Hello Wolf (and Jim! we seem to have another flyssa enthusiast
),
You have a lovely flyssa set, they're all quite beautiful. Seeing the short one in comparison to the classic longer ones I find it quite appealing. It looks hefty and quite good as a short side-arm.
If you can read French I highly recommend this website,
Algérie Ancienne it is a compendium of hundreds of contemporary French publications on Algeria spanning France's dominion over the Maghreb. It includes both ethnographic publications such as the Revue Africaine, and personal travel accounts and military reports. All documents are available for download in PDF format.
I have not yet found any clear mention of the use of flyssas but I have only read a dozen or so articles from that website.
I can send you a copy of Camille Lacoste Dujardin's article on "Sabres Kabyles" if you read French. It relates the account I mentioned in my earlier post about the beheading use of flyssas.
Best regards,
Emanuel