Edith Nesbit

Algeria and Tunis (illustrated) Edith Nesbit

Algiers is such a city of contrasts, of dark memories and present prosperity, of Christian slavery and Christian rule, brilliant sun and tropical rain, of wide modern streets and networks of narrow alleys, with the slow dignity of movement of the old race and the rapid vivacity of their new rulers, that it makes all the difference in the world in what spirit and at what moment you arrive. At times the city is all sunshine, "a diamond in an emerald frame," as the Arabs call it; at others only a dim outline is visible blotted out by the tropical rain.