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II.

AFTER the departure of the Marshal and the Generals there was nothing to detain the General at Oran. He gave orders, consequently,

that we should hold ourselves in readiness for a march. We were now about to visit the west of the province, as we had already visited the circles of Mostaganem and Mascara.

Next day, at noon, we reached the remaining vestiges of Agkbeil. These ruins, which stretch to the south over the hills of Tessalah, belong to M. de Saint Maur, who came, followed by two greyhounds, his only subjects, to receive us at the entrance of his domains. It was thus, in former times, that tenants rendered homage to their liege lords. We all laughed, M. de Saint Maur particularly, at this resuscitation, evoked not altogether by the imagination of olden times. For in truth, this procession of the General across the province,

escorted by native chiefs and warlike populations, who in peace made play-things of their arms, resembled several that occurred in the sixteenth

century, in this very country. The Spanish historian, Marmol, records particularly the brilliant sham fights, not unlike tournaments, that took place in 1520, on the occasion of a progress of Count Alcaudète, the governor of Oran, through the conquered provinces. "The Count," says Marmol, "took the road to Agkbeil, which is a ruined city; and on his approach, many Moors, among his allies, offered him their services. They came by family, or by race, as is their custom, each according to his rank. The first having arrived, the chiefs of the party embraced the Count and conversed with him, then putting their horses through a few showy capers, made place for others to come forward in their turn. Fifty families, or races, with their hundreds of horses, richly caparisoned, without taking into account foot-men, with their lances, spears, bucklers, and swords, were assembled on the occasion. They entertained the Count with a sham fight. The Moors in this combat had more than fifteen bands of five hundred camels each, preceded by twelve women and twelve camels, who, accom

panied by the handsomest of their families, approached the Count, saying: 'Welcome, a hearty welcome to the restorer of the state, the protector of orphans, the good and honourable knight, whose fame is so far spread!' And then other gallantries followed in Arabic, which were explained by the interpreters, and at every pause all men shouted and hurrahed." Now, after the lapse of three hundred years, a very similar scene occurred. What with horses richly caparisoned, and chiefs brilliantly clad, there was little wanting to make the resemblance complete.

The difference which existed between M. De Saint Maur and some of the neighbouring chiefs, respecting the distribution of a current of water, was to be settled this day. The dispute was set at rest in a most friendly manner. Terms of mutual accommodation were agreed upon under a fig tree, near the little stream which was the subject of discussion. The plaintiffs were seated on immense blocks of stone, relics of Roman works, testifying, at the distance of so many centuries, to the grandeur of the Roman power. Judgment being pronounced, the hospitality of the diffa followed. The sheep set before us, born on the plain, and roasted whole, was so succulent that it gave good

encouragement to M. Saint Maur in his colonizing prospects. He pledged himself that he also would have sheep with as long wool, and as delicate a flavour, as any in the country. And since then he has kept his promise, and another besides about the Arab couscouss, which he solemnly engaged himself under the fig-tree to regale us with on our next visit. Fine buildings, and an active and laborious population, now give life and animation to this region, formerly so desolate, and yet so full of grandeur. The impression left on the mind by the surrounding landscape is altogether singular. On the top of the highest ruin, the eye ranging over the immense plain, sensations seize on the spectator which in Africa seem to arise out of the earth itself, and which French scenery can never inspire. Before him, at his feet, are great salt lakes, their diamond surfaces glittering in the sun; on the right, undulating land-waves, blending with the mirage of the air, seem to float away and lose themselves in the haze; on the left, green-wooded, semi-circular hills extend as far as Miserghin, when they rise in arid, rocky crests, gradually up to the summit of Santa Cruz, an agglomeration of stones, the site formerly of a Spanish fortress, and whence the eye

can command a view of the country all round. Further on, hardly distinguishable from the blue of the sky, a line of a deeper colour is first discernible, which is the sea, whose waves wash the shores of Provence; and on the right, the wild, uncouth aspect of the mountains of Lions speaks feelingly of the distance that separates the beholder from France. In contemplating these solitudes, an inexpressible sentiment takes possession of the heart: it is a melancholy one, and yet it is full of grandeur; far from prostrating, it elevates the mind. The shadows of by-gone centuries pass over one's head, and those plains, those mountains, where so many generations, so many varied people have contended and contend alternately with each other, seem to have preserved some mysterious virtue, under which the spectator succumbs. Hence, probably, the strong attachment all feel towards the country who have ever lived in it. From the chief to the soldier, all experience this; and on their return to France, soon weary of the monotonous existence of home, they long again for the hazards, the adventures, and the stirring wild life which Africa alone can afford them, and without which they feel little more than half alive.