Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/340

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NORTH-WEST AFRICA.

structed enclose a basin some 230 acres in extent. This space, however, is not yet sufficiently sheltered from the north-east winds, during the prevalence of which large vessels occasionally break from their moorings. To obviate this danger it is proposed to divide the basin into two parts by means of another pier connecting the islet of Algefna with the mainland.

As a port of call, Algiers is much frequented by the French navy, and periodically by a large number of steamers plying in the Mediterranean waters, although a daily service has not yet been established with any of the French seaports. The local fisheries are very productive, but owing to the defective communications with

Fig. 107. Algerian Sahel.

the interior the coasting trade is less developed than that of Bougie or Philippeville. The approaches from the west are guarded by the fortified headland of Sidi-Ferrush (Sidi-Fejej)), where the French troops disembarked on June 14, 1830, and where the first skirmishes with the Dey's forces were followed five days after by the battle of Staweli, which opened the road to Algiers. In the neighbourhood of Staweli are some megalithic remains, and here a flourishing Trappist establishment has brought under cultivation some 3,000 acres of land.

The Sahel, or coast district south and south-west of Algiers, has also been