, 1888-06-07
a SCHOOL IN ALeIERs.



rho Intellectual Training of Young
Arabs Is Very LImited-A Noisy Set
On the other side of the central public
square is a school, a small Babel of sixty
boys or more. The intellectual training
of children is very limited, and causes
but little anxiety to parents, who teach
them in early childhood + repeat, II tes-
tify that Mohammed is Gods apostle, "
and to hate Christians. The remainder
of their education consists in the acquire
ment of a few rudimentary rules of arith-
metic and the practice of committing to
memory as much of the Koran as posi-
BILE. Let it be understood that we are re-
ferring to the purely Arab schools, and
not to others where French influence is
gaining ground; one of the largest build
ings in Algiers is the Lyceum, where about
300 Christians, Jews and Mohammedans
are educated together. The old professor
of the school on the public quare has as
sistants Of different ages for the younger
boys, so that there Is a continual running
stream of big and little voices, each try
ing TO outcry the other; higher and moro
shrill they yell as they take in a fresh
breath and repeat what they know at
such a rate that it seems impossible that
any one should distinguish one syllable
from another.
In fact, during my stay / often asked
my young factotum Of the day what was
being recited; his only answer was a sig
nificant shrug of the shoulders-'Je sails
pas, mossou-connais pas ca, moi" AL
lah-lllah- Allah -Achbah : Mohammed-
wally- golly-jolly-holly, repeated at the
top of your voice, and at lightning speed,
a thousand times a minute II you can,
will give you, my reader, a faint idea of
what one of the youngsters Is sayings;
then multiply by the number engaged In
this noisy method of committing the Ko-
ran to memory, and you may get still
nearer the effect. Children are made to
recite in as loud a voice as possible, in
order TO strengthen their lungs-a re-
quirement especially necessary for a
muezzin, who calls to prayer from the
top of the minaret- Those who are to
follow a trade are sometimes taught
writing and q little useful arithmetic.
TIC vary the monotony of these recita-
tons at school, the lad is occasionally
taken across the knees of the old teacher,
who sits tailor fashion, holds the offender
by the ankles, and administers blows
with a rod on the soles of his feet-a
mild form of bastinado.
The pupils stationery and books at
theA Arab school do not cost his parents a
great amount. A slate, SO called, but
made of hard wood, is the medium of
knowledge. The surface becomes as
smooth as glass by repeated application
of fine pipe clay, which is moistened with
water and rubbed on with the fingers.
When the lad has filled his slate on both
sides with dictations from the Koran,
written in ink with n reed pen, and has
committed Its contents to memory, he
washes 1t and renews the coating of clay.
A mistake is easily corrected with the
wet finger. The Arab boy has all the
mischief of any other school boy, and as
he must break, chew, crack, nick and
mend something, his slate ends by being
a kind of n horse shay put together
again with glue, nails and bits of tin
and brass, cross beams and ~orners the
marvellous clay fills up all the chinks.
On the wall hangs a large blackboard;
on the floor mating lie burnooses and
shoes, but no primers, grammars, geog-
raphies or other ink stained accessories
which strew the benches and desks of
our schools.
Groups of dear little black eyed boys
from 8 to 8 years old, other groups of
different classes, youths of II, IS, all
wearing their red tarbouches with big blue
~tassels, jackets and b~urnooses of all
shades and %colors, ~enlivened by strealsJ
and spots of sunlight sifted through the
intricate designs of the windows and
stained glass, make a charming kaleido-
scope. All around is the plain white
washed wainscoting, considerably soiled
and stained by the backs, hands and
heads that lean against it; and above arc
exquisite arabesques in stucco-for the
interior, though somewhat d~ilapidated, is
untouched by the restorer's hand, and re-
mains one of the very finest examples of
Moorish art. The building was a small
mosque, the ornamented and painted
wooden ceiling of which, almost in ruins,
Is supported by arches and onyx columns.
F. A Bridgman in Harper's Monthly.