Tobit ben Korra (836-901), born at Harran in Mesopotamia, an

accomplished linguist, mathematician and astronomer, rendered

conspicuous Service by his translations of various Greek

authors. His investigation of the properties of amicable

numbers (q.v.) and of the problem of trisecting an angle,

are of importance. The Arabians more closely resembled

the Hindus than the Greeks in the choice of studies; their

philosophers blended speculative dissertations with the

more progressive study of medicine; their mathematicians

neglected the subtleties of the conic sections and Diophantine

analysis, and applied themselves more particularly to

perfect the system of numerals (see NUMERAL), arithmetic

and astronomy (q.v..) It thus came about that while some

progress was made in algebra, the talents of the race were

bestowed on astronomy and trigonometry (q.v..) Fahri des

al Karbi, who flourished about the beginning of the 11th

century, is the author of the most important Arabian work on

algebra. He follows the methods of Diophantus; his work

on indeterminate equations has no resemblance to the Indian

methods, and contains nothing that cannot be gathered from

Diophantus. He solved quadratic equations both geometrically and

algebraically, and also equations of the form x2n+axn+b=0;

he also proved certain relations between the sum of the first

n natural numbers, and the sums of their squares and cubes.

Cubic equations were solved geometrically by determining

the intersections of conic sections. Archimedes' problem

of dividing a sphere by a plane into two segments having a

prescribed ratio, was first expressed as a cubic equation by

Al Mahani, and the first solution was given by Abu Gafar al

Hazin. The determination of the side of a regular heptagon

which can be inscribed or circumscribed to a given circle

was reduced to a more complicated equation which was first

successfully resolved by Abul Gud. The method of solving

equations geometrically was considerably developed by

Omar Khayyam of Khorassan, who flourished in the 11th

century. This author questioned the possibility of solving

cubics by pure algebra, and biquadratics by geometry. His

first contention was not disproved until the 15th century,

but his second was disposed of by Abul Weta (940-908), who

succeeded in solving the forms x4=a and x4+ax3=b.

Although the foundations of the geometrical resolution of cubic

equations are to be ascribed to the Greeks (for Eutocius assigns

to Menaechmus two methods of solving the equation x3=a

and x3=2a3), yet the subsequent development by the Arabs

must be regarded as one of their most important achievements.

The Greeks had succeeded in solving an isolated example; the

Arabs accomplished the general solution of numerical equations.

Considerable attention has been directed to the different

styles in which the Arabian authors have treated their

subject. Moritz Cantor has suggested that at one time there

existed two schools, one in sympathy With the Greeks, the

other with the Hindus; and that, although the writings of the

latter were first studied, they were rapidly discarded for

the more perspicuous Grecian methods, so that, among the later

Arabian writers, the Indian methods were practically forgotten

and their mathematics became essentially Greek in character.

Turning to the Arabs in the West we find the same enlightened

spirit; Cordova, the capital of the Moorish empire in

Spain, was as much a centre of learning as Bagdad. The

earliest known Spanish mathematician is Al Madshritti (d.

1007), whose fame rests on a dissertation on amicable

numbers, and on the schools which were founded by his

pupils at Cordoya, Dama and Granada. Gabir ben Allah of

Sevilla, commonly called Geber, was a celebrated astronomer

and apparently skilled in algebra, for it has been supposed

that the word ``algebra', is compounded from his name.

When the Moorish empire began to wane the brilliant

intellectual gifts which they had so abundantly nourished

during three or four centuries became enfeebled, and

after that period they failed to produce an author

comparable with those of the 7th to the 11th centuries.

In Europe the decline of Rome was succeeded by a period, lasting

several centuries, during which the sciences and arts were

all but neglected. Political and ecclesiastical dissensions

occupied the greatest intellects, and the only progress to

be mcorded is in the art of computing or arithmetic, and

the translation of Arabic manuscripts. The first successful

attempt to revive the study of algebra in Christendom was

due to Leonardo of Pisa. an Italian merchant trading in the

Mediterranean. His travels and mercantile experience had

led him to conclude that the Hindu methods of computing,

were in advance of those then in general use, and in 1202 he

published his Liber Abaci, which treats of both algebra and

arithmetic. In this work, which is of great historical

interest, since it was published about two centuries before the

art of printing was discovered, he adopts the Arabic notation

for nulnbers, and solves many problems, both arithmetical and

algebraical. But it contains little that is original, and

although the work created a great sensation when it was first

published, the effect soon passed away, and the book was

practically forgotten. Mathematics was more or less ousted

from the academic curricula by the philosophical inquiries

of the schoolmen, and it was only after an interval of

nearly three centuries that a worthy successor to Leonardo

appeared. This was Lucas Paciolus (Lucas de Burgo), a Minorite

friar, who, having previously written works on algebra,

arithmetic and geometry, published, in 1494, his principal

work, entitled Summa de Arithmetica, Giometria, Proportioni

et Proportionalita. In it he mentions many earlier writers

from whom he had learnt the science, and although it contains

very little that cannot be found in Leonardo's work, yet it

is especially noteworthy for the systematic employment of

symbols, and the manner in which it reflects the state of

mathematics in Europe during this period. These works are

the earliest printed books on mathematics. The renaissance of

mathematics was thus effected in Italy, and it is to that country

that the leading developments of the following century were

due. The first difficulty to be overcome was the algebraical

solution of cubic equations, the pons asinorum of the earlier

mathematicians. The first step in this direction was made by

Scipio Ferro (d. 1526), who solved the equation x3+ax=b.

Of his discovery we know nothing except that he declared it

to his pupil Antonio Marie Floridas. An imperfect solution of

the equation x3+px2=q was discovered by Nicholas Tartalea

(Tartaglia) in 1530, and his pride in this achievement led him

into conflict with Floridas, who proclaimed his own knowledge

of the form resolved by Ferro. Mutual recriminations led

to a public discussion in 1535, when Tartalea completely

vindicated the general applicability of his methods and

exhibited the inefficiencies of that of Floridas. This contest

over, Tartalea redoubled his attempts to generalize his

methods, and by 1541 he possessed the means for solving any

form of cubic equation. His discoveries had made him famous

all over Italy, and he was earnestly solicited to publish

his methods; but he abstained from doing so, saying that he

intended to embody them in a treatise on algebra which he was

preparing. At last he succumbed to the repeated requests of

Girolamo or Geronimo Cardano, who swore that he would regard

them as an inviolable secret. Cardan or Cardano, who was

at that time writing his great work, the Ars Magna, could

not restrain the temptation of crowning his treatise with

such important discoveries, and in 1545 he broke his oath

and gave to the world Tartalea's rules for solving cubic

equations. Tartalea, thus robbed of his most cherished

possession, was in despair. Recriminations ensued until

his death in 1557, and although he sustained his claim for

priority, posterity has not conceded to him the honour of his

discovery, for his solution is now known as Cardan's Rule.

Cubic equations having been solved, biquadratics soon followed

suit. As early as 1539 Cardan had solved certain particular

cases, but it remained for his pupil, Lewis (Ludovici) Ferrari,

to devise a general method. His solution, which is sometimes

erroneously ascribed to Rafael Bombelh, was published in the

Ars Magna. In this work, which is one of the most valuable

contributions to the literature of algebra, Cardan shows

that he was familiar with both real positive and negative

roots of equations whelher rational or irrational, but of

imaginary roots he was quite ignorant, and he admits his

inability to resolve the so-called ``irreducible case'' (see

EQUATION.) Fundamental theorems in the theory of equations

are to be found in the same work. Clearer ideas of imaginary

quantities and the ``irreducible case'' were subsequently

published by Bombelli, in a work of which the dedication is

dated 1572, though the book was not published until 1579.

Contemporaneously with the remarkable discoveries of the

Italian mathematicians, algebra was increasing in popularity

in Germany, France and England. Michael Stifel and Johann

Scheubelius (Scheybl) (1494-1570) flourished in Germany, and

although unacquainted with the work of Cardan and Tartalea,

their writings are noteworthy for their perspicuity and the

introduction of a more complete symbolism for quantities and

operations. Stifel introduced the sign (+) for addition or

a positive quantity, which was previously denoted by plus,

piu, or the letter p. Subtraction, previously written as

minus, mone or the letter m, was symbolized by the sign

(-) which is still in use. The square root he denoted by

(sqrt. ), whereas Paciolus, Cardan and others used the letter R.

The first treatise on algebra written in English was by

Robert Recorde, who published his arithmetic in 1552, and

his algebra entitled The Whetstone of Witte, which is the

second part of Arithmetik, in 1557. This work, which is

written in the form of a dialogue, closely resembles the

works of Stifel and Scheubelius, the latter of whom he often

quotes. It includes the properties of numbers; extraction of

roots of arithmetical and algebraical quantities, solutions of

simple and quadratic equations, and a fairly complete account of

surds. He introduced the sign (=) for equality, and the terms

binomial and residual. Of other writers who published

works about the end of the 16th century, we may mention Jacques

Peletier, or Jacobus Peletarius (De occulta parto Numerorum,

quare Algebram vocant, 1558); Petrus Ramus (Arithmeticae

Libri duo et totidem Algebrae, 1560), and Christoph Clavius,

who wrote on algebra in 1580, though it was not published until

1608. At this time also flourished Simon Stevinus (Stevin) of

Bruges, who published an arithmetic in 1585 and an algebra

shortly afterwards. These works possess considerable

originality, and contain many new improvements in algebraic

notation; the unknown (res) is denoted by a small circle,

in which he places an integer corresponding to the power. He

introduced the terms multinomial, trinomial, quadrinomial,

&c., and considerably simplified the notation for decimals.

About the beginning of the 17th century various mathematical

works by Franciscus Vieta were published, which were afterwards

collected by Franz van Schooten and republished in 1646 at

Leiden. These works exhibit great originality and mark an

important epoch in the history of algebra. Vieta, who does

not avail himself of the discoveries of his predecessors--the

negative roots of Cardan, the revised notation of Stifel

and Stevin, &c.--introduced or popularized many new terms

and symbols, some of which are still in use. He denotes

quantities by the letters of the alphabet, retaining the

vowels for the unknown and the consonants for the knowns;

he introduced the vinculum and among others the terms

coefficient, affirmative, negative, pure and adjected

equations. He improved the methods for solving equations, and

devised geometrical constructions with the aid of the conic

sections. His method for determining approximate values

of the roots of equations is far in advance of the Hindu

method as applied by Cardan, and is identical in principle

with the methods of Sir Isaac Newton and W. G. Horner.

We have next to consider the works of Albert Girard, a Flemish

mathematician. This writer, after having published an edition

of Stevin's works in 1625, published in 1629 at Amsterdam a

small tract on algebra which shows a considerable advance on

the work of Vieta. Girard is inconsistent in his notation,

sometimes following Vieta, sometimes Stevin; he introduced the

new symbols ff. for greater than and sec. for less than; he

follows Vieta in using the plus (+) for addition, he denotes

subtraction by Recorde's symbol for equality (=), and he had

no sign for equality but wrote the word out. He possessed

clear ideas of indices and the generation of powers, of the

negative roots of equations and their geometrical interpretation,

and was the first to use the term imaginary roots. He also

discovered how to sum the powers of the roots of an equation.

Passing over the invention of logarithms (q.v.) by John

Napier, and their development by Henry Briggs and others, the

next author of moment was an Englishman, Thomas Harriot, whose

algebra (Artis analyticae praxis) was published posthumously

by Walter Warner in 1631. Its great merit consists in the

complete notation and symbolism, which avoided the cumbersome

expressions of the earlier algebraists, and reduced the art

to a form closely resembling that of to-day. He follows

Vieta in assigning the vowels to the unknown quantities and

the consonants to the knowns, but instead of using capitals,

as with Vieta, he employed the small letters; equality he

denoted by Recorde's symbol, and he introduced the signs

> and < for greater than and less than. His principal

discovery is concerned with equations, which he showed to be

derived from the continued multiplication of as many simple

factors as the highest power of the unknown, and he was thus

enabled to deduce relations between the coefficients and

various functions of the roots. Mention may also be made

of his chapter on inequalities, in which he proves that the

arithmetic mean is always greater than the geometric mean.

William Oughtred, a contemporary of Harriot, published an

algebra, Clavis mathematicae, simultaneously with Harriot's

treatise. His notation is based on that of Vieta, but he

introduced the sign X for multiplication, @ for continued

proportion, :: for proportion, and denoted ratio by one

dot. This last character has since been entirely restricted

to multiplication, and ratio is now denoted by two dots

(:). His symbols for greater than and less than (@ and

@) have been completely superseded by Harriot's signs`

So far the development of algebra and geometry had been

mutually independent, except for a few isolated applications

of geometrical constructions to the solution of algebraical

problems. Certain minds had long suspected the advairages which

would accrue from the unrestricted application of algebra to

geometry, but it was not until the advent of the philosopher

Rene Descartes that the co-ordination was effected. In his

famous Geometria (1637), which is really a treatise on the

algebraic representation of geometric theorems, he founded

the modern theory of analytical geometry (see GEOMETRY),

and at the same time he rendered signal service to algebra,

more especially in the theory of equations. His notation is

based primarily on that of Harriot; but he differs from that

writer in retaining the first letters of the alphabet for

the known quantities and the final letters for the unknowns.

The 17th century is a famous epoch in the progress of science,

and the mathematics in no way lagged behind. The discoveries

of Johann Kepler and Bonaventura Cavalieri were the foundation

upon which Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz

erected that wonderful edifice, the Infinitesimal Calculus

(q.v..) Many new fields were opened up, but there was still

continual progress in pure algebra. Continued fractions, one

of the earliest examples of which is Lord Brouncker's expression

for the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle

(see CIRCLE), were elaborately discussed by John Wallis and

Leonhard Euler; the convergency of series treated by Newton,

Euler and the Bernoullis; the binomial theorem, due originally

to Newton and subsequently expanded by Euler and others, was

used by Joseph Louis Lagrange as the basis of his Calcul

des Fonctions. Diophantine problems were revived by Gaspar

Bachet, Pierre Fermat and Euler; the modern theory of numbers

was founded by Fermat and developed by Euler, Lagrange and

others; and the theory of probability was attacked by Blaise

Pascal and Fermat, their work being subsequently expanded by

James Bernoulli, Abraham de Moivre, Pierre Simon Laplace and

others. The germs of the theory of determinants are to be

found in the works of Leibnitz; Etienne Bezout utilized them

in 1764 for expressing the result obtained by the process of

elimination known by his name, and since restated by Arthur Cayley.

In recent times many mathematicians have formulated other

kinds of algebras, in which the operators do not obey the laws

of ordinary algebra. This study was inaugurated by George

Peacock, who was one of the earliest mathematicians to recognize

the symbolic character of the fundamental principles of

algebra. About the same time, D. F. Gregory published a paper

``on the real nature of symbolical algebra.'' In Germany the

work of Martin Ohm (System der Mathematik, 1822) marks a step

forward. Notable service was also rendered by Augustus de

Morgan, who applied logical analysis to the laws of mathematics.

The geometrical interpretation of imaginary quantities had a

far-reaching influence on the development of symbolic algebras.

The attempts to elucidate this question by H. Kuhn (1750-1751)

and Jean Robert Argand (1806) were completed by Karl Friedrich

Gauss, and the formulation of various systems of vector analysis

by Sir William Rowan Hamilton, Hermann Grassmann and others,

followed. These algebras were essentially geometrical, and it

remained, more or less, for the American mathematician Benjamin

Peirce to devise systems of pure symbolic algebras; in this

work he was ably seconded by his son Charles S. Peirce. In

England, multiple algebra was developed by James Joseph

Sylvester, who, in company with Arthur Cayley, expanded the

theory of matrices, the germs of which are to be found in the

writings of Hamilton (see above, under (B); and QUATERNIONS.)

The preceding summary shows the specialized nature which algebra

has assumed since the 17th century. To attempt a history

of the development of the various topics in this article is

inappropriate, and we refer the reader to the separate articles.

REFERENCES.---The history of algebra is treated in all

historical works on mathematics in general (see MATHEMATICS:

References.) Greek algebra can be specially studied in

T. L. Heath's Diophantus. See also John Wallis, Opera

Mathematica (1693-1699), and Charles Sutton, Mathematical and

Philosophical Dictionary (1815), article ``Algebra.'' (C. E.*)

[The article on Algebraic Forms is typeset in TeX and is available

elsewhere.]

ALGECIRAS, or ALGEZIRAS, a seaport of southern Spain in the

province of Cadiz, 6 m. W. of Gibraltar, on the opposite side of

the Bay of Algeciras. Pop. (1900) 13,302. Algeciras stands at

the head of a railway from Granada, but its only means of access

to Gibraltar is by water. Its name, which signifies in Arabic

the island, is derived from a small islet on one side of the

harbour. It is supplied with water by means of a beautiful

aqueduct. The fine winter climate of Algeciras attracts many

invalid visitors, on whom the town largely depends for its

prosperity. The harbour is bad, but at the beginning of

the 20th century it became important as a fishing-station.

Whiting, soles, bream, bass and other fish are caught in

great quantities by the Algeciras steam-trawlers, which

visit the Moroccan coast, as well as Spanish and neutral

waters. There is also some trade in farm produce and building

materials which supplies a fleet of small coasters with cargo.

Algeciras was perhaps the Portus Albus of the Romans, but

it was probably refounded in 713 by the Moors, who retained

possession of it until 1344. It was then taken by Alphonso

XI. of Castile after a celebrated siege of twenty months,

which attracted Crusaders from all parts of Europe; among them

being the English earl of Derby, grandson of Edward III. It

is said that during this siege gunpowder was first used by the

Moors in the wars of Europe. The Moorish city was destroyed

by Alphonso; it was first reoccupied by Spanish colonists from

Gibraltar in 1704; and the modern town was erected in 1760 by

King Charles III. During the siege of Gibraltar in 1780- 1782,

Algeciras was the station of the Spanish fleet and floating

batteries. On the 6th of July 1801 the English admiral Sir

James Saumarez attacked a Franco-Spanish fleet off Algeciras,

and sustained a reverse; but on the 12th he again attacked the

enemy, whose fleet was double his own strength, and inflicted

on them a complete defeat. The important international

conference on Moroccan affairs, which resulted in an agreement

between France and Germany, was held at Algeciras from the

16th of January to the 7th of April 1906. (See MOROCCO.)

ALGER OF LIEGE (d c. 1131), known also as ALGER OF

CLUNY and ALGERUS MAGISTER, a learned French priest who

lived in the first half of the 12th century. He was first a

deacon of the church of St Bartholomew at Liege, his native

town, and was then appointed (c. 1100) to the cathedral

church of St Lambert. He declined many offers from German

bishops and finally retired to the monastery of Cluny, where

he died about 1131 at a great age and leaving a good reputation

for piety and intelligence. His History of the Church of

Liege, and many of his other works, are lost. The most

important of those still extant are: 1. De Misericordia et

Justitia, a collection of biblical and patristic extracts

with a commentary (an important work for the history of

church law and discipline), which is to be found in the

Anecdota of Martene, vol. v. 2. De Sacramentis Corporis

et Sanguinis Domini; a treatise, in three books, against

the Berengarian heresy, highly commended by Peter of Cluny and

Erasmus. 3. De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio; given in B. Pez's

Anecdota, vol. iv. 4. De Sacrificio Missae; given in the

Collectio Scriptor. Vet. of Angelo Mai, vol. ix. p. 371.

See Migne, Patrol Ser. Lat. vol. clxxx. pp. 739-.972; Herzog-

Hauck, Realencyk.fur prot. Theol., art. by S. M. Deutsch.

ALGER, RUSSELL ALEXANDER (1836--1907), American soldier and

politician, was born in Lafayette township, Medina county,

Ohio, on the 27th of February 1836. Left an orphan at an early

age, he worked on a farm to pay his expenses at Richfield

(Ohio) Academy, was a schoolmaster for two winters, and,

having studied law in the meantime, was admitted to the bar in

1859. He began practice at Cleveland, Ohio, but early in

1860 he removed to Michigan, where he abandoned his profession

and engaged in the lumber business. Enlisting in a Michigan

cavalry regiment in September 1861, he rose from captain to

colonel, distinguished himself in the Gettysburg campaign

and under Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley, and in 1864 and

1865 respectively received the brevets of brigadier-general

and major-general of volunteers. After the war he invested

extensively in pine lands in Michigan, and accumulated a large

fortune in the lumber business. In 1884 he was elected governor

of Michigan on the Republican ticket, serving from 1885 to

1887. In 1889--1890 he was commander-in-chief of the Grand

Army of the Republic. From 1897 to 1899 he was secretary

of war in President McKinley's cabinet. His administration

of the war department during the Spanish-American War was

severely criticized for extravagance in army contracts, for

unpreparedness, and for genetal inefficiency, charges which he

answered in his The Spanish-American War (1901). The extent

of his personal responsibility is at least uncertain. In 1902

he was appointed by the governor of Michigan, and in 1903 was

elected by the state legislature, as United States senator to

complete the unexpired term of James Mcmillan (1838-1902).

He died at Washington, D.C., on the 24th of January 1907.

ALGERIA (Algerie), a country of North Africa belonging

to France, bounded N. by the Mediterranean, W. by Morocco,

S. by the Sahara and E. by Tunisia. The boundaries,

however, are in part not accurately determined. Algeria

extends for about 650 m. along the coast, and stretches

inland from 320 to 380 m., lying between 2 deg. 10' W. and 8 deg.

50, E., and 32 deg. and 37 deg. N. It is divided, politically,

into three departments-- Oran in the west, Algiers in the

centre and Constantine in the east. Its area is 184,474 sq.

m., exclusive of the dependent Saharan regions, which have

an area of some 750,000 sq. m. (see SAHARA, TUAT, &c.).

Physical Features.--The character of the Algerian coast

is severe and inhospitable. The western half is bordered

by a hilly rampart, broken only here and there, in the bays

where the larger streams find their outlet, by flat and sandy

plains. Between Dellys and Philippeville high mountains rise

almost sheer from the sea, leaving only a narrow strip of

beach. East of Philippeville the mountains recede from the

coast, and the rampart of hills reappears. Only between Bona

and La Calle is the general character of the sea-board low and

sandy. Save near the towns and in the cultivated district of

Kabylia, the coast is bare and uninhabited; and in spite of

numerous indentations, of which the most important going from

west to east are the Gulf of Oran, the Gulf of Arzeu, the Bay

of Algiers, and the gulfs of Bougie, Stora and Bona, there

are few good harbours. From time immemorial, indeed, this

coast has had an evil reputation among mariners, quite apart

from the pirates who for centuries made it the base of their

depredations. A violent current, starting from the Straits

of Gibraltar, rushes eastward along the shore, and, hurled

back from the headlands, is deflected to the West. In summer

the east wind brings dense and sudden fogs; while in winter

the northerly gales blow straight into the mouths of the

harbours. In these circumstances navigation is especially

perilous for sailing craft. The terrors of this ``savage sea

and inhospitable shore,'' once described by Sallust, have,

however, been greatly mitigated by the introduction of steam,

the improvement of the harbours, and the establishment by

the French government of an excellent system of lighthouses.

Southward from the sea the country falls naturally into three

divisions, clearly distinguished by their broad physical

characteristics. The healthy, and on the whole fertile coast

region, from 50 to 100 m. in width, is known, as in Morocco and

Tunisia. as the Tell (Arabic for ``hill''). It is a mountainous

country intersected with rocky canons and fertile valleys,

which occasionally broaden out into alluvial plains like that

of the Shelif, or the Metija near Algiers, or those in the

neighbourhood of Oran and Bona. Behind the Tell is a lofty

table-land with an average elevation of 3000 ft., consisting

of vast plains, for the most part arid or covered with esparto

grass, in the depressions of which are great salt lakes and

swamps (Arabic, shats) fed by streams which can find no outlet

to the sea through the encircling hills. To the south this

region is divided by the Great Atlas from the deserts of the

Sahara, with its oases, in which the boundary of Algeria is lost.

The country is traversed by lofty ranges of the Atlas system,

which run nearly parallel to the coast, and rise in places over

7000 ft. These are commonly divided into two leading chains,

distinguished as the Great1 and Little Atlas. The Great,

or Saharan Atlas contains some of the highest points in the

country. The chief ranges are Ksur and Amur in the west

and the Aures in the east. The peak of Shellia, the highest

point in Algeria, in the Aures range, has a height of 7611

ft. In the Amur are Jebel Ksel (6594 ft.) and Tuila Makna (6561

ft.). The Little Atlas, otherwise the Tell or Maritime Atlas,

lies between the sea and the Saharan Atlas, and is composed

of many distinct ranges, generally of no great elevation and

connected by numerous transverse chains forming extensive

table-lands and elevated valleys. The principal ranges of

the Little Atlas--from west to east--are the Tlemcen (5500

ft.); the Warsenis (with Kef Sidi Omar, 6500 ft.); the Titeri

(4900 ft.); the Jurjura, with the peak of Lalla Kedija (7542

ft.) and Mount Babor (6447 ft.); and the Mejerda (3700 ft.),

which extends into Tunisia. The Jurjura range, forming the

background of the plains between Algiers and Bougie, extends

through the district of Kabylia, with which for grandeur of

scenery no other part of Algeria can compare. South of the

Jurjura and separated from it by the valley of the Sahel,

is the Biban range with a famous double pass of the same

name, through which alone access is gained to the highlands

beyond. The Bibans or Portes de fer (Iron Gates) consist of

two defiles with stupendous walls of rock, which by erosion have

assumed the most fantastic shapes. In the case of the Petite

porte the walls in some places are not more than twelve feet

apart. The Dahra range (see MOSTAGANEM) overlooks the

sea, and is separated from the Warsenis by the valley of

the Shelif (see ATLAS MOUNTAINS, SAHARA and TUAT.)

The rivers are numerous but the majority are short. Most of

them rise in the mountains near the coast, and rush down through

deep and rocky channels. During the rainy season they render

communication between different parts of the country extremely

difficult. The most important river, both from its length and

volume, is the Shelif. It rises on the northern slopes of

the Amur mountains and flows N.E. across the high plateau,

piercing the little Atlas between the Warsenis and Titeri

ranges. It then turns W. and reaches the Mediterranean at the

eastern end of the Gulf of Arzeu. The Shelif, which has many

tributaries, is about 430 m. long. The Seybuse (about 150 m.

long), formed by the union of several small streams in the

department of Constantine, runs through a fertile valley and

reaches the Mediterranean near Bona. The Sahel (about 100 m.

long), which contains the greatest body of water after the

Shelif, rises in the department of Algiers near Aumale, and

flows for the most part N.E. to its mouth near Bougie. The

Kebir or Rummel--the river is known by both names--is formed

by the union of several small streams south of Constantine, and

flows past that town N.W. 140 m. to the sea. Among the less

important rivers which empty into the Mediterranean are the

Macta, the Tafna, the Harrach and the Mazafran. The Macta,

but 3 m. long, enters the sea in the Gulf of Arzeu, some 25

m. W. of the mouth of the Shelif. It is formed by the

Habra (140 m.) and the Sig (130 m.), which rise in the Amur

mountains and flowing north unite in a marshy plain, whence

issues the Macta. On the lower courses of the Habra and the

Sig, barrages have been built for irrigation purposes. The

Habra barrage holds 38,000,000 cubic metres; that on the Sig

18,000,000. The Tafna (about 100 m.) rises in a large cavern

in the mountains south of Tlemcen and flows N.E. to the sea at

Rachgun. It has many affluents; the largest, the Isser

(70 m.), joins it on the east bank about 30 m. above its

mouth. The Harrach (40 m.), a picturesque stream, enters

the Mediterranean in the Bay of Algiers. The Mazafran (50

m.) crosses the plains S.W of Algiers, reaching the sea N. of

Kolea. The Mejerda and its affluent the Mellegue, rivers

of Tunisia (q.v.), have their rise in Algeria, in the

mountainous country east of Constantine. None of these rivers is

navigable. Besides these there are a number of streams in the

interior, but they are usually dry except in the rainy season.

Algeria abounds in extensive salt lakes and marshes. Of

the lakes in the northern part of the country near the coast

the principal are,--the Fezara, 14 m. S.W. of Bona; Sebkha

and El Melah, south of Oran; and three small lakes in the

immediate vicinity of La Calle. In the high plateaus are

the Shat-el-Gharbi or Western Shat, the Shat-el-Shergui or

Eastern Shat, the Zarhez- Gharbi and the Zarhez-Shergui, the

Shat-el-Hodna and a number of others. South of the Jebel

Aures is another series of salt lakes closely connected with

the Shat-el-Jerid (of Tunisia). The chief of these is the

Shat Melrir. There are a number of warm mineral springs,

containing principally salts of lime, used with success

by both Arabs and Europeans in several kinds of disease.

One of the most remarkable groups of springs is near Guelma,

in the department of Constantine. There are two principal

sources. Their waters unite in one stream whose course is

marked by gigantic limestone cones, some of which are 36 ft.

high. The water, which is at boiling point, falls into

natural basins of a creamy white colour, formed by the deposit

of carbonate of lime. The springs are known to the Arabs

as Hammam Meskutin (the ``accursed baths''). The name and

the cones are accounted for by a legend which represents

that at this spot lived a sheikh who, finding his sister too

beautiful to be married to anyone else, determined to espouse

her himself. Whilst the marriage festivities were being

celebrated the judgment of Heaven descended on the guilty

pair; fire came from below; the water became hot and the

sheikh and his sister were turned into stone. Within a mile

of Hammam Meskutin are ferruginous and sulphureous springs.

[Geology.--The geology of Algeria has been worked out in

considerable detail by French geologists. Rocks of Archean

and Palaeozoic ages contribute only a small share, but there

is a very complete sequence of formations from the Lias to

those of recent date. An interesting and orderly petrological

sequence of Tertiary igneous rocks has been determined.

Archean rocks form the cores of the ancient crystalline masses

within the littoral zone from Algiers to Bona. They consist of

gneiss, mica-schist, quartzites, crystalline limestones and

conglomerates. Primary deposits are doubtfully represented

by the detached fragments of unfossiliferous strata of

Traras, Blida and east of Orleansville. Carboniferous and

Permian strata are possibly represented by some black and

grey micaceous shales with beds of coal in the Jurjura.

At Jebel-kahar and west of Traras, Pomel attributes certain

conglomerates, red sandstones and purple and green shales to

the Permian. The rocks of Secondary and Tertiary ages have

been profoundly affected by the Alpine movements, and are

thrown into a series of complex folds, so that in numerous

instances their stratigraphy is imperfectly understood.

The gypsiferous and saliferous marls of Shellata, Suk Ahras

and Ain Nussi have yielded Triassic fossils. Triassic

rocks are considered to be present in Constantine and in the

Jurjura. Rhaetic beds (Infra Lias), consisting of dolomites

and siliceous limestones, have been recognized at Saida.

The lower and middle divisions of the Jurassic, composed of

massive limestones more or less siliceous and overlain by

the marls and highly fossiliferous limestones of the Upper

Lias, play an important part in the constitution of the chief

mountains of the Tell. In south Oran they determine the

principal axes of the mountain ranges. The Inferior Cretaceous

rocks include the Neocomian and Gault (Albian and Aptian)

subdivisions, and form the flanks of the mountains in the

Tell. In the south the Albian subdivision of the Gault is alone

represented. Rocks of Upper Cretaceous age are represented

in all their stages. The Cenomanian presents two distinct

facies. North of the Atlas it belongs to the European type,

in the south it contains a fauna of oysters and sea-urchins

belonging to the facies ``africano-syrian'' of Zittel. There

is a continuous transition between the Senonian and Danian,

proving that the Algerian region did not participate in the

immersion which occurred in Provence and in the Corbieres

of southern France during the Danian epoch. The Lower Eocene

rocks contain the chief phosphatic deposits of Algeria, those

of the Tebessa region being the best known. Certain species

of nummulites, which are very common, distinguish the various

subdivisions of the Eocene. The highest beds, consisting of

quartzites, shales, marls and sandstones with the remains of

fucoids, are found in the Jurjura and Shellata. The Oligocene

period consists of a marine phase confined to the littoral

zone of Kahylia, and of a continental phase occupying vast

areas composed of lacustrine, alluvial, gypsiferous marls,

sandstones and conglomerates. The Miocene formation obtains

its greatest development in Oran and is much expanded in the

Tell. At the close of the Lower Miocene period (beds with

Ostrea crassissima) great modifications in the relief and

limits of the Algerian formations took place. Hitherto marine

conditions were confined to the littoral; in Middle Miocene

times (Helvetian) the sea broke in and spread in a south-east

direction in the form of long ramified fjords but did not

extend as far as the Sahara. To the Pliocene period the marine

deposits of the Sahel of Algiers and of the Sahel Jijelli

must be attributed; also the lacustrine marls and limestone

of the basin of Constantine, and the ancient alluviums of the

basins and depressions which bear no relation to the existing

valleys. Among the Tertiary volcanic rocks those of acid

types (granites, granulites) were the first to appear and

are developed latitudinally; rocks of intermediate type

(dacites, andesites) characterize the Miocene and early

Pliocene periods; while the basic rocks (ophites, elaeolite

syenites and basalts) attained their maximum in later Pliocene

and Quaternary times. Their development, feeble as compared

with the acid rocks, is meridional. The Quaternary period

includes an older stage containing fragments of fossils from

the underlying formations; a later stage containing the bones

of Hippopotamus, Elephas, Rhinoceros, Camelus, Equus;

and finally the vast accumulations of sand which began to

be formed in prehistoric times. The broad platforms of

the hamada are covered with Quaternary deposits. (W. G.*)]

CIimate.--Although Algeria enjoys a warm climate, the

temperature varies considerably in different parts, according

to the elevation and configuration of the country. Along

the coast the weather is very mild, the thermometer rarely

falling to freezing-point even in winter. The coldest month

is January, the hottest August. The mean annual temperature

in the coast plains is 66 deg. F. Heavy rains prevail from

December to March, and rain is not uncommon during other

months also, excepting June, July, August and September, which

are very hot and rainless. The average annual fall is 29

in. On the mountains and the high plateaus the winter is often

very severe; snow lies for six months on the higher peaks of

the Kabyle mountains. On the plateaus the temperature passes

from one extreme to the other, and rain seldom falls. (For

the climate of the Saharan region see SAHARA.) Throughout

Algeria, especially in the summer, there is a great difference

between day and night temperature, notably in the inland

districts. Between May and September the sirocco, or hot

wind of the desert, sweeps at intervals over the country,

impregnating the air with fine sand; but in general, with

the exception of the vicinity of the marshes, the climate is

healthy. Its salubrity has been increased by the draining

of many marshes in the neighbourhood of the larger towns.

Fauna and Flora.--The fauna of Algeria resembles that of

the Mediterranean system generally, though many animals once

common to South Europe and North Africa--such as the lion,

panther, hyena and jackal--are now extinct in Europe. Lions,

formerly plentiful, have disappeared, and leopards and panthers

are rare; but jackals, hyenas and Algerian apes are not

uncommon. Wild boars are found in the oak forests, and brown

bears in the uplands. In the south are various species of

antelope and wild goat. Red deer (Cervus elaphus barbarus),

which differ from the typical European species only in the

fact that the second tine is absent from their antlers, a

peculiarity which they share with the red deer of Spain and

Corsica, are still found in the forest of Beni Saleh in the

department of Constantine, but are being exterminated by forest

fires and poaching Arabs. Of domestic animals the camel and

sheep are the most important. The chief wealth of the Arab

tribes of the plateaus consists in their immense flocks of

sheep. The horses and mules of Algeria are noted; and the

native cattle are an excellent stock on which to graft the

better European varieties. Of birds, eagles, vultures, hawks,

owls and quails are common; snipe, curlews, plovers, storks

and herons frequent the marshy parts; and the ostrich the

desert. Partridges and woodcocks are fairly common. Among

the reptiles are various species of serpents, tortoises,

turtles, lizards, &c. Locusts are common and sometimes do great

damage. Scorpions are numerous in the acid regions. Algerian

prawns, especially those of Bona, are large and of a delicate

flavour. Of the twenty-one species of freshwater fish, five

are peculiar to the country, but none is of much economic

value save the barbel and eel. A species of trout is found

in the streams near Collo, but in none of the other rivers.

The flora of Algeria consists of about 3000 species, of which

some 450 are indigenous to the country, 100 being peculiar

to the Sahara. The flora of the Tell is South European in

character. The agave and prickly pear, the myrtle, the

olive and the dwarf palm grow luxuriantly; and the fields

are covered with narcissus, iris and other flowers of every

hue. Roses, geraniums, and the like, bloom throughout the

winter. The flora of the high plateaus consists chiefly of

grasses, notably various kinds of alfa or esparto, and aromatic

herbs. In the Saharan oases the characteristic tree is the

date palm--``the king of the desert.'' Over 11,000 sq. m. of

the mountainous country near the coast are covered with forests

of various species of oak, pine, fir, cedar, elm, ash, maple,

olive, many of them of gigantic size, and other trees; and on

the slopes of the mountains up to 3800 ft. above the sea the

fig is common. Its fruit forms one of the staple articles of

food among the Kabyles. Cork and carob trees are also very

common. A magnificent conifer, the Atlantic pinsapo (Abies

Pinsapo), is found on the heights round Bougie. The forests

suffer great damage from fires, occasioned in part by the

custom of burning up the grass every autumn, and in part by

incendiarism. In 1902 alone, according to the British consular

report, ``at a moderate estimate the number of trees damaged

or destroyed might be put down at 6,000,000.'' Forestry is a

state-protected industry, the government owning over 500,000

acres of forest. The chief tree which has commercial value

is the cork, and the stripping of the bark is under official

supervision. The first cork harvest was gathered in 1890, when

1474 cwt. were sold for L. 1361. Since that date the yield has

been very great. Another tree of great commercial value is the

soap tree (Sapindus utilis), introduced into the country in

1845 and grown extensively in low-lying lands near the coast.

Inhabitants.--Algeria had in 1906 a population of 5,231,850,

consisting of a medley of European, Eastern and African

races. The census showed that in addition to French settlers

and their descendants (278,976) there were 117,475 Spaniards

(most of whom are found in the department of Oran), 33,153

Italians (chiefly in the department of Constantine), 64,645

Jews, 6217 Maltese, and smaller communities of British,

Germans, Levantines and Greeks. There were, moreover, 170,444

naturalized French citizens, mainly of Spanish and Italian

origin. (These figures are exclusive of 73,790 persons counted

apart, as not enjoying municipal rights. In the 73,799 the

troops, French and native, are included). The total European

population, in which category are reckoned the Jews, other

than those of Mzab, was 680,263. Compared with the census

of 1901 the figures of 1906 showed a decrease of 14,000

French, 36,000 Spaniards and 5000 Italians, but an increase

of nearly 100,000 in the foreigners naturalized. Of other

races: (1) The Berbers (q.v.) constitute 75% of the entire

population. The Kabyles (q.v.), a division of the Berbers,

occupy chiefly the more mountainous parts of the Tell, but

some live in the plains and valleys. (2) Arabs, a numerous

class, are found principally in the south. (3) The so-called

``Moors,'' generally of mixed blood, inhabit the towns and

villages near the sea-coast. (4) Negroes, originally brought

from the interior and sold as slaves, are now found chiefly

in the towns, where they serve as labourers and domestic

servants. (5) Mzabites (q.v.) or Beni-Mzab, a distinct

branch of the Berber race, are for the most part engaged in

petty trade, and are distinguished by their sleeveless coats

of many colours. (6) A few Tuareg (q.v.), another division

of the Berbers, are among the nomads found in the Algerian

Sahara. The Kabyles, Mzabites, Tuareg, Arabs and Moors all

profess Mahommedanism, though it is only among the Arabs

that its tenets are held in any purity. The census of 1906

gave the number of the native population at 4,447,149. There

were also 28,639 non-European foreigners in the country.

The Turks, though for a considerable period the dominant race,

were never very numerous in Algeria. The majority of them

were repatriated by the French. The Kuluglis, descendants of

Turks by native women--once a distinct race noted for their

energy, bravery and pride--have almost ceased to exist as a

separate people, being merged in the Moors. Jews have long

been settled in Algeria. Some are supposed to have fled

thither when expelled from Cyrenaica in the reign of the

emperor Hadrian, and others on their banishment from Italy in

1342. The purely ``African'' Jew is now found only in the

oases in the extreme south of the country. In the towns the

``native'' Jews have intermarried with later arrivals from

Europe. A remarkable feast is kept annually by the Algerian Jews

to commemorate the defeat by the Turks of the emperor Charles

V.'s attempt to capture Algiers (1541). The Jews, who enjoyed

religious freedom under the Mahommedans, believed that the

success of the Spaniards would but lead to their own persecution.

Chief Towns.--The chief towns are Algiers, the capital

and principal seaport, with a population (1906), including

Mustapha and other suburbs, of 154,049; Oran (100,499),2

a western seaport and capital of the department of the same

name, and Constantine (46,806), an inland town, capital of

the department of Constantine. Besides Algiers and Oran the

principal seaports are Bona (36,004), Mostaganem (19,528),

Philippeville (16,539), Bougie (10,419), Cherchel (4733)

and La Calle (2774). Inland, besides Constantine, are

the important towns of Tlemcen ( 24,060), Sidi-bel-Abbes

(24,494), Mascara (18,989) and Blida (16,866). In the

Sahara are Biskra (4218), El Wad (7586), Tuggurt (2073) and

Wargla (3579). All these places are separately noticed.

Nemours (1229) is a seaport near the Moroccan frontier,

which formerly bore an Arabic name pregnant with its history

--Jamaa-el-Ghazuat (``rendezvous of the pirates''). The

surrounding country is rich in mineral wealth. Arzeu (3085)

occupies a site on the western side of the gulf of the same

name. It has a good harbour, is the outlet for the produce

of several fertile valleys, and the starting-point of a

railway which penetrates into the Sahara. This railway passes

Saida (6256), 106 m. south of Arzeu, one of the capitals of

Abd-el-Kader, and serves to bring down from the high plateaus

their rich crops of esparto grass. Four miles S.E. of Arzeu

is a Berber village, where are interesting ruins of a Roman

settlement, identified by some authorities as the Portus

Magnus of Pliny; other authorities claim Oran as occupying

the site of Portus Magnus. In the vicinity are the famous

quarries of Numidian marbles. Tenes (3176) is a seaport

situated about 100 m. east of Arzeu on the site of the

Phoenician town, afterwards the Roman colony, of Cartenna.

Outside the town to the west is a public garden in which are

several Roman tombs with inscriptions. Between Tenes and

Algiers are Tipasa (q.v.) and Castiglione (1634), formerly

called Bu-Ismail, both pleasant watering-places. Five miles

inland west of Castiglione is Kolea (2932), a town dating

from 1550 and originally peopled by Moslem refugees from

Spain. It was destroyed by earthquake in 1825 and has been

rebuilt largely in European style. It contains the kubba

of a celebrated marabout, Sidi Embarek, who lived in the 17th

century. Dellys (3275), 50 m. by sea E. of Algiers, has a

small harbour sheltered from the W. and N.W. winds only. It

is a walled town regularly laid out, built by the French on

the site of the Roman Ruscurium, the western ramparts of which

may still be seen. Jijelli (4878), on the eastern side of

the Gulf of Bougie, occupies the site of the Roman colony of

Igilgilis. The old town, built on a rocky peninsula, was

completely destroyed by earthquake in 1856. A new town

arose eastward of the former site, which is now restored as a

citadel. Twenty miles by sea west of Philippeville is Collo

(2258), a city of considerable importance during the Roman

occupation. It was the Kollops Magnus of Ptolemy.

Twenty-three miles S.W. by rail from Algiers is Bufarik (the

``hanging well''); pop. 5980. A thoroughly French town, it

dates from 1835, when General Drouet d'Erlon established there

an entrenched camp on a hillock in the midst of a pestilential

swamp. Soon afterwards Marshal Clausel began to build a

regular city, which was at first called Medina Clausel in his

honour. The draining of the site and neighbourhood was a costly

undertaking, and was only accomplished by the sacrifice of many

lives. The town, surrounded by vast orchards and farms, is

now one of the most flourishing in the country; and the most

important market in the colony for the sale of cattle and

agricultural produce is held there. Sixty-three miles S.W.

of Algiers is Medea (4030)--supposed to stand on the site of

a Roman town--finely situated on a plateau 3000 ft. above the

sea. It is surrounded by a wall pierced by five gates.

An ancient aqueduct is built into the eastern side of the

wall. The town, which was chosen by the Turks as capital of

the beylik of Titeri, is now French in character. Miliana

(3991), which occupies the site of the Roman Milliana,

lies about midway between Blida and Orleansville, is 2400

ft. above the sea, and is built on a plateau of the Zakkar

mountains, commanding magnificent views of the valley of the

Shelif. It possesses few remains of antiquity. An old

Moorish minaret has been turned into a clock tower. The

town, which is walled, has been rebuilt by the French.

The chief streets are bordered by trees and have streams of

water running down either side. Hammam R'Irha to the N.E. of

Miliana, noted from the time of the Romans for its thermal

springs, occupies a picturesque position 1800 ft. above the

sea. Being the only place within easy distance of western

Europe where patients can take with safety a course of baths

during the winter months, it has become a resort of invalids.

Orleansville (3510), on the extensive plain of the Shelif, 130

m. S.W. by rail from Algiers. and 132 m. N.E. from Oran, is

an important military station. The basilica of St Reparatus,

discovered in 1843, was allowed to be used as a public stable

and has been completely destroyed. There was in it a beautiful

mosaic of which, fortunately, drawings exist. From this it

appears that the church was built in A.D. 324, and that St

Reparatus, bishop of the diocese, was buried in it in 475.

Orleansville occupies the site of the Roman Castellum Tingitanum.

Ninety miles S.W. of Bougie is Aumale (2350), a town and military

post established by the French in 1846 on the site of the ancient

Auzia. The Roman town was founded in the reign of Augustus,

and it flourished for two centuries before it disappeared from

history. Out of the materials of the ancient city the Turks

built a fort, which at the time of the French occupation was

itself a heap of ruins. Setif (12,261), the Sitifis Colonia

of the Romans, is 50 m. S.E. of Bougie and 97 m. by rail W. of

Constantine. It stands 3573 ft. above the sea, and is the

junction of several great lines of communication. Its market is

attended by Kabyles, Arabs of the plateaus and people from the

Sahara. The town has been entirely rebuilt in the French

style. Most of the Roman ruins, even those existing at the time

of the French occupation (1839), have disappeared. The walls

of the Roman city, restored probably by the Byzantines, have

been incorporated in the French walls, which are pierced by four

gates. Batna (5279), a walled town 3350 ft. above the sea, 50

m. S. of Constantine by the railway to Biskra, commands the

passage of the Aures mountains by which the nomads of the

Sahara were wont to enter the Tell. Its importance rests on

its strategic position. On the railway between Constantine

and Bona and 76 m. from the latter, is Guelma (6584), the Roman

Kalama, finely situated on the right bank of the Seybuse.

The French occupied the place in 1836 and built their town

out of the Roman ruins. Thirty miles S.E. of Guelma is Suk

Ahras (7602), a station on the railway to Tunis, identified

with the Roman city Tagaste, the birthplace of St Augustine.

Towns in the Sahara.--On the southern slopes of the Great

Atlas, 2437 ft. above the sea, looking out on the Saharan

desert, and 200 m. in a straight line S.W. of Algiers, is the

ancient town of El Aghuat (erroneously written Laghouat); pop.

5660. It formerly belonged to Morocco, by whom it was ceded

to the Turks towards the close of the 17th century. It

was stormed on the 4th of December 1852 by the French, who

almost entirely destroyed the Arab town. The modern town

contains little of interest, but is an important military

station. One hundred and twelve miles S. of El Aghuat, and 36

m. W.N.W. of Wargla, is Ghardaia (pop. 7868), the capital

of the Mzab country, annexed by France in 1882. This country

consists of seven oases, five in close proximity and two

isolated. The town of Ghardaia (in the local documents

Taghardeit) is situated on a mosque-crowned hill in the middle

of the Wadi Mzab, 1755 ft. above the sea. Ghardaia, which is

divided by walls into three quarters, is built of limestone and

the houses are in terraces one above the other. The central

quarter is the home of the ruling tribe, the Beni-Mzab. The

eastern quarter belongs to the Jews, of whom there are about

300 families; the western is occupied by the Medabia, Arabs

from the Jebel Amur. The gardens belong exclusively to the

Beni-Mzab. According to native accounts the town was founded

about the middle of the 16th century. Aghrem Baba Saad, a

small ruined town to the west of Ghardaia, is the fortified

post in which the Beni-Mzab took refuge when the Turks

under Salah Rais (about 1555) attempted unsuccessfully to

subjugate the country. Next to Ghardaia the most important

Mzabite town is Beni-Isguen (pop. 4916), an active trading

centre. Guerrara, one of the two isolated oases, 37 m. N.E.

of Ghardaia, contains a flourishing commercial town with 1912

inhabitants. The caravan route south from Ghardaia brings the

traveller, after a journey of 130 m., to the oasis and town

of El Golea (pop. about 2500). The town consists of three

portions--the citadel on a limestone hill, the upper and

the lower town--separated by irregular plantations of date

trees. The place is an important station for the caravan

trade between Algeria and the countries to the south. It was

occupied by the French under General Gallifet in 1873. El

Golea was originally a settlement of the Zenata Berbers, by

whom it was known as Taorert, and there is still a considerable

Berber element in its population. The full Arab name is El

Golea'a el Menia'a, or the ``little fortress well defended.''

Archaeology.--Algeria is rich in prehistoric memorials of

man, especially in megalithic remains, of which nearly every

known kind has been found in the country. Numerous flints of

palaeolithic type have been discovered, notably at Tlemcen and

Kolea. Near Jelfa, in the Great Atlas, and at Mechera-Sfa

(``ford of the flat stones''), a peninsula in the valley

of the river Mina not far from Tiaret in the department of

Oran, are vast numbers of megalithic monuments. In the

Kubr-er-Rumia--``grave of the Roman lady'' (Roman being used

by the Arabs to designate strangers of Christian origin)--the

Medrassen and the Jedars, Algeria possesses a remarkable series

of sepulchral monuments. The Kubr-er-Rumia--best known by its

French name, Tombeau de la Chretienne, tradition making

it the burial-place of the beautiful and unfortunate daughter

of Count Julian--is near Kolea, and is known to be the tomb

of the Mauretanian king Juba II. and of his wife Cleopatra

Selene, daughter of Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, and Mark

Antony. It is built on a hill 756 ft. above the sea. Resting

on a lower platform, 209 ft. square, is a circular stone

building surmounted by a pyramid. Originally the monument was

about 130 ft. in height, but it has been wantonly damaged.

Its height is now 100 ft. 8 in.: the cylindrical portion 36

ft. 6 in., the pyramid 64 ft. 2 in. The base, 198 ft. in

diameter, is ornamented with 60 engaged Ionic columns. The

capitals of the columns have disappeared, but their design

is preserved among the drawings of James Bruce, the African

traveller. In the centre of the tomb are two vaulted chambers,

reached by a spiral passage or gallery 6 1/2 ft. broad, about

the same height and 489 ft. long. The sepulchral chambers

are separated by a short passage, and are cut off from the

gallery by stone doors made of a single slab which can be

moved up and down by levers, like a portcullis. The larger

of the two chambers is 142 ft. long by 11 ft. broad and 11 ft.

high. The other chamber is somewhat smaller. The tomb was

early violated, probably in search of treasure. In 1555 Salah

Rais, pasha of Algiers, set men to work to pull it down,

but the records say that the attempt was given up because

big black wasps came from under the stones and stung them to

death. At the end of the 18th century Baba Mahommed tried

in vain to batter down the tomb with artillery. In 1866 it

was explored by order of the emperor Napoleon III., the work

being carried out by Adrian Berbrugger and Oscar Maccarthy.

The Medrassen is a monument similar to the Kubr-er-Rumia, but

older. It was built about 150 B.C. as the burial-place

of the Numidian kings, and is situated 35 m. S.W. of

Constantine. The form is that of a truncated cone, placed

on a cylindrical base, 196 ft. in diameter. It is 60 ft.

high. The columns encircling the cylindrical portion are

stunted and much broader at the base than the top; the

capitals are Doric. Many of the columns, 60 in number,

have been much damaged. When the sepulchral chamber was

opened in 1873 by Bauchetet, a French engineer officer,

clear evidence was found that at some remote period the tomb

had been rifled and an attempt made to destroy it by fire.

The Jedars (Arab. ``walls'' or ``buildings'') are in the

department of Oran. The name is given to a number of sepulchral

monuments placed on hill-tops. A rectangular or square podium

is in each case surmounted by a pyramid. The tombs date from

the 5th to the 7th century of the Christian era, and lie in

two distinct groups between Tiaret and Frenda, a distance of 35

m. Tiaret (pop. 5778), an ancient town modernized by the

French, can be reached by railway from Mostaganem. Near

Frenda (2063), which has largely preserved its old Berber

character, are numerous dolmens and prehistoric rock sculptures.

Algeria contains many Roman remains besides those mentioned and

is also rich in monuments of Saracenic art. For a description of

the chief antiquities see the separate town articles, including,

besides those already cited, Lambessa, Tebessa, Tipasa and Timgad.

Agriculture.--Ever since the time of the Romans Algeria has

been noted for the fertility of its soil. Over two-thirds

of the inhabitants are engaged in agricultural pursuits.

More than 7,500,000 acres are devoted to the cultivation of

cereals. The Tell is the grain-growing land. Under French

rule its productiveness has been largely increased by the

sinking of artesian wells in districts which only required

water to make them fertile. Of the crops raised, wheat,

barley and oats are the principal cereals. A great variety

of vegetables and of fruits, especially the orange, is

exported. A considerable amount of cotton was grown during

the American Civil War, but the industry afterwards declined.

In the early years of the 20th century efforts to extend the

cultivation of the plant were renewed. A small amount of

cotton is also grown in the southern oases. Large quantities

of crin vegetal (vegetable horse-hair) an excellent fibre,

are made from the leaves of the dwarf palm. The olive (both

for its fruit and oil) and tobacco are cultivated with great

success. The soil of Algeria everywhere favours the growth

of the vine. The country, in the words of an expert sent to

report on the subject by the French government, ``can produce

an infinite variety of wines suitable to every constitution

and to every caprice of taste.'' The culture of the vine

was early undertaken by the colonists, but it was not until

vineyards in France were attacked by phylloxera that the

export of wine from Algeria became considerable. Algerian

vineyards were also attacked (1883) despite precautionary

measures, but in the meantime the worth of their wines had been

proved. In 1850 less than 2000 acres were devoted to the

grape, but in 1878 this had increased to over 42,000 acres,

which yielded 7,436,000 gallons of wine. Despite bad seasons

and ravages of insects, cultivation extended, and in 1895 the

vineyards covered 300,000 acres, the produce being 88,000,000

gallons. The area of cultivation in 1905 exceeded 400,000

acres, and in that year the amount of wine produced was

157,000,000 gallons. By that time the limits of profitable

production had been reached in many parts of the country.

Practically the only foreign market for Algerian wine is

France, which in 1905 imported about 110,000,000 gallons.

Fishery is a flourishing but not a large industry. The fish caught

are principally sardines, bonito, smelts and sprats. Fresh fish

are exported to France, dried and preserved fish to Spain and

Italy. Coral fisheries exist along the coast from Bona to Tunis.

Minerals.--Algeria is rich in minerals, found chiefly in

the department of Constantine, where iron, lead and zinc,

copper, calamine, antimony and mercury mines are worked.

The most productive are those of iron and zinc. Lignite is

found in the department of Algiers and petroleum in that of

Oran. Immense phosphate beds were discovered near Tebessa in

1891. They yielded 313,500 tons in 1905. Phosphate beds are

also worked near Setif, Guelma and Ain Beida. There are more

than 300 quarries which produce, amongst other stones, onyx

and beautiful white and red marbles. Algerian onyx from Ain

Tekbalet was used by the Romans, and many ancient quarries have

been found near Kleber in the department of Oran, some being

certainly those from which the long-lost Numidian marbles were

taken. Salt is collected on the margins of the shats.

Shipping and Commerce.--The carrying trade between Algeria

and France is confined, by a law passed in 1889, to French

bottoms. The largest port is Algiers, after which follow

Oran, Philippeville and Bona. There is a considerable

coasting trade. The average number of vessels entering

and clearing Algerian ports each year has been, since 1900,

about 4000, with a total tonnage of some 6,500,000. In

the coasting trade some 12,000 small vessels are engaged.

Under French administration the commerce of Algeria has greatly

developed: The total imports and exports at the time of the

French occupation (1830) did not exceed L. 175,000. In 1850

the figures had reached L. 5,000,000; in 1868, L. 12,000,000; in

1880, L. 17,000,000; and in 1890, L. 20,000,000. From this point

progress was slower and the figures varied considerably year by

year. In 1905 the total value of the foreign trade was

L. 24,500,000. About five-sixths of the trade is with

or via France, into which country several Algerian goods

have been admitted duty-free since 1851, and all since

1867. French goods, except sugar, have been admitted into

Algeria without payment of duty since 1835. After the

increase, in 1892, of the French minimum tariff, which

applied to Algeria also, foreign trade greatly diminished.

The chief exports are sheep and oxen, most of which are

raised in Morocco and Tunisia, and horses; animal products,

such as wool and skins; wine, cereals (rye, barley, oats),

vegetables, fruits (chiefly figs and grapes for the table) and

seeds, esparto grass, oils and vegetable extracts (chiefly

olive oil), iron ore, zinc, natural phosphates, timber,

cork, crin vegetal and tobacco. Of these France takes

fully three-quarters. The import of wool, exceeds the

export. Sugar, coffee, machinery, metal work of all kinds,

clothing and pottery are largely imported. Of these by far

the greater part comes from France. The British imports

consist chiefly of coal, cotton fabrics and machinery.

Communications.--Algeria possesses a railway system covering

over 2000 m. A decree of 1857 granted to the Paris-Lyons

Company the right to construct a line linking Algiers with

Oran (266 m.) and Constantine (290 m.) and shorter lines

joining the seaports to the trunk line, notably Philippeville

to Constantine (54 m.). These lines were opened between

1862 and 1871, but it was not until 1879 that a general

scheme for railway construction was adopted. A trunk line

runs from the frontier of Morocco at Lalla Maghnia, 44

m. W. of Tlemcen, across the Tell to the Tunisian frontier,

whence it is continued to the city of Tunis; while traverse

railways connect the seaports with the trunk line and with

towns to the south, the Philippeville line being continued to

Biskra. From Arzeu a line goes south across the plateaus and

crossing the Ksur range at a height of 4211 ft. enters the

Sahara. Passing Ain Sefra and Figig (372 m. from Arzeu)

the line is continued towards Tuat. The normal gauge of the

railways is 4 ft. 8 1/2 in.; a few ``light lines'' have a gauge

of 3 ft. 3 in. Algeria is also traversed by a network of roads

constructed by the French, of which the routes nationales

alone are 2000 m. in length. There are complete postal and

telegraphic facilities in all parts of the colony save the

Saharan Territories, and cable communication with France.

Central Government.--By the Turks the country was divided

into four provinces--Algiers and Titeri in the centre and

south, Constantine in the east and Mascara or Oran in the

west.3 The last three were governed by beys dependent upon

the representative of the Porte resident at Algiers. The

Turkish governors were in the 17th century replaced by deys

(see below, History.) The French rule was at first (1830)

purely military. In 1834 the post of governor-general was

created. Under the direction of the ministry of war that

official exercised nearly all the executive power. At the

same time a civil administration and consultative council were

formed. The principle of unity of authority was set aside

by the second republic in 1848, when many of the public

services were attached to the corresponding ministries in

Paris, and the departments organized on the metropolitan

model by division into arrondissements and communes and by

placing a prefect at their head. Under Napoleon III. the

governor- generalship was abolished, a minister of Algeria

and the colonies created (24th of June 1858), and the whole

administration conducted from Paris. At the same time the

powers of the prefects were augmented and each department

given a general council. This arrangement was not of long

duration. By decree of the 24th of November 1860, the

ministry of Algeria and the colonies was abolished and the

office of governor-general re-established with increased

powers. This regime, strongly military in its type, ended

with the fall of the second empire. After a brief transitional

period, a decree of the 29th of March 1871 placed at the

head of Algeria a civil governor-general and gave the control

in Paris to the ministry of the interior. In 1876, on the

initiative of General Chanzy, then governor-general, that

official was accorded the right to correspond direct with

all the ministers in Paris. This concession led, however,

to the diminution of the authority of the governor-general,

whose powers were, step by step, absorbed by the various

ministries in France. It had its logical end in the system

adopted in 1881 and known as the rattachement. Under this

system the plan of 1848 was carried out more completely,

every department of state being placed under one or other of

the ministries in Paris, whilst the governor- general became

little more than an ornamental personage. After lasting

fifteen years the rattachement was, with the approval of the

legislature, abrogated by decree dated the 31st of December

1896. The opposing principle, that of concentrating power

in the hands of the governor-general, was re-affirmed, but

in practice was modified by the retention of the direction

from Paris of a few of the public services. The decree of

1896, which was of a provisional character, was replaced by

another, dated the 23rd of August 1898, defining the powers

of the governor-general under the new scheme. By a law of

the 19th of December 1900, Algeria was constituted a legal

personality, with power to own goods, contract loans, &c.,

and a decree of 1901 placed the customs department, until then

directed from Paris, under the control of the governor-general,

whose hands were also strengthened in various minor matters.

It will be seen that the form of government is entirely

dependent on the will of France. The French chambers alone

possess the legislative power, though in the absence of express

legislation decrees of the head of the state have the force of

law. To the legislature in Paris Algeria elects three senators

and six deputies (one senator and two deputies for each

department). The franchise is confined to ``citizens,'' in

which category the native Jews are included by decree of the

24th of October 1870. The Mahommedans, who number nearly

eight-ninths of the population, are not, however, ``citizens''

but ``subjects,'' and consequently have not the vote. They

can, however, acquire ``citizenship'' at their own request, by

placing themselves absolutely under the civil and political laws

of France (decree of 1865, confirmed in 1870). The number of

Mahommedans who avail themselves of this rule is very small;

naturalizations do not exceed an average of thirty persons a

year. For certain specified objects, financial and municipal,

Mahommedans are, however, permitted to exercise the franchise.

The actual form of government may be summarized thus:-- At the

head of the administration in Algeria is a governor- general,

who exercises control over all branches, civil and military,

of the administration, except the services of justice, public

instruction and worship (as far as concerns Europeans) and the

treasury. He corresponds directly with thn other Barbary

states; draws up the budget, and contracts loans on behalf

of the colony. The governor-general is assisted by:--

(1) The Council of Government, a purely advisory body,

composed entirely of high officials;

(2) A Superior Council, composed partly of elected and partly

of nominated members, including representatives of the

Mahommedans. Its duty is to deliberate upon all

administrative matters, including the budget, and it possesses

certain powers over the finances;

(3) The Financial Delegations (created by decree in 1898), an

elective body whose duty is to investigate all matters

affecting taxation and to vote the budget. The

delegations consist of representatives of (a) ``colonists,'' i.e. the

rural community; (b) taxpayers, being citizens other than

``colonists,'' i.e. the urban community; (c) the

Mahommedan population. The last section is partly elective and

partly nominated. A proportion of the members of the

delegations are elected to the superior council.

Local Government.--The departments, presided over by

prefects, are divided into territoires civils and

territoires du commandant. In the regions under civil

administration the local organization closely resembles that of

France. The country is divided into arrondissements and

communes, with most of the apparatus of self-government

enjoyed by the corresponding units in France. The canton

(in France a judicial area) has, however, no existence in

Algeria. In the territoires du commandant, which are the

districts farthest from the coast, and in which the European

population is small, the prefect is replaced by a high military

officer, who exercises all the functions of a prefect.

The prefect of each department is assisted by a general

council, consisting of members elected by the citizens and of

nominated representatives of the Mahommedan population. The

powers of the council correspond to those of the councils in

France. Communes are of three kinds: (1) those with full

powers, (2) mixed, (3) native. In those of the first kind,

modelled on the French communes, the Mahommedans possess

the municipal franchise. The ``mixed'' communes are under

an administrator nominated by the governor-general and

assisted by a municipal council composed of Europeans and

natives. These communes are large areas, each containing

several towns or villages. In the territoires du commandant

the mixed commune is presided over by a military officer who

fulfils the duties of mayor. Native communes are organized

on the same plan as those last mentioned. It will be seen

that communes do not correspond with any natural unit. The

unit among the Mahommedans is the douar, a tribal division

administered by a cadi. The communes with full powers have

each for centre a town with a considerable European population.

By decree of the 14th of August 1905, the frontier between

Saharan territory dependent on Algeria and that attached to

French West Africa was laid down. The Algerian Sahara was

divided into four territories, officially named Tuggurt,

Ghardaia, Ain Sefra and the Saharan Oases (Tuat, Gurara and

Tidikelt). The governor-general represents the territories

in civil affairs; the budget is distinct from that of

Algeria and an annual subvention is provided by France.

Finance.--Revenue is derived chiefly from direct taxation,

customs and monopolies. The heaviest item of expenditure

chargeable on the Algerian budget is on public works, posts and

telegraphs and agriculture. Algeria has had a budget distinct

from that of France since 1901. This budget includes all

the expenses of Algeria save the cost of the army (estimated

at L. 2,000,000 yearly) and the guarantee of interest on the

railways open before 1901. Both these items are borne by

France. The Algerian budget for 1906 showed revenue and

expenditure balancing at L. 3,820,000. The country has a debt

(1905), including capital, annuities and interest, of some

Defence.--The military force constitutes the XIX. army corps of

the French army. There are in addition a territorial army reserve

and a special body of troops, largely Arab, for the defence of

the Saharan territory. The troops quartered in Algeria exceed

50,000. The defence of the coast is provided by the French navy.

Land Tenure.--The colonization of Algeria by the French has

been greatly hampered by the system of land tenure which they

found in force. Except among the Kabyles, private property

in land was unknown. Amongst the Arabs, lands were either

held in common by a whole tribe, under a tenure known as

the arch or sabegha, or sometimes, especially in the,

towns, under a modified form of freehold (melk) by the

family. At the same time the boundaries of property were

ill defined and difficult to determine. This system made

it impossible for French immigrants to obtain land by lawful

transfer. The only lands at the outset available for

settlement were, in fact, the confiscated domains of the

dey. The obvious solution of the difficulty was to encourage

the free movement of real estate by substituting private

ownership for the traditional system. Before doing this,

however, it was necessary to define the limits of tribal

properties already existing--a work of great difficulty--with

a view to their ultimate division, and at the same time to

guard against any premature traffic in the rights of Arabs

in the lands about to be divided. A senatus-consulte

of 1863 laid the basis for the change in the land system

by providing (1) for the delimitation of the territory of

each tribe, (2) for the repartition of the territory thus

delimited among newly formed tribal divisions (douars or

communes), and (3) for the recognition of private ownership

by the issue of title deeds for such individual or family

property (melk) as already existed. The purpose of this

excellent law, which would have laid firmly the basis for

gradual change, was defeated by the impatience of the French

colonists. At the instance of their representatives in the

chambers it was abandoned in 1870, and was not revived till

seventeen years later. A law was passed in 1873, and amended

in 1887, legalizing the immediate conversion of tribal and

family property into private freehold. The result has been

disappointing. For the most part, the Arab tribes have been

reluctant to avail themselves of their new powers, and where

they have done so the hasty reversal of the traditions of

centuries has proved demoralizing to the natives, without

any sufficient equivalent in the way of healthy French

colonization. The main profit has been reaped by Jewish usurers.

The state domains were exhausted by 1870, but were again

replenished by the large confiscations which followed the

Arab revolt of 1871. Government lands were originally given

free to applicants, but with a provisional and insecure

title, which made it impossible for poor colonists to

borrow money on their land. This was modified by a law of

1851. But ultimately, the results not being satisfactory,

the precedent of Australia was followed, and by a law of

1860 domain lands were sold publicly at a fixed price.

This had the effect of attracting more and a better class

of immigrants, but was none the less reversed in 1881.

In September 1904, a new scheme, intended to attract more

European settlers, was adopted. The lands of the state--other

than woods and forests--but especially the barren lands

and brushwoods situated in the plains, were offered for

colonization, to be disposed of (1) by sale at a fixed price,

(2) by auction, and (3), in certain cases, by agreement.

Purchasers were to be Frenchmen, or Europeans naturalized as

French citizens, who had never held ``colonization lands'';

and they were obliged, under pain of forfeiture, either to

take up residence themselves on their property within six

months and to live on it and exploit it for a period of ten

years, or else to place on the land another family fulfilling

the same conditions. If the purchaser farmed the land himself

and made satisfactory progress, the period of obligatory

residence was reduced to five years. When the interests

of colonization required it, free gifts of land might be

made; in which case the grantee must himself exploit his

concession. In no case might land acquired under this scheme

be let to natives until after the expiration of ten years.

For the purpose of creating villages, land was put at the

disposition of societies or individuals, who undertook to people

them with immigrants fulfilling the same conditions as independent

settlers. Two-thirds of the villagers were to be French

immigrants, the other third Frenchmen or naturalized Frenchmen

already settled in Algeria. To favour the establishment

of special industries, the governor-general was given power

to authorize the introduction of foreign instead of French

immigrants. The societies or individuals undertaking village

settlements must do so from philanthropic motives, inasmuch

as within two years of the founding of a village, the land,

under pain of forfeiture to the state, must be transferred

gratuitously to the villagers. As will be seen, settlement

on the land by Europeans is hampered by official restrictions,

especially by the stringent regulations as to residence.

Justice.--Two judicial systems exist in Algeria--native and

French. Native courts decide suits between Mahommedans.

From the decision of the cadis appeal lies to the French

courts. The French system provides, for civil cases, a court

of first instance in each of the sixteen arrondissements

into which the country is divided. A court of appeal sits at

Algiers. There are also tribunals of commerce and justices of

the peace with extensive jurisdiction. The criminal courts are

organized as in France. Trial by jury has been introduced; but

as natives are not allowed to act as jurymen this has often led

to serious miscarriages of justice and to excessive severities.

Whilst modifications of the law require special legislation or

decree, it has been legally decided that all laws in force in

France before the conquest of the country (i.e. those anterior

to the 22nd of July 1834) are in force in Algeria. In practice the

courts allow themselves wide latitude in applying this principle.

Education.--The system of education is complicated by the

co-existence of Mahommedan and Christian communities. Before

the arrival of the French two kinds of instruction were given,

reading and writing being taught in the ordinary schools and

higher education--largely theological--in medressas (colleges),

usually attached to the chief mosques. Attempts by the French

to improve the education of the natives were at first marked

by hesitation and long periods in which little or nothing was

done. The provision for the instruction of the European and

Jewish population was also inadequate. In 1883 a law was

passed for the reorganization of the systems in force, and

primary instruction was made compulsory for Europeans and

Jews, whilst in the case of Mahommedans discretion in the

establishment of schools was vested in the governor- general.

Attempts are made to assimilate the Mahommedan population by means

of Franco-Arab primary and secondary schools, which supplement

the purely French and purely Arab establishments of the same

character. These attempts meet with little success, owing in

part to racial prejudice and in part to the indifference of the

Arabs to education. Few Moslems attend the secondary schools.

Purely Mahommedan higher schools exist at Algiers, Tlemcen and

Constantine. From these establishments the ranks of native

officials are recruited. There is one secondary school for

Moslem girls. The education provided for Europeans resembles

in most respects that given in France. (The lycees at

Algiers, Oran and Constantine are open to Mahommedans, but few

take advantage of them.) Besides the government schools there

are establishments conducted by clerics and laymen. The best

girls' schools are generally those kept by nuns. At Algiers

there is an establishment with faculties of law, medicine and

pharmacy, science and letters. At Oran is a college for

European girls. The scholars attending primary schools number

about 150,000 (over 100,000 being Europeans and some 15,000

Jewish) and those at secondary schools about 6000. (F. R. C.)

HISTORY

Africa Minor.

From a geographical point of view Algeria, together with Morocco

and Tunisia, from which it is separated only by artificial and

purely political frontiers, forms a distinct country. which

it is convenient to designate by the name of Africa Minor.

Both historically and geographically, Africa Minor belongs much

more to the Mediterranean world than to the African. All the

foreign invaders who successively established their dominion

over this country either crossed the Mediterranean or followed

its shores. The Phoenicians, the Romans, the Vandals, the

Byzantines, the Arabs, the Turks and the French, all came

from the east or from the north. The history of Africa Minor

is the history of all those foreigners who have successively

endeavoured to exploit this land, the history of their divers

civilizations struggling against an ever-renascent barbarism.

The political divisions of Africa Minor have changed many

times, for, as the country has no natural centre, many towns

have aspired to play the role of capital. The rivalry of

these towns is intimately connected with the struggles and

insurrections which have stained the land with blood. The

existing division--viz. Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia--dates

back to the time of the Turkish dominion. It is since

that time only that the expression Algeria has been in use.

Struggle with Spain.

At the beginning of the 16th century the native dynasties

which divided Africa Minor between them--the Marinides at

Fez, the Abd-el-Wahid at Tlemcen, and the Hafsides at

Tunis--were without strength and without authority. Two

nations, then at the height of their power, Spain and

Turkey, disputed the empire of the Mediterranean. The

Spaniards took Mers-el-Kebir (1505), Oran (1509), and Bougie

and Tripoli (1510). Two Turkish corsairs, Arouj and his

brother, Khair-ed-Din (otherwise known as Barbarossa), at

first established in the island of Jerba and afterwards at

Jijelli, disputed with the Spaniards the dominion of the

country. Arouj seized Algiers (1516); Khair-ed-Din, succeeding

him in 1518, did homage for his conquest to the sultan at

Constantinople, who named him beylerbey and sent him soldiers

(1519). Then began the struggle of the Turks with Spain. In

1541 the emperor Charles V. undertook a great expedition against

Algiers. He succeeded in landing, and proceeded to attack the

town. But during the night of the 26th of October a violent

storm destroyed a great part of his fleet. His provisions and

his ammunition were lost, his army was compelled to retreat

with considerable loss, and the emperor had to re-embark with

the remnant of his troops. This check completely discouraged

the Spaniards and assured success to the Turks. The Spanish

garrisons established in the coast towns, badly paid and

left without reinforcements, had difficulty in defending

themselves. In the end, the only towns the Spaniards

retained on the Algerian coast were Oran and Mers-el-Kebir.

These two towns, taken by the Turks in 1708 and retaken

by the Spaniards in 1732, were finally abandoned in 1791.

Barbary corsairs.

Under the Turkish dominion Algeria had originally at its head a

beylerbey resident at Algiers. He controlled three beys:--the

bey of Titeri in the south, the bey of the east at Constantine,

and the bey of the west who resided at Mascara and afterwards at

Oran. These three beys existed till 1830. The beylerbeys

were replaced in 1587 by pashas sent triennially by the

Porte. But the authority of these pashas, strangers to the

country, was always precarious. They found themselves, in fact,

in conflict with two forces, which in principle were in their

service, but which in reality held the power--the taiffe des

reis, otherwise called the corporation of the corsairs (see

BARBARY PIRATES), and the janissaries, a kind of military

democracy in which each member was promoted according to

seniority. In 1669 the corsairs drove out the pasha, and put

into his place a dey elected by themselves. After some fruitless

attempts Turkey ceased to send pashas to Algiers--where they

were not allowed even to land--and thus recognized the de

facto independence of this singular republic. The authority

of the deys, moreover, was scarcely more solid than that of the

pashas. They trembled before the janissaries, who from the

18th century elected and deposed them at their pleasure.

The relations which the European powers were able to

maintain with northern Africa were at that time difficult and

uncertain. Ships trading in the Mediterranean were seized

by the corsairs, who pillaged the coasts of Europe, carried

off their captives to Algiers, and destroyed the fishing and

commercial settlements founded by the Marseillais on the shores of

Africa. The Christian governments either uttered useless

and impotent complaints at Constantinople, or endeavoured

to negotiate directly with Algiers, as in the case of the

negotiations of Sanson Napollon during the ministry of

Richelieu. More rarely their patience became exhausted,

and ships were sent to bombard this nest of pirates. Two

naval demonstrations were made by France during the reign of

Louis XIV., one by Abraham Duquesne in 1682, and the other

by Marshal Jean d'Estrees in 1688, but these repressive

measures were too intermittent to produce a durable effect.

In 1815 at the congress of Vienna, and in 1818 at the

congress of Aix-la-Chapelle, the powers endeavoured to

concert measures to put an end to the Barbary piracy.

Nevertheless the naval demonstrations made by Lord Exmouth

in 1816, and by a combined English and French squadron in

1819, remained equally fruitless. But the result which

the European powers in concert had been unable to achieve,

was brought about by the accidental circumstances which led

France to undertake alone an expedition against Algiers.

French intervention.

Some difficulties had arisen between France and the dey of

Algiers with reference to the debts contracted to Bacri and

Busnach, two Algerine Jews who had supplied corn to the

French government under the Directory. This question of

interest would not have been sufficient in itself to bring

about a rupture, but the situation became acute when the dey,

Hussein, struck the French consul, Deval, on the face with his

fly-flap (April 30, 1827). Thereupon the port of Algiers was

blockaded. The minister of war, the duc de Clermont-Tonnerre,

would have gone further, but the president of the council,

the comte de Villele, opposed the sending of an expedition,

while in the Martignac ministry M. de la Ferronays, minister of

foreign affairs, was bent upon negotiating. It needed a second

insult--the firing on ``La Provence,'' a vessel carrying a flag

of truce, in the harbour of Algiers (August 3, 1829)--to spur

the French government to further action than an ineffectual

blockade. An expedition against Algiers was then decided upon,

and Marshal de Bourmont, the minister of war, himself took the

command. On the 14th of June 1830 the French troops landed at

Sidi-Ferruch. On the 19th of June they beat the enemy at

Staoueli. On the 4th of July the fort de l'Empereur was blown

up. On the 5th of July Algiers capitulated. Some days later

the dey was deported, as well as the greater part of the

janissaries. Those who were not married were conveyed

immediately to Asia Minor; the rest had permission to

remain, but in fact they left the country soon afterwards.

Meanwhile the revolution of July 1830 had broken out in

France. The new government found itself very much embarrassed

by the situation bequeathed by the Restoration. The more

serious section in parliament were frankly opposed to the

idea of conquering or of colonizing Algeria; on the other

hand, popular sentiment was hostile to evacuation. The

French government--fearing to displease the other powers

by following up its conquest, and hampered in particular

by its engagements towards England, yet conscious that

the only means of putting an end to the piracy was to

remain--decided provisionally in favour of that intermediate

system, called restricted occupation, which consisted

in occupying merely the principal seaports and awaiting

events. The Algerians extricated the government from its

difficulty by attacking the French troops, who were obliged

to defend themselves. The natives gained some successes,

and it became necessary to avenge the honour of the flag. In

this gradual manner were the French led to conquer Algeria.

General Bertrand Clausel, who succeeded Marshal de Bourmont,

was one of the few men who at that period dreamed of conquering

and colonizing Algeria. His enthusiastic confidence knew no

obstacles. If the dey had left, the three beys remained.

With the feeble resources at his disposal Clausel undertook an

expedition against Bu-Meyrag, the bey of Titeri, took from him

Blida and Medea, dismissed him, replaced him by a successor

devoted to France, and returned to Algiers after having left

a garrison in Medea. Then, not having the means of directly

extending the rule of France to the east or west, Clausel

devised a system of protectorates. He negotiated directly with

the bey of Tunis with a view to installing as beys at Oran and

Constantine Tunisian princes who recognized the authority of

France. But the events which were taking place in Europe made

it imperative to send home a part of the army of Africa, and

Medea had to be evacuated. At the same time the negotiations

set on foot with the bey of Tunis were censured by the

government, and General Clausel was recalled (February 1831).

The period of uncertainty was prolonged under his successors,

General Pierre Berthezene (February to December 1831); A.

J. M. R. Savary, duc de Rovigo (December 1831 to March 1833),

General Avizard (March to April 1833), and General Voirol

(April 1833 to September 1834). The French, not yet certain

whether or not they would retain Algeria, remained on the

defensive. At the time they occupied only the three towns

of Algiers, Bona and Oran, with their suburbs, where their

situation was moreover singularly precarious. The Arabs

would pillage the suburbs and run away. Sometimes they cut

off supplies by ceasing to bring provisions to the market,

but the French were not to be turned aside by such tactics.

At Algiers the energies of the French were devoted to

protecting themselves against the incursions of the

Hajutas. This was sufficient to absorb the attention of the

general-in-chief, who left the guardianship of the east and

west to the initiative of the generals established at Bona and

Oran. At Bona, where General Monk d'Uzer was in command

till 1836, things went fairly well. At once firm and

conciliatory, he had been able to attach to the French cause

the natives whom the cruelty of Ahmed, bey of Constantine, had

alienated. The occupation of Bougie by General Camille Alphonse

Trezel in October 1833 gave the French a footing at another

point of this eastern province. But at Oran, where General

Desmichels had succeeded General P. F. X. Boyer in the spring

of 1833, their situation was much less favourable. There

the French had found a redoubtable adversary in the young

Abd-el-Kader, who had been proclaimed amir at Mascara in 1832.

Abd-el-Kader.

A man of rare intelligence, a fearless horseman and an eloquent

orator, Abd-el-Kader had acquired a great reputation by his

piety. He reunited under his sway the tribes that had

hitherto been divided, and infused a unique spirit into their

resistance. For fifteen years he held the French in check,

treating on terms of equality with their government. Moreover,

the treaty which General Desmichels had the weakness to sign

with him on the 24th of February 1834 greatly improved his

position. In pursuance of this treaty, French officers were

to represent their country at the court of the amir; while

the amir on his part was represented in the three French coast

towns, Oran, Arzeu and Mostaganem, by vakils who immediately

began to act as masters of the natives. Such was the situation

at the period when, the French having at last resolved to keep

Algeria, the ordinance of the 22nd of July 1834 laid down the

bases of the political and administrative organization of the

``French possessions in the north of Africa,'' at the head

of which was placed a governor-general. But this date (July

22, 1834), very important from a judicial point of view, is

much less so from a historical point of view. The position

of the first governor-general, Jean Baptiste Drouet d'Erlon

(1765- 1844), remained fully as precarious as that of his

predecessor. During this time the power of Abd-el-Kader

increased. Master of the province of Oran, he crossed the

Shelif at the appeal of the natives, the people flocking

to witness his progress as that of an emperor. He entered

Miliana and Medea, where he installed beys of his own choice.

All the western part of Algeria belonged to him. General

Trezel, who had succeeded General Desmichels at Oran, resolved

to march against the amir, but was defeated on the banks of

the Macta (June 1835). This defeat shook public opinion.

Drouet d'Erlon was recalled and replaced by Marshal Clausel.

In short, five years after the capitulation of Algiers, the

French dominion extended as yet over only six coast towns.

Clausel, who returned with the same colonial ambitions as in

1830, resolved to conquer the interior of the country. He

marched against the amir, defeated him and entered Mascara.

Then he proceeded to deliver the inhabitants of Tlemcen,

who had been attacked by Abd-el-Kader, and there he left a

garrison. Turning towards the east, Clausel organized

at Bona the first expedition against Constantine. This

failed, and the only result of it was the occupation of

Guelma. Clausel was recalled and replaced by General C. M.

D. Damremont (February 1837). The task of maintaining the

position of France was then divided between Thomas Robert

Bugeaud (1784-1849), acting independently in the west, and

Damremont, who directed all his efforts towards the east.

By the signature of the celebrated treaty of the Tafna (June

1, 1837), Bugeaud made peace with Abd-el-Kader. In return for

a vague recognition of the sovereignty of France in Africa,

this treaty gave up to the amir the whole of western Algeria.

France reserved to herself only Oran and its environs, Mazagran,

Algiers and the Metija; she gave up Tlemcen and the Titeri

beylik. This was a triumph for Abd-el-Kader, who rerarded

the peace as but a truce which would allow him time to gain

strength to resume the war under more favourable conditions.

Damremont, on his part, directed a second expedition on

Constantine. The town was taken, but Damremont was killed

(October 1837). Marshal Sylvain Charles Valee (1773-1846),

who replaced him, founded Philippeville to serve as a seaport

for the region of Constantine, occupied Jijelli, and at the

head of the expeditionary column returned from Constantine

to Algiers by the interior, passing through Setif and les

Portes de fer. Abd-el-Kader maintained that the French had

thus violated the treaty of the Tafna, and began the war

again. For two years his power had been increasing. A whole

hierarchy of khalifas, aghas and caids obeyed him. He had

a regular army of 8000 infantry and 2000 cavalry, without

counting 50,000 goums (bodies of Arab horsemen) brought by the

khalifas. He was well furnished with war material, possessing

magazines and arsenals in the heart of the Tell. He had

attacked and subjugated all who were not willing to recognize his

authority. Under his influence old rivalries were effaced; at

his voice all the tribes joined in the holy war. On the 18th

of November 1839 he sent his declaration of war to Marshal

Valee, but the impatient Hajutas had already devastated the

Metija. Marshal Valee marched against Abd-el-Kader, and at

first gained some successes: the French occupied Cherchel,

Medea and Miliana. But at the end of 1840 valee was recalled

and replaced by Bugeaud, who adopted totally different

tactics. The system of Marshal Valee had been the defensive:

he multiplied the fortified posts in order to draw the enemy

to a spot chosen beforehand. Bugeaud resolutely adopted the

offensive, reduced the weight carried by the soldiers in

order to increase the mobility of his troops, and carried

the war into the province of Oran, from which Abd-el-Kader

drew his principal resources. One after the other, all the

magazines of the amir--those at Takdempt, Boghar, Taza, Saida

and Sebdu--were taken and destroyed. In the spring of 1843

the duc d'Aumale had an opportunity of surprising the smala

(camp) of Abd-el-Kader near Taguin. This was a serious blow

for the amir, whose determination to continue the contest

was, however, as strong as ever. He took refuge in Morocco,

and induced that power to declare war on the French on the

pretext that they would not give up the frontier post of

Lalla-Maghnia. Morocco was soon vanquished. While Francois,

prince de Joinville, was bombarding Tangier and Mogador, Bugeaud

gained the victory of the Isly (August 1844). Morocco signed

a treaty of peace at Tangier on the 10th of September 1844.

The struggle, however, was not ended. Islam made a supreme

effort in Algeria. The Dahra and the Warsenis rose at the voice

of a fanatic called Bu-Maza (``the goat man''), a Khuan of

the order of the Mouley-Taieb. Elsewhere other ``masters of

the hour,'' false Bu-Mazas, rose. Abd-el-Kader reappeared in

Algeria, which he overran with a rapidity which baffled all

pursuit. He beat the French at Sidi Brahim, raided the tribes

of the Tell Oranais which had abandoned him, penetrated as far

as the borders of the Metija, and reached the Jurjura, where he

endeavoured to rouse the Kabyles. But his eloquence offended

the narrow and cramped particularism of those little democratic

cities, deaf to the sentiment of the common interest. From

that time he played a losing game. He returned toward the

west, penetrating farther and farther to the south. Badly

received by the great aristocratic family of the Walid-sidi-

Sheikh, he re-entered Morocco, but the emperor of that country,

dreading his influence and fearing difficulties with the French,

drove him out. This was the end. On the 23rd of December

1847 Abd-el-Kader surrendered to General Lamoriciere in the

plains of Sidi-Brahim. His adversary, Bugeaud, was there no

longer. Having failed to persuade the French government

to adopt his plans of military colonization, he had retired

in June 1847 and had been replaced by the duc d'Aumale.

The surrender of Abd-el-Kader marks the end of the period

of the conquest. It is true that Great Kabylia had to be

subdued only ten years later, and that terrible insurrections

still had to be quelled. But at the end of the reign

of Louis Philippe the essential work was accomplished.

All that remained was to complete and to secure it.

French progress.

Under the second republic Algeria was governed successively

by Generals L. E. Cavaignac (February to April 1848), N. A.

T. Changarnier (April to September 1848), V. Charon (September

1848 to October 1850), and A. H. d'Hautpoul (October 1850 to

December 1851). The policy followed at this period consisted

in assimilating Algeria to France. Important efforts were made

to attract French colonists to the country, the colonization

of Algeria appearing as a means towards the extinction of

pauperism in the mother-country. This point of view suggested

numerous projects, as chimerical as they were generous; two

millions sterling (50 million francs) were expended with a view

to installing Parisian unemployed workmen as colonists, but

this attempt failed miserably. The most remarkable military

events of this period were (1) the siege and destruction

of the oasis of Zaatcha, where the inhabitants, displeased

by an alteration in the tax on palms, rose at the voice of

a fanatic named Bu-Zian; (2) the ineffectual campaign of

Marshal Saint Arnaud in Little Kabylia, where the tribes rose

at the instigation of Bu-Magla (``the mule man'') in 1851.

Marshal J. L. C. A. Randon (1795-1871), named governor-

general of Algeria after the coup d'etat, had at first

to repress in the south a rising of a new ``master of the

hour,'' Mahomet ben Abdallah, the sherif of Wargla. A column

seized Laghouat (El Aghuat) in December 1852. Si-Hamza,

leader of the Walidsidi-Sheikh, an ally of France, indignant

at the growing influence of a base-born agitator, pursued him

and seized Wargla (1853). In 1854 General Desvaux entered

Tuggurt. Henceforth matters remained quiet in the region

of the Sahara, and Marshal Randon turned his efforts towards

Kabylia. Neither the Romans nor the Turks had been able to

subdue this square mountainous tract, of which Bougie, Setif,

Aumale and Dellys form the four corners. But in two months

(May to June 1857) Marshal Randon made himself master of

it, and built in the heart of this country Fort Napoleon (now

Fort National), ``the thorn in the side of Kabylia,'' whose

batteries commanded all the Kabyle villages of the region.

In 1858 the creation of a ``ministry of Algeria and of

the colonies'' brought about the resignation of Marshal

Randon. The administrative headquarters of Algeria was then

transferred from Algiers to Paris. The ministry of Algeria

was entrusted first to Prince Napoleon, and afterwards to

the marquis J. N. S. P. de Chasseloup-Laubat (1805-1873).

But this office, created at the least prematurely, soon

disappeared without causing any regrets. This ephemeral regime

lasted from the 24th of June 1858 to the 24th of November

1860. The decree of the 24th of November 1860 transferred

the services from Paris back to Algiers, and re-established

the functions of governor-general, which were exercised at

the end of the second empire first by Marshal Pelissier,

duc de Malakoff (December 1860 to September 1864) and then

by Marshal Macmahon, duc de Magenta (September 1864 to July

1870). At this period the conception of the Arab kingdom

was prevalent. The emperor Napoleon III., in a celebrated

letter, wrote that he was as much the emperor of the Arabs

as the emperor of the French. Algeria was considered as a

kind of great military fief, and the officers who ruled there

commonly took the side of the native chieftains against the

civil population. European colonization, hampered by the

ill-will of the Arab bureaux, then made little progress.

Revolt of 1864-1871.

It was at this period that the great insurrection of the

Walidsidi-Sheikh broke out in the Sud Oranais. This powerful

family had lived up to that time on a good understanding with

France; Si-Hamza, chief of the elder branch, had remained

until his death (1861) a faithful ally of France. Thanks to

him, the security of the southern frontier was assured. But

after his death his son, Si-Sliman, imbued with anti-French

sentiments, revolted in 1864 and massacred the Beaupretre

column. Several years were occupied in quelling the

insurrection. Compelled to guard themselves on the south

against the Walid-sidi-Sheikh,the French realized how

much they lost by not having the support of these great

chieftains. They then accepted the services offered to them

by Si-Sliman-ben- Kadour, chief of the younger branch of the

Walid-sidi-Sheikh, who maintained tranquillity in the Sud

Oranais during the great insurrection of Kabylia in 1871.

The causes of this insurrection were manifold, and, moreover,

interdependent: the injury done to the military prestige of

France by its defeats in Europe; the fall of the imperial

government, in which, in the eyes of the natives, the

authority of France was incarnate; and the insults offered

with impunity in the streets by the civil population to the

officers, who were loved and respected by the Arabs, at the

same time that the decree of Adolphe Cremieux accorded to

the Algerine Jews the rights of French citizens. The great

native chiefs, bewildered and disquieted, thought themselves

menaced. The insurrection was inevitable. Mokrani, bach-agha

of the Mejana, whom the imperial government had loaded with

honours, gave the signal. He had an interview with El Haddad,

the sheikh of the Khuans, the religious confraternity of

Sidi-Abd-er-Rahman, whose influence was great, and having

secured his support in April 1871, Mokrani proclaimed the holy

war. At the bidding of El Haddad the whole of Kabylia rose,

and numbers of French colonists were massacred; the columns of

Colonel Cerez and General F. G. Saussier had to engage in numerous

fights. The death of the bach-agha at the battle of Suflat,

the submission of the Sheikh El Haddad, and finally the arrest

of Bu-Meyrag, brother of Mokrani, mark the declining stages

of the insurrection, which was completely suppressed by August

1871. A heavy war contribution was imposed upon the rebels

and their lands were sequestrated. The Beni-Manassir, who

rose almost at the same time in the Dahra, were subdued soon

after. Subsequently the native population of the Algerine Tell

remained quiet, the massacre of the colonists at Margueritte

many years later being a local and isolated movement.

Since 1870.

Under the third republic Algeria was governed successively

by Admiral L. H. de Gueydon (March 1871 to June 1873),

General A. E. A. Chanzy (June 1873 to February 1879), J.

P. L. Albert Grevy (March 1879 to November 1881), Tirman

(November 1881 to April 1891), Jules Cambon (April 1891 to

September 1897), Louis Lepine (September 1897 to August

1898), E. J. Laferriere (August 1898 to October 1900),

Charles Jonnart (October 1900 to June 1901), A. J. P. Revoil

(June 1901 to April 1903), and again Jonnart. During the

first years of the new regime a keen reaction was produced

against the political system of the imperial government in

Africa. The civil territory was considerably enlarged at

the expense of the military. An effort was made to attract

French colonists to Algeria by gratuitous concessions of

land. Some lands were granted in particular to natives of

Alsace-Lorraine, who preferred to retain French nationality

after the war. Peasants from the south of France, whose vines

had been destroyed by the phylloxera, crossed the Mediterranean

and established in Algeria an important vineyard. This

double current of immigration notably increased the French

population of North Africa. The tendency then was to treat

Algeria as a piece of France. This assimilative policy

attained its culminating point in the so-called decrees of

rattachement (1881), in pursuance of which each ministerial

department in France was made responsible for Algerine

affairs which came by their nature within its jurisdiction.

After a great inquiry held in 1892 by a senatorial committee

a reaction was produced in France against this excessive

assimilation. The system of rattachement was in great part

abandoned, and decentralization was obtained by augmenting the

powers of the governor-general, and by granting to Algeria legal

personality and a special budget (see above, Central Government.)

These reforms appear to have given satisfaction to Algerian

opinion. Profoundly troubled as Algeria was in the last

years of the 19th century by the anti-Semitic agitation, which

occasioned frequent changes of governors, it appears to-day to

have turned aside from sterile political struggles to interest

itself exclusively in the economic development of the country.

The movement of expansion towards the south was continued under

the third republic. In 1873 General G. A. A. Gailifet entered El

Golea. In 1882 the oasis of Mzab was annexed. In the Sud

Oranais an insurrection, fomented by a marabout named Bu-Amama,

broke out in 1881, and the insurgents massacred the European

labourers engaged in the collection of alfa (or esparto)

grass. But soon the French columns re-established peace, and

Bu-Amama had to take refuge in Morocco. In 1883 Si-Hamza, chief

of the elder branch of the Wahd-sidi-Sheikh, made his submission,

and since then that family has remained devoted to France.

The attempts at penetration into the extreme south, abandoned after

the massacre by Tuareg of a mission sent in 1881, under Colonel

Paul Flatters, to study the question of railway communication

with Senegal, were begun again in 1890, in which year the British

government recognized the western Sahara as within the French

sphere. Since then military stations and scientific and

commercial exploration have increased. But the results of

these efforts remained inconsiderable until the spring of 1900,

when the French authorities decided to occupy the oases of

Gurara, Tuat and Tidikelt. This being accomplished by March

1901, the conquest of the Algerine Sahara was from that time

completed, and nothing any longer hindered the attempts to

join Algeria and the Sudan across the Sahara. (A. GIR.)

BIBLIOORAPHY.--For a general account of Algeria, see Maurice

Wahl, L'Algerie (5th ed., Paris, 1908); P. Leroy-Beaulieu,

Algerie et Tunisie (2nd ed., Paris, 1897); J. A. Battandier

and L. Trabut, L'Algerie; le sol et les habitants (Paris,

1898), specially valuable for agriculture and fauna; Arthur

Girault, Principes de colonisation et de legislation

coloniale, Tome iii. ch. i.-viii. (3rd ed., Paris, 1908),

containing valuable bibliographies of works relating to

legislation, jurisprudence, &c.; Jules Duval, L'Algerie et

les colonies francaises (Paris, 1877). The Statistiaue

generale de l'Algerie is published periodically by the

Algerian government. The British Foreign Office publishes

annual Reports on the Trade of Algeria; Sir R. Lambert

Playfair's Handbook for Travellers in Algeria (Murray's

Handbooks), corrected to 1902, is a capital guide to the

country, as is also Algerie et Tunisie (Paris, 1906), in the

Guides- Joanne Series; the Bibliography of Algeria (London,

1888), and the Supplement to the Bibliography of Algeria

(London, 1898), by Sir Lambert Playfair, contain thousands

of entries and many notes. J. A. Battandier and L. Trabut,

Flore de l'Algerie (Algiers and Paris, 1884 and onwards),

contains a scientific and descriptive catalogue, in several

volumes, of the indigenous flora. For the geology of Algeria,

see M. A. Pomel, Description stratigraphique generale

de l'Algerie (1889), and numerous papers by E. Ficheur, L.

Gentil, G. Rolland, P. Thomas, and J. Welsch will be found

in the Bull. Soc. Geol. France, and Compt. Rend,

Acad. Sci. The volumes of the International Geological

Congress review Algerian geology. The French government

publication, Exploration scientifique de l'Algerie (20

vols., 1844-1853), gives the results of investigations made in

1840-1842. O. Depont and X. Conpolani, Les Confeeries

religiouses musulmanes (Algiers, 1897), and Carte de

l,Algerie . . . domaine geographique des confreries

(Algiers, 1898), have special reference to the Islamic sects in

Algeria. Stephane Gsell's Les monuments antiques de l'Algerie

(2 vols., Baris, 1901), one of the publications of the Service

des monuments historiques of the colony, is an authoritative

and finely illustrated work on the antiquities of Algeria.

For archaeology see also the bibliography in AFRICA, ROMAN.

The best best elementary work on the history of Algeria

is that of Cat, Petite histoire de l'Algerie (Algiers,

1889). For more profound researches consult: (a) for the

Turkish period: H. D. de Gramont, Histoire d'Alger sous la

domination turque (1887); Mercier, Histoire de l'Afrique

septenirionale (1888-1891); Eugene Plantet, Correspondance

des deys d'Alger avec la cour de France (1889--1892); Paul

Masson, Histoire dec etablissements et du commerce francais

dans l'Afrique barbaresque (1903); General Faure-Biguet,

Histoire de l'A.irique septentrionale sous la domination

musulmane (1905); (b) for the French period: Camille Rousset,

La Conquete d'Alger (8th ed., 1899), Les Commencements

d'une conquete; l,Algerie de 1830 a 1840, with atlas

(1887), and La Conquete de l'Algerie, 1841- 1857, with

atlas (1889); Pelissier, Annales algeriennes (1834); Leon

Roches, Trente-deux ans a travers l'Islam (1884-1837); Colonel

Trumelet, Histoire de l'insurrection des Guled-Sidi-Cheik

(1887); Rinn, Histoire de l'insurrection de 1871 (1891).

The best general maps are those of the Carte de l'Algerie,

in numerous sheets, on the scale of 1:50,000 (published by

the Service geographique de l'Armee, Paris). (F. R. C.)

1 The name ``Great'' Atlas is more correctly

applied to the main range in Morocco.

2 The figures given are not those of the communes, but of the

towns proper, certain classes of persons (such as troops, lunatics,

convicts) excluded from the municipal franchise not being counted.

3 This western beylik corresponded roughly

with the former sultanate of Tlemcen (q.v..)

ALGHERO, a seaport and episcopal see on the W. coast of

Sardinia, in the province of Sassari, 21 m. S.S.W. by rail

from the town of Sassari. Pop. (1901) 10,779. The see was

founded in 1503, but the cathedral itself dates from the 12th

century, though it has been reconstructed. The town was strongly

fortified by medieval walls, which have to some extent been

demolished. It was originally founded by the Doria family of

Genoa about 1102, but was occupied by the house of Aragon in

1354, who held it successfully against various attacks until

it fell to the house of Savoy with the rest of Sardinia in

1720. Catalonian is still spoken here. Charles V. visited

Alghero on his way to Africa in 1541. The coral and fishing

industries are the most important in Alghero, but agriculture

has made some progress in the district, which produces good

wine. There is a large penal establishment containing over 700

convicts. Seven miles to the W.N.W. is the fine natural

harbour of Porto Conte, secure in all weather, and on the

W. of this harbour is the Capo Caccia, with two stalactite

grottos, the finest of which, the Grotta di Nettuno, is

accessible only from the sea. The important prehistoric

necropolis of Anghelu Ruju was excavated in 1904 61

m. N. of Alghero (Notizie degli Scavi, 1904, 301 seq.).

ALGIDUS MONS, a portion of the ridge forming the rim of the

larger crater of the Alban volcano (see ALBANUS MONS) and more

especially the eastern portion, traversed by a narrow opening

(now called the Cava d'Aglio) of which the Via Latina took

advantage, and which frequently appears in the early military

history of Rome. That a distinct town existed (Dion. Halic. x.

21, xi. 3) on the mountain is improbable; there must have been

a fortified post, but the extensive castle on the hill (Maschio

d'Ariano) to the south of the Via Latina is entirely medieval,

a fact which has not been recognized by some topographers.

ALGIERS (Fr. Alger, Arab. Jezair, i.e. The Islands),

capital and largest city of Algeria, North Africa, seat of the

governor- general, of a court of appeal, and of an archbishop,

and station of the French XIX. corps d'armee. It is situated

on the west side of a bay of the Mediterranean, to which it

gives its name, in 36 deg. 47' N., 3 deg. 4' E., and is built on

the slopes of the Sahel, a chain of hills parallel to the

coast. The view of the city from the sea is one of great

beauty. Seen from a distance it appears like a succession

of dazzling white terraces rising from the water's edge. The

houses being seemingly embowered in the luxuriant verdure of

the Sahel, the effect is imposing and picturesque, and has

given rise to the Arab comparison of the town to a diamond

set in an emerald frame. The city consists of two parts;

the modern French town, built on the level ground by the

seashore, and the ancient city of the deys, which climbs

the steep hill behind the modern town and is crowned by the

kasbah or citadel, 400 ft. above the sea. The kasbah forms

the apex of a triangle of which the quays form the base.

Extending along the front of the town is the boulevard de la

Republique, a fine road built by Sir Morton Peto on a series of

arches, with a frontage of 3700 ft., and bordered on one side

by handsome buildings, whilst a wide promenade overlooking the

harbour runs along the other. Two inclined roads lead from

the centre of the boulevard to the quay 40 ft. below. On the

quay are the landing-stages, the custom-house and the railway

station. At the southern end of the boulevard de la Republique

is the square de la Republique, formerly the place Bresson,

in which is the municipal theatre; at the other extremity of

the boulevard is the place du Gouvernement, which is planted

on three sides with a double row of plane trees and is the

fashionable resort for evening promenade. The principal streets

of the city meet in the place du Gouvernement: the rue Bab

Azoun (Gate of Grief) which runs parallel to the boulevard de

la Republique; the rue Bab-el-Oued (River Gate) which goes

north to the site of the old arsenal demolished in 1900; the

rue de la Marine which leads to the ancient harbour, and in

which are the two principal mosques. A large part of the

modern town lies south of the square de la Republique; in

this quarter are the law courts, hotel de ville, post office

and other public buildings. The streets in the modern town

are regularly laid out; several are arcaded on both sides.