fallen on Changarnier toward Miliana. That general, knowing nothing of
the Sultan's approach, found himself enveloped by a vast force of Arabs
and Kabyles, regulars and irregulars, horse and foot, led on by
Abd-el-Kader in person and charging furiously on all sides.

After two days and nights of incessant battle, in which men closed
fiercely with pistols, swords, bayonets, and yataghans, the Sultan
vanished with his force, leaving the French too exhausted and crippled
by their losses for pursuit. Two days later tidings reached them that he
was in the Metidja, ravaging the plain and carrying terror to the very
gates of Algiers. Abd-el-Kader then bore away to the Atlas, ascended the
mountains, penetrated beyond Tittery and reached the Sahara, everywhere
inspiriting the tribes and raising fresh forces. After sweeping over
three hundred leagues of ground he returned, in recruited strength and
new energy, to press upon Lamoricière and his garrison at Mascara with
all the rigors of a winter blockade.

In spite of his wonderful efforts, the Sultan could not but feel that he
was struggling with adverse fortune. The enemy by the seizure of his
fixed establishments had gained possession of a large part of his
territory and of the strongholds that had contained his stores of war.
His regular army had almost disappeared, and much of his credit among
the Arabs had departed. The _ketna_, which was his ancestral abode, had
been laid waste. He could not protect the families of his most faithful
adherents from constant exposure, in spite of his vigilant activity, to
the outrages of the detested infidels. In this position, he resolved to
remove from the scene of warfare those whom it was impossible for him to
desert with any regard to feelings of religion and humanity. He formed
his famous _smala_, a new and remarkable organization consisting of a
gathering of private families. To this moving asylum of refuge and