Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/396

 it gradually rose to some thousands, and may now be estimated at over ten thousand. For the first. twenty-five years of the occupation the increase was due exclusively to immigration, for at that time the mortality, owing to various causes, was much higher than the births. But the race has now struck root, so to say, in Algerian soil, and the theory denying the possibility of acclimatisation has been negatived by the results. European marriages are both more frequent and more fruitful than in the mother country, and of the present annual increase about one-fifth is due to excess of births over deaths.

In the European colony the French have a numerical superiority over all others since the year 1851, although the difference is slight, regard being had to

their preponderating political influence. The Maltese, who during the first years of the occupation arrived in large numbers, as camp sutlers, petty dealers, and gardeners, are now scarcely seen in the country. But their place has been taken by Calabrians and other Italians, who come in ever-increasing numbers, seeking employment as builders and navvies. Still more numerous are the Spanish settlers, who comprise at present about one-fourth of all the Europeans residing in Algeria, while in the province of Oran they are in the majority. But even here all European elements show a general tendency to assimilate with the preponderating French population, The advantages of naturalisation are so great that many