The Pirate City: An Algerine Tale

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.

  SOCIAL INTERCOURSE IN THE CAVERN.

  "Here you are," cried the sympathetic Irishman, enlarging on the natureof the viands, as he spread them temptingly before the hungry men;"here's food fit for a Dey, to say nothin' of a month. Here's a loaf--ain't it?--about a fut an' a half long an' three inch thick. Cooriousto look at, but a good un to eat I make no doubt--that's a foundationfor 'ee--there, cut 'im up an' fire away; ye can't listen properly to mediscoorse till you git yer jaws to work. This here is a pie o' somesort, I shud say, havin' regard to the shape, only that ain't the sorto' wittles a Jew would send 'ee, is it? P'raps it's wild-boar, for I'veseed no end o' them critters in the market. Maybe it's lion, for theydo says there's lots o' the king o' beasts in the mountains hereabouts,though I can't say I've heerd 'em roar yet. Hows'ever, wotever it is,here it is, so go ahead.--Hallo!" exclaimed Flaggan remonstratively, ashe cast a glance at the sleeping man beside him, "you've begun withoutthe ould man. Don't 'ee think it 'ud be but filial-like to wake him upan' start fair?"

  "No, we'll let him sleep on," answered Lucien, as he began to eat withright good-will, in which he was ably seconded by his brother. "Myfather needs rest quite as much as food at present. He shall eat whenhe awakes."

  "Well, you knows best," returned the seaman, taking out his pipe andtobacco-pouch; "it's wan comfort anyhow that the wittles can't getcolder than they be now, and there's overmuch for 'ee to ait the wholeconsarn at one bout, so the ould man'll git his grub, though I must ownit'd have liked to have seed 'im start fair.--Hand over the glim,plaise."

  Lucien passed the small lantern to Flaggan, whose hard good-humouredfeatures were for a few seconds suffused with a ruddy glow as he put thelight close to it, and drew the flame vigorously into the bowl of hisvery black little pipe. Then, setting it down beside him, he smoked insilence and in much satisfaction, as he contemplated the hearty mannerin which the young men enjoyed their meal.

  When he had finished, Lucien bowed his head for a few seconds in silentthanksgiving, and Mariano paused respectfully while he did so. Then,taking a long draught from the earthenware bottle; the elder brotherexpressed his gratitude to the Jew for the opportune relief.

  "That seems to be good stuff to judge be the way ye smacked yer lips,"observed Ted, removing his pipe and wiping his mouth with the sleeve ofhis coat.

  "Try it," said Lucien, handing him the bottle with a smile.

  "Got no smell," remarked the tar, as he put the bottle to hismouth--"wather!" he added contemptuously, as he put it down and resumedthe pipe.

  "The best of drink for man and beast," said Lucien, laughing.

  "May be so," returned Flaggan shortly, "but I ain't used to it."

  "Is it long since you came to this country?" asked Lucien, while he andMariano rolled up two of those neat little cigarettes with which thedenizens of Algiers at the present day are wont frequently to solacethemselves.

  This question called forth from the seaman the greater part of hisrecent history, in return for which Lucien, drawing forward the hood ofhis burnous, and resting his elbows on his knees, briefly related thatof himself and his kindred.

  "But why are _you_ staying here, since, being a British subject, you arefree to go when you please?" asked Lucien.

  "Bekaise," answered Flaggan, "it ain't every day that a British shipcalls in at this piratical nest, and I'd raither go off in a man-o'-warif I could manage it. There's a merchantman came into port yesterday,I'm towld, an' the cownsl advised me to go away with it; but it seemsthe Turks have made some difficulty about her, so I'll wait. I'm in nohurry. The Flaggans, as a race, have been noted since the time ofAdam--if not earlier--for takin' life aisy."

  "Then the Flaggans must be nearly related to the Arabs, for they takelife easier than any race I ever met with," said Lucien, laughing.

  "I shud doubt that, 'cause they're lazy, and _we_ ain't.--Talkin' o'that, sir," said the seaman, as a sudden thought struck him, "I'm towldthat you are learned in lingos an' histories: could ye tell me who wasthe first people that got howld o' this country? 'cause I'm coorious toknow, having had a stiffish argiment on that pint with Rais Ali. Hehowlds that it was the Moors, an' I've heerd say it was the Arabs."

  "You are both partly right," replied Lucien; "for the Arabs were amongthe first conquerors of the land, but you are wrong in supposing Moorsand Arabs to be altogether different races. When the Arabs came intothe land some of them took to the plains inland, and continued theirwild wandering idle style of life--half predatory, half pastoral; otherstook up their abode on the coast, became more mingled with the people ofother sea-faring tribes, built towns, and came at last to be known asMauri or Moors, from which the part of the land they dwelt in was knownof old by the name of Mauritania."

  "But the aborigines," continued Lucien--

  "The abor-what? sir," asked Flaggan, removing his pipe.

  "The aborigines--the original inhabitants of the land--"

  "Ah, I see, sir," returned Ted; "them as was at the _werry_ beginnin',just arter Adam and Eve like; 'zactly so--fire away!"

  "Well, I'm not quite sure," replied Lucien, with a laugh, "that theycame here immediately after the time of Adam, but at all events theycame before the time of an authentic history, for our earliesthistorians record the fact that before any other nation invaded thenorthern shores of Africa, the country was in possession of a verywarlike race, who, although overcome and driven from the plains by themore civilised and better-armed nations that successively attacked them,remained in the fastnesses of the Atlas Mountains absolutelyunconquerable, and the descendants of these original inhabitants, knownas Kabyles, remain a free and independent people at the present day,having successfully defied the might of Romans, Vandals, Arabs, andothers, since the beginning of time." (See Note 1.)

  "You don't say so, sir," remarked Flaggan, blowing a thin cloud ofadmiration into the air; "well, an' how did things git along arter theabridginal inhabitants was fust druv back into the mountains?"

  "They did not get along quite so quietly as might have been desired,"said Lucien.

  "The early history of the northern shores of Africa, now known asAlgeria," he continued, "is involved in the mists of antiquity."

  "Arrah! now, don't misremimber," said Ted, with a quiet grin, "that Iain't bin edicated quite up to _that_."

  "Well, the beginning of it all," said Lucien, returning the grin with asmile, "is rather foggy."

  "Ah! that's plain enough. Heave ahead, an' whativer ye do, steer clearo' jaw-breakers," murmured the seaman.

  "The region," said Lucien, "was first known as Numidia and Mauritania;Numidia being so named by the Greeks, who styled its wandering tribes_Nomads_. They were pastoral in their habits and thievish in theirpropensities, without laws or government worthy of the name. The Mauri,or Moors, devoted themselves to more settled pursuits, became tradersand inhabitants of towns, and were a mixed race, although originallyspringing from the same stock as the _Nomads_, or Arabs. These were theearly inhabitants, who lived during the foggy period.

  "The Medes, Armenians, and Persians afterwards founded a colony, andtraded with the natives of the interior. Then the Phoenicians landed,and began to build towns, of which Carthage, founded B.C. 853, was thechief. The Punic wars followed; Carthage, the city of Dido, fell, andMauritania was annexed to Rome. For hundreds of years after this thecountry was a scene of frequent and bloody warfare, in which many greathistorical names figured, and many great armies were swept away togratify human pride, ambition, and cupidity on the one hand, and todefend hearth and home on the other, until the Roman power extended farand wide, from the Libyan desert to the Atlantic, and from theMediterranean to the Zahara. Near the time of our Saviour, (B.C. 46),Sallust was established by Julius Caesar as governor of Numidia, wherehe collected materials for his history of the Jugurthine wars, and atthe same time enriched himself by the plunder of the now highlycivilised and prosperous country."

  "Trust 'em, they're all sure to d
o that, the haythens!" said Ted, whosepipe, by its varying cloudlets, became a pretty fair index to hisfeelings.

  "Roman remains are now to be found," continued Lucien, "all over theland, even in the wildest regions of the Atlas Mountains, although theRomans utterly failed to subdue the hardy prehistoric natives of thesemountains, who rose against them at frequent intervals, despitetemporary defeats, and successfully defied all the various races whoassailed them. During this Roman period the country was so wellcultivated that it became, and was styled, `the granary of the RomanEmpire.' Christianity was also introduced, and became so wide-spreadthat at one time there were no fewer than a hundred and sixty bishopricsin northern Africa. Unquestionably there were then, as there alwayswere and will be, some who were imbued with the peace-loving spirit ofChristianity, including among them such men as Augustine, Tertullian,and Cyprian--whom, I dare say, Signor Flaggan, you never before heardof,--but it cannot be doubted that a vast majority possessed nothing ofour religion but the name, for they constantly resorted to the mostbitter warfare and violence to maintain their views.

  "Towards the decline of the Roman Empire, Boniface, the proconsul,revolted against the Emperor Valentinian. The latter asked the aid ofGenseric, king of the Vandals. Genseric most willingly agreed, went toAfrica with 90,000 of his stalwart light-haired `barbarians' of thenorth, was joined by the natives, and conquered the whole of Barbary,not for the Romans, but for himself! This was in the year 428, and theVandals held the land for a hundred years.

  "The Romans, in the year 533, again invaded northern Africa, re-tookCarthage, and finally regained the country from the Vandals, but foronly a short time, for the Moors constantly harassed them, until theland became desert in many places, owing to the decreasing population.

  "Then came the followers of Mohammed, about the year 645, from acrossthe Eastern deserts, enforcing religion by their favourite means, thesword; and in half a century they swept completely over the land to theAtlantic, causing the Crescent to supplant the Cross.

  "But the Arabs did not stop here. About 711 they crossed over the sea,and carried the Crescent into Europe, under the bold and daring GeneralTarick, (Gebel-el-Tarick), from whom the spot where they landed came tobe called Gibraltar. Hosts of Moors followed the Arab conquerors, andthe Spaniards, confounding them, styled them all Moors.

  "Barbary was for a long time after this under the rule of Emirs,appointed by the Caliphs; but they found little rest in Africa, for theBerbers and others harassed them continually.--It would weary you to goover the whole history of the wars and disputes which tore the wretchedcountry to pieces during hundreds of years after this; but it mayinterest you to know that this city of Algiers was founded in the year944 by Ziri, governor of Aschir, who established a hereditary throne forhis race. But his dynasty came to an end in course of time, and so didthat of others. Race rose against race, and tribe against tribe,conquering and re-conquering; only a few of the coast towns being ableto maintain their position as independent powers, and supportingthemselves by piracy.

  "By degrees the pirates of the Barbary coast began to be very formidableand daring, insomuch that from time to time various nations sentexpeditions against them, with more or less success, but withoutmaterially checking their depredations. They were greatly strengthenedin numbers at the time of the expulsion of the Moors from Spain. Anexpedition was fitted out against them by Ferdinand in 1501, and in 1505the Spaniards made themselves masters of some of the chief Barbarytowns, including Algiers.

  "About this time two famous pirates ravaged the coasts of theMediterranean--the brothers Barbarossa, sons of a fisherman. They wereambitious scoundrels, and aimed at a throne. An opportunity ere longpresented itself. The Algerines invited them, in 1510, to come and freethem from the Spanish yoke. They went gladly, defeated the Spaniards,and then the elder Barbarossa proclaimed himself king, after beheadingHassan, another famous corsair, killing the king, and committing fearfulexcesses on the inhabitants. This villain was slain by the men of anexpedition sent against the Algerines by Charles the Fifth, but theTurks made his brother Hayradin king in his stead. In 1518 HayradinBarbarossa sought recognition by the Sultan of Turkey. He was madePasha, and from that time till now Algiers has remained a nominaldependency of Turkey;--a pest to the civilised world, and a disgrace tohumanity."

  "Well, now," observed Ted Flaggan, knocking the ashes out of his pipe,and refilling it; "there are more surprisin' things in the history ofthis here world than I was aware of. It's my unwarnished opinion--"

  The expression of the seaman's opinion was here cut short by the suddenawakening of the elder Rimini, who immediately sat bolt upright andstared at the stranger with eyes like those of an owl in sunshine.

  Lucien hastened to explain, and to spread the food sent by Bacri beforehis father.

  Feeling sensations like those of a starved wolf, Francisco merelysmiled, nodded, and shook hands with the sailor, and then, seizing theremains of the loaf and the pork,--"wild-boar," or "lion," pie,commenced with infinite gusto to his unexpected meal.

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  Note 1. This held true of the Kabyles until they were conquered,disarmed, and completely subdued by the French, who now hold possessionof their land.