T A F 



cauiitry of Bilcdulgerid, cxtonding along the caft fide of 

 mount Alias ; the habitations of which arc about 1500 fcat- 

 tcred houfes, and of thefe fcvoral are defended by a tower, 

 and each of them (lands amidll an inclofure of gardens, cul- 

 tivated grounds, and plantations of palm-trees, forming a 

 variegated and pleafant country, interfered by many rivers 

 and nvulcts, defcending from the call of mount Atlas, and 

 ferving to water their lands. Tafilelt, as well as Draha, 

 produces a fupcrior breed of goats, and a great abundance 

 of dates, which are fmall, but good, conftituting the 

 wealth of the country, and fupplying food for the people, 

 and even for the cattle. Although the Koran prohibits the 

 life of fpirituous liquors, yet by ancient cuftom, brandy is 

 made at Tafilelt of dates, which is very llrong, and drank 

 fo immoderately by the (herifs, that wine produces no effeft 

 npon them. Moil of thefe flicrifs are poor, and employ 

 themfelves in their grounds and gardens, and very frequently 

 pillage one another. The countries fituated near the banks 

 of the rivers of Draha and Tafilelt have feveral plantations 

 of Indian corn, rice, and indigo. Tlie town of Tafilelt, 

 after which the kingdom was named under the (herifs of the 

 reigning houfe, is not an ancient city. It derives its name 

 from the word" Fileli," which denominates the inhabitants 

 of the countr)-, and alfo the fluffs and carpets which are 

 here manufaftured. The foil of the extenfive plain on which 

 it is fituated is a whitifh clay, which when moiilened refem- 

 bles foap ; and though it pafTes a river that rifes in the At- 

 las, and purfues a courfe from tlie S.W. to tlie N.E., being 

 at Tafilelt about as wide as the Thames at Putney, its 

 water, traverfing the faline plains, is brackilh : after a courfe 

 of about 4J0 miles, it is abforbed m the defert of Angad. 

 It has feveral caftles of tarrace on its banks, inhabited by 

 the fherifs or princes of the reigning family of Morocco. 

 Wheat and barley have been lately cultivated near the river 

 and the caftles. Another river of inferior note rifes in the 

 plains N. of Tafilelt, and flowing in a foutherly direftion, 

 is abforbed in the Great Defert or Sahara. The water of 

 this nver is alfo brackiih, and unfit for culinary purpofes. 

 The inhabitants of this country, it is faid, poffefs fuch a 

 fenfe of honour, that a robbery is fcarcely known among 

 them, though they ufe no locks. Commercial tranfaftions 

 are carried on amongft them by barter or exchange, fo that 

 they have little fpecie ; but in aU tranfaftions of magnitude, 

 gold-dufl is the circulating medium. They live in the fimple 

 patriarchal manner of the Arabs, differing from them only 

 in having walled habitations, which are invariably near the 

 river. The climate during a great part of the year is in- 

 tenfely hot, and the fhume, or hot wind from Sahara, blow- 

 ing tempefluoufly in July, Augufl, and September, and 

 carrying with it particles of earth and fand, is very perni- 

 cious to the eyes of the inhabitants. A confiderable trade 

 is carried on from Tafilelt to Tombuftoo, HoufTa, and 

 Jinnic, S. of Sahara, and alfo to Morocco, Fez, Sufe, Al- 

 giers, Tunis, and Tripoli. Indigo abounds, but by reafon 

 of the indolence of the cultivators, it is of inferior quality. 

 Here are alfo mines of antimony and lead-ore. The common 

 drefs confifts of a loofe (hirt of blue cotton, with a Ihawl or 

 belt round the waift. A caravan paffes annually from hence 

 to Tombudloo. Woollen haiks, of a curious texture, 

 being light and fine, are manufaftured here. The Tafilelt 

 goats are very prolific, and afford a rich milk in great 

 abundance : and therefore they conflitute an article of confi- 

 derable export. The Tafilelt leather is very foft and fine, 

 and much fuperior to that of Morocco : it is as foft and pliable 

 as filk, and impervious to water. The tanners uie the leaves 

 of a (hrub called t^zra, which grows in the Atlas moun- 

 tains, to which forae have afcribed the peculiar quality of 



TAG 



the leather ; though others afcribe it to fome quality in the air 

 and water. The population of the dillricl of Tafilelt is 

 dated by Mr. Jackfon at 650,000. The town is 140 miles 

 E.S.E. of Morocco. N. lat. 31° 20'. W. long. 6". 



TAFNA, a river of Algiers, which runs into the Me- 

 diterranean, near Tackumbreet. 



TAFO, or Tafa, a town of Africa, on the Gold 

 Coaft. 



TAG, or Tagge, in Rural Economy, See Teg. 



Tag, or Tag-Sore, a difeafe in fheep, which confifts, as 

 ftated in a paper in the third volume of the " Tranfaftions 

 of the Highland Society of Scotland," of fcabs and fores 

 fituated on the under fide of the tail ; arifing, in warm wea- 

 ther, from its being fouled with purging and other dif- 

 charges. The matter hardens there, irritates the tender 

 vefTels, and produces fores, which, if not attended to, run 

 into mortification, and prove fatal, as in the legs. See 

 Swelling or L,eg-E-vil. 



It is (hewn by the (heep turning frequently round to bite 

 the tail. 



As this complaint arifes principally from purging, and the 

 naflinefs caufed by it, &c. the firfl thing to be done is the 

 reilraining and ciu^e of this evacuation : after which the tail 

 of the animal is to be chpped, and the fore part laid bare, 

 wafhed carefully with milk and water, blood-warm, and 

 then with lime-water. The fheep is then to be turned out 

 into a dry pafture, and looked at again in two or three days, 

 and if not then well, the wafliing mufl be repeated, and the 

 parts anointed with greafe and tar mixed together in equal 

 proportions. 



TAGABONA, in Geography, a river of Weft Florida, 

 which runs into the St. Mark, N. lat. 30° 22'. W. long. 



84° 34'- 



TAGADEMPT, Tagadeont, or Tigedent, a town of 



Algiers, anciently called I^aga ; 60 miles E.S.E. of Oran. 



TAGiE, in Ancient Geography, a town of Afia, in Par- 

 thia, near the river Oxus, and on the confines of Hyr- 

 cania. 



TAGAI, in Geography, a town of Ruflia, in the go- 

 vernment of Simbirflc ; 48 miles W. of Simbirfk. N. 

 lat. 54° 20'. E. long. 47°. 



TAGAL, a town of the ifland of Java, on the N. coaft, 

 the refidence of a Dutch agent for the purchafe of rice ; 

 35 miles E. of Cheribon. 



TAGALA, Ta-Gala, or Gala language, is among th# 

 PhiUppines what the Malayu is in the Malay iflands, or the 

 Hindoftani in Hindooftan Proper. It poffefTes the com- 

 bined advantages of the four principal languages in the 

 world : it is myfterious as the Hebrew ; it has articles for 

 nouns, both appellative and proper, like the Greek ; it is 

 elegant and copious as the Latin ; and equal to the Italian, 

 as the language of compliment or bufinefs. This language 

 has been cultivated only by the Spanifh miffionaries. The 

 Tagala grammar of Fra. Gafpar de San Auguflin, was 

 printed in 1 703, and again in 1787. The alphabet confifts 

 of feventeeu letters, three of which are vowels, and four- 

 teen confonants. The Tagala charafters are faid to have 

 been derived from the Malays, and they are read with as 

 much difficulty as the eafe w-ith which they are written. This 

 Tagala is written with an iron ftyle on bamboos and palm- 

 leaves, and the Spanifh miffionaries affert, that the ancient 

 mode of writing was from top to bottom, like the Chinefe. 

 This language, with a confiderable number of peculiar vo- 

 cables, and great fingularity of idiom, is ueverthelefs to be 

 confidered as a cognate language with Malayu, Bujis, and 

 Javanefe. Few languages, on a curfory examination, pre- 

 fent a greater appearance of originality than the Tagala. 



For 



