JANISSARIES. 67 



with him as his guard ; the one belonging to the French 

 Consul was a Candiote ; he had been surnamed the Ter- 

 ror. Whenever some news unfavourable to France was 

 announced in the cafes, he came to the Consulate to in- 

 form himself as to the reality of the fact ; and when we 



V 



told him that the other janissaries had propagated false 

 news, he returned to them, and there, yatagan in hand, 

 he declared himself ready to enter the lists in combat 

 against those who should still maintain the truth of the 

 news. As these continual threats might endanger him, 

 (for they had no support beyond his mere animal cour- 

 age.) we had wished to render him expert in the hand- 

 ling of arms by giving him some lessons in fencing ; but 

 he could not endure the idea that Christians should touch 

 him at every turn with foils ; he therefore proposed to 

 substitute for the simulated duel a real combat with the 

 yatagan. 



One may gain an exact idea of this savage nature when 

 I mention that, having one day heard a pistol-shot, the 

 sound of which proceeded from his room, people ran, and 

 found him bathed in his blood ; he had just shot off a ball 

 into his arm to cure himself of a rheumatic pain. 



Seeing with what facility the Deys disappeared, I said 

 one day to our janissary, " With this prospect before your 

 eyes, would you corisent to become Dey ? ' " Yes, 

 doubtless," answered he. " You seem to count as noth- 

 ing the pleasure of doing all that one likes, if only even 

 for a single day ! " 



When we wished to take a turn in the town of Algiers, 

 we generally took care to be escorted by the janissary 

 attached to the consular house ; it was the only means of 

 escaping insults, affronts, and even acts of violence. I 

 have just said it was the only means. I made a mis- 



