is crossed by travellers nearly in the same manner. Eight sheep-skins are filled with air, and tied together with small cords, and a few slender poles are laid on them, and made fast. On this raft the traveller places himself and his baggage, while a man swims before, and pulls it on with one hand, and another man swims after, and pushes it.

From L'Araich I proceeded to Tangier, a distance of about fifty miles; the country barren and mountainous, with only a few douars inclosed with thick and high hedges. Except the Except the principal street, which is tolerably spacious, the streets of Tangier are so crooked and narrow, that scarcely three persons have room to walk abreast. The houses are so low, that one may reach the tops of most of them with the hand; a few have windows, which are not above a foot square; or loop-holes, a foot in length, and an inch or two in width: the roofs are flat, and covered with terras. In some parts, the principal street is badly paved; the rest is in a state of nature, and nature has placed there enormous rocks. Tangier is in lat. 35° 47′ north, and long. about 5° 40′ west.

On the river Tangier are the ruins of an ancient bridge, supposed to have been erected by the Romans; the centre only is destroyed; and the remainder evinces, by its solidity, the excellence of their workmanship. But the object at Tangier the most interesting to myself was the straits of the Mediterranean sea; a sea which I had quitted on the shore of Egypt, and which now presented to my mind the prospect of home.

From Tangier, I made an excursion to Tetuan, which lies about thirty miles to the eastward, and

five miles from the sea. It is built on á rising ground between two ranges of mountains, and commands a beautiful prospect of the sea. The vale from which it rises is variegated with gardens, vineyards, and plantations of olives, and a river takes its course through the centre. The town is large; the streets are very narrow and filthy; the houses have a mean appearance from the streets; but they are two stories high, and are tolerably spacious and well-furnished within. The inhabitants being, many of them, merchants on a large scale, are opulent and accessible to strangers. The Jewish women are remarkable for the beauty of their features, and the clearness of their complexion.

I had travelled wholly by land since my shipwreck on the coast of the Sahara; at Tangier I went on board a vessel and directed my course to the eastward for Algiers,

407

ON A

CHAPTER XXIII.

COUNTRY OF ALGIERS.

THE length of Algiers from east to west is

about 480 miles. Near Tlemsen, its breadth, from the sea to the Bled el Jereed or Dry Country, is about forty; near the sources of the rivers Sigg and Shelliff it is about sixty; to the eastward of the city of Algiers it is seldom less than a hundred. Algiers is divided into three provinces; that of Tlemsen on the west, Titterie, which contains the capital, in the middle, and Constantina to the east. This country comprehends the ancient Numidia, called afterwards, when the Romans were in possession of it, Mauritania Cæsariensis.

If we imagine a number of hills of easy ascent, and usually of the perpendicular height of from twelve to eighteen hundred feet; with a succession of groves and fruit-trees rising one behind another; and if to these we occasionally add a rocky precipice of superior eminence, and more difficult access, and place upon the side or summit of it a mud-walled village, we shall form a just picture of the Lesser Atlas, which stretches through Algiers.

I landed at Warran, or, as it is more commonly called, Oran, a walled city about a mile in circumference. It is situated on the declivity, and near the foot of a high mountain. A deep, winding valley serves it as a natural trench on one side, and supplies it with excellent water. At every open

ing of the valley are seen rocky precipices, rills of water, and plantations of orange trees.

At Warran I hired three spahis, or horse soldiers, and once more directed my steps towards Tlemsen, which was fifty-four miles distant, in a southern direction, a little inclining to the west. Tlemsen is the capital of the western province; and, in a direct line, it is only about fifteen miles from the nearest part of the Mediterranean sea, the bay of Harsh-goone.

The greater part of the city walls has been formed of a composition of gravel, sand, and lime, well tempered, and beaten down in frames; the size of some of these frames may still be traced, and they were at least a hundred yards in length, and two in height and thickness. The cases were removed as the composition hardened, and the wall afterwards attained the strength and solidity of stone. About the year 1670 the Dey of Algiers laid most of the city in ruins. When entire, it might be about four miles in circumference; not more than a sixth part is now remaining. The country around is rich in corn.

From Tlemsen I returned to Warran, from whence I made an excursion along the coast to the mouth of the Sheliff. At Arzew I saw the capital of a Corinthian pillar, of Parian marble, supporting the anvil of a smith; and, in the house of the Kaide, I discovered a beautiful tesselated pavement through the rents of a tattered carpet.

From Arzew I proceeded eastward to Mustygannim, so called from the sweetness of the mutton fed in its neighbourhood. The town is built in the form of an amphitheatre, and has a full prospect of the sea; but the view is closed in every

other direction by a semi-circle of hills. It is something larger than Warran, and ranks next to Tlemsen among the cities of the western province.

I now returned again to Warran, and pursued the same easterly course as on my last quitting it, but farther inland. To the south of this city I passed the Shibkah, an extensive sandy plain, rather salt, which is dry in summer, but covered with water in winter. Near the southern bank of the Sheliff, I saw a square tower, formerly a sepulchral monument of the Romans. The old idea of a hidden treasure prevails here; and the following mystical lines were inscribed on the tower by an Arab prince.

Maily

Fe Thully,
Wa Thully

Fe maily.
Etmah

Lateis,

Wa teis

La tetmah.

In English

My treasure

Is in my shade,

And my shade
Is in my treasure.
Search for it,

Despair not:

Nay despair,

Do not search.

These lines are of most happy construction; for, search or not search, find or not find, no suspicion of falsehood can attach to them.

Here I had on my right at the distance of about twenty-four miles, the Wannashrees, a lofty rugged mountain, one of the land-marks of the country, and generally covered with snow. I now crossed the river Sheliff, and proceeded northeast, towards Algiers. About midway between this river and the sea are the Baths of Mereega, which were built and frequented by the Romans.