The Republican journal., 1901-06-06

city has been aptly compared to that
of ship under sail. Its dazzling white
ness, contrasted with the dense green
cry surrounding it, explains the Aral
saying, that "AlJerair is diamond sci
in emeraldS." The shores of the bright
blue bay in front are dotted with
elegant French villas, Moorish palaces
and suburban hamlets, amid the richest
yerdure; and beyond, the green plain of
Metidia slopes gradually upward to the
distant Atlas mountains, whose snowy
SUBMITS form magnificent back
ground to one of the loveliest picture!
on the borders of the Mediterranean
| The particular hill of the Sahal chain or
which AlgierS is built is five hundred
| feet high, and named Mount Bonjarin
the ancient citadel on top dominating
all the surrounding region. Naturally
the town is divided into two parts, as
distinct as if they lay on opposite sides
being essentially French; the upper,
Moorish, as in the days of it's builder
the desert chieftain The whole is en-
closed within an embattled wall thirty
feet high and twelve feet thick, the ex-
traordinary strength Of which is further
increased by four great castles and case
mated batteries The wall is pierced
| by five gateways, two on the seward
side, two on the landward, and the
other leading up to the citadel.
At first glance, one pays no attention
to the European port, but sees only the
Moorish Capital above it with its
medieval castle, its slender minarets
and picturesque towers, and it's square
built, prison-like houses, in which occa-
sional Sits, protected by iron ratings,
do duty for windows. 1t is known as
the ''Marabout" quarter, and nobody
lives in it but Moors and Arabs. The
streets are narrow, winding and incon-
ceivably dirty; but they have one ad
vantage above the wider streets of the
modern town,-that of GOODNESS, being
always in shadow. In the evenings all
the native inhabitants repair to their
| fiat roofs to enjoy the sea-breezes; while
''The Infdel," as by them all Europeans
are classed, promenade the sea-wall and
colonnades. To all outward appear
ance the people of the upper town live
precisely as they did in the time of the
Deys; except that now there are fewer
places of worship and the muezzin no
| longer calls the faithful to prayer
| from the minarets. When the French
| took the place, Gn $780, it had upwards
of hundred Mosques and marabouts.
| The latter are merely sanctuarleS OF
| the Arab Saints, each a small domed
structure containing a tomb, which is
protected by wooden grating, before
which Mahomets true believers" pray.
The mosques are divided into two
classes-diamas and mesjids, which
bear about the same relation to each
other as a cathedral to it's parochial
churches. There are now but four
mosques regularly used for Mahome-
dan worship in Algiers. These are all
accessible to Europeans; but out of def.
erence to the feelings of those who own
them, and who PROSTATE themselves
fiat on the floor during prayer, unbe.
levers should at least remove theil
shoes before entering. To go in shod
would seem to the devout and serious
minded Moors and Arabs more of a
desecration than to us for a man to sit
in church with his hat on his head
The Grand Mosque, or Djamas el-Ke-
Dir, is the oldest in Algiera, having
been built early in the Eleventh Cen.
fury. An inscription ON its pulpit, i1
Cutie characters, proves the fact that
it existed before the year 1918, while 8
marble slab in one Of it's walls records
that the minaret was built by Abor
Tachfn, King of Tlemcen, IN 1924. The
interior is a great whitewashed hall
divided into aisles by columns, united
bv semi-circular Moorish arches. Thes,
columns are wrapped around will
straw mating to the height of five OF
six feet, and the same covers the floor
At one end is the mihrab,-a niche il
the wall, which serves to indicate the
direction in which Mecca lies. The
general appearance is as bare as a coun
try schoolhouse, the only decoration
lg some hanging lamps above TIN
mimbar, or pulp for the Imam-if w,
except the &C ection of shoes, of al
sizes and de rees of dust and ragged
ness. left at the entrance while tn
owners are fiat on their faces within
One part of the mosque serves as
court of justice, as in olden times
where ordinary cases are heard by tn
Cadi. The exterior has row of whit
marble columns supporting an arcade, il
, the centre of which, directly in from
of the entrance, stands marble four
/ tain.
The new mosque, Djamaa el-Ajedid
, is in the lower town, close by the Plac
du Commencement Tradition says tina
, it was built in 1860, by Genoese arch
+oo+ who ,uas subsequently put to deaf