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ALGER. American Unitarian clergyman and ethical writer, born at Freetown, Mass., December 30, 1822. He graduated at the Harvard Theological School in 1847, held pastorates successively at Roxbury, Boston, New York, Denver, Chicago, and Portland, Me., and afterward lived in Boston. He wrote Poetry of the Orient (1856), History of the Doctrine of a Future Life, which contains a remarkable bibliography on the subject by Ezra Abbot (1863), The Genius of Solitude (1865). Life of Edwin Forrest, 2 volumes (1878), Symbolic History of the Cross (1881), and The School of Life (1881).

ALGE'RIA (Ar. Al-jazīrah, the island: Fr. Algérie). A French colony in north Africa, situated between lat. 30° and 37° N. and long. 2° 10' W. and 8° 50' E. (Map: Africa, E 1). It is about 550 miles long from east to west, and extends inland from 320 to 380 miles. Its area, exclusive of the Algerian Sahara, is estimated at 184,000 square miles, and inclusive of the Sahara region, at about 300,000. Its boundaries are formed by the Mediterranean on the north, Morocco on the west, Sahara on the south, and Tunis on the east.

The entire northern part is traversed by a section of the Atlas Moun- tains, which cover the northern part of Africa from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Gabes. The mountain system of Algeria may be divided into two principal chains, running parallel to each other and connected by small ridges. The north- ern chain, called Little or Maritime Atlas, runs along the coast. Of its several ranges, the Jur- jura, to the east of Algiers, rises to a height of about 7500 feet. The Great Atlas is situated south of the Little Atlas, and contains some of the highest peaks of Algeria, as Monnt Shelia (about 7600 feet) in the Jebel Aures. This range presents a steep wall toward the Sahara, but slopes more gradually on their northern side, where the mountains are covered with extensive forests. They are furrowed by deep and tortuous defiles. The Algerian Sahara is a rocky pla- teau, with an average elevation of about 1500 feet. Some geographers distinguish a third chain, the Sahara Border Range, situated be- tween the Great Atlas and the Sahara Desert. The coast of Algeria is much broken, and forms numerous bays, the principal among them being the Bay of Algiers and the gulfs of Bougie and Bona.

The surface of Algeria represents three natural divisions or zones. The first, known as the Tell, is the most northern part of the country, extend- ing inland for about fifty miles, and taking in the northern slope of the Little Atlas. It is the most productive and best watered part of the country, and contains most of the European set- tlements. The second, central zone includes the elevated steppes south of the Tell and the Great Atlas Mountains. It is interspersed with nu- merous saline lakes or shotts, which generally evaporate during the dry season, leaving a thick stratum of salt on the bottom. In this section there are only a few little streams, which dry up for a part of the year. The third zone is the Algerian Sahara, with an area estimated at up- ward of 100,000 square miles. It is subdivided into three parts, called Fiafi, Kifar, and Falat, respectively. The first term is generally applied to the oases of the desert. They are mostly well watered and covered with vegetation, and contain numerous thriving villages and settlements. The

second refers to those parts of the desert which are covered with grass part of the year. They have no settled population, but are visited by the nomadic tribes on account of the grass. The third part includes the rest of the desert, which is utterly devoid of vegetation, and unfit for human habitation. A remarkable feature of the Algerian Sahara is the dried up river courses. At present, only two such courses are known, called the Wady Igharghar and Wady Miya, respectively. The first begins south of Algerian Sahara and runs due north, terminating at the Shott Melghir. Its length is over 700 miles, and its breadth, even at present, is about four miles in some parts. The Wady Miya is a branch of Igharghar, which it joins about 60 miles south of Shott Melghir. There is still some water running beneath its bottom.

Algeria is rich in minerals. Among the metals which are obtained are iron, lead, copper, and quicksilver. Sulphur is found, and there are valuable deposits of phosphates. Salt is a most important product. Onyx and beautiful white and red marbles are quarried.

The most important river of Algeria is the Sheliff, which has in the main a westerly course, and empties into the Mediterranean near Mostaganem. Its length is about 400 miles. Among other streams are the Seybouse, which empties into the Gulf of Bona, the Wady el Kebir, which flows past Constantine, and the Tafna in the extreme west. None of these rivers is navigable, but they all contribute considerably to the fertility of the regions through which they flow.

The climate of Algeria is generally healthful, except in the marshy lowlands. The rainy season on the coast lands lasts from October to March.

The mountain forests are filled with cedars and different kinds of oak, as well as pines, ashes, junipers, aloes, dwarf palms, and cactuses, but they are rapidly disappearing, giving place to pastures. The flora of the central zone is confined mainly to grasses and some aromatic herbs. Myrtles, olives, pistachias, and dwarf palms are among the characteristic plants of the northern zone. The fauna of Algeria is generally African in its character. The lion (now getting scarce) and other large carnivora are found, and gazelles are numerous.

Algeria is chiefly an agricultural country, and its importance is increasing at a steady rate. A peculiar feature about Algeria is the proportion of Europeans engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1897 the total agricultural population of the colony was given as 3,644,614 (of a total population of 4,479,000), of which 207,310 were Europeans, mostly Frenchmen. The greater part of the area under cultivation is devoted to grain crops. The average annual output of cereals amounts to over 6,000,000 quintals of wheat, from 7,000,000 to 8,000.000 quintals of barley, and about 7.000.000 quintals of oats. (The quintal is equivalent to 220.46 pounds.) The cultivation of the vine has gradually assumed greater importance, so that at present the annual production of wine exceeds 5,000,000 hectoliters. The cultivation of silk, olives, dates, and other fruits is also becoming more and more important, and is participated in to a considerable extent by Europeans. Potatoes, carrots, onions, and asparagus constitute important articles of export. Alfa grass is exported in large quantities to England. The for-