The French in Algiers: I. The Soldier of the Foreign LegionThe first part is an abridged translation of Lamping's Erinnerungen aus Algerien, published in 2 parts, Odenburg, 1844-46. The second part has half-title: The prisoners of Abd-el-Kader, or, Five months' captivity among the Arabs, by M. A. de France, lieutenant in the French army, and is an abridged translation of a novel in 2 volumes by F.A. Alby, published with title: Les prisonniers d'Abd-el-Kader, ou, Cinq mois de captivité chez les Arabes par A. de France, enseigne de Vaisseau. Paris, 1837. |
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Common terms and phrases
Abd-el Abd-el-Kader Abd-el-Kader's camp Abd-el-Kader's tent Africa Algiers Arab prisoners Arabs arrived Arzew attack barley battalion beautiful Bedouins Ben Faka Beni-Flita bernouse Blidah blockhouse blows brought Buffarik Bugeaud camels cannon Casabah cattle cavalry chaous Cherchell chief Christian coffee Coleah column commanded covered desert Duke of Aumale expedition face Faka feet fire foot French fruit gallop Garraba garrison ground guard Hadjutes haick halted hands head horsemen horses hundred hyænas infantry inhabitants Kabyles Kader Kait kuskussu Lanternier leagues Loiret Madame Laurent marabout Mardulin Mascara Metidja Meurice Milianah Moors morning Morocco Mostaganem mountains Moussa mules negro never night Oran Ouet passed plain poor reached regiment returned rifles rock Sahel scarce Schellif seized slave soldiers soon Sultan Sultan's tent surrounded Tafna tam tam Tekedemta Ténez thou Tlemsen took town trees troops walls whole day women wounded yataghan Zaka
Popular passages
Page 43 - Death is at all times solemn, but never so much so as at sea. A man dies on shore ; his body remains with his friends, and " the mourners go about the streets ; " but when a man falls overboard at sea and is lost, there is a suddenness in the event, and a difficulty in realizing it, which give to it an air of awful mystery. A man dies on shore — you follow his body to the grave, and a stone marks the spot. You are often prepared for the event. There is always something which...
Page 43 - ... is mustered. There is one less to take the wheel, and one less to lay out with you upon the yard. You miss his form, and the sound of his voice, for habit had made them almost necessary to you, and each of your senses feels the loss. All these things make such a death peculiarly solemn, and the effect of it remains upon the crew for some time. There is more kindness shown by the officers to the crew, and by the crew to one another. There is more quietness and seriousness. The oath and the loud...
Page 26 - A few men only reeled half awake out of their huts, but most of them still lay fast asleep: not one escaped death. The women and children rushed, howling and screaming-, out of their burning huts in time to see their husbands and brothers butchered. One young woman, with an infant at her breast, started back at the sight of strange men, exclaiming :
Page 26 - After a short rest we started again, and the first glimmer of light showed the huts of the tribe straight before us. An old Kabyle was at that moment going out with a pair of oxen to plough ; as soon as he saw us he uttered a fearful howl and fled, but a few well-directed shots brought him down. In one moment the grenadiers and voltigeurs, who were in advance, broke through the hedge of prickly pear which generally surrounds a Kabyle village, and the massacre began. Strict orders had been given to...
Page 101 - ... which gives a martial character to his soft and delicate face, and becomes him vastly. His hands are small and exquisitely formed, and his feet equally beautiful; the care he takes of them is quite coquettish: he is constantly washing them, and paring and filing his nails with a small knife with a...
Page 39 - After satisfying my curiosity here, I went into the lower town, and on turning down a fresh street, I was met by the sound of a mandoline and of singing, accompanied by peals of laughter, which issued from the second story of one of the houses ; the songs were Arab, the laughter might be Arab, French, or German, I knew not which, but, at all events, it was most hearty. Of course I walked in, ascended the stairs, and found myself in the midst of a mixed company of Arabs, Jews, Frenchmen, and Italians,...
Page 46 - Brigadier-General, the second as Lieutenant-Colonel of the 24th regiment of the line. Both are tall and well made, and are much respected by the army as brave officers; and, indeed, they do their duty on all occasions, even better than the other superior officers. The Duke of Nemours, however, is not so much beloved as the Duke of Orleans, as he is thought proud and aristocratic, whether justly or not I had no opportunity of telling.
Page 46 - ... and the number of mules and donkeys required to carry the provisions, for a march of five weeks is great enough as it is. Cattle are driven, and during an expedition each soldier is allowed double rations — that, is one pound of meat daily.
Page 12 - He then struck the cords of the mandoline more loudly, and sang the victories of Abd-el-Rahman, and the pomp and glory of Cordova, till the eyes of his hearers glistened. By slow degrees the notes became softer, and his voice trembled as he sang the death of the Abencerrages, and the shameful flight of Boabdil, the last king of Granada. The sounds of his mandoline died away, the Arabs hung their heads upon their breasts, and the pipes fell from their hands. The unfeigned grief of the Moors touched...
Page 13 - Cordova, its thirteen hundred columns, and the tomba of their kings. I described to them the Alhambra, the marble lions who keep watch at the palace gates, the splendid hall where the Abencerrages held their feasts, and where they were barbarously murdered. I told them that I myself had seen the traces of their noble blood which time itself had been unable to efface from the polished marble floor. Overcome by the remembrance of the tragical fate of their most heroic race, the Arabs covered their...