[ItisnotgenerallyknownthatRobert-HoudinoncerenderedhiscountryanimportantserviceasspecialenvoytoAlgeria。HalfacenturyagothiscolonywasanendlesssourceoftroubletoFrance。
AlthoughtherebelArabchieftainAbd-del-Kaderhadsurrenderedin1847，anirregularwarfarewaskeptupagainsttheFrenchauthoritybythenativeKabyles，stimulatedbytheirMohammedanpriests，andparticularlythroughso-called“miracles，“suchasrecoveryfromwoundsandburnsself-inflictedbytheMaraboutsandotherfanaticdevoteesoftheProphet。
Thusin1856thehopesoftheFrenchForeignOfficerestedonRobert-Houdin。Hewasrequestedtoexhibithistricksinthemostimpressiveformpossible，withtheideaofprovingtothedeludedArabsthattheyhadbeeninerrorinascribingsupernaturalpowerstotheirholymen。]
ItwassettledthatIshouldreachAlgiersbythenext27thofSeptember，thedayonwhichthegreatfetesannuallyofferedbythecapitalofAlgeriatotheArabswouldcommence。
ImustsaythatIwasmuchinfluencedinmydeterminationbytheknowledgethatmymissiontoAlgeriahadaquasi-politicalcharacter。I，asimpleconjurer，wasproudofbeingabletorendermycountryaservice。