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wind than almost any other craft, and during the squalls so frequent here they offer pictures of great interest, with often upwards of twenty men out upon the long bending yard, the top of which frequently dips into the boiling sea. They are solely employed for transporting English goods and tobacco into Spain, and the trade has succeeded surprisingly, as from the present unsettled state of that unfortunate country the guarda-costas are few and badly managed; indeed some are afraid to attack the smugglers. These latter watch their opportunity, and when the guarda is out of sight put to sea, and when chased, run in under our guns; and as they have all the British flag, we are bound to fire on the guarda, a circumstance of daily occurrence, but done more to frighten than hurt, one or two shots being sufficient to make them give up the pursuit.

12th. Dined at the governor's, where the society of some of the fair daughters of England enlivened the monotony of the eternal red coats.

One of the principal wonders of this nest of scorpions is the reading-room and library, arranged with great taste, notwithstanding that but one Irish newspaper or periodical could gain admittance, and that as a great favour towards an Irishman of the committee.

But we have remained here long enough; it has rained every day since our arrival, and the cold is very trying after the genial temperature of Madeira. 59° is now the daily maximum heat. As

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far as I have yet seen I must say that this is no place for invalids requiring a warmer temperature than England, and pulmonary complaints are the principal cause of death among the troops when epidemics do not prevail. From this time till our return to Gibraltar I established a table of the daily temperature at the different places we visited in the Mediterranean, which will be found in the Appendix.

CHAPTER VI.

ALGIERS.

Enter the Mediterranean-Luminosity of the sea-Coast of Barbary--City of Algiers-Quarantine-The Ramadan-Phosphoric lights-Health officers-Narrow streets-Fountains-Bazaars-Trades-Costumes-Moors--The Burnoose-Kadees-Jews-Their government-Costumes-The Sarmah—Henna —Turks—Arabs-The Swauves and Spahees-Their dress-French soldiery --Black Moors-Bedawees-Kabyles-Algerine ladies—Negroes--Chierology —Decay of the kingdom-The Ottoman Empire-Census.

DECEMBER 14. We left Gibraltar and commenced our voyage up the Mediterranean, intending to make Algiers our first resting-place, not merely on account of the interest excited by that extraordinary spot, or to view its condition under its present masters, but in the hope of finding a climate suitable to invalids, to us a matter of no small importance.

During the whole of this day the wind was favourable, but it headed us during the night; and on awaking on Friday morning, the 15th inst., instead of finding ourselves half way to beating along the coast of Spain, snow-clad mountains of Granada.

Algiers, we were beneath the lofty We felt the cold

much, as the thermometer was not above 57° at any one time during the day; still we were much amused

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LUMINOSITY OF THE SEA.

with the scene, which was rendered interesting by the shoals of vessels around us-often no less than from twenty to thirty in sight, all taking advantage of the change of wind, and running down to the Gut. Among the rest was an English corvette, towing the wreck of a Prussian brig, dismasted and water-logged; its shattered spars, the remnant of some shivered sails and broken cordage, streaming in the wind, formed a most melancholy object amidst a scene of so much animation.

On the following day we passed the white marble point of Cape de Gat, having, as usual, a head-wind.

On the 17th it was nearly calm, and although still "standing on" the Spanish coast, we were sensible of a great change for the better in the climate.

18th. A fair wind during the night has taken us to the African coast, along the low undulating shores of which a light wind, right aft, is stealing us on our course thermometer 62°. We were cheered in the evening by the first truly Mediterranean sunset we had yet witnessed; the night beautiful, the air balmy, and the sea quite luminous, spreading out in waves of spangled light from beneath our cut-water, while behind it forms an eddying sheet of silver foam, as it falls from the rudder like the tail of an immense comet. Venus rose in great splendour, and her "wake," as sailor's express it, was thrown on the waters, little inferior in brilliancy to that of

our moon.

COAST OF BARBARY.

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The next morning we were all expectation to get a view of Algiers, but the wind falling off it required studding sails" alow and aloft" to carry us along. The coast of Barbary here is a series of small hills huddled together, without a spot of land that could be called a plain. All is covered with underwood, and behind rises the bold range of the Atlas mountains. At last we came in sight of the town, which at some distance has more the appearance of a large white chalk pit on the side of a hill than any thing else I can compare it to. Towards the town the hills are more broken, higher, and studded with numbers of large white buildings, embosomed in groves of evergreens, formerly the country residences of the wealthy Turks, and now occupied by French officers.

The town rises up a steep from the water's edge, and is much smaller than we anticipated-nor could we have formed an idea of a place so close and compact. Every thing is white, even to the roofs of the houses.

It was dusk when we came to anchor, the drums and bugles sounding, and the noise and shouting tell of our vicinity to a large army. Here we had to endure that abomination of travelling, a five days' quarantine; as, although there was no sickness at our last port, the great intercourse Gibraltar has with other nations, the French say, renders this necessary. Had we, instead of coming direct, re

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