ompany disciples of Islam when they journey to Mecca, where the
vessels find a ready sale among the pilgrims, most of whom are
coffee-devotees.

Turkish and Arabian coffee customs prevail in Algeria and Egypt,
modified to some extent by European contact. The Moorish cafes of Cairo,
Tunis, and Algiers have furnished inspiration and copy for writers,
artists, and travelers for several centuries. They change little with
the years. The _mazagran_--sweetened cold coffee to which water or ice
has been added--originated in Algeria. It probably took its name from
the fortress of the same name reserved to France by the treaty of the
Tafna in 1837. It is said that the French colonial troops were first
served with a drink made from coffee syrup and cold water on marches
near Mazagran, formerly spelled Masagran. Upon their return to the
French capital, they introduced the idea, with the added fillip of
service in tall glasses, in their favorite cafes, where it became known
as _cafe mazagran_. Variants are coffee syrup with seltzer, and with
hot water. "This fashion of serving coffee in glasses", says Jardin,
"has no _raison d'etre_, and nothing can justify abandoning the cup for
coffee."

[Illustration: MOORISH COFFEE HOUSE IN ALGIERS]

In the principal streets and public squares of any town in Algeria it is
a common sight to find a group of Arabs squatting about a portable
stove, and a table on which cups are in readiness to receive the boiling
coffee. The thirsty Arab approaches the dealer, and for a modest sum he
gets his drink and goes his way; unless he prefers to go inside the
cafe, where he may get several drinks and linger over them, sitting on a
mat with his legs crossed and smoking his _chibouque_. Indeed, this is a
typical scene throughout the Near East, where sheds or coffee
tents--sketches of the more pretentious coffee houses--coffee shops, and
itinerant coffee-venders are to be met at almost every turn.

In an unpublished work, Baron Antoine Rousseau and Th. Roland de Bussy
have the following description of a typical Moorish cafe at Algiers:

We entered without ceremony into a narrow deep cave, decorated with
the name of the cafe. On the right and on the left, along its
length, were two benches covered with mats; notched cups, tongs, a
box of brown sugar, all placed near a small stove, completed the
furniture of the place. In the evening, the dim light from a lamp
hanging from the c