THE MIGRATIONS OF MEN. 307 



But I was aware that, when we Europeans tried to transplant to 

 America certain species of domestic animals, the figures of mortality 

 at first were much more considerable than those of the mortality of 

 our army ; that the figures of the sacrifices bearing on the race were 

 much higher than those of the mortality of children in Algiers. How- 

 ever, to-day, those animals are acclimated in America, and prosper so 

 well that certain species have run wild, and are, so to speak, become 

 indigenous. 



Relying upon these facts, I said, almost from the first of my lec- 

 turing The time will come when Frenchmen will be acclimated in Al- 

 geria. 



The event has justified me sooner than I hoped. Public documents 

 this year, containing the quinquennial census, show, relatively to the 

 preceding period, an increase of more than 25,000 souls. But, what is 

 more important, they establish that this increase is almost entirely due 

 to the excess of births over deaths. 



So that the sacrifices of the French in peopling Algeria already be- 

 gin to bear fruit ; and certainly the time will come when that country, 

 conquered by our armies, will be, for the descendants of our first colo- 

 nists, as salubrious as France is for ourselves. Then Algeria will truly 

 be the France of the South. 



But the sacrifices which accompany colonization are none the less 

 sad, and it is often asked if there are no means of diminishing them. 

 Unhappily, this is always difficult, often impossible. 



However, here are two facts that I ask you to reflect upon : 



Some of our colonies have the reputation of being particularly un- 

 healthy, and it is said that in them manual labor is impossible for 

 Europeans. The worst of these are on the western coast of Africa. 

 Now, listen to the statement of Captain Bolot, commanding a compa- 

 ny employed in the construction of a pier at Great Bassam, made to 

 Captain Vallon, from whom I drew the fact : " A single Sunday put 

 more men in the infirmary than three days of work under the hot sun." 

 This is because the Sunday was given, not to work, but to debauchery. 



Captain Vallon profited by the experience thus acquired. In his 

 cruises to Gaboon he maintained on board his ship severe discipline and 

 regular work. When not at sea, he made the sailors of the Dialinate 

 work regularly in the full sun, but he forbade all excess, and in this 

 way he preserved his own health and that of his crew. 



I will give you another and much more important example, as it 

 constitutes a true comparative experience. 



It is another of the colonies I referred to as devouring Europeans. 

 I mean the Isle of Bourbon, at the east of Madagascar, almost under 

 the tropics on one of the. warmest points of the globe. 



The tables of mortality of this island show a frightful excess of 

 deaths over births. Judged alone by these tables, we must admit that 

 the inferences drawn are perfectly justified. But these tables are true 



