CH IN AFRICA.

1830-1881.

The successes of the English and American fleets had produced their
effects, not so much in arresting the course of piracy, as in
encouraging the European States to defy the pirates. The _coup de
grace_ was administered by France--the _vis-a-vis_, the natural
opponent of the Algerine Corsairs, and perhaps the chief sufferer by
their attacks. A dispute in April, 1827, between the French consul and
the Dey, in which the former forgot the decencies of diplomatic
language, and the latter lost his temper and struck the offender with
the handle of his fan, led to an ineffectual blockade of Algiers by a
French squadron for two years, during which the Algerines aggravated
the breach by several acts of barbarity displayed towards French
prisoners. Matters grew to a crisis; in August, 1829, the Dey
dismissed a French envoy and fired upon his ship as he was retiring
under a flag of truce; and it became evident that war on a decisive
scale was now inevitable.

Accordingly, on May 26th, 1830, a large fleet sailed out of Toulon.
Admiral Duperre commanded, and the land-forces on board numbered
thirty-seven thousand foot, besides cavalry and artillery. Delayed by
stress of weather, the fleet was not sighted off Algiers till June
13th, when it anchored in the Bay of Sidi Ferr[=u]j, and there landed
next day, with little opposition, and began to throw up entrenchments.
A force of Arabs and Kabyles was severely defeated on the 19th, with
the loss of their camp and provisions, and the French slowly pushed
their way towards the city, beating back the Algerines as they
advanced. The defenders fought game to the last, but the odds were
overwhelming, and the only wonder is that so overpowering a force of
besiegers, both by sea and land, should have evinced so much caution
and diffidence of their own immense superiority. On July 4th, the
actual bombardment of the city began; the Fort de l'Empereur was
taken, after the Algerines had blown up the powder magazine; and the
Dey asked for terms of surrender. Safety of person and property for
himself and for the inhabitants of the city was promised by the French
commander, and on this condition the enemy occupied Algiers on the
following day, July 5th. A week later the Dey, with his family and
attendants and belongings, sailed for Naples in a French frigate, and
Algiers had seen the last of its Mohammedan rulers.[93]

Here, so far as Algiers is concerned, the Story of