them spanning ravines three hundred feet deep, and others stretching for
many leagues; all the cities, tombs and temples, of which the remains
are scattered from the sea to the peaks,--everything, in fact, which
shows that this was once a domain of art and intellect and culture, is
Roman. Roman sepulchres look down upon the central French cantonment;
Roman coins and gems are thrown out by the zouave, who works with the
pick in one hand and the rifle in the other; and the squared stones and
round columns of Roman temples are built into the huts of the people and
the forts of their present rulers.

This superiority of the ancient methods of colonization, as attested by
results, cannot be explained by any advantage in the arts of war
comparable to that now enjoyed by the invading nation. Gunpowder did not
exist to cast the balance. The success attained must be ascribed to a
deeper knowledge of the arts of peace, and especially those of
government. Surely the nineteenth century ought to be able to discover
the secret.

Their suspicions once allayed, and apprehensions of purposes of mere
military encroachment and new oppression removed, the Kabyles are very
ready to forward the construction of works of public utility, and
respond with alacrity to calls for labor. The mountain-streams, nearly
dry for great part of the year, are at times swelled by destructive
floods which carry down great boulders and trunks of trees. For want of
bridges, access to the open-air markets which are held at places and
periods fixed by long usage is thus liable to be prevented.

One of the most largely attended of these markets is held on the right
bank of the small river Djemaa at a point about midway between Fort
National on the north and the summit of the Djurjura on the south, three
or four leagues from either. The crowd of buyers and sellers, most of
them belonging to both classes, reaches as many as four thousand. The
freshets of the Djemaa becoming yearly more of an impediment to travel,
the tribe of the Beni-Menguellet, upon whose territory the fair is held,
became fearful of the loss of its commercial advantages, which were
largely dependent on the visits of the tribes on the left bank. They
consequently proposed the building of a bridge, and offered to furnish
men and materials to be used under French direction. A section of
sappers commanded by a lieutenant soon finished the work with the aid
promised. The Kabyles showed great skill