The Press. — London, England, 1858-11-27 00:00:00

w'e- .. .., r~ THE PRESS, NOVEMBER 27, 1858. 1160 Sketches of Algeria during the Kabyle War. By llugh Mulleneux Wahnsley, Lieut.-Colonel Imperial Ottoman Army. London : Chapman and Hall. IN former days, when remote and savage coun tries lay beyond the reach of the ordinary tourist, he who had spirit to explore them but rarely failed of interesting the public in his adventures. His narrative, however deficient in technical literary skill, would be sure to bear the impress of more than ordinary power, and his experience, while likely to be more romantic in itself; would necessarily be more fresh and startling than such as is addressed to an audience sated with the familiar octavos, blue, brown, and red, of the present generation of pilgrims. Writers of travels have, therefore, a constantly increasing difficulty to contend with, and readers as constantly in creasing a disposition to find their lucubrations commonplace. But in proportion to the hard ness of climbing to the level of success, is the praise due to those who accomplish it ; and, after some hesitation, we are disposed to allow that the author of the present volume has done so. His book is unequal, for in parts it is tame, nor is it free from faults of construction. But his firm grasp of the subject : his ,just perception of the most mteresting features which it presents : his animated and picturesque battle-scenes : and his pleasing sketches of the mountain scenery which he traversed : entitle him to a good place among the candidates for literary honour. He is not, of course, to be ranked with a Layard, a Kinglake, or a Stanley. These are the gold me dallists of their class. But we think we may safely place him in the class immediately below these, as a writer who has taught us much, and interested us deeply at the same time. The faults to which we have alluded are not radical faults. The one is a tendency to digression, which, in a work having so much the character of a conti nuous narrative, is apt to puzzle, and consequently to irritate, the reader. The other is a careless ness of dates, which, in the detail of military operations, becomes a very serious defect, but which, when the author has once been made aware of it, he will probably not repeat. Certainly, Colonel Walmsley was favoured in his subject. Algeria is virgin soil, and rich in associations that might prick the most sluggish fancy. Two splendid civilizations and three races of conquerors have here flourished and decayed, and a new one is now springing from their ashes. Gazing on her ruins and her moun tains, we may people them at will with the Im perial Roman, or the more romantic figures of the Moor and Turk, recalling all our early visions of caliph and corsair. While, side by side with these relics of refinement and magnificence, we may watch the last struggles of barbaric liberty and the fast vanishing life of the Arabian nomads. Now, Colonel Walmsley is not insensible to the peculiar charms of his subject ; but, while he writes like a gentleman of taste and feeling, he still writes mainly as the soldier, and it is from the portions of his work devoted to warlike ope rations that we derive the most amusement and instruction. Partly, however, from the afore said inattention to dates, and partly owing to the want of a good map, we are unable to give our readers as clear an impression of the contents of Colonel Walmsley's volume as we could wish. We prefer, therefore, to plunge in mediae res, and, without stopping to inquire why, how, or when the gallant colonel arrived in Algeria, to join him en route with the French columns on their march towards the Kabyle mountains. These mountains, as it would seem from our present narrator, form a narrow tongue of high lands running from west to east through the centre of French Algeria, and are inhabited by the Kabyle tribes, who, as late as the summer of last year, had continued to maintain their inde pendence. They were a source of perpetual an noyance to the French, by periodically exciting the inhabitants of the plains to the north and south of their mountain fastnesses to conspire against their conquerors. And at length, by the month of May, 18.57, it was determined to reduce by force all those clans who, after due notice, had refused to give in their submission. It was to the expedition despatched on this service that Colonel Walmsley obtained leave to append himself. Prefixed to his account of the campaign is a brief but sufficient sketch of the race, the man ners, and the Government of the Kabyle people. On the first point, our author's opinion is that " we may safely suppose them to be the last rem " nant of the Berber or aboriginal race, who, " conquered by successive invaders, took refuge "in these almost inaccessible mountains, and " there formed a kind of simple republic, living " in the centre of: but never mixing with, the " neighbouring tribes." The Berbers were the original inhabitants of the whole coast of North Africa, and still form the staple population of Morocco; so that this account of the Kabylians is prinui facie probable, and in that case they would stand in much the same relation to the rest of the Algerian people as Welshmen to Eng lish, or the inhabitants of the Basque provinces to the Spaniards. In manners and government they do not materially differ from all other mountain tribes, in whatever part of the world they are to be met with. The nature of the country they inhabit may be best summed up in the lines of Virgil : Est curvo anfractu relies, accommoda fraudi Armorumque dolis : quam densis frondibus atram Urget utrimque latus ; tenuis quo semita ducit, Angustseque ferunt fauc.!s aditusque maligni. Hans super in 'pecan summoque in vertice montis Hanities ignota jacet, tutique receptus Seu dextra hevaque velis occurrere pugrue ; Sire instare jugis, et grandia volvere snit. Their tongue of hill-country is furrowed into two or three distinct ridges, connected by deep and pathless ravines, and the engagements between the invading army and the natives will be best comprehended by imagining a mix ture of the battle of Bunker's-hill and the attack upon the mountain-pass in " Rob Roy." Movements of this kind, it is needless to say, are among the most picturesque of military operations, and Colonel Walmsley seems to have been fully capable of appreciating and describing their beauty. We shall content ourselves with one rather long extract, describing the assault of the mountain village of Icheriden, which for clearness and warmth combined is not unworthy our most admired military historians : The village of Icheriden lay on a hill, which hill was connected with the high land of Aboudid and Souk El Arba by a long spinal ridge of ground, having its own little hills and dells, which were, however, on a small scale. A long and comparatively level strip ran in front of the village, dipping in places, and possessing some capabilities for covering the troops. To the right and left lay the high and rugged mountains of the tribes, and the French army were passing along the ridge, pushing themselves like a wedge into the hostile country. While this was going on in the immediate front, the remaining two divisions com manded by the Generals Renault and Yussuff simulta neously broke ground, and marched against the Beni Yenni fastness to the right, thus giving them quite enough to do on their own account, without thinking of affording help to their friends in the stockades of Icheriden. My path lay with the column advancing along the mountain ridge from Aboudid ; and it was a strange impressive sight to see that column of between six and seven thousand men marching quietly and composedly along the beautiful mountain ridge, the birds singing around them, the groups of Kab)les crowning every available hillock whence the fight could be seen in security, the hawks and eagles slowly wheeling in large circles over their heads, and the bright rays of the morning sun gleaming on the brighter bayonets. Not a shot had been yet fired, and now, after the rear had closed up upon the leading regiments, all was silence, so deep that the pickaxes of the pioneers and engineers who bad been dropped in rear of the column, and who were already busy at work making a road for the transport of the men's tents and provisions, could be distinctly heard. The guns were pushed hastily to the front, and in a few moments the song of the birds was hushed, and the air became darkened with smoke, as the scream of the red rockets, the loud thud of the long guns, and the explosion of the shells, broke the silence of the mountains. After a quarter of an hour's firing the guns ceased, so as to enable the thick cloud caused by the explosions to disperse, and the houses of Icheriden showed outward and unmistakeable signs of the accurate aim of the artillery. Still there was no sign of reply on the part of the enemy, and again the guns opened fire, but more slowly, one by one, on the devoted village, bringing down every now and then a wall or side of a house, amidst a cloud of dust and a volley of jokes from the troops. All this was very well, but not a Kabyle was to be seen, and the men became uneasy and restless. They had been all looking forward to a short but sharp fight, and then the Zouaves' Elysium—a plundered town ; but here, apparently, there were only inert walls to batter down, and neither fighting nor plunder to be had. Their uneasiness soon communi cated itself to then chiefs, grouped round the fine figure of the Marshal. The calm, quiet face of the chief of the staff looked uneasy ; General I3ourbaki entreated permie. sion to lead big men at once to the attack. The Marshal wavered, WI General MacMahon persisted in his course of shell and shot. The men had great confidence in MacMahon. At length Marshal Bandon, contrary to the opinion of MacMahon, orders the position to be carried : Still the same heavy, stern silence hung over the hostile village. Was it indeed deserted, or was it the silence of despair ? Whichever it was would soon be known, for now the bugle notes became shriller and more exciting, the shots quicker and more steady, as, emerging from the bosh, the attacking column rushed forward to the attack. Sixty paces of green sward were before them, but instantly, and as if by magic, a thousand reports broke the silence of the dark stockades, a wild yell rose from their defenders, as the hail of lead fell on the advancing regiments, and a long line of dead marked the advance. The liabyles leaning their pieces over the joints of the trees, where they were fitted into each other, and through crevices and loopholes, offered little or no mark themselves to the shot, while not a ball of theirs but found its destination. But the Zouaves and the .54th were not to be daunted thus, and leaving behind them the ground dotted with their dead and dying comrades, on they rushed, a wild cheer rising from their ranks, and a volley of balls pattering then reply to the murderous fire they had received. Again the line of fire burst from the dark stockade, and the advancing column withered away. The ground was strewed with fallen forms, and the fire of the stockade fell fast and sure. The men gave way, seeking the shelter of the bushes ; their officers dashing to the front, vainly attempted to lead them on. It was useless; even the sturdy Zonate' refused to:cross that deadly slope, for to do so was sure death. They replied from the bushes to the Kabyle fire, and soon a regular fusillade was established from rigbt to left; but all this was to the advantage of the Kabyles, for the greater part of the French balls were lost against the stockades; while so accurate was the defenders' fire, that not a man could show himself, but down he went. The fire from stockade and bush raged fast and furious, well kept up on the side of the French, more deadly on that of the Kabyles, and still the men would not advance over the uncovered space, for it was certain death. Two thousand Kabyle marksmen lined the loopholes of their intrenched villages ; not above half that number could pass along the narrow and unprotected ridge ; they must be shot down to a man if they attempted it. The frown on MacMahon's face became heavier. Lid he regret the cessation of the fire ? perhaps so, for now the balls began to whiz and sing round the heads of the generals and their staff. A horse is shot, and the general officer riding it gets a heavy fall. General MacMahon is wounded, but not severely ; the men of the Beni Raten, who have become confident of an easy victory, and assured of plunder, begin to look at each other knowingly. A check in the Marshal's career appears inevitable. Ile must recall his advance, and again shell the stockades. It is a hard alter native, but it must be accepted. At this moment a sudden panic seemed to have seized the brave defenders of the stockades. Seeing the dilemma, the officer commanding the Foreign Legion on the far left had led his men through deep cuts and ravines, turned the position, and gained the third face of the hill, accessible, but defended at every tarn and twist by well•concealed ambushments, trees felled over the only pathway, and each and all lined with the marks men of the Menguillet. Silent as the grave these steady mercenaries fought their way on step by step ; not a cheer, not a shout marking their progress, their dead fell fast; but obstacle after obstacle was swept away, and eventually, to the surprise of the brave defenders of the stockades, the chakos of the Legion were seen in their rear. Silently they had fought their way; but now with a wild and savage scream of fury, the Zouaves and 54th dashed from their shelter, losing only a few men as they crossed the open, sud while the Kabyles wavered for a moment, the two regiments united their ranks, and the whole surged like the ocean wave over stockade and ditch. We need only add that the campaign was per fectly successful, and that all the Algerian tribes, so early known as a " genus intractabile bello," are now obedient to the tricolour. Not less vivid and poetic is our author's de scription of the battlefield some months later, when the troops, who had pushed further op, returned over the same ground. The wise policy of the French Governor, who had spared the woods and orchards of these brave and in dustrious villagers, had been rewarded by an early renewal of tranquillity and a general re sumption of labour. The traces of war had accordingly been well-nigh effaced. The concert of the lark and the blackbird had succeeded to the measured roll of musketry, and the whirr 9f the plump little quail to the whistle of the Mune bullet. The Colonel, we should say, has evidently an eye for the fera natura, and in the midst of an exciting march pauses to "mark" a hare with the zeal of a true Englishman. The above arc fair specimens of his descriptive powers; but we should note also his encounter with a Kabyle assassin, and the reception of a lion from behind a village barricade. Of personal risks, indeed, the Colonel seems to have had his full share. One night, as lie was sitting in his ten!, a poaching shot from a Kabyle cut his candle in two. On another occasion he had a narrow escape while sketching. And his life geners . lly partook of that exciting uncertainty to which none but a soldier or a landlord in the west of Ireland can ever become thoroughly acclimatized.