idea of the general appearance of the edifices in Algiers, and some notion of the manner in which the native architects construct their dwellings.

Before entering upon the topographical descriptions necessary to illustrate the present state of the several provinces, we shall resume the history of Algiers at the date when it was placed under the dominion of the Turks by the younger Barbarossa. As soon as this renowned corsair was appointed to the command of the Ottoman fleet, the country which he had conquered by arms and deceit was committed to the superintendence of Hassan Aga, a renegade eunuch, who, having passed through every

station in the pirate's service, had gained such experience in war as well fitted him for an office which required a man of tried and daring courage. Hassan, to show how much he deserved the dignity thus conferred upon him, carried on his wonted depredations against the Christian states with amazing activity, and even surpassed Redbeard himself in boldness and cruelty. The commerce of the Mediterranean was greatly interrupted by his cruisers, and such frequent alarms were given to the coast of Spain, that there was a necessity of erecting watchtowers at proper distances, and of keeping guards constantly on foot, in order to descry the approach of his squadrons, and to protect the inhabitants from their ravages. Of this the Emperor Charles V. had received repeated complaints from his subjects, who represented it as an enterprise suitable at once to his power and benevolence, to reduce Algiers, which, since the conquest of Tunis, was become the common receptacle of all freebooters. They urged upon him, not less from considerations of humanity than of political prudence, the duty of exterminating that lawless race, the implacable enemies of the Christian

name.

A. D. 1541. Charles, who was at war with the Sultan as well as the King of France, would have found ample employment for his troops on the banks of the Danube, as well as in the Low Countries, always menaced by his active enemy. But, in opposition to the judgment of some of his wisest counsellors, he resolved to chastise the barbarians on the African coast; and with this view had already given orders to prepare a fleet and a large body of landforces. The season unfortunately was far advanced,

on which account the Pope entreated, and Doria conjured him not to expose his whole armament to a destruction almost unavoidable on a wild shore during the violence of the autumnal gales. Adhering, however, to his plan with determined obstinacy, he embarked at Porto Venere on board the admiral's galley, and soon found that this experienced sailor had not judged wrong concerning the element with which he was so well acquainted. But as his courage was undaunted, and his temper often inflexible, the danger to which he was exposed had no other effect than to confirm him in his fatal resolution. The force, indeed, which he had collected, was such as might have inspired a prince less adventurous, and less confident in his own schemes, with the most sanguine hopes of success. It consisted of 20,000 foot and 2000 horse, mostly veterans, together with 3000 volunteers, the flower of the Spanish and Italian nobility, who were desirous of paying court to the emperor, by attending him in his favourite expedition, and eager to share in the glory which they believed was about to crown his arms. Besides these, there had joined his standard a thousand soldiers sent by the Order of St John, and led by a hundred of its most valiant knights.

Landing near Algiers without opposition, Charles immediately advanced towards the town. To oppose the invaders, Hassan had only 800 Turks, and 5000 Moors, partly natives of Africa, and partly refugees from Spain. When summoned to surrender, he, nevertheless, returned a fierce and haughty answer. But with such a handful of troops, neither his desperate courage nor consummate skill in war could have long resisted forces superior to those

which had formerly defeated Barbarossa at the head of 60,000 men, and reduced Tunis in spite of all his efforts to save it. The renegade, however, found in a physical event an auxiliary which more than counterbalanced the inequality of the contending armies; while his antagonist saw himself exposed to a dreadful calamity, against which human prudence and exertion could avail nothing. On the second day after his debarkation, and before he had time for any thing more than to disperse some Arabs who molested his soldiers on their march, the clouds were seen to gather, and the heavens assumed a threatening aspect. Towards evening rain began to fall, accompanied with a violent wind; and the rage of the tempest increasing during the night, the men, who had brought nothing ashore but their arms, remained exposed to all its fury, without tents or cover of any kind. The ground was soon so wet that they could not lie down on it; their camp, being in a low situation, was overflowed with water, and they sank at every step to the ankles in mud; while the hurricane augmented to such a degree that, to prevent themselves from being blown down, they were obliged to thrust their spears into the earth, and lay hold of them as a support. Hassan was too vigilant an officer to allow so favourable an opportunity to escape for attacking his enemy to advantage. At the dawn of day he sallied out at the head of his warriors, who, having been screened from the storm under their own roofs, were fresh and vigorous; whereas a body of Italians, who were stationed nearest the city, dispirited and benumbed with cold, fled at the approach of his Turks. The troops at the next post showed indeed greater courage; but, as the

rain had rendered their muskets useless, and having scarcely strength to handle their other arms, they were soon thrown into confusion. Almost the whole army, with the emperor himself in person, was obliged to advance before the barbarians could be repulsed; who, after spreading such general consternation, and killing a considerable number of men, retired at last in good order.

But all feeling of this disaster was soon obliterated by a more affecting spectacle. As the tempest continued with unabated violence, the full light of day showed the ships, on which alone their safety depended, driving from their anchors, dashing against one another, and many of them forced on the rocks, or sinking in the waters. In less than an hour, fifteen ships of war and 140 transports, with 8000 men, perished before their eyes; and such of the unhappy sailors as escaped the fury of the sea, were murdered by the Arabs as soon as they reached land. Charles stood in silent anguish and astonishment, witnessing this miserable scene, which at once blasted all his hopes of success, and buried in the waves the vast stores he had provided, as well for the subsistence of his troops as the conquest of the country. At length the approach of evening covered the face of the deep with darkness; and as it was impossible for the officers aboard the squadron to send any intelligence to their companions who were ashore, these last past the night in all the anguish of suspense and apprehension. Next morning, a boat despatched by Doria reached the land with information that, having survived the storm, to which during fifty years of a seaman's life he had never known any equal in fierceness and horror, he had