| 984 worst description; but unworthy of the noble and holy France in the 19th century, who combats heroically on the field of battle, but does not massacre her conquered enemies; who wages war with the sword and not with fagots; who, in fine, is a soldier, and not an incendiary! France, we answer for it, will stigmatize with unanimous reprobation a monstrous act like this; such as one may read of in the annals of savage tribes, and of Mandarin's bands; such, that in reading the account in the bulletin of the army, which prepares, under the national colors, to carry civilization into Africa, we remain mournfully astonished and afflicted, and are obliged to ask if France civilizes or barbarises in Algeria! And it is not enough for public opinion to separate energetically the country from all joint responsibility in this abominable act of a French colonel.
The government must pronounce, after an inquiry, on the morality of this military act, or else its protestations of love of peace will appear in the eyes of Europe nothing but the jugglery of the coward, who sets up for a peace observer with the powerful, and an exterminator with the feeble! Let it not be said of France that she has re-established the punishment of the stake against Mussulman Arabs defending their faith and their independence with arms in their hands; let it not be said that the cruelties of the holy office have re-appeared in her generous army; and that, in order to reduce fanatics, she keeps executioners. We have said that this atrocity was committed in cold blood, and without necessity. Yes, in cold blood, for the roasting, which is the proper name of this feat of arms, lasted from the morning of June 18, to one o'clock of the night of the 19th, and the operation was performed leisurely, with intermissions calculated to watch the effect of the punishment on the victims. Yes, without necessity, for if Colonel Pelissier had waited twenty-four hours longer, those unfortunates, without food and without water, would have surrendered at discretion; but fire seems more expeditious. Unless the investigation which we demand brings to light extenuating circumstances, this act before divine and human laws, can only be designated by one name that of crime. A crime-and we know the terrible weight of that word-it is not on a triumphal arch that the remembrance of the exploit of the cavern of the Ouled Riahs will be engraven, but on the pillory of history."
The Courrier then goes on to contrast this horrible affair with the language of Marshal Bugeaud, in his last proclamation to the Arabs, where he promises them a paternal protection, urges them to place confidence in the French as their friends, and recommends to them the practices and usages of civilized society. It next fixes upon Marshal Bugeaud himself the responsibility of the proceedings of Colonel Pelissier, by stating that it has been spoken of with eulogium [eulogies] by the France Algerienne, a paper published at Algiers "under the censorship of the Governor-General."
The Heraldo, of Madrid, publishes a letter from its correspondent in Algeria, who is one of the officers sent by the Spanish Government to attend the operations of the French army in that quarter. The writer had witnessed the horrible destruction of the Riah Kabyl tribe of the Dahara, and, while striving to justify the atrocious deed, fully confirms its worst features. We can afford room but for the following extract from his communication:
"At half-past four I proceeded to the grotto, with two officers of the Engineers, an officer of the Artillery, and a detachment of between fifty and sixty men of those corps. At the entrance there were dead animals already in a state of putrefaction, and enveloped in woolen coverings, which were still burning. We reached the entrance amidst a foot high of ashes and dust, and thence penetrated into a cavity of about 32 steps. Nothing can convey an idea of the horrible aspect the cavern presented. All the dead bodies were naked, and in positions denoting the convulsions they had endured before the poor creatures had expired; the blood dropped from their mouths owing to their putrefaction; but what made one shudder most, was to see the number of infants at the breast lying amidst the wrecks of sheep, bags of beans, &c. One also beheld earthenware vases, which had contained water, boxes of papers, and a large number of various other things: despite all the efforts of the officers, the soldiers could not be prevented from seizing upon them, searching for jewelry, and carrying away bournouses all covered with blood. I have bought a necklace taken from one of the corpses, and I shall keep it, as well as two yatagans the Colonel has sent us, as memorials of this fearful scene. Nobody can tell what has passed in the grotto, whether the Arabs, stifled by the smoke resigned themselves to death with the stoicism they glory in, or their leaders and the fanatic Marabouts opposed their leaving the cavern.-Be this as it may, the drama has been truly horrible, and never was more barbarous bravery displayed at Saguntum and Numantia.-The dead bodies amounted to between eight hundred and a thousand. The Colonel would not believe our report, and has sent other soldiers to count the dead. About six hundred were drawn out of the grotto, not including all
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