* * * * *
CONSTANTINE.
A day's journey by train from Algiers, through country closely
cultivated with vines and crops by the French colonists, and then
through a mountainous district inhabited by the Kabyle tribes, brought
us into Constantine.
This is a wonderful city perched on a high rock, and surrounded on
three sides by a narrow gorge some 400 feet deep. It has been a
fortress since ancient times; and holds the record for being besieged,
having stood no fewer than eighty investments in its time.
On the last occasion it was held by the Arabs against the French,
whose first attempt to take the place was defeated by the natives
after a desperate fight. It looks practically impossible to capture
the place, but for two years the French did not give up hope,
continuing their efforts until in the end they were successful.
Like the Scouts they were not put off by very big difficulties, but
pluckily stuck to it, and gained their end.
We visited here the French cavalry regiment, the 3rd Chasseurs
d'Afrique.
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