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ALGERIA.

are not included in the expenditure, being provided out of the French budget. In the French financial estimates for 1809, approved by the Legislative Body, the home expenditure for Algeria, ordinary and extraordinary, was set down at 38,765,466 francs, or 1,550,618/., and the colonial revenue at 17,600,200 francs, or 704,000/., leaving a deficit of 21,165,266 francs, or 846,618/.

The French troops in Algeria consist of one ' corps d'armee,' the 7th, numbering about 60,000 men. The troops in Algeria are divided into two classes, namely, French corps, which remain there in garrison for a certain number of years and then return to France, and the so-called native troops, which never quit the colony except for fighting purposes. In these latter corps, however, there are a great number of Europeans. They consist of three regiments of Zouaves, three of Turcos, or ' Tirailleurs Algeriens,' three of ' Chas- seurs d'Afrique,' and three of ' Spahis,' — altogether 15,000 infantry and 3,000 horse. Besides these there are the punishment battalions, popularly known as the battalions of ' Zephyrs.'

Area and Population.

The boundaries of Algeria are not very well defined, large por- tions of the territory in the outlying districts being claimed both by the French Government and the nomade tribes who inhabit it, and hold themselves unconquered. According to the official esti- mates, the total area of the colony embraces 39,000,000 hectares, or 96,369,000 acres, being about three times the size of England. The number of the population and their nationality — exclusive of troops — is given as follows in the two last census returns of May, 1861 and 1866 : —

Nationality

1861

1866

French ..... Other Europeans Arabs in towns ,, in tribes Other races ....

Total

112,229 80,517

358,760

2,374,091

41,239

122,119

91.22S

251,050

2,434,974

21,875

2,966,836

2,921,216

It will be seen that the bulk of the inhabitants of Algeria consists of wandering Arab tribes, and that leaving out of account the no- made population, the numbers fall short of half a million. The population returned as ' sedentaire,' or settled, in the census returns