Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/242

 198 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. and even for a considerable time occupied the "Moorish" mountains on the French coast, while their expeditions penetrated into the valleys of the Garonne, the Loire, and the Rhone, to the very heart of the Alps. Yet in the Middle Ages the war had already been transferred to Africa during the Crusade of St. Louis, and although it ended in disaster, the Spaniards followed up the conquest of Grenada by seizing Gran, Bougie, Mostaganem, and Algiers; the inland town of Tlemcen even became tributary to them, and it seemed as if Spain, after being so long in the power of the Arabs and Berbers, were about to vanquish them in its turn. But the tide of victory was again arrested, and notwithstanding his assumed title of Africanus, Charles V. proved less successful in Mauritania than his ancestor Fcrdinaud. His fleet was destroyed by a tempest, and from that time most of the European powers paid a tax to the Turks of Algiers to protect their trade ; and when they refused this shameful tribute, they found it necessary to blockade and bombard the coastland towns of Algeria, or else to pay heavy ransoms to liberate the captives of their respective nations. The war was continued between the Barbary states, and Europe and its outport of Malta, under a thousand different forms. In the end the advantage remained in the hands of the European nations, for the Turks failed to acquire any footing on the northern shores, whilst on the coast of Africa many a trading place, such as Tabarka and Calle, fell into the hands of the Christians, and several islets and fortified peninsulas, such as the presidios of the coast of Marocco, and even the town of Gran, were occupied by Spanish garrisons till the year 1791. The decisive blow was delivered in 1830. The town of Algiers, in which were amassed all the treasures of the corsairs, fell into the power of the French ; then other places on the coast were successively occupied and, by the very force of circumstances, in spite of the uncertain plans, political changes, and temporary checks, the conquest of the interior was gradually accomplished. The whole of Algeria, which is much larger than France, has been annexed as far as the border land between the settled districts and the domain of the nomad tribes. Tunisia has experienced the same fate ; and if Marocco, separated from the province of Gran by a badly defined frontier, has not yet become European territory, the cause is due to the jealousy of the rival Powers. However Spain, after a long period of inaction, has again assumed an aggressive attitude, occupying a strip of territory on the Atlantic seaboard ; while the French troops have often crossed, at Uja, the Shott Tigri and Figuig, the conventional line of the Moorish frontier, in order to curb the hostile border tribes. Marocco may already perhaps be considered as politically annexed to Europe, and the people themselves are the first to recognise their inevitable destiny. Henceforth connected with Europe, Northern Africa has acquired considerable importance in contemporaneous history, and Algeria especially participates in the intense life which now animates civilised society. After Egypt, Algeria of all other African regions has been the theatre of events whose influence has been most far-reaching. Next to Cape Colony, Algeria is the largest centre of Euro- pean populations, and in spite of thirty years of almost incessant wars, it has.