vols.), edited by R.R.
Madden, appeared in 1855. Her portrait was painted in 1808 by Sir
Thomas Lawrence.

BLIDA, a town of Algeria, in the department of Algiers, 32 m. by railway
S.W. from Algiers, on the line to Oran. Pop. (1906) 16,866. It lies
surrounded with orchards and gardens, 630 ft. above the sea, at the base
of the Little Atlas, on the southern edge of the fertile plain of the
Metija, and the right bank of the Wad-el-Kebir affluent of the Chiffa.
The abundant water of this stream provides power for large corn mills
and several factories, and also supplies the town, with its numerous
fountains and irrigated gardens. Blida is surrounded by a wall of
considerable extent, pierced by six gates, and is further defended by
Fort Mimieh, crowning a steep hill on the left bank of the river. The
present town, French in character, has well-built modern streets with
many arcades, and numbers among its buildings several mosques and
churches, extensive barracks and a large military hospital. The
principal square, the place d'Armes, is surrounded by arcaded houses and
shaded by trees. The centre of a fertile district, and a post on one of
the main routes in the country, Blida has a flourishing trade, chiefly
in oranges and flour. The orange groves contain over 50,000 trees, and
in April the air for miles round is laden with the scent of the orange
blossoms. In the public gardens is a group of magnificent olive trees.
The products of the neighbouring cork trees and cedar groves are a
source of revenue to the town. In the vicinity are the villages of
Joinville and Montpensier, which owe their origin to military camps
established by Marshal Valee in 1838; and on the road to Medea are the
tombs of the marabout Mahommed-el-Kebir, who died in 1580, and his two
sons.

Blida, _i.e. boleida_, diminutive of the Arab word _belad_, city,
occupies the site of a military station in the time of the Romans, but
the present town appears to date from the 16th century. A mosque was
built by order of Khair-ed-din Barbarossa, and under the Turks the town
was of some importance. In 1825 it was nearly destroyed by an
earthquake, but was speedily rebuilt on a site about a mile distant from
the ruins. It was not till 1838 that it was finally held by the French,
though they had been in possession for a short time eight years before.
In April 1906 it was chosen as the place of detention of Behanzin, the
ex-king of Dahomey, who died in Dece