whence they make continual excursions in search of plunder or subsistence. The natives use dates as the principal support of life, to which is ascribed an inveterate scurvy in the gums of the inhabitants, frequently occasioning the loss of teeth at a very early period, They possess, however, in general, sound constitutions, and live untainted by diseases to a very advanced age; though they have hoary locks, and other concomitants of senility, very early in life. The plague and small-pox, which frequently desolate the contiguous countries of Barbary, are here wholly unknown; though the intercourse necessarily occasioned by travelling and commerce is never on these accounts suspended.

The Arabs value themselves on the superiority of their birth and talents over the primitive inhabitants, and live wholly independent. Many of them hire themselves into the service of neighbouring princes, who are at war; and the occupation of others consists in hunting wild beasts, and taking ostriches; the last of which are a very profitable game, every part of them being applied to some valuable or useful purpose. Notwithstanding the low and imperfect state of literature in this country, there are public seminaries, to which boys of distinction are sent, who are instructed in such species of knowledge as are in the highest estimation, and from whence they are raised to the dignities of priests or judges, according to their genius, and the proficiency they have made in their studies. Even the study of poetry is admired and cultivated in this rude and barbarous country; and, notwithstanding the uncultivated genius and ignorance of the people, it is not uncommon for

somé

Home of the natives to rise to distinguished honours in that art. The mechanical professions are despised as mean and servile, and beneath the dignity of their birth, and the women perform the most laborious offices of life.

The city of Teucera, which is the only place of eminence in Biledulgerid, is situated on the confines of Tunis, in thirty-two degrees twenty-eight minutes of northern latitude, and in ten degrees twenty-six minutes of eastern longitude, from London. It is supposed to have been built by the Romans, who fortified it with high and strong walls, the ruins of which are still to be seen. The Mahometans, on account of the gallant resistance made against their invasion by the inhabitants of this city, demolished the most beautiful structures it contained; since which period, a few low and mean huts have only been erected. Through the centre of the city flows a river, which forms a natural boundary between the habitations of the Arabs and aboriginal Africans, who frequently make incursions into each others' territories, and commit depredations, with all the rancour of open enemies; yet both refuse to acknowledge the government of Tunis, and unite in repelling all foreign invasion,

CHAP. XII.

The History of Barbary

BARBARY, in a general view, comprehends

countries of Morocco and Fez, which form a distinct and separate empire, and the

VOL. XIV.

Ꮓ

states

states of Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, and Barca, all of which seem to constitute one great political confederacy, though independent of each other in their internal policy and government. Barbary, which was known to the ancients under the denomination of Mauritania, Numidia, Africa Proper, and Libya, is said to have received its present appellation from the word bar, which signifies a desert; and hence, those who were its first inhabitants, assumed to themselves the name of Barbares, or Berberes, which they still retain. This vast tract of territory commences on the west at Mount Atlas, and extends as far as Alexandria in Egypt, which is its eastern boundary; being near two thousand miles from east to west, and, at its greatest breadth, seven hundred and fifty from north to south. The coasts are well watered by several copious streams, and the soil is extremely fertile in corn and pastures. The advantageous situation of Barbary induced the Carthaginians, Romans, Greeks, Saracens, Vandals, Arabs, and Turks, to make themselves successively masters of it, the last of whom are still in possession of this country, except a few settlements erected on the coast by some European

nations.

The climate is temperate, and equally removed from the extremes of heat and cold; for though snow falls plentifully in winter, it seldom continues long on the ground, except upon Mount Atlas, where it is constantly seen during the whole year. The winter season commences about the middle of October, towards the end of which the rains set in that generally continue till the beginning of February; but the cold is not very severe. During the spring, which com

mences

mences about the end of February, the weather is for the most part serene and pleasant, except in the month of May, when gentle refreshing showers, assisted by the temperate heat of the sun, bring the fruits of the earth to a gradual but early maturity; insomuch that figs an! cherries are ripe in May, and grapes by the en1 of September. The summer is from the beginning of June to the end of August, during which period the heats are excessive and inimical to health; and the atmosphere becomes so hot, as to occasion malignant and pestilential diseases, which, as the Mahometans think it impious to attempt their cure, frequently carry off great numbers of people. A sensible diminution of heat begins to be felt about the beginning of September, when the autumn commences, which is a pleasant and delightful season.

In Barbary all sorts of provisions are cheap and plentiful, and the soil produces almost every kind of European grain, with rice, millet, and a variety of pulse: a bushel of wheat may be purchased for sixteen pence, and a cow for a guinea, with other articles in proportion. Horses, asses, camels, dromedaries, and a creature denominated kumrah, which is bred from an ass and a cow, are the usual beasts of burden.

This tract of territory is inhabited by three different classes of people; the original Moors, the Arabs, and the descendants of the Turks, (who possessed themselves of some of the finest provinces, and rendered Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, tributary), besides a variety of nations, and renegadoes of every christian persuasion, who have bartered their faith for their freedom.

The Moors are represented as ignorant, superstitious,

Z 2

perstitious, lewd, treacherous, thievish, and deceitful. Indeed, the degeneracy of their morals can only be equalled by the misery of their situation, than which nothing can be conceived more abject and wretched. Borne down by an accumulation of taxes, oppressed by cruelty, and exposed to the continual inroads of the plundering Arabs, they only provide for a bare subsistence, as a more than temporary provision would stimulate the governors to impose fresh exactions, and increase the depredations of the Arabs; and thus, in order to avoid the cruel oppressions of the former, and the insults and ravages of the latter, they are obliged to submit to penury and want. This situation, which totally depresses the faculties of the soul, and checks the ardour of honest emulation, might reasonably be considered as the aggregate of all the miseries attendant on terror and despotism. But these people possess almost unparalleled patience, and not only do they abstain from repining at the wretchedness of their situation, but even seem to enjoy a portion of felicity unknown to those nations, where the human mind is left at liberty to enter on more extensive scenes of action, and to indulge in the prospect of ad vantages remotely consequential, without fear, and without restraint. They seem not to feel the weight of their yoke, and they never express themselves with dissatisfaction and discontent, much less do they utter curses and imprecations against the authors of their misery. Though contending with hunger and nakedness, they frequently form a circle near their humble cots, where they amuse themselves in cheerful narrations, or smoak, sing, and dance, till wearied,

when