TRIPOLI. 



own weaknefs, is neverthelefs of no fmall advantage to 

 navigation and commerce. This ftate, as well as the reft of 

 Bai-bar)-, after being freed from the Roman yoke, paffed 

 fucceflively under the Vandals, Saracens, and the kings of 

 Morocco, Fez, and Tunis ; tiU, weary of their flavery and 

 oppreffion, they refolved to have a monarch of their own, 

 whom they chofe from among tliemfelves ; and the new 

 monarch governed them at firft with great equity and 

 moderation ; but he no fooner faw himfelf out of danger, 

 than he began to play the tyrant in his turn to fuch a 

 degree, that the citizens confpired againft him, and he was 

 murdered by his own brother-in-law. They ciiofe in his 

 room another, named Abubacer, who had been formerly an 

 of&csr under him, but had fmce retired, and turned marabout 

 or hermit ; but he had not reigned many months, before Fer- 

 dinand, king of Caftile and Aragon, fent thither Peter, 

 count of Navarre, with a powerful fleet and army, which 

 laid fiege to the capital. Abubacer, finding himfelf unequal 

 to fo powerful an enemy, furrendered on honourable terms, 

 and was fer.t with his wife, two fons, and an uncle, to the 

 emperor Charles V. then at Palermo, who foon after re- 

 ftored him to his former dignity, on condition that he fhould 

 become his vafTal and tributary. Abubacer rebuilt and re- 

 peopled the city, which he held in the emperor's name, til! 

 the knights of Rhodes were driven out of that ifland, and 

 forced to retire into Syracufe, when Charles was pleafed to 

 beilow the ifland of Malta upon them, together with the 

 city and caftle of Tripoh. They fent accordingly, and 

 took pofleffion of both, made one of their order governor, 

 and put a garrifon into it of their own troops. They were 

 fcarcely fettled in this new acquifition, before Barbaroffa 

 made himfelf mafter of it, but it was foon after retaken by 

 the emperor, and reftored to them, who continued in f ofi!^ef- 

 fion of it till the reign of Solyman, who, under pretence 

 that it had been retaken during the truce, fent thither a 

 naval armament, confiding of about no royal gallies, and 

 30 other veffels, under the command of Sinan bafliaw, who 

 had under him the famed Salha Rais, furnamed Devil- 

 driver, and the no lefs famous Dragut ; and notwithfl:and- 

 ing every means of defence, it was obhged to furrender, 

 and delivered up to the Turks, after it had continued in 

 the polTeffion of the Chriftians a little above forty years, 

 from the time of its being taken by the count of Navarre. 

 Sinan committed the government of it to the aga Morat, 

 upon condition that he fliould hold it under the grand 

 fignior, and refign it whenever he fliould appoint another 

 governor. It was not long, however, before the famed 

 corfair Dragut got pofleffion of this place. He fortified 

 both city and caflle with ftrong walls, and two forts near 

 the fea-fide, well fupplied with artillery and ammunition ; 

 by which means it became one of the ftrongeft cities in 

 Africa, and the common retreat of moft, of the corfairs that 

 roved under Turkifli colours, from whence they infefted the 

 coafts of Italy, Sicily, Naples and Spain, and a fruitlefs at- 

 tempt was made by the Chriftians to retake it. After the 

 death of Dragut, the Porte continued fending either a 

 fangiac or bafliaw to Tripoli, the caftle being garrifoned 

 ■with Turks, and the city inhabited by Moors, and the king- 

 dom ftill paying tribute to the grand fignior. The piratic 

 trade went on with fuccefs ; the renegadoes met with the 

 ufual encouragement from the Turks, and were promoted 

 to the command of the corfairs, and even of their own 

 fleets, and fometimes to the bafliawlTiip ; thefe recommend- 

 ing themfelvcs to the regency, not only by their defperate 

 behaviour, but much more by their peculiar barbarity to 

 the Chriftian prifoncrs, which often provoked rcprifals, 

 ihat v/ere carried on both fides to fuch e.Kcefs as can 



hardly be particularized without hoiTor. In this condition 

 the kingdom continued till the Turkifli government, be- 

 coming more and more intolerable, by the avarice and 

 tyranny of thofe baftiaws, a certain maiabout named Sid 

 Hajah, about the clofe of the fixteenth centurj-, found 

 means to raife a general revolt both in the city and country. 

 Unfortunately for him, he did not take care to fecure a 

 foreign afiiftance, before he broke out into open rebellion ; 

 fo that Hafcen bafliaw, the Turkifli admiral, came fud- 

 denly upon him, at the head of fixty gallies, and a number of 

 other fliips and forces, which he had procured from Tunis 

 and Algiers, and defeated him fo often, that he was at 

 length abandoned by his troops, and aflafiinated by his own 

 partizans. Hafcen fent the marabout's head to Conftan- 

 tinople, and had hardly fettled the government on the old 

 footing, when a new governor, fent thither from the Porte, 

 found a much more effeftual way to free them from this 

 tyranny. This man was a renegado Greek, of the ancient 

 family of the Juftiniani, known by the name of Mahmet 

 Beygh, who, by his intrigues and bribes, had obtained a 

 banner or governr.ient from the grand fignior. He failed 

 direftly to Tripoli, and having got pofi"efrion of the caftle, 

 refufed to acknowledge or receive any bafliaw from Co;' - 

 ftantinople. He took the reins of government wholly upo; 

 himfelf, not indeed as independent, but as vaflal and tri- 

 butary to the Porte, to whom he obliged himfelf to pay a 

 tribute and homage, as an acknowledgment of his fubjec- 

 tion and dependence. 



Tripoli, a city and fea-port of Africa, and capita! 

 of the country fo called, fituated on the coaft of the 

 Mediterranean. It was formerly divided into two parts, 

 the Old and New ; the former, which was the native 

 country of the emperor Severus, is fuppofed to have bee;. 

 built by the Romans, was fince'conquered by the Vandals, 

 and at laft dcftroyed by the Mahometans, under their caliph 

 Omar II. fince which time it hath never recovered its im- 

 portance, and is now almoft gone to ruin ; the latter, whici; 

 ftand.s at a fmall diftance from it, though of no great extent, 

 is populous, and in a flourifhing condition. It ftands on a 

 foundation of rock, by the fea-fide, furroundcd with high 

 walls and ftout ramparts, flanked with pyramidical towers, 

 but not kept in good repair. The fea waflics the town on 

 three fides ; and on the fourth a fandy plain, called the 

 Meflea, joins it to the reft of the country. Ori the E. it is 

 divided from Egypt by the dreary deferts of Barca, where 

 none refide but occafionally the wandering Arab. It hath 

 but two gates, one towards the inland on the S., and the 

 other to the lea on the N., where it expands itfclf in 

 form of a crefcent, near a fpacious and commodious havcrt. 

 On entering the harbour, the town manifefts tlie dilapidations 

 of time, large heaps of rubbifti appearing in various parts of 

 it. The caftle, or royal palace, where the bafliaw rcfidcs, 

 is .at tlie E. end of the town within the walls, with a dock- 

 yard adjoining, where the bey (the bafiiaw's eldeft fon) 

 builds his cruizers. The caftle is very ancient, and is inclofed 

 by a ftrong wall, that appears impregnable ; but within, it 

 is totally deftitute of fymmetry. 



New Tripoli is fuppofed to have been built by the na- 

 tives, wlio gave it the name of Tarab'dts, or Trebiks, whence 

 the Latins call it Tr'ipoVis. Some authors pretend that it 

 was once a place of vaft trade, on account of its neighbour- 

 hood to Numidia and Tunis, rcforted to by venels from 

 Malta, Venice, Sicily, Marfeilles, and other parts j there 

 being hardly fuch another commodious fea-port along this 

 whole coaft, except Alexandria ; by which means it became 

 fo opulent, that it was filled with rich merchants, abounded 

 with fine mofques, hofpital?, and other public buildings, 

 7 and 



