The Pirate City: An Algerine Tale

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.

  DESCRIBES THE BOMBARDMENT OF ALGIERS.

  When the British fleet bore down on Algiers on the morning of the 27thof August 1816, there was barely sufficient wind to carry it withinsight of the town. While lying becalmed in the _Queen Charlotte_, LordExmouth sent in a boat and a flag of truce with the terms dictated byEngland, and a demand for the immediate release of the consul and theofficers and men belonging to the _Prometheus_.

  About the same time a small boat was observed by those on board thefleet to put off from the shore to the northward, which, pulling rightacross the town, made straight for the flag-ship. It was manned by asolitary rower, who, as he drew near, was recognised by his costume tobe an Arab.

  A four-oared boat shot out from the mole-head as if to intercept thissolitary rower, and a short but inspiriting chase ensued. It was seenthat at first the Arab paid no attention whatever to the boat inpursuit, but kept up the slow regular stroke of one who felt quiteunconcerned and at his ease. The boat in chase overhauled it fast, andwhen within shout a gunshot the Turk in the stern stood up and hailedthe Arab in stern, angry tones, but no reply was vouchsafed.Exasperated beyond measure, the Turk levelled a pistol at the Arab andfired, but missed his aim, and was driven almost frantic with rage onobserving that the insolent Arab dropped his oar for an instant, andkissed his hand to the ball as it skipped past.

  Immediately after the Turk was heard to shout an order to his men, whothereupon redoubled their efforts to overtake the chase. At the sameinstant the Arab was observed to bend well forward, and almost doublethe length of his stroke, so that the little craft, which had hithertoskimmed over the calm sea, now began to leap, as it were, in successivebounds.

  "I say, Bill, _don't_ he pull well?" exclaimed one of the tars on boardthe _Queen Charlotte_.

  "Splendiferous!" replied Bill, in great admiration; "an' I do believethat he's creepin' away from the Turk."

  This was true; the Arab was steadily increasing the distance betweenhimself and his pursuers, until at last the latter gave up the chase, aconsummation which was greeted by some of the excitable spirits in the_Queen Charlotte_ with an irresistible though subdued cheer.

  In a short time the Arab rowed alongside the flag-ship.

  "Och! Ally ma boo hookum foldimaronky bang," said the Arab, looking up.

  "Well, now," exclaimed a surprised Irish tar on board to those near him,"it's often. I've heard that the Arabs had the brogue of Owld Ireland,though the lingo don't square exactly."

  "Ah then, brother, that's 'cause ye don't onderstand it. Sure ye mightheave us a rope," replied the Arab with a grin.

  A roar of laughter greeted this speech, and in another minute TedFlaggan stood bowing modestly on the quarter-deck of the flag-ship.

  While the Admiral was closeted with this unexpected visitor--whose nameand deeds, owing to some strange oversight, have been omitted fromhistory,--a light breeze sprang up, which enabled the fleet to standinto the bay and lay-to about a mile from the town.

  Meanwhile, Ted Flaggan, having given the Admiral all the information hepossessed as to the condition of the city and its defences, was sentforward to take part in the expected fight, or go below out of harm'sway, as suited him best. He immediately attached himself, as asupernumerary, to one of the upper-deck guns, and, while giving hisamused comrades graphic accounts of life in the pirate city, obtainedfrom them in return a full account of the fleet, and the intentions ofthe Admiral, as far as these were known. He found his comrades veryintelligent, and full of enthusiasm about their leader, whom one of thetars styled "one of the wery best Admirals that England ever owned arterLord Nelson!"

  Their admiration was well deserved.

  We have already said that the Admiral had commissioned his fleet and gotit into excellent working condition in what was deemed a miraculouslyshort space of time. This, however, was accomplished by no miraculousmeans, but by the simple force of indomitable energy, rightly andperseveringly applied.

  Knowing that the time was short, and that a fleet newly manned could notwork well without a great deal of training, he made up for the shortnessof time by not allowing a single moment of it to be lost, fritteredaway, or misapplied. Besides giving the men the usual and propertraining while in port preparing to sail, he made several arrangementswhereby he continued the training most effectively on the voyage out.Of course it was carried on daily. On Tuesdays and Fridays the shipswere cleared for action, and six broadsides were fired, but this wasonly what may be styled parade practice. Feeling that actual work couldonly be done well by men of actual experience, he had a twelve-poundergun placed on the after part of the _Queen Charlotte's_ quarter-deck,and hung a small target, with a very small bull's-eye, at the end of thefore-topmast studding-sail boom, at which all the captains of gunspractised every day, so that they acquired not only the habit of layingand working their guns according to rule, but also the art of layingthem to good purpose, and many of them became crack shots before theycame within sight of the enemy.

  The crews were thus kept active and elated; in good health, and filledwith respect for the wisdom and knowledge of those in command, as wellas with confidence in their own capacity to obey orders withpromptitude, unity of action, and vigorous effect.

  Half the battles of life, moral as well as physical, are gained by suchconfidence, founded on experience,--the other half are lost for want ofit!

  The fleet comprised five line-of-battle ships, two of which werethree-deckers; three heavy and two smaller frigates, besides smallcraft. At Gibraltar they fell in with a Dutch squadron, consisting offive small frigates and a corvette, under Vice-Admiral the Baron Van deCapellen, who asked and obtained leave to co-operate.

  There were the _Queen Charlotte_--110 guns--the flag-ship of AdmiralLord Exmouth, G.C.B., under Captain James Brisbane, C.B.; _Impregnable_,98--under Rear-Admiral Milne, who was second in command, and CaptainEdward Brace, C.B.; _Superb_, 74--Captain Charles Elkins; _Minden_, 74--Captain William Paterson; _Albion_, 74--Captain John Coode. Offrigates, there were the _Leander_, 50 guns; _Severn_, 40; _Glasgow_,40; _Granicus_, 36; and _Hebrus_, 36. These, with five gun-brigs andfour bomb-vessels, named respectively, and not inappropriately,_Beelzebub_, _Fury_, _Hecla_, and _Infernal_, constituted the Britishfleet.

  The Dutch Admiral hoisted his flag in the _Melampus_ frigate of 44 guns.The _Frederica_, of same size, was commanded by Captain Van derStraten. The other four vessels were smaller. There were, besides, aflotilla of fifty-five small craft, including mortar and gun-boats,rocket flats, yawls, etcetera.

  Opposed to this, which the reader will bear in remembrance was deemed asmall fleet, there were on the walls and batteries of Algiers about 500guns of all sizes and sorts, behind which were inexhaustible supplies ofammunition, and many thousands of as thorough-going rascals as everdefied the strength and tried the patience of the civilised world!

  Being thoroughly acquainted with the position and strength of thebatteries of the city, Lord Exmouth had arranged the plan of attack, andassigned to each ship and boat its particular station some days beforearriving. The addition of the Dutch fleet modified but did notmaterially alter that plan. Each individual, therefore, from LordExmouth to the smallest powder-monkey, was as well primed for action aswere the guns of the fleet when the flag of truce returned.

  It had been met outside the mole about eleven AM by the captain of theport, and an answer was promised in two hours.

  But these pirates had never been celebrated for keeping their word. Oneo'clock passed, but no answer was forthcoming. Patient andlong-suffering as usual--and as he always is--the British Lion delayed afull hour.

  "Ah, boys, if we wait till we git a peaceful answer from them villains,we'll wait till doomsday, so we will," said Ted Flaggan to the men ofthe gun to which he had attached himself.

  Ted had thrown off his burnous and washed himself by this time, and now,clad in a borrowed pair of ducks and striped shirt, he stood by the guncommenting pleasan
tly on his experiences of Algerine life, and pointingout the various buildings and objects of interest in the city to hismates.

  "That big white house there," said he, "right fornint ye, with the roundtop an' the staple all to wan side--that's wan o' the chief mosques.It's somewhere about two hunderd year ould, more or less, an' was builtby a slave--a poor feller of a Genoese--an', would you belave it, theykilt him for the shape he gave it! Ah, they're a bad lot intirely!Like a dacent Christian, he made it in the shape o' a cross, an' whinthe Dey found that out he chopped the poor man's head off--so he did,worse luck! but it's that they're always doin', or stranglin' ye wid abow-string, or makin' calf's-futt jelly o' yer soles.--What! `Ye don'tbelave it?' Faix, if ye go ashore ye'll larn to belave it. I've seedpoor owld women git the bastinado--that's what they calls it--fornothin' at all a'most. Ah, they're awful hard on the women. They kape'em locked up, they does, as if they was thieves or murderers, and niverlets 'em out--at least the ladies among 'em--for fear o' their bein'runned away wid. It's true what I'm sayin'. An' if wan shud be runnedaway wid, an' cotched, they ties her in a sack and drowns her.--Good-lookin', is it? Faix, that's more than I can tell 'ee, for all thetime I've been in the place I've never wance seed a Moorish woman'sface, barrin' the brow an' eyes and top o' the nose, for they cover 'emup wid white veils, so as to make 'em look like ghosts or walkin'corpses. But the Jewesses show their purty faces, an' so do thenaigresses.--`are the naigresses purty?' Troth, they may be to theirown kith an' kin, but of all the ugly--Well, well, as you say, it's notfair to be hard on 'em, poor critters; for arter all they didn't maketheirselves, no more than the monkeys did."

  Ted Flaggan was interrupted here by the sudden exclamation of "There sheis!" and the next moment the boat with the flag of truce was seenreturning with the signal flying--"No answer."

  Instantly Lord Exmouth signalled to the fleet, "Are you ready?" to whichan affirmative reply was at once returned, and then each ship and boatbore down on its appointed station.

  We have already said that the harbour of Algiers was formed by therunning out of an artificial pier from the mainland to the small islandof Penon, which lies close to the town. On this island stood, (andstill stands), a light-house, at the base of which was a powerfulthree-tier battery of fifty guns. The island itself was defended allround by ramparts and batteries of heavy guns. This was the strongpoint of the fortifications, and within the small harbour thus formedwas collected the whole Algerine fleet, consisting of four frigates,five large corvettes, and thirty-seven gun-boats.

  But besides these harbour defences, the sea-wall of the town extendednearly a mile to the southward and a considerable distance to thenorthward of the harbour, being everywhere strengthened by powerfulbatteries. The arrangement of the British Admiral was that each batteryshould be engaged by a special ship or ships of heavy metal, and thatthe smaller vessels should take up position where they could find room,or cruise about and do as much damage to the enemy as possible. Whilethe liners and frigates were to batter down the walls, the small craft--bomb and rocket boats, etcetera--were to pour shells and rockets intothe arsenal. It was terrible work that had to be done, but the cursewhich it was intended to do away with was more terrible by far, becauseof being an old standing evil, and immeasurably more prolific of deathand misery than is even a hard-fought battle.

  The signal to go into action being given, Lord Exmouth led the van inthe _Queen Charlotte_, and the whole fleet bore up in succession, theDutch Admiral closing in with the rearmost ship of the English line.

  Truly it was a grand as well as a solemn sight to see these majesticships of war sail quietly down on the devoted city in the midst of deadsilence, for as yet not a shot had been fired on either side. And theeyes of many, already wide with eagerness, must have opened wider stillwith surprise, for Lord Exmouth pursued a course of action that was boldeven for a British Admiral. He ran the _Queen Charlotte_ before thewind, close up to the walls, and with the sails still standing let gothree anchors from the stern, so as to keep her exactly in the requiredposition, just before the opening of the mole, and with her vastbroadside _within pistol-range_ of the walls, flanking all the batteriesfrom the mole-head to the light-house.

  Still no shot was fired. The boldness of the act seemed to haveconfounded and paralysed the enemy, insomuch that a second ship of theline had almost taken her position close to the stern of her predecessorbefore the battle began. The effect on the minds of the combatants onboth sides was so great that they seemed to have forgotten for aninstant the dread work they were about to perform. The mole was crowdedwith troops, many of whom, with irresistible feelings of curiosity,leaped on the parapet to see the vessel pass, while Lord Exmouth, with astrange touch of humanity, waved to them earnestly to get out of the wayof the coming fire!

  Having coolly lashed the ship by a hawser to the main-mast of anAlgerine brig which was attached to the shore, and stoppered the cables,the crew of the flag-ship cheered.

  Immediately a gun was fired by the Algerines. At the first flash LordExmouth gave the order to "stand by."

  At the second gun of the enemy he gave the word "Fire!"

  The third was drowned in the thunder of the _Queen Charlotte's_broadside.

  The effect of such heavy metal at so short a range was terrific. Thewalls absolutely crumbled before it, and it is said that five hundredmen fell at the first discharge. All the batteries of the city at onceopened fire; the ships did likewise, as they successively got intoposition, and for some hours after that the roar of artillery wasincessant, for, despite the irresistible fire of the fleet, the piratesstood to their guns like men. Thus, although the leading vesselssucceeded in anchoring quietly, all the rest of the ships went intoaction under a very heavy fire, particularly that of the Dutch Admiral,who displayed great wisdom and gallantry in the part which he played.The line-of-battle ships formed in a sort of crescent round the outsideof the island. The _Superb_ anchored two hundred and fifty yards asternof the flag-ship; the _Minden_ anchored about her own length from the_Superb_, and passing her stream-cable out of the larboard gun-room portto the _Albion_, brought the two ships together. Next came the_Impregnable_. These sufficiently engaged the batteries on the islandor mole. The heavy frigates passed ahead and anchored,--the _Leander_on the port bow of the _Queen Charlotte_, the _Severn_ ahead of her,with her starboard broadside bearing on the Fishmarket battery. The_Melampus_ and _Diana_, Dutch vessels, passed beyond and engaged thesouthern batteries of the town. The smaller vessels cruised about,directing their fire where it seemed to be most needed, and the flotillaof mortar and rocket boats were distributed at the openings between theline-of-battle ships and the mole.

  This admirable disposition of the force seemed to inspire the men withadditional confidence, if such were possible, but ere long the densesmoke rendered everything invisible beyond a few yards' distance fromthe actors in the tremendous fight.

  In a few minutes after opening fire, the _Queen Charlotte_ had reducedthe fortifications on the mole-head to ruins. She then brought herbroadside to bear on the batteries over the gate leading to the mole andon the upper works of the light-house. Her shot told on it with fatalaccuracy, crumbling the tower and bringing down gun after gun, thusproving that the ball-practice on the voyage out had not been undertakenin vain. Indeed, so expert did some of the gunners find themselves thatthey actually amused themselves at one part of the day in attempting tohit the Algerine flag-staff!

  It chanced that, owing to some alteration in the arrangements, ourfriend Rais Ali was transferred from the battery on the walls, where hehad originally been stationed, to that on the light-house, and when hebeheld gun after gun tumbling helplessly over the crumbling parapets,his spirit fired, and he amazed his comrades by displaying a disregardof personal danger for which he had never before got credit. Whether itwas that Ted Flaggan had underrated him, or that there is truth in theproverb about extremes meeting, we cannot tell, but certain it is, thatwhen Rais Ali saw every gun
of the battery dismounted but one, he rushedat that one like an enraged lion, seized the rammer from the man whowielded it, and began to load.

  He might have spared himself the trouble, for before he got the chargerammed home, a shot from the terrible _Queen Charlotte_ struck theparapet just underneath, burst it up, and toppled the gun over. Raisleaped on the ramparts, waved his scimitar with a yell of defiance, and,tumbling after the gun, was lost amid a cloud of lime-dust and debris.

  Strange to say, he rose from out the ruin almost unhurt, and quiteundismayed.

  Hasting along the quay without any definite end in view, he found thecaptain of the port getting the flotilla of gun-boats ready for action.There were thirty-seven of them, and up to that time they had lain assnugly in the harbour as was compatible with a constant shower of shellsand rockets tumbling into them. With great daring the pirates hadresolved to make a dash with these, under cover of the smoke, andattempt to board the British flag-ship.

  "Where go you?" demanded the infuriated Rais.

  The captain of the port hurriedly explained.

  "I go with you," cried Rais, jumping into one of the boats; "it isfate--no man can resist the decree of fate."

  All the boats pushed swiftly off together, and did it so silently thatthey were close under the bow of the flag-ship before being observed.The _Leander_ also saw them, and a few guns from her, as well as fromthe flag-ship, were instantly turned on them.

  "Musha! look there!" cried Ted Flaggan, who chanced to be on the part ofthe ship nearest them.

  A tremendous crash followed, and thirty-three out of the thirty-sevenboats were in one moment sent to the bottom!

  Of the four that escaped and put about to retreat, one came within therange of the gun at which Flaggan served. It was trained to bear.

  "Fire!" said the captain.

  "Howld on!" cried Ted, suddenly clapping his hand on the touch-hole, andreceiving the red-hot poker on the back of it.

  "What's that for, mate?" demanded the man who held the poker, as hequickly raised it.

  "All right, me hearty; fire away," said Ted, as he quietly removed hishand.

  Next moment the gun leaped back as if affrighted at its own vomit ofshot, smoke, and fire, and a column of white foam rose from the sea,astern of the boat.

  The momentary check had delivered it from destruction, and Ted Flagganhad the satisfaction of knowing that he had saved his friend Rais Ali,as he tenderly patted his injured hand.

  More than an hour of this heavy firing failing to produce submission,Lord Exmouth resolved to destroy the Algerine fleet. The _Leander_ wasordered to cease firing, and the flag-ship barge, under LieutenantRichards, was ordered to board the nearest frigate of the enemy, withlaboratory torches and carcass shells. This duty was gallantlyperformed, and so effectually, that the men of the barge had barely timeto tumble over the side when the frigate was a mass of flames. Thebarge was received with three hearty cheers on its return. Next, thelaunch of the _Queen Charlotte_ opened on the largest frigate in theport with carcass shells, and despite the frantic efforts of theAlgerines to save her, she was soon completely on fire. From thisfrigate the fire spread to all the other boats and vessels in theharbour, and from these to the storehouses and arsenal, until the wholeplace was wrapped in smoke and flames.

  Meanwhile the other ships had done terrible execution on the walls andhouses immediately opposite to them, while the bomb-vessels threw theirdeadly missiles right over their own ships and into the town andarsenal, with tremendous effect.

  Thus the work of destruction went on all the afternoon, while men, ofcourse, fell fast on both sides--for the deadly game of war cannot becarried on except at fearful cost. Even in the secondary matter of_materiel_ the cost is not small. As night approached the guns of theenemy were completely silenced, and the ships began to husband theirammunition, for they had by that time fired an immense quantity ofgunpowder, and 50,000 shot, weighing more than 500 tons of iron; besides960 shells of large size, as well as a considerable quantity of shot,shell, and rockets from the flotilla! The result was that the entirefleet of the pirates was destroyed, and the sea-defences of Algiers,with a great part of the town itself, were shattered and crumbled inruins.

  Then the fleet hauled off with considerable difficulty, owing to theabsence of wind; but the pirates had not given in, for they keptspitting at their foes from the upper batteries of the town untilhalf-past eleven at night, when the ships got out of range and firingceased.

  Strange to say, the powers of nature, which had hitherto slumberedquietly, now came into play. The breeze freshened and a tremendousstorm of thunder, lightning, and rain came on, as if to mock the fury ofman, and humble him under a sense of his relative littleness.

  But man is not easily humbled. Next morning the pirates still showed adisinclination to give in, and the British fleet resumed the offensivein order to compel them to do so.

  The gun-boats were again placed in position, and Lieutenant Burgess wassent ashore with a flag of truce to demand unconditional surrender.

  CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.

  THE LAST.

  In a dimly-lighted cell of a massive stone building not far from thepalace of the Dey, sat Colonel Langley, Francisco Rimini and his twosons, Bacri the Jew, and the officers and men belonging to the_Prometheus_--all heavily ironed. The Padre Giovanni was also there,but not, like the others, a prisoner.

  He was attending to his self-imposed duty of comforting the sick anddying. Among the other prisoners was an Italian slave, a nobleman, whohad broken down on the ramparts and rebelled, and was sent to prison asbeing the most convenient hospital where he might be kept until thepirates should find leisure to flog him into submission or to death.But Death had a mind to do the work according to his own pleasure. Theslave felt himself to be sinking, and, through the influence of Bacriwith the jailer, he had been permitted to send for Giovanni. Otherslaves were there too, doomed to punishment, or, in other words, tovarious degrees of torture. They lay or cowered around the cellawaiting the issue of the fight.

  It was a terrible sight to see the varied expressions of anxiety, fear,or dogged resolution depicted in the faces of these men. Some of themknew well that death, accompanied by excruciating torture, was certainto be their portion when the bombardment should be over. Others hopedthat a severe bastinado might be the worst of it. None expectedanything more--even though the British should win the day--than thatthere would be some modification in treaties which would not extend tothe slaves of foreign nations.

  They all--with the exception of the Padre--maintained an almost unbrokensilence during the bombardment; but their restless motions and glancesshowed how busy their thoughts were, and a grim smile would ever andanon curl the lips of some when a chance shot struck the building andshook it to its foundation. And oh! how anxiously one or two desperatespirits hoped that a shell would enter it, and scatter sudden deathamong them all!

  It was solemn, and strange, too, in the midst of the interminablethunder, to hear the gentle voice of the man of God quoting from thepeace-speaking Word, as he knelt beside the dying man and dwelling moreespecially on passages in which the loving Jesus seeks to cheer Hispeople with prospects of rest and peace, such as--"Peace be unto you;""Let not your hearts be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also inme;" "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I willgive you rest." Even the hardened among the wretched and demoralisedsufferers there could not choose but hear and note the powerful contrastbetween the gentle voice of Almighty God that thus murmured within theprison, and the crashing voice of puny man that roared outside!

  In the darkness of that night Bacri crept to the side of Mariano, andwhispered hastily--

  "I may not get another opportunity to speak to thee. Just before I camehither Angela and her sister were taken from my care by force. They arenow in the palace, under the care of Zara. Omar intends to keep them."

  Mariano turned to reply, but the Jew had retired noiselessly as he came.r />
  Early in the morning after the fight the prison-door opened, and a bandof Turkish soldiers entered. The garish light of day, as it streamedover the dungeon floor, revealed the fact that the shattered frame ofthe Italian slave had found rest at last.

  The soldiers looked fagged and dishevelled. Many of them wore bandagesabout their heads and limbs. They did not speak, but drew up in a line,while their leader advanced with a negro, who proceeded to file thefetters from off the British consul and his countrymen. In a fewminutes he led them out between the soldiers, and conducted them towardsthe palace.

  Although the Turkish officer could not, or would not, converse withColonel Langley, the latter had little difficulty in making a prettygood guess as to how matters stood, for on his way to the palace, shortthough it was, he saw devastation enough to convince him that theBritish had gained the day. Arrived at the palace, the party werelocked up in an anteroom.

  Meanwhile, in the audience-hall, which was considerably damaged by theartillery of the fleet, Omar Dey held a divan. The building in whichthis court had been held in former times was now a ruin, and many of thecouncillors who had been wont to assemble in it had gone to their lastaccount.

  Omar was very pale, and moved with difficulty, having been woundedslightly in various places. Indeed, all the statesmen who surroundedhim bore marks, more or less severe, of having played a part in the lateaction. In the midst of an eager discussion, an attendant entered, andannounced the arrival of a British officer with a flag of truce.

  "Admit him," said the Dey, who, although boiling over with rage anddespair, had sense enough to make up his mind to bow to the power whichhe could not overcome.

  Immediately Lieutenant Burgess was ushered into the court, accompaniedby Rais Ali in the capacity of translator, and two of his boat's crew,one of whom was, by special permission, Ted Flaggan.

  Without wasting time in useless ceremony, the lieutenant ordered Rais toread aloud the paper which he had been commissioned by Lord Exmouth todeliver to the Dey.

  Poor Rais Ali appeared to have expended all his bravery on the ramparts,for he trembled and grew paler as he took the paper in his hand.

  "Cheer up, owld boy," whispered Flaggan, as Ali turned to advancetowards the Dey; "ye've got more pluck than I guv 'ee credit for. Neversay die."

  Whether it was the result of these encouraging words, or desperation, weknow not, but Rais immediately advanced and read the paper withconsiderable fluency. It ran as follows:--

  "To His Highness the Dey of Algiers.

  "Sir,--For your atrocities at Bona on defenceless Christians, and your unbecoming disregard of the demands I made yesterday, in the name of the Prince Regent of England, the fleet under my orders has given you a signal chastisement, by the total destruction of your navy storehouses and arsenal, with half your batteries. As England does not make war for the destruction of cities, I am unwilling to visit your personal cruelties upon the inoffensive inhabitants of the country, and I therefore offer you the same terms of peace which I conveyed to you yesterday in my Sovereign's name. Without the acceptance of these terms you can have no peace with England.

  "If you receive this offer as you ought, you will fire three guns; and I shall consider your not making this signal as a refusal, and shall renew my operations at my own convenience.

  "I offer you the above terms provided neither the British consul, nor the officers and men so wickedly seized by you from the boats of a British ship of war, have met with any cruel treatment, or any of the Christian slaves in your power; and I repeat my demand that the consul and officers and men may be sent off to me, conformable to ancient treaties.--I have, etcetera, Exmouth."

  The terms of peace referred to ran thus:--

  I. The abolition for ever of Christian slavery.

  II. The delivery to my flag of all slaves in the dominions of the Dey,to whatever nation they may belong, at noon to-morrow.

  III. To deliver also to my flag all money received by the Dey for theredemption of slaves since the commencement of this year, at noonto-morrow.

  IV. Reparation shall be made to the British consul for all losses hemay have sustained in consequence of his confinement.

  V. The Dey shall make a public apology in presence of his ministers andofficers, and beg pardon of the consul in terms dictated by the captainof the _Queen Charlotte_.

  The proud pirate chief did not move a muscle of his pale face, or bendhis head while these terms were read to him; nevertheless, he agreed tothem all. The consul and others were called into the hall and deliveredup; the three guns were fired, and thereafter Lord Exmouth directedthat, on the Sunday following, "a public thanksgiving should be offeredup to Almighty God for the signal interposition of his Providence duringthe conflict which took place on the 27th between his Majesty's fleetand the ferocious enemies of mankind." In accordance with these termsof peace, all the Christian slaves were collected next day and deliveredup.

  Sixteen hundred and forty-two were freed on this occasion, and sent onboard the fleet. Counting those freed but a short time before, throughLord Exmouth's influence along the Barbary coasts, the total numberdelivered amounted to above 3000.

  The assembling on the decks of the ships of war of these victims ofbarbaric cruelty, ignorance, and superstition, was a sight that raisedpowerful and conflicting feelings in the breasts of those who witnessedit. The varied feelings of the slaves were, to some extent, expressedby their actions and in their faces. Old and young were there, ofalmost every nation; gentle and simple, robust and feeble; men, women,and children. Some, on coming on board, cheered with joy, but thesewere few, and consisted chiefly of men who had not been long enslaved,and had not suffered much. Others wept with delight, fell on theirknees and kissed the decks, or returned thanks to God for deliverance.Some were carried on board, being too ill, or too broken down, to walk.Many appeared to regard the whole affair as a dream, too good to betrue, from which they must soon awake--as they had often awaked before--after their uneasy slumbers in the dreadful Bagnio. But the saddestsights of all were the men and women, here and there among the crowd,whose prolonged condition of slavery--in many cases ten, twenty, eventhirty years--had rendered them callous as well to joy as to sorrow.Taken in youth, they were now old. What was freedom to them? It didindeed deliver them from the lash and from constant toil, but it couldnot return to them the years that were gone; it could not recall thebeloved dead, who had, perchance, found their graves, sooner than mightotherwise have been, in consequence of the misery of hope long deferred,or the toil, beyond capacity, induced by the desire to raise the needfulransom of the loved ones rent from them by these Algerine corsairs."The heart knoweth its own bitterness." None but themselves could knowor tell the awful feelings, or the still more dreadful want of feeling,that caused these wretched ones to look with glazed eyes of totalindifference on the wonderful scenes that were enacted around them thatday.

  Among the released captives, of course, were our friends of the Riminifamily.

  One of these was seen going about the decks, glancing earnestly andquickly into faces, as if in search of some one.

  It was Mariano seeking for Angela! He was closely followed by TedFlaggan and Lucien.

  "Depind on it, they've kep' her back," said Ted.

  "I fear they have," said Lucien.

  Mariano said nothing, but went straight to the officer in charge of thedeck, and demanded a body of men to go ashore and recover the Siciliancaptives.

  The case was brought before the chief, who at once granted Mariano'srequest, and sent a party on shore.

  Arrived at the palace they made a formal demand that the sisters and thechild should be delivered up.

  At first Omar pretended ignorance on the point. Then he suddenlyrecollected two female slaves who had been forgotten, and sent for them,but they were not those for whom Mariano sought! At last, seeing thatthere was no help for it, he gave orders that Paulina Ruffini, and herchild and sister, sho
uld be given up.

  Need we say that Mariano kept pretty close to Angela after that, andthat Angela did not by any means object? We think not!

  Besides these captives there were a few others whom the Dey endeavouredto retain, but Lord Exmouth was inexorable. He insisted on everyindividual being set free, and spared no pains to ascertain that nonewere left behind. Of course it is more than probable that someunfortunates were so carefully concealed as to escape detection, still,as far as it lay in the power of man to act, this part of the Admiral'sduty was thoroughly performed.

  Thereafter, having accomplished its object, the British fleet left thestricken city, and the freed captives were ultimately returned to theirhomes.

  Thus at last, in 1816, after the lapse of centuries of murder, rapine,and robbery on the high seas, did the Pirate City receive a fatal blow,from which it never completely recovered. It revived a little, indeed,in after years, and made a struggle to renew its old strength and resumeits old practices; but, fortunately for mankind, the reigning Dey in1827 struck the French consul on the face with his fan. The Frenchthereupon declared war and blockaded the town, but it was not till 1833that they set themselves vigorously to effect a conquest. In that yearthey landed an army in Algeria at Sidi Ferruch, and swept everythingbefore them. The history of this conquest--and of the subsequent warsof France in Algeria--is full of the deepest interest and most romanticincidents. The barbarians did indeed show fight, and fought bravely,but they might as well have tried to drive back the sea as to check thedisciplined battalions of France. In a brief but brilliant campaignthey were utterly defeated, the Dey capitulated, the gates were thrownopen, and the French marched in and took possession.

  From that day to this they have held it, and the Pirate City is now acharming town--with a French foreground, a Moorish middle-distance, anda bright green background--in which, along with Frenchmen, Turks,Kabyles, Negroes and Moors, and amid orange-groves, date-palms, cactiand prickly pears, the invalids of Europe may enjoy summer heat inwinter days, and sit outside in December dreaming peacefully, it may bealmost sceptically, of other days, when the bastinado and the bow-stringflourished in the land.

  Less than sixty years ago the Algerine corsairs were the pest of thecivilised world and the terror of the Mediterranean. Now, their city isone of our "summer retreats," a sort of terrestrial paradise, and thosewho resort to it find it difficult to believe that the immediateforefathers of the fine-looking fellows who saunter about the Frenchboulevards and Moorish streets were the ruthless pirates which historytoo surely proclaims them to have been.

  But what of the various characters whom we have thus summoned from the"vasty deep" of memory, to play their little part in this veracioustale?

  Of some we know not the end. Of others it would be almost well that wedid not. A few terminated their career happily.

  Poor Bacri fell a victim to the avarice of Omar, who desired to possesshimself of the Jew's wealth. Being an autocrat, he easily found meansto accomplish his purpose. He invited Bacri to the palace, conversedaffably for a time, and then bowed him out with a smile. On the stair,as he descended, the Jew was met by three chaouses, who seized him, andtook him to the strangling-room. Bacri was, as we have said, a powerfulman, and struggled long and vigorously for life. But what could he dounarmed against three stalwart men? He ultimately gave in, with thename of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob on his lips, and perishedas many a former chief of the Jews in Algiers had perished before him.

  Rais Ali having given, as we have seen, incontestable proof of hiscourage and fidelity during the bombardment, was raised to a position ofeasy affluence, and for many years continued a respected and harmlessinhabitant of the town. His kindly disposition induced him to foregohis Mohammedan prejudices against Christians--perchance his intercoursewith Christians had something to do with that--and he became a firmfriend of the Padre Giovanni during the course of that good old man'scareer, which did not last long after slavery was abolished. The samefeelings induced him to befriend Blindi Bobi, who was also a friend ofthe Padre.

  Poor Ashweesha, and her father, Sidi Cadua, perished under the rod andthe bow-string; and Hadji Baba, the story-teller, continued to tellstories and to jest to the end of his days. How the Deys tolerated himhas ever remained a matter of surprise to the thoughtful. Ziffa, hisnaughty daughter, became a wife and a mother, in connexion with threeother wives, who were also mothers, and belonged to the Turk whom wehave more than once mentioned as the captain of the port.

  Colonel Langley returned to England with his wife and children,inexpressibly glad to exchange the atmosphere of the Crescent for thatof the Cross. Ted Flaggan was installed as butler to the family, andremained in that position for many years. It is supposed by some of hisdescendants that he would have continued in it to the present day, ifany of the family had remained alive.

  As to the various members of the Rimini family, it may suffice that weshould dismiss them by drawing a slight sketch:

  In a Sicilian cottage near the sea, a little old lady--some would say adear little old lady--sits in a high-backed chair. She gazes pensively,now on the blue Mediterranean, now on a family group which consists ofthe dark-eyed Juliet and the earnest Lucien, who are vainly striving torestrain the violence of their youngest son; the eldest being engaged ina surreptitious attempt to pull down a map of Algiers, which hangs onthe opposite wall. Mariano, with his wonted vivacity, stands before theold lady tossing a small female specimen of humanity as near to theceiling as is compatible with prolonged existence. Angela looks onadmiringly. She does not appear to care much for Mariano now! Why shetakes so much interest in the female baby we leave to the reader todiscover. Old Francisco is there too, bluffer and bolder than ever, andso is Paulina, with a beautiful dark-haired girl, who is the very imageof the tall handsome man engaged in conversation with Francisco.

  It is no accidental coincidence this meeting. It is a family gathering,planned and carried out from year to year, in commemoration of the daywhen the family was delivered from slavery and sorrow.

  They have just finished dinner, and there has been much earnest,thankful converse about the days gone by. They have fought theirbattles o'er again. They have re-told the oft-told tales, feeling as ifthey were almost new, and have reiterated their gratitude to the God ofLove for His great and manifold mercies.

  We have not space to relate all that they said, but we may give theconcluding sentences.

  "You're a wild boy, Mariano, as you always were," said the little oldlady with the rippling mouth, as the young man plunged his littledaughter into her lap head-foremost.

  "And as I mean to be to the end of the chapter," replied Mariano. "Howoften, grandmother, have you not tried to impress on me the importanceof following good examples? Have I not acted on your advice? Doubtlessno man is perfect, and I am far--very far--from claiming to have beenthoroughly successful in my efforts; but I have tried hard. Did I not,while in Algiers, follow the example of my dear father in exhibiting atall times a spirit of obstinacy that all but drove the pirates deliriouswith rage? Did I not afterwards imitate Lucien, (your pet-pattern), ingetting to me the very best wife that the wide world could produce, anddo I not now intend to follow your own example in remaining young inspirit until I am old in years? Taunt me not, then, with being wild--you cannot cure me."

  "I fear not," replied the little old lady with a sigh which did notaccord in the slightest degree with the ripples that played round herlips.

  "Wildness runs in the family, mother," said Francisco, with a broadsmile and a glance at Lucien's eldest hope, who had at that momentsucceeded in breaking the string of the map, and pulling Algiers down onhis head, "the Riminis have it in the blood and bone.--Get up and don'twhimper, there's a brave fellow," added the burly merchant as theastonished youth arose; "I only wish that one of the great Powers wouldpull down the real city of pirates as effectually as you have settledthe map. Lord Exmouth no doubt gave it a magnificent pounding, bututter
obliteration is the only thing that will do."

  "That's true, father," cried Lucien; "it must be conquered by acivilised nation, and the Turks be driven out, or held in subjection, ifEurope is to have peace. Depend on't they will be at their old tricksere long."

  "I should like to be commander-in-chief when the war of conquestbegins," said Mariano.

  "A poor job you'd make of it, my son," said Francisco.

  "Why so, father?"

  "Why? because hot blood and a giddy head with a revengeful spirit arenot the best elements wherewith to construct a commander-in-chief."

  "Ah! father, with every wish to be respectful I cannot refrain fromreminding you of a certain pot which was reported once to have called akettle black. Ha!" continued Mariano, turning towards the little oldlady, "you should have seen him, granny, in the Bagnio of Algiers, whenthe guards were inclined to be rather hard on some of the sick--"

  "No, no!" interrupted the old lady, shaking her head; "don't talk ofthat."

  "Well, I won't, except to say that I'm thankful we are well out of it."

  "It seems all like a strange dream," returned the old lady thoughtfully.

  "So it does, mother," murmured Francisco, "so it does,--an almostincredible dream."

  And so it seems to us, reader, now that we have closed the record of it;nevertheless it was no dream, but a sad and stern reality to those whoplayed their part in it--to those who sorrowed and suffered, sixty yearsago, in the Pirate City.

  THE END.