Algiers as a Winter Residence. 5 



spheric influences, are certainly arguments in favour of this 

 statement, and there are other minor considerations not to be 

 overlooked. The charming scenery, the agreeable English 

 society, the moderate price of hotels, and the practicability of 

 conducting a menage on one's own account, the abundance of 

 fresh vegetables and delicate game wherewith to tempt dainty 

 appetites — all these things are so many items necessary to an 

 invalid's comfort. 



We only hope that any words of ours may induce those to 

 whom east winds are emissaries of destruction, and fogs poisons 

 deadly as Socrates' draught, to escape from both, and wing 

 their way southwards with the nightingales and swallows. It 

 is not pleasant to all to cross the Mediterranean, and not prac- 

 ticable to many, to quit England for six months in the year, 

 but those who make the effort for health's sake will not do 

 it in vain. 



And we can hardly imagine any clouds that could not be 

 dispersed from the mental horizon by a little sojourn in so 

 lovely a land. Southern skies, oriental associations, majestic 

 cedar-forests, sunny plains, snow-tipped mountains, and gold- 

 green valleys — surely such combinations as these are seldom 

 found outside the charmed circle of Algeria ? 



And the best of all is that as yet these things are 

 unknown. 



[Note by the Editor.] — A very interesting collection of 

 pictures of Algeria, by Mrs. F. Le Bridell, and Madame Bodi- 

 chon, was recently on view at the German Gallery, Bond 

 Street, where, we believe, a few of them still remain. Mrs. 

 Bridell supplied a series of figure pieces, and Madame 

 Bodichon illustrated the landscape scenery of the French 

 colony. Two pieces by Mrs. Bridell, one in water-colour, and 

 another on a larger scale, in oil, illustrated one of the most 

 pathetic and pleasing of Mahometan superstitions, and which 

 is alluded to in the preceding article. It is believed that the 

 spirits of the dead visit their tombs on the Sabbath (Friday), 

 and are able to hold commune with their relatives and 

 friends, who resort to the cemeteries for this purpose. In 

 one of her pictures Mrs. Bridell represents with much beauty 

 of drawing and colouring, and with a depth of expression 

 rarely equalled, a young girl at the tomb of a relative, 

 and addressing a departed spirit ; while in the companion 

 piece, the same girl is in an attitude of reverential attention 

 listening to the answers which the spirit is believed to give. 

 The figure- drawing in these pictures is excellent, and the 

 landscape accessories bear the impress of fidelity, and 

 harmonize admirably with the sentiment of the subject. 



