CHAPTER XXXIII
THE PROFESSOR'S LECTURE ON ALGERIA
It would require several volumes to detail all the particulars of the daily life of the big four on board of the Maud during the long voyage from the point where the two vessels had met to Constantinople, where Captain Ringgold had decided to make his next stay of any length. The routine of duty and the ordinary experience of the young Americans afloat have been described so that the reader can understand how the days were passed on board of the Maud.
Captain Ringgold had decided that the Guardian-Mother and her consort, as the Maud had now come to be called, should keep together, the former regulating her speed by that of the latter. At the same time the commander had marked out the course on the chart of Captain Scott, so that he could proceed on the voyage alone if by any accident they should be separated.
This course was along the coast of Africa, passing Algiers and Tunis, as far as Cape Bon; then stretching across to Cape Passaro, the south-eastern point of the island of Sicily, leaving Malta on the right. From this cape the course was east for about four hundred miles to the southern capes of Greece, and passing through the channel between the island of Cerigo and the mainland into the Archipelago, where the course would generally be north-east to the Dardanelles. After going through this strait and the Sea of Marmora, the little squadron would arrive at its destination at the city of the Sultan.
Perhaps Captain Ringgold was a little facetious about it, but he called this voyage running away from Ali-Noury Pacha; and it is certain that Mr. and Mrs. Woolridge were very much relieved after the steamer left Gibraltar, where the Fatimé was still at anchor. But the need of coal and fresh provisions would require that some calls should be made at the various ports on or near the course.
The commander had consulted his passengers frequently in regard to where they should go and what they should do. They always protested that they should be happy wherever the commander took them; but now that the danger of encountering the Pacha appeared to be removed, they expressed their minds more freely, though they often changed them.
"I suppose we are going over some of this ground, or rather this water again, are we not?" asked Mrs. Belgrave.
"I think not," replied Captain Ringgold.
"But we all want to see something of Algiers," added the lady.
"Algeria is French now; but I have never been there," added Professor Giroud.
"It is only about eighty miles to Captain Scott's red cross off Algiers, and we shall be up with it at midnight; but as you desire to visit the place, we will go there," replied the commander; and he ordered the course to be changed a point to the southward.
"Algiers" was spelled out with the signal flags for the Maud; and she replied that the message was understood. At two o'clock in the morning the Guardian-Mother stopped her screw off the red and green lights placed at the ends of the two moles that enclose the inner harbor, and the Maud followed her example. The city is built partly on a hill five hundred feet high, and partly on the low ground in front of it. It is on the west side of a bay between Capes Caxine and Matifou, on each of which is a light.
In the early morning the ship led the way into the harbor, and stopped at the approach of the quarantine boat. The Maud placed herself alongside the Guardian-Mother, and the doctor boarded her first. He addressed Captain Scott in French; but Louis, who could speak the language nearly as well as he could English, hastened to his relief. He stated that the little steamer was the tender of the big one, which was a yacht on a pleasure voyage. The Frenchman laughed, was exceedingly polite, and hastened on board of the principal vessel.
She had a clean bill of health, and being a yacht, the custom-house officers, who soon appeared, had no duties to perform or exact. The big four breakfasted on board of the ship, and it was a pleasant reunion after the separation. After the meal the party gathered on the promenade. Blanche Woolridge manifested a great deal of pleasure at meeting Louis again, and he assisted her to mount the steps to the upper deck, and provided her with a chair, taking a seat beside her; and neither her father nor mother frowned at this act of courtesy.
Somewhat to the astonishment of the company, as soon as they were all seated where they could see the upper and the lower city spread out before them, Professor Giroud took a position in front of them. Without saying anything to others, the commander had invited him to tell them something about Algérie, as it is called in French.
"I obey the order of the commander of the Guardian-Mother in standing up before you to say something about Algérie; and I hope I shall not be so dry as to tire you out in half an hour," the scholar of the ship began; and he was answered with a round of applause in which all the ladies joined. "Algérie was formerly a part of the Turkish Empire; but the French have conquered it and made it a colony of my country, and extended its boundary about two hundred miles farther to the south. Its area is said to be a hundred and sixty thousand square miles; but that is only an estimate. As our good captain would add, it is nearest in size to the State of California, and about four times as large as the State of Virginia.
"The population is estimated at 2,600,000, considerably more than half of them being Europeans, mostly French. About one-fifth of the country is under cultivation; and some of it is very fertile, especially in the river valleys. If you look at your maps you will see that the Barbary States—Morocco, Algérie, and Tunis—are crossed by mountain ranges quite near the coast, as on the west coast of South America, so that there can be no large rivers in them.
"Algiers, Bona, and Oran are the principal cities. The provinces with these names are extremely fertile, and were formerly the granaries of Italy. The Southern parts are something like the desert of Sahara, which they border, but contain oases, which are part of the date country.
"The climate in some parts is very hot, but it is cool on the seashore and cold in the high mountains. The thermometer averages sixty-three in this city. The productions are the grains, resin, timber, olives, and dates. Oxen, sheep, and camels are the animals. French is now the language of the people, though Arabic and Turkish are still spoken. In ancient days the eastern part was the country of the Numidians, and the western of the Moors, or a portion of what was called Mauritania."
"My favorite name," added Mrs. Belgrave.
"A pretty name, but with little to recommend it, madame," added the professor. "As Roman colonies these regions enjoyed their highest prosperity; but the conquest of the Vandals sent them back into a state of barbarism. The Mohammedans then got possession, and an improvement followed, and at one time the Arabian savants held the burden of the knowledge then in existence.
"When Ferdinand and Isabella completed the conquest of Granada, the year that Columbus discovered America, they drove the Jews and Moors over into Africa. In revenge for the treatment they had received, they became pirates, and preyed upon their late oppressors. For this Ferdinand attacked them, and captured this city in 1509, fortifying the place. One of the Algerine princes called in Barbarossa, the famous pirate chief, to his assistance. He was a renegade Greek, and had become a Turk. This pirate turned his forces against the emir who had called him over, treacherously murdered him, and made himself Sultan. He was very successful in his wars; the Spaniards were alarmed, and marched out from Oran upon him. Barbarossa was taken prisoner and beheaded, and his brother was chosen his successor. He called in the aid of the Turkish government, whose armies drove the Spaniard out of the country. They established a system of despotism and piracy, which lasted till 1830. For three hundred years the nations of Europe warred against this piracy.
"In 1815 a United States fleet defeated the Algerines, and compelled the dey to respect the American flag ever after. The pirates still exacted tribute or presents from several of the nations of Europe. Various outrages upon the commerce and officials of France brought on a war, which continued with more or less activity for thirty years, and was only ended by the capture of Abd-el-kader. The French have been engaged in extending their conquest up to the present time.
"The city before you, or the beginning of it, was built in the year 935 by an Arab chief, whose name I don't remember. The fortress you see on the hill, five hundred feet high, is the Casbah, and commands the whole city, as the deys who occupied it found it necessary to overawe their own subjects. You observe the lower town nearest to you, and with the exception of a few mosques, it consists of government and commercial buildings. The French occupy this part of the town, while the upper city is still Moorish, as its people and its inhabitants will assure you when you visit it; and this is the part of the city that will interest you most. But I think I have said enough, and perhaps too much."
"No!" shouted Dr. Hawkes, as the professor stepped back and took his seat. "I have been very much interested, for I knew next to nothing about Algeria."
"I heartily indorse the remark of my Brother Adipose Tissue," added Uncle Moses, and the whole party gave a round of applause as an expression of the general sentiment.
"I see that I did wisely and well to call on the professor for this occasion instead of attempting the task he has done so well," said the commander. "But we will use our time while we have it and the weather is pleasant. We are not compelled to take to the barge or cutters for the purpose of going on shore, for we are fortunately provided with a tender under the name of the Maud; and I have directed the engineers to have her in readiness for us. We shall now be under the command of Captain Scott."
"I can find my way to the shore, but I am not a pilot in this harbor," added the captain of the Maud. "I see the custom-house, and I will land you there. There is not less than eighteen feet of water anywhere within the moles, and we can't get aground."
Pitts had put the water into the half-casks, and lowered them into the run. They did not leak now. The velvet cushions were placed on the seats, and the awning stretched out for the protection of the passengers. The standing-room was just a pattern for them. Captain Scott took the wheel, and in five minutes the little steamer was alongside the wharf, for it was not more than three cables' length from the ship. The party divided into groups according to their own fancies. The two fat men were in sympathy, and went together. As usual, Captain Ringgold was the escort of Mrs. Belgrave; the professor took charge of Mrs. Blossom; Louis placed himself at the side of Miss Blanche, and the other three of the big four went by themselves.
"This is nothing but a French town, Miss Blanche," said Louis to his companion, after they had walked a short distance. "It looks like many others I have seen."
"I suppose you could talk with these French people, Mr. Belgrave," added the young lady.
"I could; couldn't you?"
"I am sure I could not. I have studied French in Switzerland and in New York, but I cannot speak it yet."
"I am afraid you don't practise it enough, Miss Blanche."
"I don't practise it at all out of school, for I have no one to talk with. Morris can't speak French any more than I can, and mamma has forgotten all she ever knew."
Louis spoke to her in French, and she replied to him in the same language. With a little assistance over hard places she got along very well, and declared that she was delighted with the exercise, which she should be glad to repeat every day.