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Arabic into Italian, in the best manner he could ; and the transla- 

 tion, corrected, was printed at Venice by the Giunti. He con- 

 ducted himself in such a manner at Rome as to obtain the favour" 

 and patronage of his master ; who, after setting him at liberty, pre- 

 vailed on him to make profession of the Christian religion ; and, by 

 the desire of the pope, at liis baptism, he took the pope's two names, 

 John and Leo, though he is now generally known by the name of 

 Leo Africanus. His historical works have not been published, and 

 perhaps not translated. Many distinguished writers have spoken of 

 Leo's African Geography with approbation ; and, among them, our 

 learned countryman, Dr. Shaw, (whose travels in Africa are well 

 known), has quoted him with respect. No one of those writers, as far 

 as I know, has noticed the following passage, which seems to merit the 

 attention of the historian, or aJ; least of the British antiquarian. 

 By this it appears, that Arzilla, which the Africans call Azella, 

 a considerable town situated upon the shores of the ocean, was 

 built by the Romans about seventy miles from the Pillars of Her- 

 cules, and was subject to the government of Septa or Ceuta, 

 both which are corruptions of the Roman name Civitas, the 

 metropolis of the Roman province of Mauritania Ulterior. Upon 

 the irruption of the Goths, Arzilla, with the rest of the province, 

 was dismembered from the empire, and occupied by the Goths ; 

 who continued in possession of it till they were expelled by 

 the Saracens, the ninety-fourth year of the Hegira ; who con- 

 tinued in possession of it for two hundred and twenty years, 

 until the English with a powerful fleet invested it; which they 

 did at the instigation of the Goths, although the Goths and 

 English were at variance with each other in this respect, that, 

 while the Goths were Christians, and did not admit the use of images 

 in their worship, the English, on the other hand, worshipped idols ; 



