CHAPTER V

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1834.

Abdel Kader now entered on the task of organisation. He trusted but little to the pacific professions of the French, and looked on the present cessation of hostilities merely as an armed truce. He resolved, consequently, to make use of the breathing time thus afforded, in maturing his plans, husbanding his resources, and preparing for future battles. Declaring the Djehad to be only suspended, not abandoned, he issued his usual edict for the collection of the war-tribute, consisting of the _ashur_, or tenth of all agricultural produce, and the _zekka_, or tax on cattle.

To his astonishment, the most faithful of all his tribes, his most zealous adherents, the very men who had been the guardians and supporters of his nascent power, and by whose aid he had been enabled to inflict his most deadly blows, refused obedience. The Beni Amers asserted that cessation of impost was, in their eyes, the legitimate consequence of cessation of war.

Abdel Kader hesitated not a moment. The Beni Amers must be attacked. Writing to Mustapha-ibn-Ismail at Tlemsen, he ordered him to prepare the Douairs and Zmelas for instant action. That old and wily leader of the Turkish _Maghzen_, desiring nothing better than to have an opportunity of falling on his old and mortal enemies, and rejoicing in the prospect of plunder, joyfully accepted the summons, and boastfully enlarged on the loyalty of his tribes. An unexpected incident turned the tide of events.

As Abdel Kader was preaching one Friday, as was his wont, in the mosque of Mascara, his eye lighted on some of the Beni Amer Sheiks. Suddenly turning the stream of his eloquence, he thus apostrophised them:—“Were not you, O Beni Amers, the first to call me to the post I now hold? Were not you the first to implore me to establish a regular government, which should inspire the good with confidence, and the wicked with terror?

“Did you not solemnly pledge your lives, your properties, and all that you held most dear and sacred, to assist and strengthen me in the arduous task? And will you be the first to abandon the common cause, the first, by your example, to countenance and encourage conspiracies against the very government you invoked? How can any government be carried on without taxes, how maintained without the cordial union and support of all?

“Think you that the smallest coin of the tribute which I demand, will ever be appropriated to my personal or family expenses? You all know that my paternal property suffices for my own needs. What I demand is what the law of the Prophet renders it imperative on you, as good Mussulmans, to give; and in my hands, I solemnly swear, it will be held as a sacred trust, for the triumph of the faith!”

Moved by this frank appeal, the Beni Amer Sheiks demanded a conference. The throng pressed around them. All ranks and ages joined their entreaties to effect an accommodation. Thus surrounded, the Sheiks advanced towards their young Sultan, and kissed his hand. In the name of their tribe, they promised to pay the tribute. Orders were forthwith despatched to Mustapha to suspend his march on the Beni Amers.

Three days afterwards, a horseman came riding in at full speed, to say that Mustapha had, notwithstanding, commenced an attack. Abdel Kader, hastily gathering together such horsemen as were within reach, galloped off to the scene of action.

On arriving, he sent word to Mustapha to withdraw. On his refusal to obey the order, Abdel Kader advanced to charge his recalcitrant chief. A few only of the Beni Amers followed. After a desperate skirmish, Abdel Kader had the mortification to see his men dispersed, and flying before superior numbers. A handful of men alone remained to rally round his person. Animated by the example of their chief, they fought with desperation. Nearly all were killed, or dismounted. At last, after performing prodigies of valour, Abdel Kader, his burnous riddled with bullets, and his horse covered with wounds, cut his way through the hostile ranks which closed him in, and galloped back to Mascara. He reached it late at night—alone.

Abdel Kader defeated by the Arabs! The news spread like wildfire. In an instant all slumbering rivalries were aroused. Sidi-il-Aribi raised the standard of revolt. El Gomari, and the Beni Engad, prepared to join Sidi Hamadi, the Governor of Tlemsen, who entered into correspondence with Mustapha.

The tidings of these defections, so far from oppressing the soul of Abdel Kader with despondency, only nerved him with fresh vigour. The Hashem Gharabas, the Mejahers, the Beni Abbas, were staunch. The Beni Amers had confirmed the adhesion given in by their Sheiks, at Mascara. He could wield a force of 15,000 cavalry. With a large proportion of these he at once took the field.

Mustapha had led off the Douairs and Zmelas to their old campaigning ground near Oran, in the hopes of propitiating the French, and getting their support. To his disgust, he was warned by the latter of the consequences which would ensue if he persisted in rebelling against Abdel Kader, the ally of France.

Desmichels had found out by bitter experience, the impossibility of conquering the province of Oran, with such forces as his government had placed at his disposal. The plan of raising up a native power to supply this deficiency, and to assist in extending the French dominions, either as vassals or allies, seemed to him to afford the easiest method for escaping from a serious dilemma. He was dazzled by the great and commanding qualities displayed by Abdel Kader, and always took a pleasure in extolling his heroism, his prowess, and even his generalship. He seemed almost to envy and covet his glory.

Desmichels was known to have frequently declared that he would make the young Arab Emir all powerful, from the frontiers of Morocco to the frontiers of Tunis. No doubt this declaration was made with the mental reserve that the gallant chief should only be so as the vassal of France. Abdel Kader, fully understanding the profitable tendency to himself of this exuberant admiration, cared not to dispel an illusion which marvellously promoted his own designs. He was secretly bent, however, on preserving a perfectly independent position, and on confining his allies to their counting-houses on the sea-coast.

Mustapha having been thus kept in check, Abdel Kader fell with his whole force upon Sidi-il-Aribi, enveloped him in a crushing defeat, and took him prisoner. At the same time he inflicted on the rebellious tribes a signal chastisement, and collected all the arrears of tribute. Flushed by this victory, he now sought out Mustapha. He met him on the plains of Mahraz, July 13, 1834. The battle between the hostile chiefs raged for some hours with alternate success. At last, both sides, worn out with fatigue, and fainting with the heat, drew breath.

Abdel Kader seized the moment to send some Marabouts through the enemy’s ranks, to offer terms. Mustapha, fearing an attack from the French, who had advanced as far as the camp of Miserghin, and were in observation, was nothing loath to listen to any propositions which might relieve him from his perilous situation. Though declining a personal meeting with Abdel Kader, he sent him his charger in token of reconciliation.

Abdel Kader now marched upon Tlemsen. His appearance before that town, with all the prestige of victory, at once annihilated the intrigues of which that place had been the focus. His faithless lieutenant, Sidi Hamadi, was seized and imprisoned, but afterwards generously pardoned, although not allowed to retain his post. This was conferred on Noona, who after his late defeat had fled to Morocco, and had returned, bearing letters of recommendation from the Moorish Sultan.

Abdel Kader entered Mascara in triumph. Two events had occurred during his absence, which materially aided him. El Gomari, chief of the Beni Engad, had been tried before a tribunal, and shot; and Sidi-il-Aribi had died in prison. Freed from these rivals, and unimpeded by internal faction, he was again at liberty to carry out his measures of general administration.

The province of Oran was divided into two great districts, and placed under khalifas, or lieutenants. That of the east, subdivided into seven agalicks, and having Mascara as the seat of government, was placed under the command of the Sultan’s brother-in-law, Mustapha-ibn-Tamy. That of the west, with Tlemsen for its capital, was entrusted to Bou Hamadi. Every tribe was held responsible for the peace and good order of its locality. Weekly reports were required, as to the amount of cattle, beasts of burden, and horses fit for service in each agalick. A Cadi, appointed by the Sultan, and paid out of the public treasury, was sent to each of the tribes, to administer justice.

A body of regulars was raised, consisting both of cavalry and infantry. The latter were drilled and instructed by French non-commissioned officers, who had been allowed to offer their services for that purpose. Cannon-foundries, powder-mills, and manufactories of small arms, were established and superintended by European artisans. The Arabs wondered at these strange and novel proceedings. They felt that a new order of things had suddenly fallen on them.

This, together with the vigilance with which crimes were detected, and the certainty and severity of its punishment, soon had its effect on the community. The entire province, which eighteen months previously had been a prey to every kind of anarchy and confusion, now enjoyed the most thorough tranquillity. So complete was the feeling of security which existed in all parts, that, to use the favourite Arab illustration of the perfection of good government, “A girl might have travelled the length and breadth of the land with a casket of diamonds on her head, without fear of molestation.”

Abdel Kader’s fame had now spread through Algeria. It was generally felt, that a man had arisen who had not only shown himself capable of preserving order within, but who, by his skill and daring, had succeeded in imposing conditions on the infidels from without. The eyes of all the well-disposed naturally turned towards one who had achieved such signal results.

The inhabitants of Medea and Miliana, the principal towns in the province of Tittery, sent deputations to Abdel Kader, begging him to do for their province what he had already done for the province of Oran. Had he been free to act on his own inspirations, forty-eight hours would not have elapsed before he had been on the march in compliance with their request. The invitation was not only flattering to his pride, as showing the influence his name exercised over parties utterly unknown to him, but offered—what in his eyes was its strongest inducement—a further opening for the prosecution of the great object he had in view, the establishment of a widely-extended Arab nationality.

The Treaty of Desmichels in no way precluded him from entering Tittery; for that treaty had not confined him within any prescribed limits. Still he was not disposed to undertake the enterprise without first ascertaining how such a step would be viewed by the French authorities. Contenting himself, therefore, for the present, with replying to the deputations, that he required time to consider their demands, he proceeded to fathom the thoughts of Count D’Erlon, the new Governor- General, on the momentous topic. The recent arrival of that personage gave him an opportunity of broaching the delicate question without appearing to make it a special subject of negotiation.

Under the garb of a letter of felicitation to the general on his appointment, the following feeler was adroitly put forward:—“The Kaid, Miloud ibn Arasch, will give you every particular about us. I have instructed him to ascertain your views as to the best manner of establishing tranquillity in all the districts, whether maritime or in the interior, along the coasts between Algiers and Oran, and in the plains and the mountains, from Tlemsen and Mascara, _up to Medea and Miliana_.”

Count D’Erlon had come to assume the arduous and responsible duties which now devolved upon him, without any clear instructions, and without any additional force. The French government, still uncertain as to its European relations, had neither money nor troops to spare for the prosecution of an Algerian war on a great scale. A vague idea possessed it that Abdel Kader was the ladder by which the French were to scale the heights of the Atlas. To keep on good terms with this influential chief was, consequently, at this period, a cardinal point of French policy.

Accordingly, the reply of Count D’Erlon to Abdel Kader consisted of vague generalities, and Was altogether couched in such terms, that the latter had every ground to believe no measures would be taken to oppose his proposed step if he only had the boldness to take it. Still he felt the necessity of having his actual rights confirmed by the new Governor- General before assuming new ones; and to this end he sent the document containing his own terms, which had been duly signed and sealed by Desmichels, as above related, to the Count, for his perusal.

D’Erlon, to whom even the existence of such a document was unknown, as it had never been notified to the French Government, was thunder-struck. Here was a French general, who had taken upon himself to sign a secret treaty, giving solid and exclusive advantages to an enemy whose hostility had not been disarmed, and whose friendship was doubtful. His representations to the French ministry relative to this extraordinary procedure were such, that they were speedily followed by the recall of Desmichels from Oran.

At the same time he thus gave his opinion to Abdel Kader on the subject:—“I would wish you to observe, that General Desmichels had no power or jurisdiction, except in the province of Oran, and that he could in nowise make any stipulations as regards any other part of the regency. Even by giving the widest interpretation to the Treaty made between you and him, in February, 1834, you can have no pretensions beyond the province of Oran, limited as it has been by the sovereign power of France.

“My desire for the present is, that you should not cross the lower Cheliff, towards the east. If you govern the territory you now possess according to Mohammedan laws, and with strict justice, we shall be friends; but we cannot allow you to enter the province of Tittery. What passes there is my concern. I am not at war with its inhabitants; I have no fixed project of making establishments at Blidah and Bouffarick, but whenever I think it for the interest of France to do so, I shall allow no one to embarrass me.”

Abdel Kader paused for the present before such an interdict. Besides, disturbances amongst the Flittas, in the valley of the Cheliff, excited against him by the sons of Sidi-il-Aribi, called for his immediate presence in that direction.

While engaged in appeasing these troubles, he was surprised by the information that a certain Hadj Mousa, a shereef from the Sahara, had entered Medea, and had been warmly received by a large portion of the population. After waiting for a time to see what steps would be taken by the French Governor-General, and finding that no opposition to the assumptions of this adventurer was offered on the part of Count D’Erlon, Abdel Kader determined to exercise full liberty of action. If a shereef from the desert might snatch a province, why not he? Fortune is the friend of the bold, and the world is for him who will seize it. He dashed across the Cheliff, and marched on Medea, followed by all the cavalry contingents of Oran, two battalions of regular infantry, and four pieces of cannon. Cæsar had crossed the Rubicon.

Hadj Mousa came out to meet him, prophesying that God would give him the victory, and that the cannon of Abdel Kader would not go off. Abdel Kader replied that if, indeed, his cannon did not go off, he would acknowledge a divine interposition, and withdraw. The battle was gained, and the prophet and pretender was completely defeated. Abdel Kader took possession, amidst general exultation, of the province of Tittery, and appointed Khalifas at Medea and Miliana.

General Trezel, who had replaced Desmichels at Oran, proposed to reply to this movement of Abdel Kader by seizing Mascara. D’Erlon temporised. He was neither authorised nor prepared to commence hostilities. He even condescended to treat with Abdel Kader in the very town he had occupied in direct violation of his prohibition. Captain St. Hippolyte was sent to him, bearer of the following draft of a treaty:—

1. Acknowledgment of the sovereignty of France.

2. Precise definition of the power of the Emir, which is to be exercised in the province of Oran alone, bounded on the east by the Cheliff, from its mouth to its confluence with the Wady Riou, and by the river of that name up to Godjidah.

3. Right of French and all Europeans to travel in the province of Oran.

4. Entire freedom of commerce in the interior.

5. Engagement on the part of the Emir not to export, except in ports occupied by the French.

6. Tribute to be paid by Abdel Kader, and hostages to be given by him. The tribute to be considered a mark of his acknowledgment of French sovereignty.

A treaty which thus abrogated, by a stroke of the pen, all the rights and privileges his own good sword had obtained, might apparently have been regarded by Abdel Kader as an insult or a defiance. But, in reality, it was the result of his own diplomacy. He had learned to appreciate the value and importance of the power to make treaties. He knew that this power implied an independent position, whether for proposing or accepting terms. Already a French general had, by treaty, acknowledged and confirmed his right to an independent sway, had saluted him as Emir, and Prince of the Faithful, or Sultan.

Negotiations once opened with the new Governor-General might lead to similar concessions. What the nature of the propositions, presented to him in the first instance, might be, was to him a matter of supreme indifference. What he wanted, and what he earnestly urged his agent at Algiers to obtain from D’Erlon, was a treaty. He trusted to the chapter of accidents to mould any fresh negotiation to his own wishes.

The employment of well-paid spies introduced him into the most secret councils of the French authorities. Able and crafty agents, accredited to the responsible heads of the French administration, in its various centres of action, were made the means of promoting his views and advancing his interests. These agents were instructed to gain the confidence of all important personages; to be always about them on some pretence or other; to be constantly extolling their master’s merits; and enlarging on his talents for administration; to speak loudly of his extraordinary influence in the country; and, finally, to insinuate the immense advantages which would accrue to France by having such a pioneer in the path of conquest.

A Jew, of the name of Durand, had performed all these functions, at Algiers, with rare ability. He had easily contrived to get the ear of D’Erlon. He was consulted by him in all affairs of moment connected with the internal government of the regency. He had gradually impressed him with a favourable opinion of his master; and he succeeded, finally, in drawing him into the current of credulous expectation with regard to the conduct of Abdel Kader, which had carried away more than one of his predecessors. In the meantime, he had wormed out of him the foregoing treaty, and was commissioned to accompany the bearer of it to Medea.

There, though the treaty met with very little ceremony or attention, the bearer of the treaty received the most striking marks of friendship and hospitality. A grand review was held; and the French envoy gazed with dubious admiration on the nucleus of an Arab army. He was invited to accompany the Sultan on a tour of inspection about to be made through the provinces of Tittery and Oran. The offer was accepted; and Captain St. Hippolyte and the Jew Durand figured conspicuously in the royal suite.

Abdel Kader made the most of his time. Purposely going into those districts which had recently shown symptoms of disaffection, or were wavering in their allegiance to him, he secretly enjoyed the impression made on the tribes by the French uniform. What, they thought, must be the power of a chief who had made the infidels his vassals, and who could, no doubt, at any moment summon their armies to march to the support of his throne? Any resistance to such a potentate would be mere madness. Unqualified submission was their best and only alternative.

On reaching Mascara, fresh tokens of politeness and cordiality awaited the distinguished guests. On the third day after their arrival, Abdel Kader put his own treaty into their hands. It was to this effect:—

1. The provinces which are under the dominion of the Prince of the Faithful, and which are in submission, shall remain dependent on him. In like manner the country which the Governor-General actually holds shall remain under his dominion.

2. Whenever the Emir shall think fit to appoint or to remove the Governors of Medea and Miliana, he will inform the Governor-General, that he may take note of the fact; and also make those functionaries the medium of any dispatch or communication he may have to convey to him.

3. Freedom of commerce for all. The Arabs shall be respected in the markets by the French, and the French by the Arabs, in all the provinces under the dominion of the Emir.

4. The Prince of the Faithful shall buy at Algiers, through his agent, everything he requires in the shape of mortars, muskets, powder, and sulphur.

5. The Emir shall give up to the French all deserters; and the Governor- General will act similarly towards the Emir.

6. If the Emir projects a tour towards Constantine or elsewhere, he will inform the Governor-General of his intention and of his motive for doing so.

A treaty so ridiculously contrasting with the one sent for his acceptance by the French Governor-General, and which, so far from limiting his power, proposed to allow him to leap at one bound, from the gates of Oran to those of Constantine, and to make the French themselves the complaisant approvers of this encroachment, was certainly one which the Prince of the Faithful never expected to see accepted.

Perfectly comprehending, however, the exaggerated importance attached to his friendship and support by the French Government, and relying on the efficacy of those secret influences he had hitherto so successfully employed, Abdel Kader was not without hopes that by a strenuous and even overstrained assumption of right, and a bold avowal of design, dimly suggestive of reserved strength, he might at all events procure such a treaty as should enhance the advantages he actually possessed, strengthen his position, enlarge his sphere of action, and still further dispel the clouds which yet obscured the brilliant vista of glory lying before him.

Up to this time he had succeeded in almost all he had undertaken. His faith in his mission, always strong and unshaken, now possessed his mind with the strength of a religious conviction. By inspiring all around him with a like confidence and belief, this faith became to him an instrument of power. His past success was accepted as a sure omen of future triumphs. A French officer, about this time, advised him, out of honest sympathy and regard, not to be presumptuously confident. “What!” replied Abdel Kader, “it is but three years since I was simply one of my father’s five sons, and obliged to mount and equip myself from the enemy’s spoils. You see what I am now; and you tell me not to have confidence in myself!”

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