Page:Decisive Battles Since Waterloo.djvu/99

Rh which appeared in front of Algiers on the 13th of June, 1830. Though somewhat alarmed at the spectacle of the vast fleet, Hussein Pasha thought he would be able to defeat his assailants with little difficulty should they ever attempt to land. He had previously asked for aid from the Sultan of Turkey, but that wily ruler had blankly refused. The beys of Tunis and Tripoli had also declined to meddle with the affair, and he had only his vassals, the beys of Oran, Constantine, and Tittery to fall back upon. They were entirely confident that a descent on the coast of Algiers was contemplated by the French, and stood ready to meet them in strong force. Admiral Duperré, the commander of the fleet, carefully examined the coast and decided that the best place for landing was at Sidi-Ferruch, about sixteen miles to the west of Algiers, where there is a peninsula enclosed by two deep bays. On the 14th the landing was partially effected, rapidly and in excellent order. It was observed that the ground rose rather steeply in a series of natural terraces, covered with brushwood near the shore, and considerably more wooded farther inland. The French also perceived that every one of these terraces held a swarm of Turks and Arabs partially concealed in the bushes. They were not long in opening a lively fusillade against the French, who replied without attempting to advance. The Arabs mistook the deliberation of the French for fear, and concluded that it would be an easy matter to destroy the invaders at any desired moment. Hussein's commander-in-chief was his son-in-law, the Aga Ibrahim, who had 40,000 to 50,000 men under his command. Ibrahim was a very skilful and daring horseman, but not much of a soldier. When the news came that the French were landing at Sidi-Ferruch, Ibrahim marched his army to the heights overlooking the bay, and encamped it on the table-land of Staoueli, which spreads out from the crest of the hills. His troops were mostly