256 



B A R B A R Y. 



Barbary. opposite extremes of drought and moisture, of heat 

 '- '~'i~' -' ana cold. In the coldest seasons the thermometer 

 seldom sinks more than to the 5th degree above the 

 freezing point, and in the warmest weather it seldom 

 rises to sultry, except when the winds blow from the 

 Sahara. During a long residence in Morocco, M. 

 Chenier never observed it lower than 2* above the 

 freezing point ; and during the space of 12 years at 

 , * Algiers, Dr Shaw found it so low as freezing only on 

 two occasions, when the ground was covered with 

 snow. According to the observations of the last 

 tnentioned author, all the variations of the atmo- 

 sphere, as indicated by the barometer, are compre- 

 hended within the compass of 1-,'j- inch, or from 29,^ 

 to 30nj. The air upon the coast is nearly as cool 

 during summer, as in the most temperate countries of 

 Europe ; and, even in the more inland places, the heat 

 is greatly moderated by refreshing breezes from the 

 snowy summits of the Atlas mountains. In the 

 southern provinces, however, during the months of 

 July and August, the heats are sometimes extreme ; 

 and, about the beginning of September, a suffocating 

 wind from the Sahara, called the Shume, or Siume, 

 blows with the greatest violence for the space of one, 

 two, or even three weeks. During the prevalence of 

 this parching blast, the ground is often heated to 

 such a degree, that it is almost impossible to walk 

 upon it ; and the inhabitants are obliged to retire to 

 subterraneousapartments,or warehouses onthe ground 

 floor, eating nothing but fruits, and frequently sprink- 

 ling their houses with vinegar to cool the air. Buck- 

 ets of water, also, are thrown upon the stone-walls of 

 the bed-chambers, to render them habitable towards 

 night ; and so excessive is the heat, that the effect of 

 - this operation is often similar to that of casting water 

 upon hot iron. During the dry season, from March 

 to September, it scarcely ever rains ; and the atmo- 

 sphere is almost completely free of clouds : even du- 

 ring the rainy season, from September to March, there 

 is seldom a day that the sun is not visible at inter- 

 vals. These vernal and autumnal rains are remark- 

 ably regular, and seldom violent ; but the country is 

 occasionally subject to long-continued droughts, which 

 never fail to produce innumerable swarms of locusts, 

 the most destructive enemies of vegetation, and the 

 frequent forerunners of famine. 

 Soil and * he g enera l appearance of the country is rather 



culture. mountainous, tolerably covered with wood, but not 

 so well watered. In many places it is finely varied 

 in hill and dale ; and amidst the forests and higher 

 grounds, the most delightful retreats are to be found, 

 refreshed with abundant and numerous streams, filled 

 with odoriferous plants and flowers, and yielding the 

 most luxuriant and nutritious herbage. The sou, es- 

 pecially towards the coast and in the mountainous 

 districts, is light and sandy, of a very loose and yield- 

 ing texture ; but, in some of the northern provinces, 

 at is composed of a rich black or red earth, without 

 cither clay or stone. It is capable of every kind of 

 cultivation, and is productive in the highest degree. 

 In the northern districts, it is well fitted for the 

 growth of the most valuable European productions ; 

 and in the southern, it is capable of yielding every lux- 

 ury peculiar to the East or West Indies. It is, in 

 general, strongly impregnated with various salts; 



and to this circumstance, it is conjectured, may in a Barbary. 

 great measure be ascribed that extraordinary fertility ^ ~ 

 for which it has always been remarkable. The culture, 

 whichit receives, is meagre andsuperlicial in thcextreme. 

 The only manure, which is employed, is the annual 

 burning of the long stubble, and the dung of the cat- 

 tle turned out to pasture ; while all the tillage that is 

 bestowed is a slight scratching, about six inches deep, 

 which is frequently performed with a wooden plough, 

 and of which an ordinary pair of beeves is sufficient 

 to accomplish a whole acre in one day. Two bush- 

 els and a half of wheat or barley are usually sown 

 upon one acre ; and the ordinary produce is about 12 

 bushels for one. A much greater increase, however, 

 is not uncommon. One grain generally puts forth 

 ten or fifteen stalks, sometimes fifty or sixty, and in 

 some instances even a still greater number. Each of 

 these stalks sometimes bears two ears, and these 

 again often shoot out into a number of smaller ones, 

 so as to afford a most extraordinary return. After 

 the custom of the East, the natives of Barbary tread 

 out their corn by driving the cattle over the sheaves 

 spread out on some level spot of ground, and then 

 separate the chaff, by throwing it up against the wind 

 with a shovel. The grain is then lodged in matta- 

 mores, or subterraneous magazines, containing at least 

 400 bushels each, lined with straw, and covered with 

 earth in a pyramidal form. In these store-places it 

 can be preserved, without suffering any damage, for 

 the space of five or six years, and even for a much 

 longer period. The horticulture in Barbary is, if 

 possible, even more deficient than the husbandry ; 

 and the gardens are neither laid out with taste, nor 

 kept with care ; but present to the view a confused 

 mixture of fruit-trees, pot-herbs, and grain, neither * 



divided by walks, nor ornamented with flowers. Yet 

 even with this superficial cultivation, the soil of Bar- 

 bary yields almost every vegetable production in the 

 greatest abundance ; and were the husbandman suffi- 

 ciently protected in the exercise of his labour, and the 

 enjoyment of his gains, it is supposed to be capable 

 of producing a hundred fold more than the consump- 

 tion of its population requires. 



The natural productions of this country are of Produc. 

 great variety and value, well suited to the wants of tl0 ns. 

 the natives, and amply sufficient to supply a large ex- 

 portation. The principal kinds of grain cultivated Vegetable, 

 here are, wheat, barley, Indian corn, rice, millet, pease, 

 beans, caravances. No oats are to be found in Bar- 

 bary ; and the usual provender of the cattle is barley 

 and cut straw. Hemp, flax, cotton, and, in some 

 districts, tobacco, are raised in considerable quanti- 

 ties. Apples, pears, apricots, plumbs, pomegranates, 

 cherries, dates, almonds, and all the fruits produced 

 in the south of Portugal and Spain, are found in this 

 fertile country. Melons, oranges, lemons, limes, figs, 

 grapes, strawberries, and a multitude of similar re- 

 fresning fruits, are supplied to the natives of northern 

 Africa, often indeed of an inferior quality, but ge- 

 nerally in the greatest profusion. The sugar cane 

 grows spontaneously in some places, stick liquorice 

 in amazing quantities, a variety of useful gums, and 

 different kinds of medicinal herbs, such as wormseed, 

 orris-root, coloquinth, &c. There are every where 

 along the coast, plantations of olive trees, which grow 



