THE GLOBE-TROTTER IN ALGERIA, THE little book before us, though
no wise lacking in interest and instruction, is none the less an excellent example of the globe.trotter and his ways. There are many signs by which we can recognise a thoroughgoing member of the tribe. He is lamentably wanting in the sense of proportion and arrangement. It is all one to him,— remarks on local inns and cookery rub shoulders with de- scriptions of beautiful scenery through which he has passed ; dissertations on ancient buildings or ruins are pieced into. criticisms of the government, its railways, and postal arrange- ments. In effect, his ideas of perspective are remarkably raw and "early." So also are his criticisms on the men with whom he comes into contact, and their methods. As they do not. fall in with his notions of how things should be managed, he is apt to scatter his censure with a free hand. Continuous. travel has taken from him that wholesome quality of wonder and reverence which is the best spirit wherewith to approach a land with manners and customs alien from your own. As all life is for him a bustle and &- march, as he is firmly convinced that he who runs may write, so he is equally convinced that he who runs may read. Ha has no time to acquire a smooth or exact style ; he is not always at pains even to correct the numerous slips and errors to which flesh—and particularly globe-trotting flesh—is heir. And thus his work occasionally resembles a sheaf of proof- sheets sent out by a singularly careless printer.
The book with which we are dealing is an account of a. cycling tour through Algeria made by an American and his wife. It is a lively little volume, and gives its readers several pleasant pictures and curious details of the land and its inhabitants. But the way in which it is put together emphatically recalls the globe-trotter. The Roman ruins, so numerous in Algeria, are carefully mentioned, but in a
thoroughly nonchalant way :—" Reaching Lambesa in good time, we stopped to inspect the Roman ruins there, consisting of the usual amphitheatre, baths, basilica, temple of Minerva, etc." The words we have taken the liberty ta italicise are delicious. With us Roman ruins are not so plentiful that we can afford to dismiss them with an " etc.; " nor do we consider a Temple of Minerva a " usual " pheno- menon. We can only suppose that our authors have in their minds the plentiful antiquities with which their own country abounds.
The French and their administration comes in for some shrewd blows. This Guide Joanne, which is the French substitute for Baedeker, is evidently a worthless and mis- leading production; it would appear to lack lucidity, and "no one can compose more indirect labyrinthine sentences than a Frenchman." This, we are fain to admit, is news ; we had always thought that "labyrinthine sentences" were the exclusive creation of our German neighbours. We stand corrected. Nor is the behaviour of the French themselves to the taste of our authors. "An excellent opportunity afforded in Algiers to study the demoralising effect almost invariably exercised on a semi-barbarous people by contact with a so-called civilised one." Dispute the excellence of France in art, letters, or government if you will, but in civilisation ? Surely the shades of There and Guizot would rise from their graves to protest against such an enormity.
• Alorian Hemorses. By Fancy B. Workman and William H. Workman. London : T. Fi2her truwin. Again, to describe the Arab dog as attacking travellers "in groups" may show an acquaintance with French that does credit to the authors, but it none the less suggests care- lessness. Conversely " Chauvanistic " would suggest that that acquaintance with French is not so very deep after all. In the same sentence occur the words " mistral " and 4' Sirocco." Surely both ought to receive the dignity of a capital letter, or else neither. The same halting between two opinions is discovered in their dealings with the word " Mauresque," a Moorish woman ; and as the word on each occasion is printed without italics or inverted commas, our authors seem unaware that " Mauresque " has not yet received the sanction of the English dictionary. We might also instance many native words which are introduced into the text without any explanation of their meaning ; but enough has been said to show the slipshod, easy-going style of our authors.
This exposure of a few of the many faults contained in this book is not meant to deter those interested in travel-sketches from reading the same. The book is lively, and will quite repay reading. It contains many interesting details as to Algeria and its inhabitants. The authors are particularly at home in their chapters on the Kabyles, that picturesque and somewhat mysterious race who inhabit the Djurjura mountains in the north of Algeria. They build their villages high upon the spurs of the mountains, and are a thrifty and brave race. So wedded are they to independence that it seems doubtful if they were ever really subdued before the advent of the French. Roman and Arab acquired only a very partial supremacy over them, and even now they maintain many of their peculiar customs and habits of life. But from every point of view Algeria would seem a delightful travelling-ground for the tourist tired of the common round that Europe can show him. He will not, it would seem, find the palatial hotels to which be is accustomed in Paris or London ; if he travels by railway he will probably have occasion to waste some invectives on the rate of speed, which seems to average about sixteen miles an hour! If, like our authors, he makes his explorations on a bicycle, he will often be seriously hampered by the thick and impassable mud into which a night's rain will turn the inferior roads. Moreover, in the less-frequented parts he will do well to imitate the authors of this book, and provide himself with a revolver, as stray Arabs are not above trying to exact forced contributions. But if he attempt the journey, he will be rewarded by the sights of strange peoples and beautiful scenery,—to this latter incident of Algeria our authors do fall justice. Also he will find himself in a land abounding in Roman remains, many of Which are as yet most imperfectly known, even to French archmologists. In conclusion, despite the eccentricities and blunders which are so plentiful in this book, we can un- hesitatingly commend it to the public, more especially with the hope that it will attract English people to a land full of wonder and beauty.
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