Tunis.

On the 28th of March I left Bona in the steamer _Oasis_. The engine
broke down shortly after leaving the port, and, as the sails were
absolutely useless, we had the pleasant consciousness of drifting
towards a lee shore; but in a short time the damage was luckily
repaired, and we proceeded on our voyage.

The accounts I had heard of Algeria had not prepared me to find such a
flourishing state of affairs as I really found to exist in the
community. The colony possesses fine harbours, a magnificent soil, and
a glorious climate; numerous towns, with good hotels, are springing up
in the interior. It is true that many of the immigrants are not
French, but the majority are of that nation; and all the inhabitants,
after a few years, adopt the French manners and language. The
non-Gallic population are chiefly Spaniards, Italians, Maltese, and
Germans. I met only one party of English at Bona, where a community of
eighteen souls have been brought over by a Mr. Vincent; they appear
to thrive very well. I was told that Count Z---- intended establishing
an English village near Bona.

From the general prosperity, I, of course, except the Moors and Arabs,
who will never, I believe, adopt European civilisation; they seem to
recoil from before it, like the wild beasts of their native deserts.

The French people certainly pointed out to me in the towns one or
two _Europeanised_ Arabs, and laughed at the idea of their ever
becoming "_Francais_." From what I saw, the natives merely adopted
the vices without the good qualities of the dominant race. If to be
civilised consists in sitting in the _cafes_, drinking absinthe,
playing cards, and speaking bad French, I certainly saw one or two
most unquestionable specimens of the Arab adaptability to Gallic
impressions; but, with the exception of these brilliant results, I
never saw the least token of intercourse between the Moors and
their conquerors; indeed, each nation may be said entirely to ignore
the existence of the other. The peculiarity of Mussulman habits,
with regard to women, entirely precludes all prospect of a future
mixture of the two races--such an amalgamation, for instance, as
occurred in our own country between the Norman-French conquerors
and the conquered Saxons. So well are the French aware of this
impossibility, that I have seen the question of the expediency of
utterly expelling the Mussulmans from Algeria gravely discussed in
the French journals.

Another