Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/241





ALGERIA.

HE central portion of Mauritania, this "Island of the West," which by its geology, as well as its climate and products, formerly belonged to the European continent, has been again politically detached from Africa, and connected with the opposite shores of the Mediterranean. Even from the beginning of history, the relations of this country, whether peaceful or warlike, have always been, not so much with the African lands from which it is separated by the Sahara, as with regions lying to the north or west beyond the sea. Archæology reveals even in prehistoric times, the builders of the dolmens migrating from Gaul across Spain to Mauritania; then, at the very dawn of history, we find the Sidonians and Tyrians founding their marts on the coast of Mauritania. To the influence of the Phœnicians succeeded that of the Romans and Greeks; even during the interregnum caused by the migrations of the barbaric peoples from the north, the conquering Vandals, advancing frɔm the shores of the Baltic, penetrated to these southern regions, where they finally became extinct without leaving any distinct traces of their presence amongst the North African nations. Then the Arabs, mixed with Syrians and Egyptians, spread rapidly throughout Mauritania, followed in their turn by the Turks, who here established a chief seat of their maritime power.

But even when the shores of Maghreb were being overrun by invaders from the east, its relations, mostly of a hostile character, were still mainly with the opposite side of the Mediterranean. south, at first known as Moors or Saracens, afterwards as Barbary corsairs, maintained a state of continual warfare against commercial Europe, and even extended their depredations beyond the Strait of Gibraltar. In order to escape these sudden attacks, the towns and villages along the Mediterranean seaboard were built on hills, at some distance from the shore, and surrounded by walls. In the warfare which continued from century to century between the Mussulmans and Christians, the former at first had the upper hand; they seized Spain and Sicily, For over ten centuries pirates from the