and
spreading sandbanks, and even the war-galleys of Venice and Spain were
at a disadvantage when manoeuvring in its treacherous eddies against
the Corsair who knew every inch of the coast. Passing westward, a
famous medieval fortress, with the remains of a harbour, is seen at
Mahd[=i]ya, the "Africa" of the chroniclers. Next, Tunis presents the
finest harbour on all the Barbary coast; within its Goletta (or
"Throat") a vessel is safe from all the winds that blow, and if a
canal were cut to join it with the inland lake of Bizerta, a deep
harbour would be formed big enough to hold all the shipping of the
Mediterranean. The ancient ports of Carthage and Porto Farina offered
more protection in the Corsairs' time than now when the sand has
choked the coast; and in the autumn months a vessel needed all the
shelter she could get when the Cyprian wind was blowing off Cape Bona.
Close to the present Algerine frontier is Tabarka, which the Lomellini
family of Genoa found a thriving situation for their trading
establishments. Lacalle, once a famous nest of pirates, had then a
fine harbour, as the merchants of Marseilles discovered when they
superintended the coral fisheries from the neighbouring Bastion de
France. Bona, just beyond, has its roads, and formerly possessed a
deep harbour. J[=i]jil, an impregnable post, held successively by
Phoenicians, Normans, Romans, Pisans, and Genoese, till Barbarossa got
possession of it and made it a fortress of refuge for his Corsairs,
stands on a rocky peninsula joined by a sandy isthmus to the mainland,
with a port well sheltered by a natural breakwater. Further on were
Buj[=e]ya (Bougie), its harbour well protected from the worst winds;
Algiers, not then a port, but soon to become one; Shersh[=e]l, with a
harbour to be shunned in a heavy swell from the north, but otherwise a
valuable nook for sea rovers; Tinnis, not always accessible, but safe
when you were inside; and Oran, with the important harbour of Mars
El-Keb[=i]r the "Portus Divinus" of the Romans; while beyond, the
Jamia-el-Ghazaw[=a]t or Pirates' Mosque, shows where a favourite
creek offered an asylum between the Brothers Rocks for distressed
Corsairs. Passing Tangiers and Ceuta (Septa), and turning beyond the
Straits, various shelters are found, and amongst others the celebrated
ports of Sal[=e], which, in spite of its bar of sand, managed to send
out many mischievous craft to harass the argosies on their return from
the New Wo