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and black slaves of both sexes. The latter are in great number at Tunis, where they are employed in most families as servants, and are in general humanely treated. I inquired what part of Africa they came from, and I was answered, from Cashna.' There were two of these poor creatures, females, in the inn where I was; they seemed to have much activity, but little intelligence; they stared, grinned, and leaped about for joy like children; the sounds of their voice, meant for words, probably of their own inland dialect, and mixed with a few Moorish words, seemed hardly articulate. A piece of coarse blue cotton cloth thrown round the loins, and tied across one shoulder, was their garment. These blacks are in general good sized, well made, and of a fine jet colour. They appear generally to be good-natured harmless creatures; yet I have seen occasionally some of them quarrelling in the streets of Tunis, when the ferocious expression of their eyes, and their hideous guttural yells, make them look like demons.

The condition of the Christian slaves, however, was much more to be pitied than that of the blacks. There were, I understood, nearly two thousand whites in slavery between Tunis and La Goletta. They were chiefly Italians, with some Spaniards and Portuguese. Some were in the private service of the Bey, and worked in his gardens, at his castle of Bardo, and their lot was considered as tolerable; some of them even saved money. Others were in the service of private individuals, and their fate depended on the character of their masters. The most unhappy were those employed by Government to carry on the works at La Goletta, which is the harbour of Tunis, and where the Bey was raising fortifications and warehouses, and constructing a new mole. There, on a sandy shore, those unhappy creatures were working during the long days under a scorching sun, chained in pairs like vile criminals, carrying mortar, stones, and other heavy burdens, to assist to raise the defences of their oppressors; covered with rags and vermin, allowed a scanty pittance and brackish water, and exposed to the scourge of their overseers. At night they were huddled together in a sort of barn, to sleep upon filthy straw, if the exhalations of the place and the heat of the atmosphere allowed them any rest. The price of ransom for a common slave was about three hundred Venetian sequins, and double the sum for the master of a vessel or a priest. If the pirates happened to seize a man of fortune or condition, his ransom became proportionate to the means they supposed him to have of redeeming himself. The Sicilian Prince Paternò, the richest nobleman in Sicily, while crossing from that island to Naples with a considerable amount of property on board, was taken by some Tunisian cruizers, who, after having seized his

property, estimated his ransom at an enormous sum, I believe half a million of ducats. Part of the money was remitted to Tunis, and it was agreed that the rest should be sent as soon as the Prince was landed at Naples. The Bey accordingly sent him home; but once safe on the Neapolitan shore, Government interfered to prevent such a considerable amount of money being paid to the Barbarians. The Bey, however, remonstrated against this infraction of what he considered a just and fair agreement; but to no effect, and long after that occurrence, even of late years, when there were negotiations of peace between Tunis and the Neapolitan Government, the old Bey used to bring forth his ancient charge of bad faith against the Neapolitans in the affair of Prince Paternò. I believe at last the business was compro

mised.

After Napoleon incorporated the greatest part of Italy with his dominions, he claimed of course the release of his new subjects, and after some demur it took place; so that the number of slaves which amounted before to nearly eight thousand was reduced to less than two, and these were chiefly Sicilians, Sardinians, and Romans. They, however, have been also restored to their families, since the last peace, by a convention with Lord Exmouth. Now the poor Greeks alone fill their place. This last insult to Christian feelings will also be put an end to, and it is to be hoped shortly.

What is likely to become of these fine and extensive countries, now known under the appellation of Barbary? This is a question which closely concerns European powers, and especially those which border on the Mediterranean Sea. The old trade of privateering is now nearly extinct; Morocco, Tunis, and Tripoli have given it up altogether; and though Algiers, the most stubborn of the three Barbary regencies, makes, now and then some faint attempt to revive it, it will never succeed, at least for any length of time. Their occupation in that line is gone, and for ever. They must therefore turn to agriculture and commerce; and these honourable pursuits have now for many years been resorted to by the people of Tunis and Tripoli, and partly too by those of Algiers. They will become then regular Mussul man Governments, and follow the example of the Pasha of Egypt. But their rulers must first contrive to master their soldiers, as Mehemet Ali has freed himself of the Mamelukes; without however resorting to the same cruel and unjustifiable extremities. The lawless militia which sways Tunis and Algiers, recruited among the refuse of the Levant, the scum of Constantinople, Salonichi, Candia, and Anadouli, although amounting but to a few thousand in each of the regencies, is as formidable, if not more so, to the Beys, as the Janizaries of Istamboul to their Sultan.

They often oblige their Governors to act inconsistently with justice and policy, and perhaps against their own better judg ment; and if they do not meet with ready compliance to their wishes, they depose and murder their nominal sovereign. Being mostly natives of the states of the Grand Seignior, they pride themselves on being Ottoman subjects, and under the immediate protection of the Porte, and think they have a right to act as masters over the poor natives. I have seen one of these fellows meeting in the street a Moor, who carried a basket of eggs, make him lay down his basket, help himself to some of the largest eggs, and then in lieu of payment visit the defenceless native with an application of his foot to a nameless part of the other's person; and the Moor would not have dared for his life to utter a complaint. Twice a year, at harvest time, this ruffian soldiery Scour the provinces to collect the tribute which is levied upon the land, either in money or produce, and then all sorts of oppressions and atrocities are committed on the unfortunate country people. Before they proceed on these excursions, the soldiers assemble in the neighbourhood of the capital, where they remain for two or three days; and so great is the terror inspired by their vicinity, that the inhabitants, whether Mussulmans or Christians, shut themselves up during that time, barricade their doors, and avoid as much as possible appearing in the streets. Nevertheless, robberies and murders always occur at that epoch. I myself witnessed the dismay excited on one of these occasions. The best means to counteract the usurped power of the Levantins would be to form a corps of native Moorish troops, taken from the inhabitants of the country, and train them up regularly under the direction of some European officers, whether Christians or renegadoes.

It is to the interest of the European powers that Barbary should become civilized, as far, at least, as Mussulmans can become so; and this cannot be effected by any attempt to conquer them, which, besides the difficulties of localities and climate, would unite all inhabitants, whether Moors, Bedouins, Levantins, or blacks, against the Infidels. It would be chimerical for any one Christian power to think of holding the immense tract of territory called Barbary with a Mahommedan population, and against myriads of Arabs from the interior; and the alternative of parcelling it out among various powers seems, even at first sight, hardly more practicable. These countries, therefore, must become first of all civilized, industrious, and commercial; they must be prevented by the strong hand of the great maritime powers from renewing their piracies; and by degrees they will become not only inoffensive, but useful, by throwing an additional quantum of labour, produce, and commercial activity into circulation. Looking

further into futurity, this gradual progress might also be the means of recalling those populations, in course of time, from the ruthless and intolerent dogmas of Mahommedanism to a milder and more charitable belief.

In the present state of Eastern affairs, every thing connected with Mussulman countries becomes of interest. The followers of Mahomet constitute, if not the most numerous, at least decidedly the most warlike and powerful part of the population of Asia and Africa. They come in contact with the Europeans upon every point of the immense line of coasts of those continents. We meet them in India, on the shores of the Persian Gulf and of the Red Sea, along the Mozambique coast, and again on the Senegal and Morocco shores, and all along the southern coast of the Mediterranean. They occupy the whole of Syria and Asia Minor, and both sides of the Archipelago. We find them in the north, in Little Tartary, and the Crimea, and again on the shores of the Caspian Sea, and among the wilds of Tartary. Now, although the multitude of nations which inhabit all these countries differ in their extraction, appearance, language, and government, yet they all are united by one powerful bond, the Koran: so long as that book continues to be the rule of their faith, they will continue to be jealous of the Christians. They may be divided among themselves; they may even join, for a while, a Christian power against another of their own creed; but still they will look upon Giaours in general with a suspicious and jaundiced eye. Their religion is intolerant by principle, and this is its chief bane. Mussulmans and Christians can never be brethren; they can never be united in bonds of mutual charity. To conquer them, or convert them entirely, are very long and dubious processes; the best method is then to persuade them, if possible, that it is their own interests to cultivate the friendship of the Christians; there may be esteem and respect, if not affection.

The sovereign of Tunis, at the time I visited it, was Hamuda Bey, a man advanced in years, who had the reputation of being a just and wise prince. He favoured commerce and civilization, protected the Christians, gave frequent audiences to his subjects, as well as to strangers. He lived chiefly at El Bardo, a castle a short distance from Tunis, where he kept his court; but he was having a palace built of free-stone for him in the city. While giving audience, he sat on a carpet cross-legged, with a pair of loaded pistols laid before him: there he listened to every complaint, were it even for a trifle, and heard attentively both sides of the question; after which he often gave summary judgment, which was executed instantly. During the time the parties were in his presence, one of his guards kept his hand over each of them. In matters of assault and other petty offences, the offending party

generally was led out in one of the outer courts, and there received a certain number of bastinadoes, after which he was dismissed. The form of salutation in being introduced before him consists in bending the head and body towards the ground, keeping at the same time the right hand extended on the left breast.

Hamuda Bey was of a Moorish family; he was nominally subject to the Turkish Sultan, who is looked upon by all the Mussulmans of the sect of Omar, as the descendant and the representative of the Prophet; but this allegiance is more a matter of form and ceremony than real subjection. The Bey of Tunis sends occasionally presents to Constantinople, and in case of war between the Porte and other powers, he is expected to side with the former.

Hamuda's favourite and first minister, or zapatapa, was a Georgian renegado. The character of this man was not respected like that of his master; he was considered as unprincipled and rapacious.

The Bey tolerated two Catholic chapels at Tunis, in which two monks, one of the order of Mercy and the other a Capuchin, officiated. On these shores, the sight of a Christian temple was truly gratifying; the congregation on Sundays was numerous and extremely decorous. Religion has an unbounded influence over the manners and habits of Mussulmans, and upon their way of seeing things. The Koran is not only a religious, but also a civil and political code; it is really the Book, besides which all other books are, according to Omru's emphatic answer, either useless or mischievous. Besides the cast of solemnity which the Musselman's belief spreads over his actions and words, there is also the influence of the climate and the genius of the eastern languages; the former of which inclines him towards passive, contemplative, indolent existence; while the latter gives a hyperbolic and lofty turn to his conceptions and to his expressions. Sitting cross-legged, smoking, drinking coffee, or sherbet, and enjoying the coolness of the shade-these are his favourite pastimes. He does not like that any extraneous occurrence should draw him from this state of unmoved tranquillity. His eyes bent on the ground, he pays little or no attention to the objects which fleet before his view; it seems as if he had few sensations, and as if he drew the source of his ideas (for think he must) from within himself rather than from exterior objects. Perhaps the current of his thoughts is rapid and flitting; perhaps it leaves but a faint impression in his mind, resembling more a dream than a fixed well-connected train of ideas and yet these people are naturally irritable, fiery, and quick; but habits of gravity have conquered nature to a certain extent. But if any of their dominant passions be excited, then the fascination of habit is dispelled at once, and nature, lawless

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