ALGERIA. 



the baccalaureate, while the French language 

 has been made a part of the course' of instruc- 

 tion in those schools in which young natives 

 prepare themselves for the public service. 



Up to 1874, the land granted to colonists by 

 the state was 565,000 hectares (1 hectare = 2.74 

 acres) ; the land ceded to the General Algerian 

 Society and the Geneva Society, two coloniza- 

 tion societies, was 130,000 hectares, and the 

 land bought by Europeans from natives 260,- 

 000 hectares, making in all 955,000 hectares in 

 the hands of Europeans. During the years 

 1876 and 1877, the Government intended to 

 offer 763 village lots and 111 isolated farms to 

 colonists. On December 31, 1875, there were 

 three lines of railway in operation, of which 

 the length and the receipts in 1875 were as 

 follows : 



On February 10th the sherif El-Hadsh, a 

 cousin of the Emperor of Morocco, arrived in 

 Algeria on an extraordinary mission. The 

 Journal des Debate gives the following account 

 of it : He was received with all honors due to 



so high a personage, and soon after left for the 

 interior to treat with the rebellious tribe of 

 the Uled-Sidi-Sheik. This tribe has for twelve 

 years troubled the western and southwestern 

 frontiers of Algeria, and has frequently involved 

 the Algerian Government in difficulties with 

 Morocco and the subjugated tribes. To pre- 

 vent this, the Government has repeatedly nego- 

 tiated with the Emperor of Morocco to have 

 them transferred to the latter's dominions. 

 This tribe originally belonged to Algeria, and 

 for many years its chief ruled as caliph over 

 that entire region, under French protectorate. 

 The sherif, who is the head of the religious 

 associations of the Moulay and Faiebh, and who 

 is the highest church dignitary in Western 

 Africa, went to them with a letter from the 

 Emperor of Morocco, urging them to settle 

 west of Fez, and assuring them of that wel- 

 come due to the position which they hold in 

 the Mohammedan world. He did not treat 

 with them as subjects of the Sultan, but simply 

 made friendly proposals to them, placing him- 

 self in the position of the head of a religious 

 community which is even more celebrated than 

 their own. His mission was crowned with 

 only a partial success. The Uled-Sidi-Sheik 

 have two chiefs, both of whom have great in- 

 fluence. The one, Kaddoor-ul-Hamza, is the 

 legal heir of the Grand Marabout Si-Hamza ; 

 while the other, Si-Soliman, is only a near rela- 

 tion to him, though, through his intelligence 



ALGIERS, PROM THE PARADE GROUND. 



and his courage, he has gained a prominent 

 position. Kaddoor, without entering upon the 

 proposals of the sherif, expressed his willing- 

 ness to conclude peace with France, but only 

 upon the footing of an independent sovereign, 

 * 1 kilometre = 0.62 mile. 



demanding, as one ot the conditions, that the 

 French troops be withdrawn from the fortified 

 town of Geryville. On the other hand, Soli-- 

 man, seeing that a war with France would 

 only end disastrously for his tribe, agreed to 

 comply with the sherif s requests. 



