The Mentor: The Mediterranean, Vol. 1, Num. 39, Serial No. 39, November 10, 1913

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ALGIERS, ALGERIA

Less than a century ago the Barbary Coast, and the city of Algiers in particular, was a nest of pirates. All the principal nations of the world paid them tribute. Their nation was known as the “scourge of Christendom.” Up to the year 1800 the United States alone had poured over $2,000,000 into the coffers of the dey, or ruler. But it was our country, the youngest of all, that put a stop to this cowardly practice of paying toll for immunity from attack on the high seas.

In 180 °Captain Bainbridge, in a United States warship, went to Algiers, taking the usual “presents.”

The dey commanded him to become his messenger and carry his despatches to Constantinople. “The English, French, and Spanish captains have always done this for me. You also pay me tribute, and you also are my slaves,” he said insultingly.

Not daring to disobey without orders from home, Bainbridge did as he commanded; but this was too much for the American people. After the War of 1812 Commodore Decatur served notice on the dey that never again would the United States pay him tribute in money. The dey replied that some powder for his fleet would be acceptable.

“The powder you shall have, if you insist,” answered Decatur; “but the bullets go with it.”

The dey refused the present; but ordered his ships to destroy all American shipping hereafter. These orders having been carried out, Commodore Decatur sailed again for Algiers, and forced the terrified dey to sign a treaty which gave to American ships immunity forever after.

In 1816 the English attacked Algiers; but it was not until fourteen years later that the pirates’ nest was destroyed for good. On June 13, 1830, the dey of Algiers slapped the French consul in the face, and brought down upon himself the wrath of France in the shape of an army of forty thousand men. On the fourth of July, Algiers surrendered, and the “scourge of Christendom” was ended.

Algiers, the French capital of Algeria, has 154,000 inhabitants. It is located on the west side of the Bay of Algiers, and is the most important coaling station on the whole coast of northern Africa.

In Roman times the famous Biblical town of Cæsarea occupied almost the same site. The present city was founded about 935; but Algiers was of little importance until after the expulsion of the Moors from Spain, many of whom settled in the city. From then on until its capture by France, Algiers was the chief seat of the Barbary pirates. The French have greatly improved the place.

THE RIVIERA

The Riviera is a narrow belt of coast that lies between the mountains and the sea all round the Gulf of Genoa in the north of Italy, extending from Nice on the west to Spezia on the east. Part of the Riviera is in France and part in Italy. The Riviera di Ponente (“the coast of the setting sun”) lies between Nice and Genoa. The part between Genoa and Spezia is called the Riviera di Levante (“the coast of the rising sun”).

The climate of the Riviera is very mild, and it is one of the most beautiful regions on earth. All this district is open to the south and sheltered by the mountains on the north and east. The landscape is delightfully varied, – here a bold and lofty promontory, there a wooded hill, and down near the coast richly cultivated plains. The traveler passes steep and frowning cliffs, whose bases are washed by the surf of the Mediterranean, whose summits are crowned by the venerable ruins of towers erected in bygone ages for protection against pirates.

Many of the towns in the Riviera are situated in fertile valleys or on picturesque hills; while others are perched like nests among the rocks. Little churches and chapels peering from the somber foliage of cypresses, and gigantic gray pinnacles of rock frowning upon the smiling plains, frequently enhance the charms of the scenery; while the vast expanse of the Mediterranean, with its ever changing hues, dazzles the eye with its beauty.

Olives, with their grotesque and gnarled stems, are grown on great plantations in the Riviera. The warm climate produces luxuriant growths of figs, vines, citrons, oranges, oleanders, myrtles, and aloes. Bright green pine forests meet the eye, and even palms are seen occasionally.

Thousands of visitors spend the winter in the chain of towns and villages that stretches from one end of the Riviera to the other, – Nice; Monte Carlo in Monaco, the little independent principality; Mentone, the last town in the French Riviera; Bordighera; Pegli; Nervi; Spezia; and many others. In summer the Italians visit these resorts for sea bathing.

The only drawback to the Riviera is its liability to earthquakes, of which there were four in the last century alone.

A railway runs close along the shore all through the Riviera. The distance from Nice to Genoa is 116 miles, and from Genoa to Spezia 56 miles. In the latter stretch the railroad burrows through the many projecting headlands by means of more than 80 tunnels.

The poets Lord Byron and Shelley both lived and wrote on the shores of the Gulf of Spezia, and Charles Dickens, the great English novelist, wrote his well known story, “The Chimes,” at Genoa.