Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/339

. Some fine Moorish houses, all constructed on a uniform plan, have been preserved in the lower part of the Arab quarter; but even these have in some cases lost their characteristic features, being now arranged and fitted up European fashion. One of the most picturesque Moorish buildings is the public monument containing the library of thirty thousand volumes, and the valuable collections of the arcæological and historical museum. Amongst these are a Venus, a Neptune from Shershell, and the gruesome plaster casting of a prisoner immured alive in the walls of a fortress.

From the material standpoint, Algiers, which has already undergone so many changes, urgently calls for still further modifications, such as the removal of the coast batteries preventing its natural development north and south, and the

military lines, forming a zone of over 370 acres, which hem it in on all sides, As a military stronghold, Algiers has lost most of its importance under the altered conditions of modern warfare. The proper site of forts intended to defend the city is clearly indicated by the crests of the hills on the coast. There is further need of an abundant supply of good water; the streets also require to be properly paved in order to abate the dust nuisance, and the drainage works should forthwith be completed, in order to get rid of a still more offensive and dangerous nuisance.

The port itself remains to be finished, in its present state being inferior to many artificial harbours in the Mediterranean, although the piers already