B A R B A R Y. 



261 



Barbary. the insects of Barbary, the most formidable and abun- 

 s~~~ / dant is the locust, which always come from the 

 South, and often continues its visits for three, five, or 

 seven years. Vvhen the swarms of these insects ap- 

 proach, they resemble an immense cloud darkening the 

 sun ; and when they settle on the ground to carry on 

 their devastations, they are often crowded upon each 

 other to the depth of several inches. They all ad- 

 vance in the same direction, climbing over every ob- 

 stacle in their progress, clearing the ground of every 

 vegetable substance, consuming even the bark of the 

 trees, and announcing their approach, at a consider- 

 able distance, by the noise of their feeding. In or- 

 der to give a new direction to their course, the inha- 

 bitants are accustomed to dig pits and trenches across 

 their path, which they fill with water, or with combus- 

 tible materials to be set on fire at their approach ; but 

 *o immense are the numbers of these destroyers, and 

 so eagerly do they press forward their ranks, that 

 the trenches are soon filled, and the flames complete- 

 ly extinguished by the constant succession of new 

 swarms. A few gardens in the neighbourhood of 

 towns arc sometimes preserved from their voracity, 

 by means of a palisade of reeds, inclining towards a 

 ditch on the outside, so that the locusts, being un- 

 able to climb up this slippery and sloping bulwark, 

 fall back into the trench, and devour one another. 

 They partially disappear during the rainy season ; 

 and are frequently carried away by hurricanes into 

 the sea. During those periods of desolation, the lo- 

 custs are very generally used as food, and are even 

 esteemed a great delicacy ; but the lower classes of 

 people, by living entirely upon them, are said to be- 

 come very meagre and indolent ; and, whether from 

 this circumstance, or from the pestilential smell of 

 the dead locusts, or from some other cause, the vi- 

 bits of these destructive insects are frequently follow- 

 ed by the plague. Scorpions, resembling a small 

 lobster, about three inches in length, abound in 

 stony places, and old ruins ; and often infest the ci- 

 ties so much, that, in order to guard against their 

 attacks, the inhabitants are accustomed to place the 

 feet of their bed-steads in tubs or pans of water : 

 The sting of the yellow coloured is the most venom- 

 ous; and the flesh of the animal itself, applied to the 

 wound, is the most effectual cure. Of the various 

 kinds x>f serpents found in Barbary, two only are 

 highJBpoisonous ; namely, the buskah, of a black 

 coloQp seven or eight feet long, with a small head, 

 which expands to three or four times its usual size, 

 when about to make its attack ; and the el effah, or 

 dipsas, about two feet in length, and of the thickness 

 ot a man's arm, beautifully spotted with yellow and 

 brown. The boah, or desert snake, an enormous 

 monster, from twenty to eighty feet long, and thick 

 as the body of a man, is not indeed of a venomous 

 nature ; but the velocity of its motion, which it is 

 almost impossible to escape, and the greatness of its 

 strength, which is able to crush the bones of an ox 

 in its grasp, render it sufficiently formidable to the 

 traveller. There are alo domestic serpents in this 

 country, some of which are to be found in almost 

 every house and whose presence is considered as a 

 benediction upon the family. 



Moors, 



It is not possible to form a correct estimate of the Barbary. 

 population of Barbary ; but it has been conjectured, *"-"" T^""" - 

 that it is not above one-fifth of what the country tanUi " * 

 could support. The inhabitants are a very mixed 

 race ; and may be distributed into different classes ; 

 such as Turks, Moors, Arabs, Berebbers, Shellichs, 

 Negroes, Jews. 



Of these the least numerous are the Turks ; but Turks, 

 they are nevertheless to be considered as the sove- 

 reigns of North and East Barbary. They are in ge- 

 neral a very abandoned race, the refuse of Turkey, 

 chiefly composed of pirates and other banditti, who 

 have either enlisted in the service of Algiers, Tunis, 

 Tripoli, or who have fled from their country to "* 

 escape the punishment of their crimes. " Yet these 

 recruits," says Dr Shaw, " after they have been a 

 little instructed by their fellow soldiers, and have 

 got caps to their heads, shoes to their feet, and a pair 

 of knives to their girdle, quickly begin to affect 

 grandeur and majesty ; expect to be saluted with the 

 title of effondi, or your grace; and look upon the 

 most considerable citizens as their slaves, and the 

 consuls of the allied nations as their footmen." These 

 Levant Turks generally intermarry with the native 

 Moors ; and their descendants, called Cologliss, or 

 Coloris, form a very numerous class, active, and intel- 

 ligent, but extremely turbulent and ambitious. 



The Moors, who may be considered as the de- 

 scendants of those, who were driven out of Spain, re- 

 side chiefly in the towns and villages They have a 

 sallow complexion, an aquiline nose, good teeth, 

 black eyes, manly features, but frequently a very fe- 

 rocious expression of countenance. Their limbs are 

 clumsily shaped ; their stature is commonly above 

 the middle size ; and their whole figure has rather a 

 commanding appearance. They are naturally of a 

 grave and pensive disposition, indolent to an extreme, 

 and roused only by such violent passions as avarice 

 and hatred. They have little curiosity or ambition 

 after knowledge ; and no spirit of enterprise," indus- 

 try, or improvement. Their natural sagacity degene- 

 rates into duplicity and they are guilty of the meanest 

 acts of imposition ; yet, with all their selfish cunning, 

 they are often very improvident ; and, with all their 

 haughty appearances, they are capable of the most 

 abject submission. They have been described by a 

 very accurate observer, (who seems to have been suf- 

 ficiently inclined to give as favourable a picture as 

 possible), as ignorant and contemptuous of other na- 

 tions, cruel and rapacious towards each other, living 

 in continual suspicion and distrust, strangers to every 

 soci.il tie and affection, and scarcely susceptible of 

 one tender impression ; unparalleled in arrogance, 

 insatiable in sensuality, and addicted to the most un- 

 natural and degrading propensities. Some of the 

 better educated among them, however, are courteous 

 and aflable in their manners^ capable of much self- 

 command in conversation, and slow in taking of- 

 fence ; but very noisy and implacable, when once they 

 are irritated. They all possess one very noble trait 

 of character in a most eminent degree, namely, for- 

 titude under misfortune. Resigned in all things to 

 the will of God, the Moor never despairs; no cala- 

 mity or bodily suffering can make him complain ; 



