet_) or a donkey (_bourricot_) is
more commonly used than a horse. The Arabian saddle with its high
cantle and pommel gives a certain sense of security to the novice, but
the experienced rider will prefer an English saddle, which may be
obtained in the larger towns. The animals are badly kept by the
natives, but are quiet and sure-footed. Instead of a saddle, mules and
donkeys often have a kind of sack thrown over their backs, into which
the rider thrusts his feet. The attendant has to provide food for
himself and his beast, and he is always expected to walk except on
very long excursions.
For excursions of any length in the Sahara the traveller must have
recourse to the camel, the ‘ship of the desert’. The superior trotting
camel (_mehara_) must be distinguished from the ordinary beast of
burden, which only walks about 2½ M. per hour, but has wonderful
powers of endurance, even in the most trying weather. In the case of
the trotting camel the rider sits on a narrow saddle and crosses his
feet (with shoes removed) on the animal’s neck. On the broad
pack-saddle of the camel of burden is a seat for men, and right and
left are others for ladies, for whom a kind of litter (_attatouch_)
also is provided. While the rider mounts the kneeling animal the
attendant usually puts his foot on one of its fore-legs to prevent it
from rising too suddenly, as it is very apt to do. As the camel rises
on its hind-legs first, tilting the rider forwards, it is advisable to
lean well back at first, and then forwards, and to keep firm hold of
the saddle. Practice alone will enable the rider to get used to the
peculiar gait of the animal. The rider’s head should be well protected
by a pith-helmet or other efficient covering. Luggage is best carried
in two saddle-bags (gibera) of leather or carpet, for which the
natives ask 20 fr., or even in ordinary sacks. As to provisions, see
p. 97. Intending travellers are expected to present themselves at the
Bureau Arabe before starting, where they may apply for a Saharien or
Cavalier du Maghzen (p. 390) to accompany them. In some cases an
escort is considered indispensable.
The MONEY for a tour in Algeria had better be taken in the form of
notes of the Banque de France or the Banque de l’Algérie (for Algeria
and Tunisia only) or in gold of the Latin monetary union. Bank of
England notes and sovereigns are always readily exchanged in the
larger towns and tourist-resorts. Circular notes are less convenient,
but have the merit of being safer. Letters of credit addressed to the
Compagnie Algérienne or the Crédit Lyonnais also form a safe vehicle
for large sums, but the branch-offices sometimes require a week’s
notice before paying. The banks and public offices are mostly open at
9–11 and 2–5 only, but the cashier’s office usually closes at 3.
Comfortable first-class HOTELS, owned chiefly by French, Swiss, or
German proprietors, are to be found at Algiers, Oran, Hammam Rhira,
and Biskra. Those of the second class usually make a fixed charge (5
to 12 fr. per day) for room, déjeuner, and dinner. Charges vary
greatly, however, according to the season and to the traveller’s
nationality. The beds are very good as a rule, and the rooms fairly
clean, but the sanitation is often defective and the servants
inefficient. Under these circumstances the scale of gratuities is
lower than in Europe.
As for food, the staple of almost every repast in Algeria is mutton.
The wheaten bread is generally excellent. Among the best wines are the
white of Médéa and Mascara, the red and the white of Tlemcen and
Staouéli, and the red of Miliana, Margueritte, and Hammam Rhira. At
the CAFÉS, which are often beset by shoe-blacks (_cireurs_; 10 c.), we
may try a cup of ‘Nossi-Bey’ (50 c.), considered a specially good
coffee. A cup of coffee or tea at the Moorish cafés costs one sou, but
strangers are often charged two (no gratuities). A few good
RESTAURANTS are to be found in the larger towns, and food also is
provided by the better _brasseries_. Tobacco and cigars are much
cheaper than in France, there being no government monopoly here, but
there is a duty of 36 fr. per kilogramme (2⅕ lbs.) on imported cigars.
The POST OFFICE arrangements are the same as in France. A favourite
way of sending small parcels is by sample-post (‘échantillons sans
valeur’; 12–15 days from Algiers to England), up to 350 grammes (about
12¼ oz.). Inland postage for letters of 20 grammes (not quite ¾ oz.)
or post-cards 10 c., foreign 25 c. (for 20 gr.) or 10 c.—Senders of
registered letters and telegrams must fill up a form giving their name
and address. Postal orders and parcel-post are not recommended.
DRAWING or PHOTOGRAPHING in fortified places, if not expressly
forbidden, is at least inadvisable, nor should maps or plans be too
closely studied in public places. With regard to intercourse with the
natives, see p. xxv. The police arrangements are generally as good as
in Europe.
[Illustration: ORAN]
The MOSQUES (p. xxv) in Algeria are all state property and may
therefore be visited at any time except during prayer. A fee (20–50
c.) need only be given to the custodian for providing slippers or
rendering special services. Smoking is forbidden in the forecourts,
and of course in the buildings themselves.
The MOORISH BATHS (ladies’ hours 12–6) may be glanced at in passing.
BOOKS (comp. also pp. vi, 325). _Sir R. L. Playfair’s_ Bibliography of
Algeria (London, 2 vols.) goes no further than 1895. Among works on
the history of Algeria and its development may be mentioned: _M.
Wahl_, L’Algérie (5th ed., Paris, 1908; 5 fr.); _Hanoteau et
Letourneux_, La Kabylie (2nd ed., 3 vols., Paris, 1893; 25 fr.); _R.
L. Playfair_, The Scourge of Christendom (London, 1884); _Graham_,
Roman Africa, History of the Roman Occupation (London, 1902); _Randall
Maciver_ and _Wilkin_, Libyan Notes (London, 1901). For the history of
art: _Stéphane Gsell_, Les Monuments antiques de l’Algérie (2 vols.,
Paris, 1901; 20 fr.); _W. et G. Marçais_, Les Monuments Arabes de
Tlemcen (Paris, 1903; out of print). Delightful descriptions of the
country and its inhabitants are contained in _R. S. Hichens’s_ The
Garden of Allah (London, 1904); _Frances E. Nesbitt’s_ Algeria and
Tunis (London, 1906; 20s.); _Irene Osgood’s_ novel ‘Servitude’; _Guy
de Maupassant’s_ novel Au Soleil (nouv. éd., Paris, 1894; 3½ fr.); _E.
Fromentin’s_ Un été dans le Sahara (Paris, 1857) and Une Année dans le
Sahel (Paris, 1859); _Col. Pein’s_ Lettres familières sur l’Algérie
(Châlons-sur-Marne, 1871; 3 fr.).
The French _Carte de l’Algérie_ (of the ‘Service Géographique de
l’Armée’) is completed for the N. districts only. Each sheet on the
scale of 1:50,000 costs 1½ fr.; sheets on the scale of 1:200,000 cost
90 c. each. Since 1908 M. Jourdan, of Algiers, has been bringing out a
new official map for the north (1:200,000) and the south (1:400,000)
at 1 fr. per sheet.