80CIAL CONDITION OP ALGERIA. 8S1

mituruUy wck to Ihi-oiiio Fronrh citizcnH. I^arpc nuinbrrs of ItuliuiiK, S{)aniunlH, and (iormaiis huvi' thus alreiuly chuiij^Hl their uutiuuulity ; while the immi^runU frrun Alsjico-Lorruino, ofhcially returned aa Germans, eluini their right to the title of Frenchmen. The Aljj^erian Jews, descended for the most part fnjin An(hduHian exilen, wore all naturalistni in 1870, to the {^reut disgust of the Arah and iJerber MuKKulinana, who could not underHtaud why this honour should bt> conferred on such a dcHpiscd nice, while the children of the soil were treated as a subject people. Hut although now nominally '* French," most of the native Jews are still regarde<l as forming a distinct nationality. At the same time a slow process of asHimilation in dress, usages, siKHH'h, and ideas is evidently going on, in this respect the second generation of Jewish settlers showing a marke<l advance. On the other hand, the Arab Mussulmans could claim naturalisation only under exceptional circumstances, and on the condition of abandoning the precepts of the Koran. So merged is their law with their religion, that the mere application for French citizenship is looked upon by their fellow-countrymen as a sort of ajjostacy. But this is not the case with the Kabyles, who have never conformed their juris- prudence with the teachings of Islam. Hence whole tribes of Berbers have already applied for naturalisation, and but for certain administrative formalities and the opposition of many functionaries, the half-million inhabitants of Kabylia would gladly ask for incorporation in French society. One of the chief causes of the rapid assimilation of the various European elements is the adoption of French as the common language of intercourse. Thost» who can alreatly speak it more or less fluently may be estimated at over a million. Till recently the so-called Sabir served as a sort of lingua franca amongst the various inhabitants of the country. But this was altogether a formless jargon of a rudi- mentary character, composed of al)out two hundred wonls, verbs in the iutinitive, nouns, adjectives, or adverbs, used without inflexions and somewhat incoherently, the sense being eked out by a lively display of pantomime and facial expression. Half of the words were Arabic, a fourth French or Provencal, the rest Spanish, Italian, or Maltese ; but it is everj'whcre disapjwaring under the combinetl influences of commercial intercourse and the Franco-Arab schools. A certain national uniformity is also promoted by mi.xed marriages, although such unions are still rare Ix'tween the Europeans and the natives. Their offspring are seldom admitteriap. jargon as Ulad-Bla^a, or " Children of the I^iazza," because their homes are mainly the open spaces in the towns. FORRSTS — AcRiri'LTI'RE. Of the vast but still scantily jKHjpled prtxluctive lands in Algeria, only a very small portion has hitherto been turned to any account. Most of the occupied