the same, and which almost suffocates you when you enter; however, we find precisely the same thing among the peasants of the Vosges, and of several other parts of France."-vol. ii. p. 9.

And now for a few words on the ingenuity and industry of this curious people.

Although, since their origin, the Berbers have lived in a savage state, and have never had any connection with civilized nations, they are still very industrious; they are certainly the most skilful of all the inhabitants of the regency of Algiers: they work the mines of their mountains, and thus obtain lead, copper, and iron.

"With the lead the Berbers make bullets; with copper, some of the ornaments of the women. It is reported that they work even gold and silver; the fact is, that their arms are often decorated with plates of silver admirably worked, and that they make a great quantity of false money, particularly reaux-boudjoux, which they bring to Algiers and the other towns of the regency. These boudjoux are of copper, silvered, and may be known by the notched border, which is executed with a file. "The iron ore, after having been melted, is converted into malleable metal by the hammer. With this iron they make gun-barrels, instruments for ploughing, and many rude utensils, which they sell to the Moors and Arabs. They know how to convert iron into steel, and make knives, sabres, and other cutting instruments, not very elegant, but of a tolerably good quality.

"The Berbers manufacture powder for their own use, but they never sell it. This powder is much more esteemed than that which is made at Algiers. It must be here observed, that the fabrication of powder requires some knowledge for the extraction of the saltpetre, the proportions of the mixture, and the manipulation, which proves that the Berbers have much more instruction than is generally supposed.

"They are seen selling in the towns, and at the fairs which are held in the plain of Metidja, a black soap, which they make with olive oil and the potash which they obtain from sea-weed."—vol. ii. p. 17.

Captain Rozet is well qualified to describe the mode of fighting of the Berbers, as the French army had frequent engage

ments with them :

"The warlike temper of the Berbers, and their savage manners, cause the different tribes to be always at war with each other; they fly to arms on the slightest pretext; a sheep stolen, a tree cut, an insult to a woman, are causes sufficient to excite them to mutual slaughter. Led by their sheiks, and always accompanied by marabouts, their warriors armed each with a gun, a yatagan, and sometimes a brace of pistols, occupy positions, and, hiding themselves behind trees or rocks, shoot at one another, but always at a great distance, so that the war often finishes with no greater hurt than two or three men put hors de combat. Sometimes, however, they come to close quarters; the vanquished fly to places which are inaccessible, and leave to the victors their women, their herds, and their property. But generally they do not push things

to this extremity; after a few shots on each side, the marabouts, who are all-powerful, order them to cease firing, and after mutual negociations, they end by concluding a treaty whereby the injured party is generally indemnified for its losses.

"The greater part of the Berbers who came to the aid of the dey Hussein-Pacha, when he was attacked by the French, was commanded by the famous Benzahmum; he had about as many horse as foot. They were all armed alike, each having a long gun, a yatagan, and often a brace of pistols. Each tribe had its standard, borne by one of the bravest soldiers. In their attacks, the standard-bearers went before, and the others followed. The cavalry darted upon us at full gallop, and the foot came with them; holding themselves on by the saddle or tail of their horses, we sometimes saw as many as three riders on one horse. Arrived at a certain distance, the standard-bearers halted, and the crowd immediately assembled around them; each man fired his gun, then retired to re-load, then returned to fire again, and so on. When they attacked us in the plain, they never dared to stand before our battalions; they arrived at full gallop, discharged their muskets, then turned immediately, lay on their horses, and fled. In this case, the foot lay in ambush behind the hedges, bushes, and trees, and, hiding themselves as much as possible, fled as soon as attacked. In the Atlas, the Berbers posted themselves on the tops and sides of the mountains: when we pursued them, they fled from one rock to another, without ever allowing themselves to be caught; their chief manoeuvre consisted in dispersing as soon as they were attacked, and in rallying immediately to fall upon our rear, or to harass our retreat. Cannon produced on them an effect truly magical; when they saw a piece presented in a given direction, they dared no longer show themselves on that side; and so soon as a ball fell amidst one of their groupes, they all fled in different directions, and none dared to return to the position. They, as well as the Turks, Moors, and Arabs, were seized with terror and wonder, when, a few minutes after our landing on the coast of Africa, they saw our columns march, with their arms on their shoulders, up to their batteries, and take them amidst a heavy fire."-vol. ii. p. 29.

The Berbers are Mahometans, and, as might be supposed, many of their customs and ceremonies have become modified by the religion which they have adopted. Marriage, amongst them, seems to be conducted as a mere matter of commerce, and perhaps the few restrictions in this commerce to which they submit have been imposed upon them by Mahometanism since its introduction

:

"The Berbers arrive early at the age of adolescence; the girls are married at the age of twelve, and the boys at fifteen. It is not here as among the Mussulmans; the women go with their face uncovered, and may converse with the men: the young people see the maidens before marrying them, love them, and seek to excite their love. When a young Berber is in love, he goes to the father of his mistress, and begs him to give her to him for a wife; the father then asks him how many

head of cattle or how much money he can give in exchange. The young man makes his propositions, the father rejects them as not sufficiently advantageous; at last, after having bargained for some time, they conclude by agreeing upon a sum of money, which varies from 30 to 100 boudjoux (65 to 185 francs), or their equivalent in cattle, according to the beauty or qualities of the damsel, and the degree of love which the suitor feels for her. When the bargain is made, the father of the girl and her future husband go to the marabout, and inform him of the agreement they have just concluded; he approves or disapproves, according to his caprice, and sometimes the young man is obliged also to make a composition with him to obtain his consent. When all difficulties are overcome, the husband repairs to the house of his future wife with the sum of money or the cattle which he has promised to the father; the girl is then delivered to him, he leads her to his hut and makes her his wife, without any other ceremony. The Berbers may have four wives, but not more; this restriction has probably been derived from the Mahometans. The women take care of the house; they spin flax and wool, and are also employed in agriculture; they accompany their husbands to the wars, but not in their travels; I never saw Berber women come to Algiers.

"Divorce is allowed among the Berbers ; a husband may quit his wife, either because she has given him some cause to complain, or because he loves her no longer: it is only necessary that he go to a marabout, and declare to him the reasons which oblige him to repudiate her. Immediately after, he orders her to leave his house, and she returns to her father, carrying with her only the clothes she has on her body; but the price which the husband paid for her is not returned; it is only in case the woman wishes to be married to another man, that this man is obliged to repay the first all he gave to her father at her first marriage. After having turned away one wife, the husband is at liberty to take another; and if he has a sufficient fortune, he may amuse himself by changing every month."-vol. ii. p. 45.

The Moors, though more refined, are on this head, if anything, more lax in their principles than their savage neighbours :

But it is

"When a Moor suspects one of his wives of infidelity, he can repudiate her; he can also do this when she becomes thin; when he quarrels with her, for whatever cause; lastly, this power is pushed so far by the husbands, that they can divorce whenever they think fit. not so with the women; they are only permitted to leave their husbands when they are sent away. A Moor who wishes to repudiate his wife, has only to say to her-El merah hiseh harameh aliè-Henceforth this woman is to me a thing sacred; and immediately she returns to her father, with the dress she has on her back. There is, however, one case in which a woman can have a divorce; it is when her husband stays too long from home on his travels. She has then only to present herself before the Cadi, and say, ' My husband has been gone so many months or years; I cannot live alone, I am tired of it, and I am going to take

another husband.' The Cadi, after having addressed some observations to her, says- You may do so.' And then she is at liberty to marry again.

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"It is not forbidden to a Moor to take again a wife whom he has repudiated, for whatever cause; but he cannot do it until she has been married to another: then he goes to seek the other husband, makes him proposals to induce him to repudiate her, and, when he has consented, they are married anew.

"When the repudiated wife has not contracted a second marriage, and her husband wishes to take her again, he is obliged to go seek one of his friends, or often an individual of low condition, whom he pays more or less dearly, to beg him to have the kindness to marry her whom he has repudiated, to keep her twenty-four hours, for so the law of the Prophet requires, and then to put her away. Cases of this kind occur often in Barbary; there are men called halla, who make a trade of marrying women to give them up without touching them, on consideration of a sum, which is regulated by the beauty of the lady and the violence of the love of her former husband. The friends who perform these acts of kindness seldom do it for nothing; in some instances they have been so satisfied with their accidental wives, that they have kept them, and refused to perform their promise."-vol. ii. p. 132.

Want of space alone compels us now to quit the work of Captain Rozet; we refer our readers to the book itself for further information on the present condition of the regency of Algiers, and we recommend it heartily to their attention. We have already spoken our mind as to the few advantages to be reaped by France from her possessions in this quarter. Captain Rozet looks upon the subject in a different point of view. He considers that France, who signalized herself during the dark ages in saving the West from the hands of the Mussulmans, has contracted, in some manner, a duty of at last penetrating into the den whence issued the swarms of unbelievers who then devastated her plains, and of making herself again famous as the deliverer of Africa from barbarism. He acknowledges that the task will be difficult-that it is even probable that France will never be willing to make the necessary sacrifices; but he would have all the sovereigns of Europe join in putting their shoulders to the work; he would have a general congress called; they should invite America to join in the undertaking (we wonder how brother Jonathan would take the invitation); all these powers ought to subscribe their quota of money; to France alone is to be intrusted the execution of their plans and the government of the conquered territory, until the period when barbarian Africa should become a flourishing and civilized land, and then it should be divided amongst all the sovereigns who had subscribed to the enterprise in portions according to the sum each had sub

scribed. He would, in fact, have a sort of African Colonization Joint Stock Company. We confess that we like Captain Rozet's projects of colonization much less than the rest of his book; nor do we see on what good principle the nations of Europe are required to join in the persecution of a whole race of men-for it seems clear that the only way of subduing the country will be to exterminate the wild part of the natives at least-because those men are Mahometans and barbarians. It seems to us that it would be but a repetition of what Spain once did for the civilization of America. In conclusion, we quote Captain Rozet's estimate of the sacrifices which France must make for the colonization of Algiers, if left, as it seems more than probable she will be, to execute the project herself :—

"At the present day, the territory we occupy at Algiers extends not three leagues from the town on every side, and we have scarcely a garrison on two other points of the coast. Yet the expense of our army amounts to more than twenty millions (of francs): what would it be then if we occupied only all the towns on the coast from Bone to Telmecen ? Sixty millions a-year at least must be expended in the cost of administration, the support of troops, that of the colonists who arrive, and of the works to be executed in the country, and that during perhaps more than ten years: for we must not deceive ourselves. The ground about Algiers was the only ground on which there was a sufficient number of houses to lodge the colonists who should come to settle; nearly all these houses were destroyed by our soldiers. In the other parts of the country there are none, as we have already said in describing them, and there are no roads practicable for carriages; the communications are often but wretched tracks, scarcely passable for beasts of burden. Thus it would be necessary to create everything, and to create in the rear of troops, who must cover the labourers from the attacks of Berbers and Arabs. All these considerations incline me to say that we should be obliged to expend more than six hundred millions, and to lose sixty thousand soldiers, by the fire of the enemy and by sickness, before the colony should arrive at a certain degree of prosperity."-vol. iii. p. 414.

We now turn to this second part of the "penultimate worldwalk" of Semilasso. We have, on occasion of the first part of this same "world-walk” (F. Q. R. No. XXXIV. p. 253), given our opinion of the literary merits of its author very freely, and at the same time very honestly. We have little to add on this point at present, and nothing to change; our opinion remains the same; for the new work exhibits to us Prince Pückler-Muskau in Africa the same vain, pretending, frivolous person who then figured in Europe. The information he gives us is generally of little or no value when set beside that of any other traveller. Two reasons, however, have hindered us from persevering in the intention we then declared, of passing over the present book in silence; one of