Of TUB UKHULHS. -h-iy 



them ill the same iiianiier, and adds that they are proud ot" tl»e 

 antiquity of their laiiL;uau;c, whieli, they say, was spoken in 

 preleicnce to any otlicr hy jSibuh. Thus this language is 

 s|)oken in several vast regions of Africa, by nations who ex- 

 hil)it traits of original character and resenjhlance with each 

 other both |)hysical anil nioial, as 1 shall presently notice. 

 Shaw remarks that the language of the mountaim-ers of Mo- 

 rocco is termed Shidah, and that of this country Shoiviah, 

 of the derivation of which terms, he says, they arc ignorant ; 

 but as these languages are essentially the same, they may be 

 denominated tribes of a common origin. I cannot refrain 

 here fiom lamenting that so accomplished a scholai as Dr. 

 Sliaw, who resided twelve years in this C)untry, should have 

 devoted so little of his time to philological lesearcii. For 

 ought I can discover, the Teutonic origin of the Kabyles 

 nuist be aliandoncd as indefensil)le ; but being on the spot, I 

 will venture to iiazard a few observations, which, if they 

 should prove to be Ibundcd, would tend to reniove the an- 

 tiquity of their origin into the night of time, and perhaps dis- 

 cover this language to i)c that wliich you are in searcli of. 

 The Kubyles of north Africa are a white people, tliey inva- 

 rialjly inhabit the mountains where they maintain their in- 

 dependence, and probably have never been completely sub- 

 jected by any of the conqueiors who have at dilTorent pe- 

 riods overrun this country. Each mountain usually loiin.s 

 an independent state, an(i they are often engaged in petty 

 wars with each other, which are fomented by the Turks, who 

 thereby sometimes succeed in extorting from them a preca- 

 rious tribute; i)ut since the daysof Barbarossa, allhough some 

 may have been exterminated, none have been entirely sub- 

 jected to Turkish domination. Although the Kabyles are a 

 very ingenious people, with the most tradalile and social 

 dispositions, they have not the commercial propensities of 

 the Moors and Arabs, Independence appears to be the 

 greatest object of their existence, as with it they chcerhilly 

 endure poverty in the most rigorous climates. Such, at least, 



