Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/407

 a very small part has hitherto been taken by Algeria itself. The land communications in the interior are also well developed, and in proportion to its population Algeria has more carriage roads than France. The stranger visiting the outskirts of Algiers and the other large towns, is surprised to find so many broad, well-kept

highways on the African continent, and the mental comparison which he makes with many European countries is to the advantage of the French colony

In 1830 the only roads in the regency were the tracks of shepherds and their flocks, and the beaten paths of caravans along the streams and through the mountain gorges. But during the first years of the French occupation, one of the chief