Weekly Trinity journal., 1861-06-29
The journal.
The City of Aigicrs.

The following description OF the Clty OF Al
eiers is from one of J. Ross Brownies letters TO
the Sacramento Union:
Aleiers is purely African city, with the ex
ception of those parts which have been rebuilt
or altered by the French. The lower part EN-
bracing the plaza, is pleasantly situated on
plateau overlooking the sea, is occupied princip-
ally by the French and Jewish population, and
presents an extremely lively and picturesque ap-
pearance to the stranger. Fronting upon the
square are several handsome hotels, and two or
three excellent cafes, with orange trees in front,
arcbways colonades and fountains. II puzzels
one at first sight to determine in what part of
the world he has been dropped down. so strange
ly diversified are the styles of architecture, the
costumes Of the people and the languages that
strike upon his ear in every direction. At all
hours of the day, during the charming Winter
and Spring months, the Plaza is crowded with
gay idlers, lounging about enjoying the sunshine
Here chiefly conspicuous are the dashlng Frencn
officers, mustached spurred. laced and blazing
all over with tinsel and badges of honor the
gallant, fierce looking Zouaves, with their tnrbans
and flowing trowsers, rich in colors, agile and
springy in their motions; the gay, Jaunty Paris
ian on a tour of pleasure, happy in the present,
but happier still in the thought of soon returning
TO his beloved city.world the stiff starch col
Jared Englisbman, with his everlasting guide
book the easy, self satisfied but adventurous
and enterprsing American, looking about wher-
ever he pleases, with speculation in bis eye the
Belgian, the Norwegian, the Russian, the Polish
exile, the Hungarian, the cadaverous Spanard,
greving over bis bile and thousand others,
from all parts of the civilized globe. Not even
Constantnope can surpass this strange old den
of pirates in the variety and picturesqncncss Of
its population For here, too. you see the glori-
GUS East represented in all its majesty to long
boards, turbans, flowing robes, loose trowsers,
bare legs and pointed slippers. Here is the
genuine Arab, in his burnoose cloak, with
coarse grdle of camel skin, his legs bare and Of
mahogany color, his grave, lean features and
fierce, dark eyes giving him something Of royal
aspect in all bis rags; here, too the Kabyles,
leading their mules ladan with packs of oil the
swartby Moors, with their turbans and loose
trowsers the Bisbers or watercarriers carrying
immense earthen vessels Of water on their shoul-
ders the MoZabics a mixed breed, selling their
meats and wares in little ships the negroes,
black as nature could make them, with lips as
thick, wool as crisp, legs as handy, and heels as
long as ever seen in Virginia or South Carolina
the Maltese, balfArab, halEItaian, half Greek,
balf-civiliZed, half mongrel speaking a mongrel
language, and dressed in amoDgrel style, with
bare chests, blue tunice and trowsers-the most
reckless dare devil set of vagabonds in the
crowd for nobody, and always lively and bois-
ferrous Here in short, are so many other races
Jews, Gentles, savages and demi-savages
Never was there such an incongruous mass gath
cred together in the same space yet, under the
French rule, the most perfect harmony prevails
Everybody seems happy and contented. The
largest liberty consistent with public order see ms
TO be allowed. Lazy vagaboudS lie about on the
public benches, smoking their cigars. or gossip
ing over their games Of hazard. with perfect i'm
punity; nothing like constraint is anywhere OBJ
servabc.
II can scarcely be said that one takes prom
enade through Algiers, for OF all the impractca-
BILE streets ever saw. the streets of this strange
old city are the most so to pedestrian, especi
ally in the upper or native part. Many of them
are not over six eight feet wide and run up
bill at an angle of forty degrees-sometmes with
steps, sometimes without, just chance may
direct One climbs through the city rather than
walks. The pavements of round, slippery
stone, and on the steep, narrow sops thrown |
out, it is a very slippery business to keep ones |
feet under him at all. Mine went ahead of me
on several occasions, as | was working down hill |
and got some distance beyond control before
could haul up. From what discovered by tap
ping the stones with the back Of my head, ] con-
slider them hard and not likely to wear out
rapidly. The projecting walls of the houses
nearly meet in some of these narrow streets, |
showing above mere streak of sky, and effectu
ally excluding the sun during greater part of
the day. 1t is doubtless on account of the heat
that the streets are made narrow in all warm
countries. A draught of air passes through them
during the hottest part of the day. and where
coarse mats are hung overhead, thereby render
ing the temperature more endurabe. All the
houses are whtewashed. and those built in the
purely Moorish style, which chiefly compose the
upper part Of the city, are sometimes ornamented
with grotesque designs over the doorways. The
windows are little barred, holes in the walls, and
the doors are small and massive, as if constructed
with view TO security. small square hole in
the middle Of each door, crossed by bars, is used
as a sort of observatory, and no person is admit
ted until general reconnaissance has been made
from within. The interior somewhat resembles
the Spanish style of houses first, court yard,
surrounded by he four inner walls of the build
ing with ground rooms for purposes of storage
or rubbish then narrow entry at some unex.
pected point, with a narrow stone stairway,
winding about in the most unaccountable manner,
till you land on the upper floor. The internal
arrangement of Moorish house is an exception
to all the established rules of architecture; large
and small rooms, arches and stairways being
Jumbled about in such unutterable confusion
that 1t takes casual visitor some time to fnd
out how be ever got in, or how it is possible for
anybody ever to get out. The French popula-
tion however, have erected some very handsome
and commodous houses in the lower part of the
city, and the change from quarter to another
IL as marked as the change from Africa to France.