; subsequently the coast of
Barbary became the dread of every ship that sailed the sea. With
varying success, many nations, including Spain, France, England and the
United States (fleet commanded by Commodore Decatur), took a hand in
trying to tame the horde of cut-throat pirates who for centuries
committed unspeakable atrocities and cruelties. It is hard to realize
that only seventy-five years ago these sanguinary pirates held complete
sway on the Mediterranean, and that England alone had six thousand of
her subjects captured and enslaved by them in 1674. It is estimated
that six hundred thousand from all the nations were captured and worked
to death in chains. This spot is the "chamber of horrors" in all human
history. To the French belongs the honor of finally taming these
wretches and drawing their claws. Algeria is now a French colony, is
well ordered and quite safe for the visitor.

This people is made up of many breeds: we saw thin, bandy-legged Arabs,
fat, burly Turks, ramrod-like Bedouins; Kalougis, with a complexion
suggesting old sole leather; Greeks, with frilled petticoats; Romans,
of course with the toga; Kabeles, with black hair and wearing a robe
like a big gas-bag; Moors, with the Duke's nose and spindle shanks;
Mohammedans, carrying bannocks with holes in them; and dragomans, with
"_bakshish_" stamped on every department of their anatomy. But beneath
the furtive glance and in the wicked eyes you see the cut-throat still
lurking, awaiting the first opportunity to embark again in the trade
that is close to their hearts, although the only active pirates here
now are the cab drivers.

Every breed has its own outlandish costume with a large range of
startling colors in robes, turbans and slippers, but their shanks are
bare, thin and brick red, an easy mark for flies. A considerable
percentage of their time is devoted to stamping their feet to shake off
these pests, which somehow do not seem to know they are not wanted and
keep the lazy rascals busy, thus preventing them from devoting the
entire day to sleep and the worship of Allah.

To round out the picture we must not forget the French Zouave
regiment--fine-looking men, with their elaborately frogged jackets, and
trousers like big red bags, large enough to make balloons if filled
with gas, and the whole topped off with a scarlet, "swagger" fez with a
tassel hanging down to the waist.

Algeria has a population of about 5,000,000, while the town