But the defeat of the Emperor’s eldest son, Sidi Mahomed, at the Battle of Isly, who commanded upwards of forty thousand of these cavaliers, has thrown a shade over the ancient celebrity of this Moorish corps, and these proud horsemen have since become discouraged.  On that fatal day, however, none of the black bodyguard of the Emperor was brought into action.  These muster some thirty thousand strong.  This corps, or the Abeed-Sidi-Bokhari, [18] are soldiers who possess the most cool and undaunted courage; retreat with them is never thought of.  Unlike the Janissaries of old, their sole ambition is to obey, and not to rule their sovereign.  This fidelity to the Shereefs remains unshaken through all the shocks of the empire, and to the person of the Emperor they are completely devoted.  In a country like Morocco, of widely distinct races and hostile tribes, all naturally detesting each other, the Emperor finds in them his only safety.  I cannot withhold the remark, that this body-guard places before us the character of the negro in a very favourable light.  He is at once brave and faithful, the two essential ingredients in the formation and development of heroic natures.

It will, I trust, not be deemed out of place to consider for a moment the warlike propensities and qualities of the negro.  Every European who has penetrated Africa, confesses to the bellicose disposition of the negro, having seen him engaged with others in perpetual conflict.  The choice and retention of a body-guard of Blacks by the Moorish Emperor, also triumphantly prove the martial nature of the negro race.  But the negro has signally displayed the military qualities of coolness and courage in many instances, two or three of which I shall here take the liberty of mentioning, in connexion with the affairs of Algeria.

Mr. Lord relates, on the authority of the French, that, when the invading army invested Fort de l’Empereur, and had silenced all its guns, the Dey ordered the Turkish General to retreat to the Kasbah, and leave three negroes to blow up the fort.  It seemed, therefore, abandoned, but two red flags floated still on its outward line of defence, and a third on the angle towards the city.  The French continued all their efforts towards effecting a practicable breach.  Three negroes were now seen calmly walking on the ramparts, and from time to time looking over as if examining the progress of the breach.  One of them, struck by a cannonball, fell; and the others, as if to avenge his death, ran to a cannon, pointed it, and fired three shots.  At the third, the gun turned over, and they were unable to replace it.  They tried another, and as they were in the act of raising it, a shot swept the legs from under one of them.  The remaining negro gazed for a moment on his comrade, drew him a little aside, left him, and once more examined the breach.  He then snatched one of the flags, and retired to the interior of the tower.  In a few minutes, he re-appeared, took