1832.] A Ramble with the Traveller*. 141 



J To Thfc!0i;;ioc[ftir uvjfn 



the traveller's observation was attracted by the singular manner in which 

 some little boys were learning arithmetic. It must be almost unneces- 

 sary to remind the reader that on that method the celebrated Madras 

 system was subsequently founded. Delia Valle little thought, when 

 writing to Schipano, from Ikery, in the November of 1623, that in less 

 than two hundred years that " pretty and easy way of learning" would 

 be modelled into a scheme of education, at once the most simple and the 

 most successful which has ever been discovered. 



Africanus is another favourite. The fact of his having actually 

 visited Timbuctoo has contributed in modern times to enhance his repu- 

 tation, which is deservedly high for deep and accurate knowledge and 

 elegant and perspicuous narration. He flourished long before Delia 

 Valle, but we have not bound ourselves to any chronological arrange- 

 ment in these remarks. He made two visits to Timbuctoo, first with 

 his uncle, who was sent on an embassy from the King of Fez, and 

 secondly about the year 1516. His picture of the African city differs 

 widely from Caille's. The king, he says, was viewed with terror by his 

 subjects, who approached him in the most humble posture, " falling 

 prostrate on the ground and sprinkling dust upon their heads," a 

 humiliation in which strangers and foreign princes were obliged to par- 

 ticipate. M. Caille, on the contrary, describes the reigning prince as 

 very gentle and benevolent, and his government perfectly patriarchal. 

 So far the country appears to have improved since the time of Leo. 

 They both agree, however, in praising the mild and inoffensive manners 

 of the inhabitants. 



Algiers has undergone a far greater change since the visit of Africanus. 

 The modern traveller seeks in vain for the cedificia sumptuosissima of 

 which he speaks. Algiers is seen to most advantage from the sea, 

 where it presents a beautiful spectacle, glittering with thickly planted 

 olive and orange trees. A very interesting account of the state of 

 Algiers, immediately preceding the French invasion, may be found in 

 a work entitled Tableau du Boyanne de la Ville d'Alger et de ses Environs, 

 published at Paris in 1830. Its author, M. Renaudot, is we believe an 

 officer in the artillery. 



Leo Africanus, like other travellers, conceived an exaggerated idea 

 of the villas and gardens surrounding Algiers ; they have been reckoned 

 at twenty thousand, but M. Renaudot states the estimate to be at little 

 more than half that number. 



With respect to females, we are told ; " a Moor observed one day to 

 some follower of the Bey of Muscasa, that he had just been cutting off 

 the head of one of his wives, who would not live in peace with the others. 

 His friend replied, with great unconcern, that he acted perfectly right, 

 and hoped that he would meet with one of a more quiet temper." We 

 recollect an anecdote somewhat similar in Mr. Turner's " Turkey." A 

 lady was congratulating Signor Papathopolo, a rich Greek, on the many 

 virtues of his wife. " Bisogna die sia buona," he answered, " altra- 

 mente si taglia la testa ;" which may be roughly Englished, that if she 

 did not conduct herself to his satisfaction, he should think himself at 

 liberty to take her head off. If the relations of the wife be rich enough 

 to prove that the husband has been unjust in his complaints of her, 

 they may succeed in procuring his punishment for the murder. But 

 this is only to be effected by large presents. 



M. Renaudot tells so singular an anecdote of filial affection among the 



