Show A LETTER FROM PARIS the isaac Is not a large steamer but it is a fast one and Is a very pretty and comfortable boat I 1 am here or on board with a lot of people whose language I 1 cannot understand except when it is an englishman who speaks there are here french people who remain on deck all day narrating as I 1 suppose some rather coarse jokes judging by the roars of laughter that welcome every new story there are also spaniards with their everlasting cigarettes also americana Ameri canh talking business and at last but not the least englishmen who eat all the time and silently huge slices of roast beat while they sip their tea I 1 notice on board many arabians in their native costume which is beautiful these children of the desert have been vanquished by france but they have no been conquered their eyes tell the whole story of their miseries and the somber fire that sparkles from them at certain moments makes one feel un comfortable I 1 I 1 have just made the acquaintance of sidi ben ahmet a powerful chief or sheik of his country his family descends from the king of granada boabdil who fter atter a having conquered spain and reigned many years there was driven from the peninsula by the victorious armies of ferdinand Per dinand and isabella led by the hero of spain the cid sidi ben ahmet is ie a man of noble appearance his costume is strikingly beautiful and his hili white bureaus Bur naus spread over his brilliant cavalry uniform enhances still his handsome countenance his eye Is proud and the expression of his face is cruel but at certain times when some lady passes him the whole ex of his face changes and he looks as tender and meek as a lamb he is a colonel in the french army and is a friend of france he can talk the french language to perfection and unde understand and english so well that I 1 am delighted at having met him especially because he has graciously offered to be my cicerone oice pone throughout algiers when we arrive there this bo colonel lonel whom I 1 shall call sidi ben ahmet in the future Is a nobleman not only in bearing but in his heart after having talked with him of many subjects we began to speak about the dominion exercised by prance france upon his native land and as he gave me many particulars on an the tall fall of his race the revolt of the Ka byles and the famous campaign when the great abdelkader abd el kader almost a prophet to his people had fallen under the masses of the french cavelry oa valry who under the command of duke d aumale armale had captured the harem of abdelkader abd el kader kadet the eyes of my new friend were filled with tears at that dark recollection of his youth I 1 did not urge the brave soldier to speak further because I 1 myself felt moved by his sorrow but birt suddenly after a few moments of silence and a few puffs from his cigar to give himself a couii cenance te nance he viole violently said you see no use to resist the arabs are degerio debei aerated the race is going to pieces we had a hope but it disappeared the day when abdelkader abd el kader swore allegiance legi ance to prance france and became her friend forever As long as abdel abd el kader was free the war would evver have ended but birt when he lost his liberty ours was vw lost loat easo also mahomet who sees all from his celestial throne has said it through our chiefs mouth it was waa written and it is better for the arabs to bo obey the french than to be under the rule of england who calls her subjects free while they are nu no more than slaves and sidi ben ahmet after these words fell back in his chair seemingly depressed although looking as if he were resigned to fate the people have said that the mediterranean sea is very mild are mistaken and I 1 can testify that it is extremely rough the waves are not nolt as high as those of the ocean but they ore are very short which makes it very uncomfortable for the passengers I 1 am seasick but I 1 am not the only one here who suffers even the horses are sick and the poor creatures that we have on board seem quite dow downcast the mediterranean sea Is ia beautiful to look got at it has a very peculiar color and its waters are m more ore admirable than thain those of the ocean the sunsets here are an superb and it happens at times that thai through the effects of light the line of the horizon does not exist any more and the sea and blue heaven seem to be mingled together without any division just as if they rolled one into the other I 1 have seen paintings of this style in american bv such auch artists as ais frank mosier Wil william ligon damson alamson and others and thought they were the fancy of these artists an effort vt ot their imaginations but it is not so the peculiar effect of the sky and water mixed one in the other and without any deviation by the line of the horizon is altogether natural in the mediterranean the Adri adriatic atio and all aji the seas in these latitudes my new friend sidi ben ahmet says that by tomorrow morning mornine we will arrive in algiers unless a gale blows blow from the coast of africa or if the warm wind called mistral blows from the sahara desert sidi states that sometimes when they are on a military expedition in the country around algiers or tunis and gordn for he has been in all of these provinces the greatest foe to the soldiers in the desert is that wind or another one called sirocco the horses are so frightened and the camels also that they refuse to advance and lay down upon the ground to avoid the dang danger of being carried away the best shift to be done then is for every man to fall flat on the ground and stay there until the gale has passed parsed but abut it very often happens that in some places the sand is arif drifted ted by the wind and the id i d cl empl irp alive under mountains of this sandy soil my destination I 1 will horo however ver stop sio because everyone is running up on kadeck deck and the cries land land Alg algiers tel algiers are heard there is asta a impede on the narrow staircase of the steamer and in my attempt to climb up stairs I 1 am almost knocked down but bait after having fallen upon alady a lady crushed the sore toe of a red nosed gentleman I 1 am lucky enough to reach the arms of my friend sidi ben ahmet who steadies me once again and I 1 go on deck in his company the arabian knights have picked anything greater than tham the ing panorama that emerges all bathed bathea in misty lights from the bosom of the cupolas and domes bomel the spiers and town clocks extend their arms toward the morning aurora w who in company with phoebus Phoe tous spreads light upon the world a moment ago afro asleep in darkness algiers and its immense amphitheater houses rides around in the horizon my friend sidi ben ahmet points out to me the different ports here is la place du gouvernel ent right there on the left the hotel de paris and a little higher up you see that place bathed in the morning light it is the kasbah the rabian arabian quarter tek then he be points out to me the palace of the governor general the different churches and every place of prominence seen from the sea and resplendent in light algiers to the poet would look like a fairy town that nep tunus with the help of submarine divinities vini ties would have raised by the force of his trident above the level of the waters and after having left marseilles and its law embankments the me is so much the more vivid and striking at the sight of algiers springing boldly in azure of the sky As the isaac comes nearer I 1 can see the port part more distinctly I 1 have seen so many ports now that I 1 will not attempt any definition of the one of algiers but let it be known that this port can be used for war vessels just as well as for merchant trade and that in case of war it could be utilized with great success as a coaling station or as a place where supplies could be stored the steamer of the Messa geries ma co the isaac has by this thin time reached its pier that is the pier os of the company and all around the boat an innumerable quantity of little arabs and biggers are swimming waiting batting wat ting as my friend sidi ben ahmet says for the passenger to throw a penny to them I 1 am tempted and I 1 throw a nickel among that crowd of swimmers and in the twinkling of the tha eye they have all disappeared below the water to seek the win coin I 1 have thrown and after few seconds the lucky one among these hundred appears holding the nickel in his hand while with his other hand he sends one to the bottom and kicks another one in the face to avoid their taking away from him the nickel he has earned so well it Is very interesting to see this and if I 1 had time I 1 would throw several beveral other nickels but as I 1 have a chance to be taken away to a hotel which my friend sidi ben ahmet recommends to zae me I 1 will retrain refrain from that amusement of seeing these young people fighting under the water for a mere 6 5 cent piece after having hurried over the plank thrown from the boot boat to enable the passengers sers to laud land safely upon the wharf sidi ben ahmet and myself are surrounded by numerous arabs poorly clothed who wish to have us employ them as guides the best mode of locomotion in africa is the regular jack ass they are not easy to ride be cause the galop is unknown to them and their race have never been aware that there should be any other gait except a hard trot that will shake one to pieces it costs ten cents to have one of these animals and sidi ben ah met to please me and to enable me to we see the city decides also to have one both animals are very small in size and the legs of the colonel are so long that they almost touch the ground As to myself I 1 am afflicted with wath a large stomach and I 1 have touches of dyspepsia caused by snails and horse I 1 summon my courage omd and assume even a pleasant expression when I 1 see an arab armed with a heavy stock called mat raque landing a blow upon the hind quarters of the donkey that has the honor of carrying ben ahmet ahl ah it Is 15 so droll what fun to see me the poor colonel thus shaken by the jog trot no he looks no more noble this thin descendant of the kings of granada boabdil may have been his alcester an cester but I 1 dont believe it yes he be is very funny thus in his national costume his hanging alongside of him and flopping against his left leg with a rattling noise his turban is going to fall I 1 fear and his floating all around him gives him the appena ance of a seagull on a frolicking tour the arabian who is running behind the donkey that carries my poor friend away is running behind it as fast as he can and beats the poor animal wadle screaming barka ya sidi carry mister and as I 1 was hoping to go slowly to the hotel where I 1 had decided to stop I 1 made a motion to the arabyan Arabi aai whose donkey I 1 was riding and before I 1 could stop him piff down goes his stick upon the back of my long eared steed and I 1 shall never forget that ride the ride of the ries is nothing compared to it though funny must I 1 have appeared 1 I an american had laughed at my friend sidi ren ben ahmet but I 1 must have been much more laughable when I 1 reached the hotel hortel covered as I 1 was with dust and my face turned towards the tall of the donkey holding that appendix of his with both my hands as if it had been a brildle bridle well I 1 will never ride a donkey again if I 1 can help it aad if I 1 do ride one in company with some one else I 1 will never laugh at my companions edth depressed spirits my body all bathed in perspiration without hat my hair floating in disheveled fashion in the morning breeze and my arabian guide at close qi quarters arters behind me I 1 arrived at the hotel and gathering in both hands my remaining courage I 1 painfully alight alighted ed upon the sidewalk in front of the verandah where sidi ben ahmet had already arrived and was waiting for me taking a drink ot of absinthe my arabian an whose donkey I 1 had ridden with so disastrous results advanced then his turban in his hand hamd and with a smile that he vainly endeavored to render bland and gracious pronouncing the words tah bool side and I 1 understood immediately that since he extended his hand he was asking for his pay I 1 placed in his hand the regular price 10 cents but the rogue had dette deflected ted in me a foreigner perhaps he was aware that I 1 was an american and wished to blow me for what I 1 was worth tor for his whole expression changed in an instant and he tuned up his ugly face growling wickedly aakash bono aakash bono eidl my friend colonel sidi ben ahmet had unfortunately for him heard everything and as soon boon as an the arab saw him coming u up p he was so frightened that he immediately med lately ran away with all his legs as the french people say after having had an absinthe with sidi ben ahmet and in spite of his earnest entreaties tor for me to join him again in other libations of the same description I 1 refused because I 1 wanted to retire to my room and have a sleep or sink oink to blissful rest in the arms of as an the poet would yut put it in company with sidi ben ahmet I 1 will visit the different quarters of the city as soon as an I 1 will be rested rented and judging from what I 1 see through the window of my room in the street I 1 will have masny mamy things to say in my next letter JULES CAMBON |