The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-06-13

to be used only by the evil one You
 may extemporize something for plates
 if you prefer, such as boX-covers pin
 trays or coap- dishes, but the native
 fashion is for each to help himsef in
 turn from the centray tray, using the
 thumb and two fingers with which tc
 convey the selected portions to the
 mouth. A favorite entree is called
 chikoula, and appears to be conglom-
 eration of tomatoes, eggs, capsicum, oil
 and lemon juice. Moors excel in pastry
 which they flavor with the most de-
 licious essence. Their beverages, eX-
 cept coffee, are too insipid for Anglo
 Saxon taste; and salads, which re-
 deem the vilest meal of Southern Flu
 rope, are altogether lacking in Africa.
 However, in this land of plenty and in-
 limit essimal prices, whose markets are crowded with luscious fruits, honey,
 nuts, etc., one need never go hungry.
 Such delightful days as we are hav- ing, prowling about the old city and
 pretending that we are contemporaries
 of Aladdan and Queen Scheherezade. Passing in and out of our inn, whose
 halls and corridors are at all times
 silent and deserted we get peeps into
 the cafe, where Moslems sit cross
 legged, smoking their long pipes with
 imperturbable gravity, apparently say
 ing never a word to each other-in
 striking contrast to the noisy, jabber-
 ing, gesticulating throngs in the French and Spanish restaurants of the
 Lower Town. Algiers, as you know, is built on very steep declivity, and
 most of the extremely narrow streets
 of the older quarter are ascended by
 interminable steps. Up and up we go--
 sometimes through vaulted passages
 thrown across the road, with houses di-
 rectly above them; anon coming to
 moss grown arches of single span, | through which is obtained a wonderful | vista of Saracenic architecture As each story of every house projects be- yond that below it--the part so project ing being sustained by inclined props against the wall-the upper stories on opposite sides are necessarily very close together--so that, but for occa- sional ribbon-like strips of bright blue sky overhead, the pedestrian might fancy himself immured in a subter- ranean city. Only in the tiny parks
 
 ments; but when it Eliminates the up- per walls, the roofs and gargoyles, towers and minarets of the quaint old buildings, the effects of light and shade are such as to rejoice an artistis' soul What pictures there are to paint in this Arab quarter!I What bits of archi- lecture are hidden away in dark hooks and blind alleys; what studies of char acter in the natives clustered around the fountains with their copper jugs; what peeps into Ara,b interiors, af forded through the little arched vesti- bules, whose oval doors stand always ajar. You see dignified Moors squatted upon platforms, embroidering colored cloth with gold and silver, each with the great toe of one out-stretched foot brought into requisition to hold the thread, which is twisted around it. shoe- makers, sitting tsilor-fashion on matted floors, stitching away at red and yellow marocco shoes and slippers; barber shops, where the customers of- fer their heads, instead of their chins to the razor There are numerous cook shops, where strange compounds are sizzing or stewing in tiny kitchens open to the SlTtGlS5 anu tdIsS NHelt, IT stead of reading the daily papers and discussing politics, the natives silently drink coffee, smoke chibouques, play at damah and listen to the interminable l tale of some professional story teller, | Ga male Scheherezade) or to the dole | ful strains of a wandering musician. | Shrouded Arabs soemnly play at chess | in the streets, unheeding the passing crowds, and Mzabis-that is, descend- ] ants of Ali, the great son-in Jaw of the their harlequin costumes of red, yellow and blue, sell fruits and | flowers from little square booths. Each | is so barricaded by his wares-above below on every side-standing immov- able in a space not big enough to turn around, you wonder how in the world he ever gets in and out of the fragrant prison Like the sprite in pantomine, ne enters by a tiny trap dopr, on which he stands all day long, with true Ori- sntal patience, easily reaching every thing contained in the drawers and shelves and swung from the ceiling of his four foot square booth, without moving a leg.
 There are no beggars in the Arab luArter, like those WHICH are SU dl- .ractive in the modern part of A1gers; put in their stead are old curiosity shops, emblazoned outside with the magic names of such old acquaintances IS Ben Ali, Ben Hassen, Hudi Ahmed, Ind Yusef Bey. In them you find ev- ny imaginable article that may be picked up between Tunis and Morocco; Mekahlas Kabyle orna- nents worn by women, round Arab ooking glasses, Biskra hats, of the orm and height of a sugar loaf with 7
 brim wide as a parasol, haiks, ,ernouses-wha not. . To the uninitiated, the narrow, irreg- liar, complicated streets of the Upper own are like a Chinese puzzle. It is i lmost impossible to avoid losing ones ( ,ay Having advanced a few steps, l GU see before you three or four open l lgs into small lanes; you enter one of l hem and soon find that it is a again ] nd again intercrossed, like the meshes j f a net. If you cannot speak enough g .rabic to ask the way, you wander on, l citing more and more hopelessy mud c Iceland probably find yourself pres T ntly in a blind alley which is private t roperty, where an Arab family is en- a lying it's couscouss in the open air. r hastily, with apologies V