THE GREAT SAHARA.

CHAPTER I.

Steam from Marseilles - Motley assemblage-Struggle for berths A Sunday at sea-American sceptic - Minorca - Migratory birds View of Algiers - Harbour Old corsair Grand Place Statue of Duke of Orleans Mosques-Costumes - Omnibuses— Governor's return from Kabylie - Soldier's burial - Anecdotes of the war- - General Yusuf - Description of the Djibbeb, or Dance of the Beni Yssou-Negro sacrifices-Missions - Mr. Weiss.

EMBARKED on the densely crammed "Louqsor," we encountered a motley crowd of passengers. Military officers, Government officials, Zouaves, soldier convicts, horned cattle, no near relatives of the Durham ox; greyhound-like sheep, larger in the horn than in any other limb; German colonist families, generally comprising three generations; dogs, a sprinkling of turbaned Moors, and a dozen dark-looking Jesuits in shovel hats and long cassocks, composed the medley assemblage. Government passengers having prior claim, we contented ourselves with fore sleeping-cabins, and the privilege of entering the saloon and promenading aft. Vain indulgence, with families bivouacking over the whole deck. Happily, the swell of the Gulf of Lyons, after leaving the fine headlands which encompass Marseilles, rendered our dinner-party select. Not so the sleeping-berths at night. We found our dog-holes tenanted, and in vain sent the steward to eject the

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