The Pirate City: An Algerine Tale, or simply The Pirate City, is a novel written by R. M. Ballantyne that was published in 1874. It is a work of juvenile fiction and adventure fiction which follows the Rimini family. The Riminis disembark from Sicily on a trading expedition only to be captured by Barbary Pirates and taken to the pirate city of Algiers, which is the present day capital of Algeria.
The Pirate City was written shortly after Ballantyne spent several months in Algiers, learning of the city's history. The lawlessness of this setting was based on historical fact. Large amounts of navy deserters from the powers involved in the Napoleonic Wars gathered in Algiers in the early 1800s. Criminals of all countries used the town as their haven, joining one another in order to conduct piratical raids on ships near the north coast of Africa, leading to the city being deemed the 'Pirates Nest' by the seafarers of the time.[2]The Pirate City's climax occurs when Britain's Lord Exmouth (a.k.a. Edward Pellew) attacks the city of Algiers in order to rescue the city's Christian inhabitants and disband the pirate forces. This event, known as the "Bombardment of Algiers" happened in August 1816, when British and Dutch forces, led by Exmouth and Van de Cappelan respectively, destroyed the corsair fleet harbored there. This attack was prompted by a massacre several hundred fisherman under British protection by pirates hailing from the city.[3] It is said that the Dey had managed to gather over 40,000 men to protect his city with the British attack. Exmouth gave the Dey reasonable demands in order to find peace between the groups, such as the abolition of Christian slavery and delivery of all Christian slaves from Algiers. Upon failing to receive a reply, the forces opened fire upon one another. After the fighting was finished, over twelve hundred slave were released and $385,000 of ransom money was repaid. The bombardment settled little and piracy was back to normal within the year. In 1830, when the French annexed Algeria, piracy from the city came to an end.[4]
The Pirate City
The Pirate City follows the three members of the Rimini family on their adventure to the African city of Algier, Algeria. The story begins in the Remini abode in Sicily, where Francisco and his two sons Lucien and Mariano are contemplating their trading expedition to Malta. Upon leaving Sicily on Signor Bacri's boat, the family is attacked and captured by Barbary Pirates led by one Sidi Hassan. The ensuing scene shows the family putting up a worthy fight against their adversaries, but they are eventually overcome after Hassan threatens to kill an injured Mariano if they do not come peacefully. Hassan takes the Rimini family and Signor Bacri's ship for his own and heads toward the city of Algiers. On their way to the city, Sidi Hassan captures another Sicilian vessel along with two sisters, Angela and Paulina. The pirates also sail by a ship sailing the British flag, but they leave it alone as the British are said to be "protected". Hassan takes all of the characters to the pirate city and sells them into slavery alongside thousands of other Christians in the Bagnio, the slave prison. The family resists enslavement initially until a warning from Signor Bacri that describes terrible torture unless they remain passive. The Rimini family listen to Bacri's advice and remain docile until an escape attempt presents itself.
The Riminis are eventually saved from manual labor, torture, and various inhumane acts by Signor Bacri, the wealthy Jewish merchant who was captain of the trading vessel that was captured initially by Hassan. Bacri bribes the dey (king of the pirates) in order to get Lucien assigned as his scribe. This allows Lucien to garner influence from Dey Achmet in hopes that he would eventually be able to save his family from slavery. Paulina, one of the captured sisters, is given to the British Consul in the city, Colonel Langley. He keeps her as a maidservant in his household alongside an African woman named Zubby and an Irishman named Ted Flaggan; both of these characters portray racial stereotypes and act as comic relief for the rest of the text. Mr. Langley spends the rest of the text attempting to rescue various slaves, namely Paulina's sister Angela who has been sent to the slave market to be sold only to be rescued by Signor Bacri at the last moment.
The position of Dey of the city is precarious, as all pirates covet the position. This is because the Dey takes tribute from all the consuls within the city in return for their country's ships remaining unscathed on the sea. This leads to internal strife and infighting amongst the pirates of the city; peace is rare. Pasha Achmet and his rivals battle for the position of Dey, leading to Dey Achmet's decapitation. A new Dey, Hamet, gains the throne only to be removed from it on that same day by Sidi Omar with the help of Sidi Hassan. During this time, martial law is declared in the city and pirates begin looting everywhere there is not secured or protected.
In the ensuing confusion of this looting period, Francisco and Mariano escape the Bagnio and meet up with Signor Bacri, who takes them to a safe house to wait out the looters. While being transported, Mariano is captured again and sent to the Bagnio. This leads Lucien, Francisco, and Bacri on a rescue mission that fails. Lucien and Francisco then head to a hidden cave a short ways from the city in order to hide from being enslaved once again. As Dey Omar takes the throne, he angers all of the European consuls due to his lack of respect and political knowledge. He attacks a Greek ship and a Danish ship and refuses to listen to the country's consuls requests to relinquish them. After Dey Omar refuses to negotiate with the consuls, Colonel Langley calls a meeting of all the consuls in the city. In a unanimous vote, they decide the pirates must be dealt with. Colonel Langley then sends for the British fleet. The fleet, which was previously too busy fighting other countries to deal with the pirates, arrives and saves the day. The British Navy arrives with Lord Exmouth at the helm, and with the help of Irish sailor Ted Flaggan, destroys the city and the pirate fleet. The city is liberated all the Christian slaves are freed. The text ends happily with the Rimini family united in their abode with Mariano and Angela happily married with children.
This work of juvenile adventure fiction, also known as a Robinsonade, is a fantastic take on the foreign cities of Africa by one of children's literature's best novelists of the 19th century. Ballantyne puts great effort into making the entire story exotic and exciting. The description he puts forth of both characters' dress and the living accoutrements portrays a rich city built on the backs of slaves. Eric Quayle, author of "Ballantyne the Brave", states that Ballantyne's work "could be relied upon to stir romance and danger into humdrum affairs of everyday life and whose stories never failed to tingle with the steel of dramatic suspense and the bloodthirsty incidents so beloved by boys of all ages".[9] The males are different variations of acceptable masculinity in 19th-century Britain, they are "hero[s] [with] God, certainty, the power of the knowledge of right, and English Imperialism as unquestionable guides" in their adventure.[10] Ballantyne is always careful to refrain from the sexes showing anything other than platonic interests in one another. His strict Presbyterianism made him embarrassed to mention sex at all. Even Ballantyne's bad guys "never permitted themselves to be anything but perfect gentlemen in their encounters with [females]".[11]
Get closest to the baseball action with a meeting in the Clubhouse Classroom, which features two TVs and its own full kitchen. This space can be divided into smaller segments but at its largest capacity can accommodate 50 people.
Located on the southeast coast of Jamaica, the natural harbor at Port Royal became the center of English life in Jamaica. By the late 1600s it had become one of the largest European cities in the new world, second only to Boston. It had also become the infamous home of pirates, sex workers, and Englishmen on the make. Far from home, they made their livings off of the slave trade, slave labor in plantations, and the money that the pirates brought in from their looting forays against the Spanish.
It may be seen as an indicator of the caliber of vice in Port Royal that in 1675 the notorious pirate Henry Morgan became the Lieutenant Governor. In fact, Morgan began to crack down on overt piracy as the grand era of privateering he had been part of began to enter its waning phase. He died just four years before the earthquake struck and was buried in the Palisadoes cemetery.
On the morning of June 7, 1692, a massive earthquake estimated at a 7.5 magnitude hit the island. The city, largely built over sand, suffered instantly from liquifaction, with buildings, roads, and citizens sucked into the ground. Geysers erupted from the earth, buildings collapsed, and finally the city was hit by tsunami waves, dragging what had not been destroyed out to sea. In the end, some 33 acres of the city disappeared under water, four of the five forts were destroyed or submerged, and 2000 people were killed. The cemetery where Captain Morgan was buried slipped into the sea, its bodies floating up to mix with the freshly dead.
As news spread of the destruction of Port Royal, it was picked up as a cautionary tale and a sure sign of divine retribution for the lewd behavior of the pirates and sex workers, the pretensions and wealth of the gentry of the town, or the sins of slavery, depending on the city and the audience.
Since then the city has been racked by fire, earthquake, and hurricane several times. The English finally decided to close its naval station at Port Royal, effectively closing it for business, and most residents left. In 1951, what was left of Port Royal was hit by Hurricane Charlie, destroying more property and leaving only a few of the original buildings standing. 2ff7e9595c
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