to the Turks towards the close of the 17th century. It
was stormed on the 4th of December 1852 by the French, who
almost entirely destroyed the Arab town. The modern town
contains little of interest, but is an important military
station. One hundred and twelve miles S. of El Aghuat, and 36
m. W.N.W. of Wargla, is Ghardaia (pop. 7868), the capital
of the Mzab country, annexed by France in 1882. This country
consists of seven oases, five in close proximity and two
isolated. The town of Ghardaia (in the local documents
Taghardeit) is situated on a mosque-crowned hill in the middle
of the Wadi Mzab, 1755 ft. above the sea. Ghardaia, which is
divided by walls into three quarters, is built of limestone and
the houses are in terraces one above the other. The central
quarter is the home of the ruling tribe, the Beni-Mzab. The
eastern quarter belongs to the Jews, of whom there are about
300 families; the western is occupied by the Medabia, Arabs
from the Jebel Amur. The gardens belong exclusively to the
Beni-Mzab. According to native accounts the town was founded
about the middle of the 16th century. Aghrem Baba Saad, a
small ruined town to the west of Ghardaia, is the fortified
post in which the Beni-Mzab took refuge when the Turks
under Salah Rais (about 1555) attempted unsuccessfully to
subjugate the country. Next to Ghardaia the most important
Mzabite town is Beni-Isguen (pop. 4916), an active trading
centre. Guerrara, one of the two isolated oases, 37 m. N.E.
of Ghardaia, contains a flourishing commercial town with 1912
inhabitants. The caravan route south from Ghardaia brings the
traveller, after a journey of 130 m., to the oasis and town
of El Golea (pop. about 2500). The town consists of three
portions--the citadel on a limestone hill, the upper and
the lower town--separated by irregular plantations of date
trees. The place is an important station for the caravan
trade between Algeria and the countries to the south. It was
occupied by the French under General Gallifet in 1873. El
Golea was originally a settlement of the Zenata Berbers, by
whom it was known as Taorert, and there is still a considerable
Berber element in its population. The full Arab name is El
Golea'a el Menia'a, or the ``little fortress well defended.''
Archaeology.--Algeria is rich in prehistoric memorials of
man, especially in megalithic remains, of which nearly every
known kind has been found in the country. Numerous flints of
palaeolithic type have been discovered, notably at Tlemcen and
Kolea. Near Jelfa, in the Great Atlas, and at Mechera-Sfa
(``ford of the flat stones''), a peninsula in the valley
of the river Mina not far from Tiaret in the department of
Oran, are vast numbers of megalithic monuments. In the
Kubr-er-Rumia--``grave of the Roman lady'' (Roman being used
by the Arabs to designate strangers of Christian origin)--the
Medrassen and the Jedars, Algeria possesses a remarkable series
of sepulchral monuments. The Kubr-er-Rumia--best known by its
French name, Tombeau de la Chretienne, tradition making
it the burial-place of the beautiful and unfortunate daughter
of Count Julian--is near Kolea, and is known to be the tomb
of the Mauretanian king Juba II. and of his wife Cleopatra
Selene, daughter of Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, and Mark
Antony. It is built on a hill 756 ft. above the sea. Resting
on a lower platform, 209 ft. square, is a circular stone
building surmounted by a pyramid. Originally the monument was
about 130 ft. in height, but it has been wantonly damaged.
Its height is now 100 ft. 8 in.: the cylindrical portion 36
ft. 6 in., the pyramid 64 ft. 2 in. The base, 198 ft. in
diameter, is ornamented with 60 engaged Ionic columns. The
capitals of the columns have disappeared, but their design
is preserved among the drawings of James Bruce, the African
traveller. In the centre of the tomb are two vaulted chambers,
reached by a spiral passage or gallery 6 1/2 ft. broad, about
the same height and 489 ft. long. The sepulchral chambers
are separated by a short passage, and are cut off from the
gallery by stone doors made of a single slab which can be
moved up and down by levers, like a portcullis. The larger
of the two chambers is 142 ft. long by 11 ft. broad and 11 ft.
high. The other chamber is somewhat smaller. The tomb was
early violated, probably in search of treasure. In 1555 Salah
Rais, pasha of Algiers, set men to work to pull it down,
but the records say that the attempt was given up because
big black wasps came from under the stones and stung them to
death. At the end of the 18th century Baba Mahommed tried
in vain to batter down the tomb with artillery. In 1866 it
was explored by order of the emperor Napoleon III., the work
being carried out by Adrian Berbrugger and Oscar Maccarthy.
The Medrassen is a monument similar to the Kubr-er-Rumia, but
older. It was built about 150 B.C. as the burial-place
of the Numidian kings, and is situated 35 m. S.W. of
Constantine. The form is that of a truncated cone, placed
on a cylindrical base, 196 ft. in diameter. It is 60 ft.
high. The columns encircling the cylindrical portion are
stunted and much broader at the base than the top; the
capitals are Doric. Many of the columns, 60 in number,
have been much damaged. When the sepulchral chamber was
opened in 1873 by Bauchetet, a French engineer officer,
clear evidence was found that at some remote period the tomb
had been rifled and an attempt made to destroy it by fire.
The Jedars (Arab. ``walls'' or ``buildings'') are in the
department of Oran. The name is given to a number of sepulchral
monuments placed on hill-tops. A rectangular or square podium
is in each case surmounted by a pyramid. The tombs date from
the 5th to the 7th century of the Christian era, and lie in
two distinct groups between Tiaret and Frenda, a distance of 35
m. Tiaret (pop. 5778), an ancient town modernized by the
French, can be reached by railway from Mostaganem. Near
Frenda (2063), which has largely preserved its old Berber
character, are numerous dolmens and prehistoric rock sculptures.
Algeria contains many Roman remains besides those mentioned and
is also rich in monuments of Saracenic art. For a description of
the chief antiquities see the separate town articles, including,
besides those already cited, Lambessa, Tebessa, Tipasa and Timgad.
Agriculture.--Ever since the time of the Romans Algeria has
been noted for the fertility of its soil. Over two-thirds
of the inhabitants are engaged in agricultural pursuits.
More than 7,500,000 acres are devoted to the cultivation of
cereals. The Tell is the grain-growing land. Under French
rule its productiveness has been largely increased by the
sinking of artesian wells in districts which only required
water to make them fertile. Of the crops raised, wheat,
barley and oats are the principal cereals. A great variety
of vegetables and of fruits, especially the orange, is
exported. A considerable amount of cotton was grown during
the American Civil War, but the industry afterwards declined.
In the early years of the 20th century efforts to extend the
cultivation of the plant were renewed. A small amount of
cotton is also grown in the southern oases. Large quantities
of crin vegetal (vegetable horse-hair) an excellent fibre,
are made from the leaves of the dwarf palm. The olive (both
for its fruit and oil) and tobacco are cultivated with great
success. The soil of Algeria everywhere favours the growth
of the vine. The country, in the words of an expert sent to
report on the subject by the French government, ``can produce
an infinite variety of wines suitable to every constitution
and to every caprice of taste.'' The culture of the vine
was early undertaken by the colonists, but it was not until
vineyards in France were attacked by phylloxera that the
export of wine from Algeria became considerable. Algerian
vineyards were also attacked (1883) despite precautionary
measures, but in the meantime the worth of their wines had been
proved. In 1850 less than 2000 acres were devoted to the
grape, but in 1878 this had increased to over 42,000 acres,
which yielded 7,436,000 gallons of wine. Despite bad seasons
and ravages of insects, cultivation extended, and in 1895 the
vineyards covered 300,000 acres, the produce being 88,000,000
gallons. The area of cultivation in 1905 exceeded 400,000
acres, and in that year the amount of wine produced was
157,000,000 gallons. By that time the limits of profitable
production had been reached in many parts of the country.
Practically the only foreign market for Algerian wine is
France, which in 1905 imported about 110,000,000 gallons.
Fishery is a flourishing but not a large industry. The fish caught
are principally sardines, bonito, smelts and sprats. Fresh fish
are exported to France, dried and preserved fish to Spain and
Italy. Coral fisheries exist along the coast from Bona to Tunis.
Minerals.--Algeria is rich in minerals, found chiefly in
the department of Constantine, where iron, lead and zinc,
copper, calamine, antimony and mercury mines are worked.
The most productive are those of iron and zinc. Lignite is
found in the department of Algiers and petroleum in that of
Oran. Immense phosphate beds were discovered near Tebessa in
1891. They yielded 313,500 tons in 1905. Phosphate beds are
also worked near Setif, Guelma and Ain Beida. There are more
than 300 quarries which produce, amongst other stones, onyx
and beautiful white and red marbles. Algerian onyx from Ain
Tekbalet was used by the Romans, and many ancient quarries have
been found near Kleber in the department of Oran, some being
certainly those from which the long-lost Numidian marbles were
taken. Salt is collected on the margins of the shats.
Shipping and Commerce.--The carrying trade between Algeria
and France is confined, by a law passed in 1889, to French
bottoms. The largest port is Algiers, after which follow
Oran, Philippeville and Bona. There is a considerable
coasting trade. The average number of vessels entering
and clearing Algerian ports each year has been, since 1900,
about 4000, with a total tonnage of some 6,500,000. In
the coasting trade some 12,000 small vessels are engaged.
Under French administration the commerce of Algeria has greatly
developed: The total imports and exports at the time of the
French occupation (1830) did not exceed L. 175,000. In 1850
the figures had reached L. 5,000,000; in 1868, L. 12,000,000; in
1880, L. 17,000,000; and in 1890, L. 20,000,000. From this point
progress was slower and the figures varied considerably year by
year. In 1905 the total value of the foreign trade was
L. 24,500,000. About five-sixths of the trade is with
or via France, into which country several Algerian goods
have been admitted duty-free since 1851, and all since
1867. French goods, except sugar, have been admitted into
Algeria without payment of duty since 1835. After the
increase, in 1892, of the French minimum tariff, which
applied to Algeria also, foreign trade greatly diminished.
The chief exports are sheep and oxen, most of which are
raised in Morocco and Tunisia, and horses; animal products,
such as wool and skins; wine, cereals (rye, barley, oats),
vegetables, fruits (chiefly figs and grapes for the table) and
seeds, esparto grass, oils and vegetable extracts (chiefly
olive oil), iron ore, zinc, natural phosphates, timber,
cork, crin vegetal and tobacco. Of these France takes
fully three-quarters. The import of wool, exceeds the
