TRIPOLI. 



TRIPOLI. 



89t 



tiun sufficiently numerous to resist the attacks of the nomadic tribes 

 of the desert, these oases are uninhabited, but some families living in 

 the plain of Bengazi resort annually to them to gather the dates. A 

 considerable oasis, called Fnggha, is situated (it is said) south of the 

 most southern part of the Gulf of Sidra. It seems to be situated in 

 the basalt mountains called Harutsh, which extend westward to the 

 very boundary-line of Fezzan. 



Production*. Besides the different articles of agricultural produce 

 before mentioned, some bushes grow in desert wadies bearing small 

 black berries of a very sweet and agreeable taste ; a kind of wild 

 artichoke is met with ; prickly-pears and aloes are abundant in several 

 places. The wild trees and bushes are only used to make charcoal. 

 Where charcoal is not to be had, camel's dung is used as fuel. 



Cattle are uumerous in Baron, where great numbers are found on 

 the table-land, whence they are sent to Bengazi to be shipped for 

 Malta and other places. The domestic animals are horses, camel*, 

 sheep, goats, dogs, and poultry. The horses are of a fine breed. 

 Camels are the only animals used as beasts of burden. The common 

 dogs of the country are white, and resemble wolves in form : they 

 are fierce, and defend the herds against the attacks of the hyaenas 

 and jackals. The most common wili animals of prey are wolves, 

 foxes, hyaenas, and jackals. There are antelopes, gazelles, the jerboa 

 dipus, bares, rabbits, hedgehogs, and a small animal, resembling the 

 guinea-pig in form, called gundy. 



Ostriches are found only in the deserts. The other wild birds are 

 bustards, cranes, plovers, quails, ducks, snipes, curlews, pigeons, 

 partridges, and flamingoes. Swarms of locusts frequently proceed 

 from the deserts to the cultivated ground, whence they are frightened 

 away, and then they fall into the hands of the poor, who eat them 

 roasted or salt them. Salted locusts appear to be a considerable 

 article of inland trade. Bees abound in the hilly and mountainous 

 tracts of the country, and honey is an important article of inland 

 trade. Small quantities of honey are exported. Silt and sulphur 

 are the only minerals found and worked. 



Population and Inhabitant!. The population is estimated at about 

 two millions. In the country it consists of Arabs and Jews ; in the 

 towns, mostly of Moors and Jews : there is a small number of Turks, 

 Mamelukes, Christians, and Arabs. Black slaves are numerous in 

 the towns. 



The Arab* of Tripoli, who compose the bulk of the people, are of 

 the fame stock as the Beduins of Arabia, whom they resemble in 

 feature, form, and language. Their language generally is not much 

 different from the Arabic, though in some districts it is intermixed 

 with a great number of words derived from other languages. There 

 are two kinds of Arabs in Tripoli ; one wanderer*, the other fixed 

 residents in village* and small towns. Many of those who live in 

 villages also travel about the country, but always return to what they 

 consider their home. The wanderer* have no permanent place of 

 abode, but remove their tent* as pasturage or circumstances require. 

 There aro Urge tracts in the deserts which are partially covered with 

 gnus and bushes, and afford pasture for their sheep, goats, and 

 camels. These wandering Arabs cultivate some small tracts with 

 barley or dhurra. These fields are usually at a great distance from 

 the places to which they go with their flocks, but tiny are respected 

 by other wanderers, and the corn is rarely stolen. When it is ripe, 

 the proprietors come to gather it. They prepare the soil by turning 

 up the earth with a rude plough, or more generally with a hoe. 

 When the date season commences, many families come and pitch 

 their tents in tho Meshcea of Tripoli, in order to purchase date* for 

 tlmir future subsistence. These they deprive of their stones, and, 

 when kneaded together, keep them in skins, so as to preserve them 

 from insects or wet : these dates form their chief support, with the 

 milk of their sheep and camels. A great article of commerce is 

 furnished by the fat of sheep. It is boiled until it bears some 

 resemblance to the grease used by tallow-chandlers : it is then poured 

 into skins, and is fit for use. It is put into almost every article of 

 food by the Arabs, and also extensively used in Tripoli and other 

 towns. From the wool of their sheep the women make strong 

 barracans, carpets, shirt*, and turbans. Their tents are also made of 

 wool and goats-hair, and also the sacks which are used for the carrying 

 of corn and merchandise on their camels. Mats and ornaments of 

 palm-leaves or grass ard neatly made. Their dyes are generally 

 brilliant, black, blue, red, and orange. As in Western Asia the Arabs 

 are divided into tribes, each governed by a sheikh. In religion they 

 are Moslems, very bigoted and superstitious. 



The Jews are numerous in the towns and in the villages of the 

 Arabs. In the towns, though much oppressed, and paying large Sums 

 as tribute, they have succeeded in monopolising several branches of 

 commerce. Among the Arabs, where they are much better treated, 

 they apply themselves to several mechanical arts and trades. In 

 Tripoli and the large towns they have several synagogues. 



The Moors are most numerous in the towns and in tho Mesheea of 

 Tripoli. They are either land-d proprietors or merchants. As mer- 

 chants they are mostly engaged in the kafilas which go to Fezzan and 

 Uornou. They resemble exactly the Moors of Marocco, but are less 

 instructed than the Moghrebins, having no colleges, though there are 

 several schools in which the children are taught reading and writing. 

 They are less bigoted than the Arabs. 



The number of Turks and Mamelukes has increased since the 

 country has again become dependent on Constantinople. They are 

 either officers of government or serve as soldiers. Christians are 

 only found in the town of Tripoli, where they are better treated thau 

 in any other place in the Turkish dominions. They are permitted to 

 build churches. The greater part of them are Maltese, but there are 

 natives of Italy. The black slaves, who are mostly kept by the Moors, 

 are nearly all natives of Soodan. 



Government. The bashalic of Tripoli, like the other Barbary states, 

 is a sordid despotism ; and, whether ruled by a Turkish or Moorish 

 chief, is held for the sole purpose of exacting a revenue, without any 

 regard to the wellbeing of the people or the prosperity of the country. 

 A considerable sum wan formerly drawn from the plunder obtained by 

 her corsairs, and a very lucrative branch of it was derived from the 

 traffic in European slaves. To supply this deficiency, caused by the 

 abolition of these sources of profit, the country was burdened with 

 monopolies, and the people were ground down with new taxes. The 

 distant beys of Beugazi and Derna, holding their ollic at the pleasure 

 of the basha, make the most of their uncertain tenure by arbitrary 

 exactions for themselves, as well as to enable them to comply witu 

 their master's demands ; while the sheiks of Barca and S Tt pay like- 

 wise a tribute, in return for which their power is acknowledged in the 

 Desert. Thus the system throughout is one of extortion. 



Hiitory. The early history of this country will be found under the 

 heads AFRICA, BARBARY, BARCA, and CYREHAICA. After the destruc- 

 tion of Carthage it became a Roman province, and the three flourishing 

 cities of Oea, Leptis, and Sabrata, constituted a kind of federal union 

 under the name of TripoUs. On the conquest of Northern Africa by 

 the Vandals in the 5th century, it passed into the hands of those 

 barbarians, from whom it was rescued in the reign of Justinian, by 

 Belisarius, in 534. About a hundred years afterwards Tripoli, after 

 an obstinate contest, in which the prefect Qregory was slain, the town 

 was forced to yield to the conquering khalifa. After the Arabian 

 conquerors had consolidated their power in Northern Africa, and 

 detached themselves from the khalifs of Egypt, Tripoli was generally 

 governed by the Arabian dynasties settled at Cairoau. [ TUNIS.] It was 

 besieged by the Egyptians in 877 and in 1051. In 1146 it was seized 

 by Roger II., king of Sicily, who held it however but a short time ; 

 for in 1184 its walls were razed by Vakub, and it followed the political 

 condition of Tunis and was subject to its kings. From this time 

 until its conquest, about 1510, by the Spaniards, Tripoli is scarcely 

 mentioned by historical writers. In 1530 the emperor Charles V. 

 ceded it, with the island of Malta, to the Knights of St. John of Jeru- 

 salem, after their expulsion from Rhodes. Its only strength was then 

 a castle, which they engaged to keep and to hold in defence of 

 Christendom; but in 1551 it was wrested from them by Simon Basha, 

 sent to the attack by their inveterate enemy the sultan Solyman, who 

 appointed the famous corsair Dragut (whose forces formed part of 

 the expedition) its first governor; and about this time its present 

 walls were built, and the tract of country now composing the regency 

 was first made a Turkish pashalic. Tripoli now became one of those 

 systematic piratical powers which for centuries attacked the commerce 

 of Christian nations, making (laves of their prisoners. In 1683 the 

 town was bombarded by a French fleet, when the pasha sent an 

 humble submission to Louis XIV. Nevertheless, the Tripolitan 

 cruisers seldom allowed a ship at sea to escape them if they thought 

 they could make a prize of her with impunity ; and it was not until 

 1816 that slavery and piracy were abolished. Previous to the attack 

 in that year on Algiers, a British naval force appeared off Tripoli, aud 

 the pasha bound himself to treat all prisoners in future according to 

 the usage of European nations. 



For the last 300 years Tripoli, like the other Barbary states, has 

 been considered a dependency of the Ottoman Porte; but the allegiance 

 of these states principally arose from the sultan being the chief of the 

 Mohammedan religion. Yet, as has been seen, they made separate 

 and distinct treaties with other powers, and were so far independent. 

 At first the governors or baahas of Tripoli were sent from Constanti- 

 nople, supported by a garrison of Turks, who kept the Moors in 

 subjection ; and being liable to be recalled, they generally purchased 

 the continuance of their appointment by remitting a handsome tribute 

 to the supreme government, and exacting as much as possible for 

 themselves. But in 1713, Hamet Caramauli, a Moorish chief, and 

 second in command, headed a well-concerted rebellion, and was pro- 

 claimed basha by the people. After murdering the Turkish officers 

 and garrison he contrived to render the government hereditary iu the 

 family, which continued so until 1832, when the last basha of the 

 family, Yussuf, after a tyrannical reign of forty years, was obliged to 

 abdicate, and the Porte established again the old policy of governing 

 the country under a chief appointed from Constantinople. The 

 interior of the country however enjoys no settled government. The 

 chiefs of Aujilah and Qhadamis keep on terms of friendship with the 

 basha only because the situation of their territories requires an outlet 

 for their commerce. The Arab chiefs frequently break out into 

 actual hostilities against the Turkish rule : as lately as July 1S55 

 headed by a chief named Qourmah, the Arabs, after defeating a large 

 Turkish force, were reported to be approaching the very gates of the 

 city of Tripoli. 



The foreign trade of Tripoli i carried on chiefly with Malta, Tunis, 



